Here's to a New Legacy...

Skylark opened last week in the former Timboo's space.  It's the new bar from owner Leah Allen, who also owns Abilene Bar on Court Street.  The original bar from Timboo's got a facelift and remains intact.  You can belly up to it starting at noon everyday and get one of 14 beers available on tap.  A few sandwich options like chicken cordon bleu and roast beef, cheddar, and mashed potatoes on white bread will help absorb some of the booze.

There's no more pool table but you can get your pin ball on at either the Star Trek or Harlem Globetrotters machine.

If you look close enough you can see it still says "Bar" on either side of "Skylark."  This is from the old facade that was in place since 1969, when Timboo's opened on the corner of 11th Street and 5th Ave in Park Slope.

Reynards is Open in Williamsburg

Andrew Tarlow and Sean Rembold are the duo behind Diner and Marlow & Sons in Williamsburg.  The opening of Reynards last night in the Wythe Hotel marks the beginning of their third endeavor.

The project is the combined efforts of restauranteur Andrew Tarlow and Chef Sean Rembold coupled with Brooklyn developer Two Trees.  Reynards is the largest in Tarlow and Rembold's trio, and due to its hotel location, is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  The use of a wood-fired oven and grill will enhance the seasonal, American cuisine that persists at the teams other restaurants.

In an interview with GQ, Tarlow talks about his inspirations and his approach to room service.

"I see the restaurant as being the focal point and the meeting point of the hotel for traveling guests and certainly the local people in the community who live around here. So the notion is that we really want those two worlds to collide and be together and use this big grand bar and this place as the centerpiece for that."

Sandwich, Mile End Sandwich, Opens on Bond

There is a clientele for every idea that comes to fruition in the city and that doesn't exclude lunch-centric restaurants.  The guys at Torrisi realized this and opened Parm, and now serve their takes on classic Italian-American sandwiches in droves on Mulberry Street.  Joe Dobias is the chef at JoeDoe, and he and his wife Jill got in on the action when they opened their second restaurant JoeDough, a sandwich joint, in the East Village.

Husband and wife Noah Bernamoff and Rae Cohen have crossed the river and opened an outpost of their Brooklyn based Mile End Delicatessan at 53 Bond Street.  Mile End Sandwich offers about a dozen sandwiches, breakfast items (they're open from 8am - midnight seven days a week), soups, salads, and sides.  Oh, and poutine, obviously.

Andy 'Pok Pok' Ricker

Andy Ricker is the man behind the Portland based Pok Pok restaurants.  The east coast got its first taste of his Thai food in January, when Pok Pok Wing opened in the Lower East Side.  Last week, with the opening of Pok Pok Ny in Cobble Hill, the city gets its first full menu from the Thai food genius student.

In this interview Andy does with Eater, he talks about his past, his present, and his future, and how annoying it is to get shit for making Thai food without being of Thai descent.

"There's always going to be someone that will say that I'm a white dude doing fusion food, and I can tell you that that's absolutely not the case."

"There's been a lot in the press that calls me an expert on Thai food. None of that came from me. I'm a student and that's how I feel about it. I've got a lot to learn, even about the stuff that I already understand."

Andy Ricker is a perfect example of what succeeds in current restaurant trends.  He is a man obsessed with a particular cuisine who has gone to many reaches learning, studying, and ensuring that the food he is presenting is the closest thing you'll find outside its country of origin.  The incredible success of his restaurants is proof that, while he may not consider himself a master, he most certainly knows what he's doing.