Annual Shareholders’ Meeting: December 3 — In Person!

Next week (May 27 to May 31), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors inside the building. We will be working on the new sidewalks around the building and installing new curbs and will be removing the sidewalk shed along 13th st. Additionally we will be working on the roofs of the building. The site will be closed on Monday, the 27th for the holiday.

The following week (June 3 to June 7), material and equipment deliveries and installation work will continue on all floors as well as sidewalk work.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, May 25th for interior, roof, and sidewalk activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City.

As Chris Cannon, formerly a partner in Convivio and Alto, prepares to return to Manhattan this fall with a new restaurant called All’onda,  In a market crowded with salumi boards, how will this new venture fit in or stand out? To get some perspective, Eater.com asked Chris:

What’s the difference between All’onda and every other Italian restaurant in New York? I think we’re taking…effectively, what we’re trying to do is take Venetian cuisine that’s always been a cuisine that is a meeting point of a number of different cultures — as most cuisine actually in Italy is — and Venetian cuisine has always been a meeting point with Eastern cuisine and culture.  I think that what we are trying to do is basically take Venetian cuisine and a lot of seafood cuisine in Venice and take a very sophisticated Japanese lens and apply it to traditional Italian cuisine. So, I would say that you take a traditional dish and really not changing the basic components of traditional Italian cuisine, but changing in the sense that you’re taking the same ingredients and treating them a little bit differently and making them more modern, more interesting.

The suburbanization of Union Square continues with the arrival of the Panera Bread chain on Union Square East between 14th and 15th Streets.

This holiday season, here are some of Union Square’s best bets for a delicious ending to your Thanksgiving meal. ‘wichcraft (11 East 20th Street, 212 780-0577) is offering apple crumb, pumpkin with graham cracker crust, and pecan pies. Don’t forget a pint of their vanilla ice cream for a scrumptious a la mode option. Starting November 1st, Whole Foods Market (4 Union Square South, 212 673-5388) will be offering 9-inch holiday pies with either an all-butter pâte brisée or equally divine dairy-free crust. Choices include apple, blueberry, cherry, vegan pumpkin, vegan apple-cranberry-currant, traditional pumpkin and pecan. If that’s still not enough to fill your dessert cravings, visit City Bakery (3 West 18th Street, 212 366-1414) for their unforgettable homemade deep dish pumpkin pie.

On October 26, the owners of the upcoming Reyna restaurant, which is taking over the Le Midi space on 13th St., held an introductory Zoom call. Attendance was sparse, but it was interesting to hear their plans and to have the chance to voice concerns pre-emptively.

The restaurant will likely be open until 11 on weekdays and midnight on weekends. It is meant to be an upscale drinking/dining experience, not a noisy bar. They will also be using the Karaoke Cave space as a site for “French Karaoke” as well as sort of a holding space for people who may be waiting for a table (a problem Le Midi certainly never had).

They also plan to build a street-side dining shed, most of which will occupy the space now being used by Corkbuzz.

In general, they seemed quite eager to hear about any issues that nervous neighbors like us might have ahead of time, rather than deal with our anger later. They hope to open in the March/April time frame.

You can get an idea of what Reyna will be like by visiting the Web site for their two locations in Toronto:  www.barreyna.com 
If you have any questions, you can contact them directly:

Nicki at nicki@barreyna.com
Etienne at 646-421-4242.

7 For All Mankind has opened on the corner of 5th Ave. and 15th St. at the former site of Au Bon Pain. So instead of a $3 muffin you can get a $300 pair of jeans.