Bowery & Spring Update
October 08, 2003
As long as we're feeding our obsession with the Spring St./Bowery area
over in the main space, a few foodie nibbles of note. We stopped by just-opened bar/resto
Loreley (Rivington @ Bowery) last night for a look around. The interior struck us a tad on the generic side, but plenty of good beers on tap at this
bier halle for the hipsters, and a nice back garden... Longtime B14 correspondent
FV sends word of work underway on Elizabeth St. at the old
M&R Bar space. "Wholesale gutting of the space resumed last month. Can't
confirm that it's still the
industry(food) crowd behind it all, but in an answer to the prescient musings of the lovely miss G., there are swirling rumours of an 'upscale Indian'"... FV saved some vitriol for Brian McNally's
Cafe Lebowitz (Spring @ Elizabeth), a place
we've always liked (maybe even
a bit too much). FV: "At Lebowitz, both the food and service remain
staggeringly incompetent, verging on unhealthy. Over the last few months it's been emptier and
emptier; the Nolita layabouts—folks who'll eat cardboard if it's the new,
new thing—seem to have lost their nerve and retreated two doors
over to
Bread. Interestingly, food at [Brian sib Keith's]
Schiller's was good enough to make it far better value than any of the usual EV/LES 'happening' boites. From someone else entirely, I learned that there's a
third Mcnally brother, acting as manager at Lebowitz, although I have yet to see ay evidence of 'management' going on in that place." Such bitterness... and still we await the season's first frost...
the third brother is indeed the manager, his name is peter and rumor has it that he's the black sheep of the family. i have known brian and david (the chef there) for a long time and i so want to love lebowitz, but i'm having a hard time even liking it as of late. the food is at best ok. also, their steak frites just can't hold a candle to schiller's. and schiller's is WAY cheaper too. brian must be fuming to have his brother setting up shop so near by, with a far superior product (and vibe).
i find myself wishing that schiller's was on my corner instead of lebowitz.
oh, also schiller's has awesome donuts. (mmm, donuts!)
Posted by: Jen at October 8, 2003 06:36 PM
Don't forget about the fourth secret McNally brother, Shemp. He's kept in a box near the meat cooler until the sun goes down. Then he sets out with his cart selling them little stuffed ducks to drunks. I don't know much about his cooking abilities.
Posted by: Sy Klopps at October 9, 2003 09:52 AM
If you would be unloved and forgotten, be reasonable.
Posted by: Blum David
at November 28, 2003 03:45 PM
