L’Annam to Become Hardware Store
L’Annam, the Vietnamese restaurant on the corner of University and 13th that closed a few months ago, will become a larger version of the Basics Hardware store that is already on that block next door.
Looks like Tong Thai Brasserie is ready to open on 13th just east of University. The menu looks much more interesting than that of the average Thai place, and they will be doing delivery as well.
A month after its opening, the new Union Square Café is booming. With two bars, an extensive mezzanine, and two spaces for private dining, it holds 198, as opposed to the 152 it could accommodate on 16th Street. Some of the old art is on the walls, and the menu, though revised, still includes the bibb and red-oak-leaf lettuces salad and the tuna burger (now the 19th Street Yellowfin Tuna Burger). It also features a New York strip steak with marrow mashed potatoes and radish salad, which two women friends, on separate evenings, pronounced the best they had ever eaten. On one of those nights, I had the roasted pork rack with shell beans, kale, and fennel-apple mostarda, which was choice. The other time I chose the very rich, very satisfying pappardelle with duck and chanterelle sugo, Brussels sprouts, and winter squash. For any and every meal I would recommend for dessert the pumpkin-bread pudding with caramelized white-chocolate ice cream, because it is unforgettable and unmatchable.
Like its sister restaurant, Gramercy Tavern, only two blocks away, Union Square Cafe now stays open straight through from noon to 10 P.M. The sharp, better-paid staff, still warm and welcoming, now wear white shirts, open at the neck
They pretended like they would be back, but vegan-friendly Blossom du Jour on our block of 13th St. is done.
Go here to read today’s New York Times Real Estate section analysis of what’s going on in Union Square. Some interesting facts and figures, including the detail that One Union Square South is only 30 percent sold and that the white-brick Victoria (across 14th St.) recenty added “Union Square” to its name.
Adding them all up:
–Blue Bottle
–NewsBar
–Joe
–La Maison de Croque Monsieur
–Unnamed Japanese Bakery not yet open
–Blue Stripes Cacao Shop
–Baked by Melissa
–Le Café Coffee
–Nutella Café
–Grey Dog
–Pret a Manger
–Maison Keyser