Online Scalper Busted for Selling $700 Reservations to Michelin-Starred Restaurants

Reservations scalpers are back at it — did they ever stop? — this time selling tables at top-tier fine dining restaurants Yoshino and Le Bernardin. A scalper allegedly operating under the alias of Winters Wang was reportedly using multiple names, accounts, and email addresses to amass reservations at the Michelin-starred restaurants and list them on Chinese app Little Red Book for almost $700 per booking, the New York Post reports. (Booking a reservation at Yoshino through Tock requires a $500 deposit.) Reselling reservations is a violation of Tock and Resy’s terms of service, and Wang was busted by Yoshino general manager Mayumi Kobayashi after a regular customer tipped off the upscale sushi restaurant.

Fairway is using facial recognition on its customers

Fairway Market on the Upper West Side recently posted a sign notifying customers that it’s collecting data on them using facial recognition software, Patch reports. The uptown grocer is one of a handful of local businesses starting to implement the controversial technology in a bid to identify shoplifters and curb retail crime. Businesses using facial recognition technology are legally required to post a sign notifying their customers, but as the New York Times noted, city officials are not enforcing the requirement.

Sahadi’s opens a bottle shop in Brooklyn

Brooklyn institution Sahadi’s has opened a wine and spirits shop attached to its market at Industry City in Sunset Park, a representative for the business tells Eater. Sahadi Spirits, located at 52 35th Street, between Second and Third avenues, highlights wines from Lebanon, Morocco, Greece, and Middle Eastern winemakers based in the United States, with a selection of arak, raki, and other spirits. Opening hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday to Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.

This Astoria cookie chain won’t let up

Chip City, a local cookie chain that started in Astoria in 2017, continues its expansion tear this month with a new storefront at 325 Greenwich Street, at Duane Street, in Tribeca. It’s the company’s 18th location in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island, with at least 20 more planned for 2023. The chain, recently bolstered by a $10 million investment from Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer last fall, is now eyeing openings in Maryland, Massachusetts, Boston, and Washington D.C., What Now NY reports.