It's Time to Change Your Tires

Every year around this time the Michelin Guide gets ready to release their ratings for the following year.  The restaurant world will be abuzz with chatter next week about who's kept their stars, who's lost their stars, and which newcomers have gained 1, 2, or 3 stars.  Michelin will publish the 2013 guide next Tuesday, October 2nd.  To hold us over, they've released their Bib Gourmands yesterday; a list of restaurants where they found good food for good value.

In order to make the BG list, a restaurant needs to offer two courses and a glass of wine or dessert for $40 or less. According to michelintravel.com, there's apparently such thing as Bibendum, "Introduced in the 1997 editions of the MICHELIN Guides in Europe, Bib Gourmand restaurants are identified in the guide by a red symbol depicting the head of Bibendum, the Michelin Man."

With 126 Bib Gourmands this year, the list is the biggest it's ever been and, despite its kitsch, is a solid list of dining options.  The full list is this way, but here's mention of a few noteworthy new additions: Alobar, August, Battersby, Calyer, Family Recipe, Hino Maru Ramen, Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria, Laut, Pok Pok, and Speedy Romeo.

Serious Sushi in the Triangle Below Canal

hiroko masuikeBrushstroke was in the works long before it opened in April of last year.  The restaurant is the result of a culinary connection between David Bouley and the Tsuji Culinary Institute in Osaka, Japan.  Three months after it opened, Sam Sifton awarded Brushstroke two stars.  In April of this year, a sushi place opened inside Brushstroke and operated without a name.  Until now.  With three stars from Pete Wells in today's Dining Section, Ichimura at Brushstroke shares a pedestal with Il Buco Alimentari, Atera, The NoMad, and Kyo Ya.

In the quiet triangle below canal, Ichimura is tucked inside of Brushstroke with no door or sign of its own.  Wells explains, "Tiny, hard-to-spot restaurants are a longstanding tradition in Japan."  Chef Eiji Ichimura, a native of Japan, is responsible for preparing the $150 omakase menu here, which stems from the "Edo-mae style of sushi that he learned decades ago in Tokyo. Developed in street stalls in the era before refrigeration, Edo-mae sushi was made with fish that had often been cured in salt or vinegar, or stored in soy sauce to keep it from spoiling."  The use of salt is one application on a list of many that makes the sushi at Ichimura so unique.  The rice, nearly as important as the fish, is "seasoned with a blend of three vinegars."  There is great attention to detail.  The service is "exceedingly gracious" in a room with a sound level that is "utterly serene."

The relationship between Bouley and Ichimura is strong and growing.  There are plans for a "redesign" early next year that will allow Chef Ichimura's efforts to shine in a whole new light.  The once "empty sushi bar in Tribeca" Wells ate at will no longer be described thusly.  Wells concludes the interview perfectly, "The redesign, which Mr. Bouley hopes to start next year, would even give Ichimura at Brushstroke its own door inside the restaurant. But it still won’t have a separate street entrance, or a sign of its own. You’ll just have to know it’s there. And now you do."

A Taste of Tastes to Come: Brooklyn Edition

Last week we posted A Taste of Tastes to Come, in which we brought you pictures of storefronts in Manhattan that will become home to exciting restaurants by the end of the year.  A few chefs, Andrew Carmellini, Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi, Michael White and now Gabe Stulman, have two projects in the works.  It's a busy time of year in Manhattan for restaurateurs and chefs, but there's some action on the Brookln side of the East River too.  Here's a look at a few Kings County developments we're psyched about.

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1, 2, 3, 4, 5... 6?!

Chez Sardine will open in the West Village sometime this winter. When it does, it will become the 5th installment in Gabe Stulman's Little Wisco empire. The restaurant will also be Stulman's first foray into Japanese food; drawing inspiration from a Japanese Izakaya, which is a type of casual Japanese drinking establishment that serves food to go with the booze. Chef Mehdi Brunet-Benkritly, who is currently at Fedora, will take the toque at Chez Sardine.

Work hasn't started on the 183 West 10th Street storefront yet, but today we get word that Stulman has partnered with former Momofuku Ssam and Ma Peche chef Tien Ho and plans on opening a bristo.  A location has been chosen but isn't being revealed just yet.  Is it safe to say it'll be somewhere in the West Village?  Before work starts on the 6th Little Wisco project, Tien Ho will be working with Stulman at his other West Village haunts.

Mullen and Coffee and Churros, Oh My

Seamus Mullen's West Village hit Tertulia launched breakfast this morning.  From now on, Tertulia will be open from 7am to noon everyday, serving coffee and pastries.  To promote the new hours, employees are taking to the streets this week on fancy bikes (one of which is in the above picture) and give out free coffee and churros.  Beats catching up with the Redbull car.

In other Chef Mullen news, The Standard Plaza will close for the season after service next Sunday, the 30th.  The Plaza is an extension of Andre Balazs' Standard Hotel on Washington Street in the Meat Packing District.  Earlier this year, Balazs invited Mullen to create a Spanish-inspired menu for the alfresco restaurant, which started service at the beginning of July this year.  The space will morph into a lounge for the remaining weeks of fall, and if the last two years are any indication, we'll see another 3,000 square foot ice skating rink come November.

Donde Dinner? - 220 West 13th Street

Donde Dinner? wants to make your next dining experience an adventure.  So, we'll pick a restaurant and post its address for you every Friday.  The catch is, that's all the information you get.  No name, no type of cuisine, and no Googling!  Before we reveal last week's Donde Dinner? spot, here's a hint: the restaurant was favorably written up in the Times this week.

 Last week's address:

29 East 2nd Street = Boukies

This weeks spot follows typical Donde Dinner? fashion.  Price, quality, and accessibility have all been taken into account.  You won't be waiting at the bar for two hours with $15 cocktails, and you don't have to worry about a dress code.  Just hop on the train, or your feet, or your bike, and head to:

 220 West 13th Street (btwn Greenwich and 7th)

Tonight's the Terroir Night

Marco Canora and Paul Grieco's Park Slope branch of Terroir is opening tonight.  The space has been ready for some time now and with a liquor license finally on premise, they're ready to go.  Starting at 5pm tonight, you can go get your hands on some good times, riesling, beer, bar snacks, and plenty of other good grub.  Menus are after the jump.

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Industry Night at Osteria Morini Going Strong

Back in July, we brought you a look at Osteria Morini's "Industry Night" special.  The promo started May 14th and was originally going to be nixed after Labor Day, but it's been extended through the first two weeks of November.  The deal still stands.  Any pasta on the menu is $10 from 9:30 to close on Monday nights.  Fall is right around the corner, that means there's going to be some new choices.  Bye bye tomatoes (almost) and hello braised anything.  Digest NY had to go back.  Here's a look at two new choices along with the spaghetti alla vongole, because we forgot to order it last time.

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