Review: Public (w/Bonus Neighborhood Notebook)

Awoke this morning to 13 new messages on the Sprint PCS assphone that had somehow piled up over the past 48 hours. Several were from JL, the original Boy of Summer, who's making a special return appearance to his old hood, Nolita, this week. Though technology prevented us from dining together, JL was kind enough to phone in his review of new Nolita hottspott Public (Elizabeth @ Prince/Spring) from within the restaurant: "Let's see... it's a formulaic 'new,' 'cool' restaurant," he opined, the air quotes dripping from his lips, "that's not that cool and not that new." We dined there a week back. Our analysis was not as harsh, but we've struggled to come up with a take other than "decent," which doesn't really make for the most scintillating review. We'd say that it's definitely worth seeing once, though the last place we said that about was Suba, and, well, that doesn't quite seem fair. Let's hope Public's food proves worth the prices being charged as they get in the groove.... Elsewhere in Nolita—which B14 correspondent John H. informs us finally gets its own section in Zagat this year—we hear that work on the old M&R Bar space (Elizabeth @ Houston/Prince), slated to become a multi-level something, has halted due to neighborhood activism; i.e., denial of a liquor license... Here's a recipe for success: change a decent local bakery into a crappy tavern. Sit empty for a year. Rechristen bar as "lounge." Sit empty for another six months. Stick a few potted palms outside in the November rain to draw in the kids. Yes, let's hear it for Spring St. Bakery > Nolita Tavern > Nolita Lounge!... Back on the good ol' LES, fans of soccer and extremely narrow spaces will enjoy Maradona's (Allen @ Houston/Stanton), an interesting looking bar as horizontal as a 2x4. With a soccer ball emblazoned with the number 10, it's downtown's answer to Michael Jordan's... The proprietor of new LES comedy club Laugh Lounge NYC (Essex @ Stanton/Rivington) emails, "I'd like to formally invite Below 14th readers to our official opening on Friday night this week." You heard the woman! Hit it!... Unconfirmed rumor has it that the downstairs space at 105 Rivington (@ Ludlow/Essex, our home block) will soon be renovated for a new restaurant. Owner? Neil Klienburg of Clinton Street Baking Co. fame. Our tipster reports, "I think he mentioned something about serving fish."... Finally, everyone and their wanky uptown friend are asking for the scoop on superchef Patricia Yeo's migration to the LES. Next week, kiddles, next week.

Going Public

Finally, finally, some new downtown restaurant controversy (even if we have to manufacture it ourselves). Over in Nolita, a charming little "neighborhood" just to the west of the Lower East Side, much-hyped restaurant newcomer Public opens this week for friends & family tastings. Backgrounder: Set in a monstrous space on Elizabeth that previously held the kitchen for Connecticut Muffin, Public overlooks the Elizabeth St. monument garden from the east side of the street. Folks, this space is big. But will it also be good? B14 correspondent FV has his doubts: "Stopped by yesterday for a quick peek—it's owned by a consortium of designers and architects who are said to be disagreeing (if not squabbling) over many of the details, with the food rumoured to be low down on the priority list. I understand the owners are somehow connected to a swank London restaurant, and have connections to some NZ kitchen talent who've been brought over for it. Decor looks like it was supposed to be impressive, but it doesn't hang together at all: there's a lot of un-capped cheesy aluminum extrusions evident, and some incongruous vintage fittings in there as well, although of course these are early days and this may all be sorted out soon enough. Mind you, there's plenty of wank factor at work here: a separate 'wine lounge' area, and some very funky banks of retro post-office boxes up front, the idea being to assign keys to VIP customers for keeping a fancy bottle of wine on-site... that kind of thing." Rebuts another B14 correspondent who stopped by the space, "I am all for all sorts of 'perspectives,' but in this world certain people feel that the only way to be heard is to be negative. Ahem. Brad, the head chef, is a brother of one of the owners/ designers, and the NZ chefs who trained him at The Providores in London were visiting from there for a few weeks. He worked there for something like 9 years and it's one of the best in London. I talked to one of the visiting mentors, a lady named Anne, and she is super cool and lovely." So, which way will Public swing? Full report later this week after we go Public ourselves.

Bowery & Spring Update

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...

Coffee Talk

Notes from the downtown coffee scene while we sip an iced coffee from Starbucks in a midtown office... Ian says reports of the first LES Starbucks have proven false: "The café that signed a lease for the empty Hallmark store at 409 Grand Street [@ Clinton] on May 30 is mid-rehab and just posted its name: Full City Coffee. Evidently it will be another 'boutique' coffeehouse in the vein of Brown and Sunshine Factory Café, not a Starbucks as previously rumored." The same Full City Coffee as the Oregon microchain?... The terrific Angelina's Bakery on Orchard St. (@ Houston/Stanton) has just added a second location on Mercer St. (@ Houston/Prince) in Soho... DailyCandy reports that the East Village's preeminent restaurant block (2nd Ave. @ 5th/6th Sts.) now boats a hypohip coffee shop, too. Blue Goose Cafe comes from none other than the team behind Jewel Bako. Like Angelina's, it stocks pizzas and such from Sullivan Street Bakery.

Eight Mile Creek

The Gothamist posse hits Mulberry Street's own Outback Steakhouse, Eight Mile Creek. We've got friends on the inside of this joint (hi, MF), so we tend to give it the benefit of the doubt. But man, those Gothamist photos freak us out. (Memo to self: bad uses for digital camera include: photographing tonight's dinner.) Like them, we favor the downstairs bar, 24/8.

How Shebeen?

Stopped by Shebeen on Mott Street last night on a mission from a higher power. The bar, which until about a month ago housed the oddly imperfect restaurant Clay, has been stripped down and now encourages patrons to order in take-out from other places in the area. Decent drinks, excellent DJ. The coup, however, is a stainless steel smoking room in the back. Where better to light up this summer than a small, windowless box outfitted with massive ductwork?

Lovely Day Brunch

Dinner at the counter this week at the ever-wonderful Lovely Day (Elizabeth @ Spring), which is sporting a bright new awning for spring, brought the cheery proprietor to the counter to inform me that they've just started serving brunch on weekends. Those in the know can now munch on goodies like Buttermilk Pancakes with Lime Palm Sugar Syrup while mocking those mobbing the sidewalk a few steps away for a table at Habana.

Gothamist on Rice to Riches

Final Rice to Riches update ever... We promise... Jake from Gothamist took us up on our challenge to review the ol' pudding palace. His detailed, 500 word review is packed with pictures prettier than ours, plus much pithiness.

Rice to Riches Review

In the proud, neverending quest to live up to our caricature, we just had to hit the Rice to Riches opening last night.


The crowd was pulsating, the servers too chipper, the flavors obtuse. We tried the Strawberry Floozy, which tasted like a goopy strawberry sherbert, with lumps -- albeit -- yes -- pleasing lumps. Today we read in a Times article about the phenomenon that the owner "spent a lot of time looking for words that go together." Right-o. (The article also reports that Rice to Riches plans to open four more stores in Manhattan, which means Upper West Side residents should be enjoying the noble grains by early 2008.) Meantime, we'll watch for Jen's review, being that of a serious rice pudding afficionado, which we, alas, are not.

Rice to Riches Opening Alert

Also opening on April 1... Rice to Riches! You couldn't make this stuff up. At least, no one at Daily Candy could.

Rice to Riches Progress Update

WD-50 Progress Updates on hold for a moment while we look in at Spring Street pudding temple Rice to Riches.


On: 3/10/03 | Status: Not Open (!) | Do Not Fail to Check Out: Apologetic, semi-pathetic sign in window (click to zoom in).

Rice To Riches: WTF?

As 2003 dawns, the big question remains, What's the deal with Rice to Riches? By this point, we know the new Spring Street establishment is a rice pudding emporium. Now we need a Fortune article to analyze the amount of money the owners continue to pour into interior design versus what one imagines must be a competing impetus to open the fucking restaurant. There was a period last month where, on my daily jaunt to and from the 6 train, I realized they had installed, then removed, a curved "Rice Pudding" sign (under the gigantic Rice to Riches sculpted arch) twice in one week. Now they're hard at work adding hints of orange to rounded interior surfaces. Okay, it's attractive, but this had better be the best rice pudding ever to warrant this insanity.

25th Hour at Double Happiness

Spike Lee's 25th Hour is a wonderful movie, especially for anyone who spent the post-9/11 period in NYC. Special bonus for those-in-the-know: a bar scene clearly filmed at Double Happiness.

Ken on Cafe Lebowitz

Ken responds to our Cafe Lebowitz rave with a side of bile: "What did you have there? I had the soup and the steak frites and while it was good (especially the fries), it was no Lucien. Her fish was kind of boring and the artichoke was cold and had a weird mustard gism sauce. (She liked it! Could not put down that mustard gism sauce!) We were sitting next to corporate lawyers on a first date and it may have ruined the experience for me." Fair enough. It should be noted that we do like Lucien better, too... we just got maybe a bit too excited about something new. Just to clear that up.

Cafe El Portale Review

Just a few steps from Lebowitz, we finally got around to eating at Cafe El Portal, the Mexican joint that numerous Below 14th readers have urged us to try. Now we know why: it's low-key, low-lit and damn tasty... a perfect 10th-date kind of place. One tip: do not arrive later than 10pm, or you risk a rather pared down menu. One group stormed out after the waiter informed them they had run out of pork, black beans and tomatoes. "What kind of a Mexican place runs out of beans?" the woman huffed. Why, this one does!

Cafe Lebowitz Review

After enjoying delicious $14 goulash in a surprisingly uncrowded, unambiguously cool space after walking in off the street at rush hour (9pm) Friday night, Below 14th crowns NoLiTa's Cafe Lebowitz as our favorite bistro of winter 2002-2003. We've eaten here before but never enjoyed it quite so much. It's a Brian McNally joint, which makes the food/value relationship all the more amazing. (We're all the more heartened that the Citysearch crowd seems to have taken a disliking to the place.)

Christmas Cheer: Noelita

Christmas cheer. In the space on the corner of Prince and Lafayette that once housed that dark, brooding Internet cafe, we've noticed a temporary Christmas store has opened: Noelita.

Rice To Riches: Sink

Each day brings us a moment closer to learning what it is they will be selling at the new store Rice to Riches under construction on Spring between Mulberry and Mott. Today on my walk to the subway I noticed what appears to be a sink in the front of the establishment.

Gatsby's Review

Checked out the ominously named new bar Gatsby's last night. Located on Spring Street and Mulberry -- right near the groovy store Fresh, where the other CS works -- it signals the imminent demise of NoLiTa. An Upper East Side bar on a cool downtown street. Frat types cheering wildly for the Lakers (!?). Akin, in a sense, to Essex Street's Smithfield (which is, its its dive-like way, a more acceptable watering hole... yet still, beneath it all, an Upper East Side-y kind of place.)

Fiamma Review

William Grimes reviews Fiamma today, and gives it three stars. Woo-wee. Ate there for the second time Friday night. Very satisfying (expensive) Italian cuisine (probably not worth the money). They stuck us at the back of the restaurant in the dread table closest to the kitchen. A small table to our right, intended to hold our wine, impeded the right of way of the waitstaff and the maitre'd all night. The second time the maitre'd kicked it, he leaned in, apologized, and offered to comp our dessert and coffee. Nice. Then he returned two minutes later, said he'd learned that he wasn't the only one to have kicked the table (he wasn't), and offered to comp our wine (a $48 bottle). The table was removed.

Steve Hanson Encounter

Invited to a special sneak-peek dinner at Fiamma (Spring St. at 6th Ave.) last night... Upscale Italian cuisine from restauranteur Steve Hanson... I ran into Steve while descending from the second-floor dining room to the basement bathroom. He was busy checking the lights in the stairwell. Moments later he joined me in the bathroom, telling his staff via walkie-talkie to dim the lights. (Suddenly the mood felt much more romantic.) I offered him some advice: "There's no toilet paper." "Really?" He was pissed... On the way out, he shook our hands. "Thanks for the advice about stock issues," he told me.