M. Wells is opening a new restaurant, a steakhouse, at 43-15 Crescent Street in Long Island City in July, the LIC Post reported. The new venture will be a self-described “meat temple.” The French-Canadian restaurant got its start in a diner at 21-17 49th Avenue and became celebrated for adventuresome twists on diner fare, which included foie gras, oysters and raw fish. It closed in 2011 due to what the owners say was a rent increase, and has since been operating a dinette serving lunch only at P.S. 1. The new space will seat 80 people and will have a 24-square-foot concrete trough with live trout. GMAP
Playland Motel, a new boutique resort at 97-20 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, will open in the Rockaways by July 4, according to Societe Perrier. Robin Scott and Jamie Wiseman of Williamsburg dance spot Output and Diagio Galazio and Eduardo Suarez of El Almacen and Rosarito’s Fish Shack are the owners of the project, which will have 12 rental rooms, two restaurants, and three bars, including a 7,000-square-foot one that will be partly outdoors. The space is supposed to “merge urban hipster demands with universal beach culture,” according to Societe Perrier. The Post adds that the two restaurants will be a 50-seat Playland Diner and a pizza joint. Rockabus could also potentially add a new bus route to the site. Think Playland Motel will be an improvement to the area?
It was a good sign when we arrived at 11:55 a.m. yesterday in front of Mustang Thakali Kitchen at 74-14 37th Avenue and there was already a Nepalese family of five waiting for the security gate to be lifted. We’d been looking for an excuse to drag the Brownstoner family to this neck of the woods for a walk around the Jackson Heights Historic District. Father’s Day proved to be the perfect foil, and Mustang Thakali Kitchen proved to be the perfect culinary destination. One of the only Nepalese restaurants in the five boroughs, the unassuming restaurant has not gone unnoticed in its dozen or so years in existence. Our predecessor site mentioned it last year when Bon Appetit took at unexpected ethnic eats in the neighborhood. Back in 2009 Robert Sietsema gave it a strong review when he was still at the Village Voice; one of his first moves in his new gig at Eater was to highlight Thakali Kitchen in a round-up of Himalayan food. “Really, if this meal doesn’t make you stand up and dance,” he writes, “nothing will.” Our high expectations were easily met, with unusual dishes like the sukuti sadeko (something like a beef jerky ceviche) and Thali vegetarian platter complementing more familiar items like egg fried rice, chicken dumplings and chickpea samosas. Even our 8 year old and 10 year old ate every dish and pronounced it well worth the trip. Lots of photos on the jump. GMAP
Big Alice Brewing, a new brewery at 808 43rd Road in Long Island City that opens Saturday, is offering a $200 beer share program, DNAinfo reported. Co-owner Kyle Hurst said he was inspired by the nearby Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) model, which allows members to buy into deliveries from local farmers. Brews come in 750 milliliter bottles, which retail for $18. Members of the share will get two large bottles each month. Only about a dozen of the 90 spots in the July through December season are still available. GMAP
Our friends at Eater have compiled some of the buzzy new restaurant openings in the borough. Jimmy Tu’s Bunker tops the list, helped no doubt by a writeup in the Times last month. The Vietnamese spot is at 46-63 Metropolitan Avenue in Ridgewood, but if you’re taking the subway, you’ll have to get off at the Jefferson L stop. Other new selections include Mamak House, a Malysian restaurant at 35-20 Farrington Street in Flushing, Forno Pizzeria & Trattoria at 52-27 69th Street in Maspeth and MP Taverna at 31-29 Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria. Yum!
Long Island City: On June 3, Big!Compost began collecting compost at the Vernon-Jackson 7 train stop. Compost can be dropped off on the northwest corner of 50th Ave and Vernon Blvd Monday mornings from 8 to 11 am.
Astoria: The Sandwich Bar at 33-01 Ditmars Boulevard opened serving, not surprising, specialty sandwiches with slow-roasted meats. The well-named bar and restaurant will also have a full bar and serve salads and burgers. The restaurant is currently open for lunch and dinner and plans to offer brunch soon. Meanwhile, Salon de Coffee opened at 37-14 34th Avenue and serves fair-trade coffee and pastries all day.
Greenmarkets: Farmer’s Market season has returned and many area markets are opening including the Astoria market at Socrates Sculpture Park (above, seen last year) and the Sunnyside market on Skillman Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets, both of which opened June 1.
Closed
Fortunately, none of these are new closures but Eater did post a round-up of the restaurants that remain closed after Hurricane Sandy.
Did something new open on your block and we miss it? Share your newest neighborhood haunts in the comments or email us at queens@brownstoner.com.
Summer officially arrived in Hunter’s Point last night, and it did so in boxes of fresh, leafy vegetables. Tuesday night marked the first drop-off of the first season for members of the Hunter’s Point CSA. Fresh goodies included vegetables from Golden Earthworm farm on Long Island. Members of this new CSA were greeted with their vegetables in boxes stacked just inside the entrance to Alewife at 5-14 51st Avenue. More on how the CSA got off the ground on the jump…
Sage General Store is installing a bar and will close until the end of June when it will reopen with a full liquor license and new dinner menu. Owner Leslie Nilsson will also be opening a macaroon bar down the street by the end of August. Sunnyside pub owner, Pat Burke, plans on opening his fourth bar on Vernon Blvd by the end of August. His newest pub, Woodbine’s – named after the cigarettes his grandfather smoked in Ireland – will pour 16 craft beers and serve high-end pub food.
Astoria
Katch Bar & Grill opened at 3119 Newtown Ave with 50 beers on tap and more than 50 TVs. The beer garden will open soon.
Sunnyside
Jack’s Ale House reopened last Saturday at 39-46 Skillman Avenue with festivities that were chased indoors by the storm. The pub, owned by three firefighter brokers, closed two years ago for renovations.
Elmhurst
The Nevada Diner opened at 80-26 Queens Boulevard and offer free delivery of its gourmet dinners and baked-on-premises desserts.
The Rockaways
With Memorial Day just over and summer just beginning, Eater did a wrap up of the restaurants open near the now-open Rockaway beach: Rockaway Taco is open and now serving breakfast. Ripper’s on Beach 86 will be open. Caracas Arepas Bar served from a pop-up location at Beach 97th Street and Rockaway freeway and will post updates to their instagram account.
Did we miss something? Let us know in the comments what opened in your neighborhood!
This new, independently owned coffee shop just opened at 37-14 34th Avenue in Astoria. Serving all-fair trade coffee and all-organic milk, Salon de Coffee offers a nice little space to meet up with friends. They also serve fresh-baked pastries (typically whole wheat), and plan to add a selection of teas in the near future. Other perks: they are open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and offer free Wi-Fi, making it a good place to study or work. GMAP
Almost every day there is something new and exciting on the menu at Panorama of My Silence-Heart Café, but patrons have grown to expect other pleasant surprises, such as a man hastily peeling kiwis, balancing endlessly on a medicine ball or using chopsticks to shovel jelly into his mouth. More than 40 Guinness Book of World Records entries have been established in this vegetarian eatery, located in a hilly, suburban section of Jamaica Hills. Owner Ketan Goldman is a disciple of Sri Chinmoy, a guru and sitar player who lived in the area from the 1960s until his death in 2007 and promoted self-transcendence through extreme physical acts as well as meditation, kindness and compassion. One of Chinmoy’s final desires was that Goldman spread good will by opening a restaurant named after one of his favorites quotes with a peaceful atmosphere featuring his music, fresh flowers and comfortable spaces to meditate. The delicious soy mock meat entrées, baked goods and wide array of Irving Farm coffee beverages (see red velvet latte below) are Goldman’s ideas. “When customers come in, I serve great, healthy food with a positive attitude,” says Goldman, who also organizes poetry readings, live music events and movie-themed Sunday brunches (above photo). “It’s a tangible way of spreading good will.” (more…)
