Madison Square Garden Accused of Using Facial Recognition Technology to Kick Out Fans

Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan is in hot water for allegedly using facial recognition technology to eject his personal enemies from the stadium. Wait, what? According to Crain’s New York Business, the State Liquor Authority notified the Manhattan arena in November that it was investigating a complaint that it had “violated its liquor license by denying entry to ticket-holders who work for law firms that have sued” the venue in the past. The bizarre legal back and forth has been ongoing since last fall and shows no signs of letting up, with the NHL, NBA, and state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal now involved.

One of London’s most influential restaurants is coming to town

St. John, a modern British restaurant that’s credited with pioneering nose-to-tail eating in London, is coming to town for a one-night pop-up at Brooklyn’s Long Island Bar full of offal and bone marrow. Tickets for the March 6 dinner are priced at £230.00 (around $275) and include some seven courses — baked clams with bone marrow, pot roast smoked bacon — plus a martini. Tax and tip included.

A chef who cooked for the pope to open a new Italian restaurant

Salvo Lo Castro, an Italian chef who claims to have cooked for Pope John Paul II as well as former prime minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, is heading the kitchen at La Voglia, a new restaurant headed to the Upper East Side, East Side Feed reports. The restaurant will serve contemporary Italian food — foie gras with oranges and beet, caviar and lobster amuse bouches — from an ornate space at 1645 Third Avenue, at East 92nd Street. No opening date has been announced.

A fast-casual Italian favorite opens a second location

Forma Pasta Factory, a Greenpoint restaurant popular for its well-priced, fast-casual pasta, opens its second location today at 5 Greene Avenue, near Fulton Street, in Fort Greene. The restaurant’s noodles start at $13 a bowl, with daily specials available for a few dollars more.