New York Post Calls Basement Restaurants in Rockefeller Center ‘Captives’

Known crankster Steve Cuozzo at the New York Post hates the decor but loves the tuna bibimbap at Rockefeller Center’s new underground restaurants. The dining room at Naro, a Korean spot from the team behind the two-Michelin-starred Atomix, “has a too-plain look for a place that can top $300 a head at dinner,” he says, and feels “fit for little more than card playing.” The setup at Five Acres, from the owner of Prospect Heights restaurants Olmsted and Maison Yaki, reminds him of a “cattle pen” that’s hidden from view by “cheap-looking potted greenery.” None of this is too far off from Eater’s own assessment of the downstairs dining area, by the way, but calling these restaurants “captives” is some foil for the so-called “New York restaurant event of the year.”

Suspect in Ray’s Candy Store attack held on $200,000 bail

A suspect in the attack on Ray Alvarez, the 90-year-old owner of Ray’s Candy Store, who was assaulted last week, has been arrested, the Post reports. Luis Peroza is accused of punching Alvarez outside of the 24-hour sweets shop around 3 a.m. last Tuesday after attempting to sell him soda. Alvarez sustained three broken bones in his face and a dislocated jaw from the incident, but he was back behind the counter of the East Village store on Friday. Peroza, who assaulted a second individual 35 minutes later outside of a bodega on Avenue C, is now being held on $200,000 bail.

A brick-oven pizzeria in Carroll Gardens to close this month

Pizza Moto, a Carroll Gardens pizzeria with a wood-fired brick oven, is closing after a decade, according to its social media page. The restaurant took over its storefront at 338 Hamilton Avenue, under the Gowanus Expressway, about 10 years ago, replacing a location of Papa Johns that had operated in the same space. Its bubbly pies had fans among those in the know. The last day is February 19.

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Stratis Morfogen, the owner of PB&J dumpling factory Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, and chef Todd English, who was disgraced at the height of the #MeToo movement, are teaming up on a new Greek restaurant at 103 MacDougal Street, near Bleecker Street, in Greenwich Village. Pappas Taverna aims to bring a “modern, playful take on Meditteranean cuisine” to the area with $175-per-person tasting menus and bottles of $3,500 wine by the glass, according to the Post. The restaurant is an homage to Morfogen’s grandfather’s restaurant that closed nearly 50 years ago, in 1975. A spokesperson makes the bold claims that it was “the first Greek restaurant in NYC” — having opened in 1910 — and that it was the first to serve Greek salad. Pappas Taverna opens February 15.