The Original Morgenstern’s Is Now a Dairy-Free Soft-Serve Shop With Paid Memberships

Morgenstern’s, the ice cream shop that’s been serving an untold number of flavors since opening on the Lower East Side in 2014, is turning over its original location. Beginning next month, the business at 2 Rivington Street, near Bowery, will rebrand as Bananas, a dairy-free soft-serve shop with matcha mint, prickly pear, and yuzu swirls, the New York Times reports. The new venture opens to the public on May 1, but “members” who pay a one-time $33.33 fee can get a sneak peek of the shop starting this Thursday.

A nightmare on Vanderbilt Avenue

The Prospect Heights stretch of Vanderbilt Avenue kicked off Open Streets this past weekend, the pandemic-era program that’s turned the thoroughfare into a block party with live music and outdoor dining in recent years. This summer, a section of the seven-block stretch will be dug up to upgrade water and sewage infrastructure at Pacific Park, a megadevelopment in the area, Grub Street reports. The Department of Transportation has urged restaurants near the intersection of Dean Street and Vanderbilt Avenue (Alta Calidad, Patti Ann’s, LaLou, and others) to take down their outdoor dining structures.

A Mexican seafood pop-up in time for summer

Aldama, one of Brooklyn’s top Mexican restaurants, will run a mariscos pop-up out of its backyard this summer called Pajaro Bobo. The pop-up will run from May to September out of the sideyard of the Williamsburg restaurant, at 91 South Sixth Street, near Berry Street, before moving to a permanent address nearby, says owner Chris Reyes. On the menu: micheladas, multiple aguachiles (red, green, and black), and piratas (flour tortilla tacos) with tuna, marlin, and shrimp. Open Thursday to Sunday.

The Raising Cane’s flagship has an opening date

The Raising Cane’s race is on. The Louisiana-based chicken fingers chain has two locations in the works in New York City, but which will open first? “Coming soon” signs went up on a forthcoming East Village outpost last month, but an opening date has yet to be announced. Now the Average Socialite, an events promoter, reports that the brand’s flagship location, at Broadway and West 44th Street in Times Square, has an opening date of June 26.