Finish your lunch before reading further; Eater has received a nauseating email from a diner who found a little something extra in her bowl of grits at Tribeca's Kitchenette: "Halfway through my friend's grits, she noticed a worm on her spoon. When we combed through the bowl, however, we found that the entire portion was filled with worms and larvae. It was atrocious." Wait, it gets better – the server offered to bring them a......

With more families turning to food stamps as food prices increases, more farmers markets are accepting them. The Farmers' Market Federation of NY says that food stamp sales have grown to $90,000 in 2007 from $3,000 in 2002 (helped in part by wireless technology that allows the farmers to accept payments by food stamp debit card); executive director Diane Eggert told the AP, "We're already outpacing 2007, so I think we're going to see significant......

Earlier this year, vintners Paul Wegimont and Greg Sandor opened Bridge Urban Winery, an offshoot of their North Fork vineyard. Nestled by the Williamsburg Bridge in a blossoming artisanal corridor that includes Marlow & Sons and Diner, their sleek yet cozy wine bar specializes in strictly New York State wine, as well as food pairings prepared with all locally-sourced ingredients. On Sunday Bridge will host a seasonal, three course Bloody Mary brunch (made with farm......

For some people, food is a means of sustenance, or at least a way to pad the stomach before a night of binge drinking. For others, it's a passion, and for a smaller minority, a career. But for celebrity "Chef-at-Large" Anthony Bourdain, it's clearly become a problem. To hear him tell it on his blog today, the man could use some help scoring primo stuff in NYC: "How come I gotta go halfway across the......

Restaurant Week, which was supposed to end after Friday night, has been turned into Restaurant Summer, with 130 restaurants extending their prix-fixe deals on weekdays all the way through Labor Day. The special three course menus – $24.07 for lunch and $35.00 for dinner – have proven extra-popular with recession minded diners this month, according to NYC & Company, which organizes the biannual deal. Restaurants participating in the Labor Day extension include such well-reviewed places......

In May a lavishly appointed homage to New Orleans's French Quarter opened in the theater district. Called Bourbon Street Bar & Grille, the two-story restaurant evokes the Big Easy with gas lamps, wrought iron railings, reclaimed stained glass windows, and a massive high-topped bar that dominates the ground floor lounge, where Allen Boyd's classic New Orleans cocktails are served with all fresh ingredients and accompany a casual dining menu. Upstairs, there is an outdoor......

Di Fara Pizza in Midwood may be revered by everyone from Brian Chase from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to New York Mag’s Josh Ozersky – who makes a point of living within walking distance of the joint – but Gotham City Insider is not impressed. After a recent visit, she slams the thin crust pizza mecca as “a spot for tourists to take pictures of an old man cutting basil onto a pizza.” And furthermore:......

A Queens woman has just joined the growing family of New Yorkers who've found foreign objects in their fast food. Last week a man found a serrated knife in his Subway sandwich, now a 25-year-old Julisa Caba says she discovered a metal screw when she bit into a McDonald’s apple pie. A Health Department spokesman tells the Daily News, “The McDonald's [on 21st Street in Astoria] will receive a full sanitary inspection, with additional focus......

Earlier this month news of Brooklyn Bowl opening in Williamsburg started to spread. The bowling alley, located over by The Gutter and right next to the Brooklyn Brewery, is also a venue, and has promised to offer up some grub once they open in the fall. So far former Wetlands owner Peter Shapiro and manager Charley Ryan, who are opening the joint, have been hush hush about the dining options at the place, but now......

There was some surprise when Geoffrey Zakarian’s three star restaurant Country (pictured) was shut down by the Department of Health last Friday. But it turns out that fruit flies, mouse droppings and a fly in the Maker’s Mark were the least of its problems – the main infraction was the restaurant’s unapproved sous vide method, which Country utilizes to vacuum-seal raw meat in plastic for slow cooking at low temperatures. The Times reports that Zakarian......

The Sun’s Paul Adams is the latest critic to get around to Hundred Acres (pictured), the meticulously-sourced, farm-to-table restaurant which used to be Provence. While the Daily News was haunted by the ghosts of the old restaurant, Adams says “the transformation is a delightful blast of fresh air. A sultry Southern accent marks the restaurant's menu… where "seasonal" isn't just a buzzword, but where you actually look forward to returning season after season to see......

Yesterday’s notice about the long-overdue return of the Red Hook ball field food vendors elicited comments from disgruntled eaters who were disappointed by the new carts, which limit the vendors’ cooking space and caused massive, hour-plus lines. Commenter sofabait seems to reflect a growing consensus that the new Health Department oversight has changed things for the worse: “The exhaust fumes from their constantly idling trucks totally killed my appetite. Not sure if that is better......

As promised, the beloved Latin food vendors returned to the Red Hook soccer fields this weekend, over a month and a half later than usual. After nearly getting evicted from the park last year, the vendors had to spend thousands of dollars to buy new carts and other equipment to meet the Health Department’s requirements. According to Eater, Cesar Fuentes, leader of the vendors association, called the DOH-mandated changes "a financial and emotional burden… [But]......

This week’s New York Magazine is all about finding the cheapest eats in the city, but the most obvious source of cheap (illegal) food may be clumsily flying right before our eyes. “Eating pigeons is as American as eating pumpkin pie,” says Wired’s Alexis Madrigal, who's made a persuasive argument for pigeon as the next logical step in the locavore trend. He argues that all pigeons need “is a re-branding. Just as the spurned Patagonian......

The Post has the latest "oh sweet Christ, what the hell is this thing in my food!?" story, and this one’s a keeper: 27-year-old John Agnesini plans to sue Subway after he found a large serrated knife baked into the bread of his 12-inch cold-cut sub. Agnesini bought it from a Subway on West 35th Street last month during his lunch break: After taking a few bites I could tell something didn't taste right. Then......

The Red Hook Latin street food vendors will finally be returning to the ball fields this weekend after a three month delay that has left some of the 13 merchants drowning in debt. The Brooklyn Paper has it that some have spent over $35,000 to purchase new stands and satisfy Health Department inspectors, who threatened to shut the vendors down last year until a huge public outcry forced the city to reconsider. But was it......

Rhong-Tiam fills a deep and dimly lit space in the row of businesses occupying the block of LaGuardia Place between 3rd and Bleecker Streets. By anyone's guess, the decor is a composition of remnants from the previous owner, with black and white striped built-in boat seating lining the north wall, and another dozen or so tables on an elevated platform, bordered by a white fence strung with fake ivy. A magenta scooter sits in......

In “soft-opening” mode since Wednesday, Macondo is a new Lower East Side restaurant (157 East Houston) that aims to “elevate ‘comida de la calle’ (Latin street food) to the gourmet level.” Small plates span the Spanish-speaking world, with cocas from Barcelona, empanadas from Colombia, piragüas from the Caribbean, churros con chocolate from Spain, tacos from Mexico, and arepas from Venezuela. The place was well packed by 8 p.m. last night, and if food critics think......

Seems those choir boys at Water Taxi Beach really believe all that stuff about giving being better than receiving. So take advantage of their munificence by eating free BBQ chicken at their Long Island City oasis Wednesday night – the handout is a reprise of yesterday's fowl philanthropy at WTB: “We had such a good time giving away free BBQ Chicken on Sunday that we are doing it again. We have 3 cases of fresh......

While the Unfancy Food Show held its humble affair in Williamsburg this past Sunday, the Fancy Food Show (yes, actual names) has been holding court this week with its annual massive event over at the Jacob Javits Center. Over 6,000 vendors from around the world will give out close to 200,000 samples in what is North America's largest specialty food event. Out of that cast of thousands, the weirdest specimen we spotted was Jelly Belly's......

Let’s not let the bitter turf war between the Fancy Food Show and the Unfancy Food Show eclipse the other fine food event going down this weekend. Sunday marks the third seasonal New Amsterdam Public market – the winter version was a big hit last December, drawing thousands despite a huge snowstorm. The one day-only event draws fine artisanal food vendors to the plaza fronting the New Market Building down by the South Street Seaport.......

The Brooklyn community board that covers Bay Ridge is fed up with the food vendors who clog 86th Street – all three of them. “The issue is cleanliness,” asserts the board’s District Manager Josephine Beckmann, whose husband is a police lieutenant. “It would be best to have no vending at all. It just causes problems.” So the board has unanimously urged the city’s Department of Small Business Services to banish them from the block. Sam......

Just as fast food chains Taco Bell and Wendy's are bringing the tomatoes back to their menus, the NYC Health Department announced that there have been six more reported cases of salmonella, bringing the total of NYC area cases of the disease to seven. For the past few weeks, more and more cases of salmonella connected to tainted tomatoes have been reported across the country, forcing restaurants--especially national chains--to reconsider the role of raw tomatoes......

Shalizar: Bangladesh native Parvez Eliaas and his Iranian partner Kaz Bayati have just opened their second Persian restaurant on the Upper East Side, not far from their original venture, Persepolis. According to Thrillist, the new bistro is distinguished by exposed brick and a spacious bar, where old world wines, pomegranate cocktails and wild berry-infused vodkas can be savored. The Middle Eastern menu includes delicacies like baby lamb stew and salmon kebab. 1420 Third Avenue near......

If "butter" flavored popcorn and Sour Patch Kids aren’t your ideal movie snack food, then you'll probably find the New York City Food Film Festival much more palatable. Starting Saturday at Water Taxi Beach in Long Island City, Queens, the festival will pair 18 movies with relevant munchies under the night sky. George Motz, who started the festival last year with chef Harry Hawk, says he wanted to create “a cinematic scratch 'n sniff......

It was a big night for New York at last night’s James Beard Awards. The "Oscars of food" took place at Avery Fisher Hall complete with red carpet and celebrity hosts--Sex and the City's Kim Cattrall joined Iron Chef Bobby Flay at the podium, and much like the Oscars, engaged in some rather awkward “witty” banter: Kim: I’d like to have a throwdown with you, Bobby. Bobby: Sure, I’d challenge you in the kitchen anytime.......

While skyrocketing food prices are sparking riots around the world, in New York the crisis is forcing restaurants like Good Enough to Eat to make due with frozen blueberries in their pancakes! The owner tells the Times the blueberries she gets shipped from Maine are now $38 per flat, up from $24 last summer. A five gallon jug of Canadian maple syrup is now $250, up from $200. And a 100-pound sack of flour costs......

Red Hook residents who used to party at Lillie’s bar on Beard Street may be surprised to discover that right next door to the decadent nightspot was an elegant restaurant waiting to be born. What was previously storage space has been thoroughly overhauled into a French bistro called La Bouillabaisse, which owner Neil Ganic (Petite Crevette) hopes to have running in time for the June 18th grand opening of IKEA, conveniently located across the street.......

Photo of Tavern on the Green petting zoo courtesy Pixietart. Central Park’s Tavern on the Green – which Wallace Shawn best described in a thinly-veiled allusion as that “always overcrowded café to whose allure all visitors to the park would eventually succumb on even the nicest days, despite the well-known quality of its ambiance and food” – has agreed to cough up $2.2 million dollars in a discrimination lawsuit. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity......

If you’ve got an adventurous appetite and don’t mind a mob scene, tonight’s Taste of Times Square shindig is for you. Starting at 5 p.m., 46th Street between Ninth Avenue and Broadway will be turned over to vendors serving samples from local restaurants. They’ve got everything from Applebee’s to the Hawaiian Tropic Zone, bros! Peruse the full list here; there are also plenty of non-chains like Chop Suey and Chilean restaurant Pomaire. Tickets redeemable for......