Biryani is classified as any number of spiced South Asian rice dishes, heavily spiced, and layered with meat—often chicken, lamb, or beef. The biryani at Sangam, a new hole in the wall spot on Bleecker Street just east of 6th Avenue, receives what owner Ishrat Ansari calls “an authentic royal haute cuisine preparation.” The description is definitely merited when it comes to his wife Rafat’s homegrown recipe, which is served all vegetable, with chicken,......

Marc Jacobs, who is no angel himself, had a questionable employee managing one of his three stores in the Village. The NY Post reports that 24-year-old Kyle Avila stole approximately $62K from the designer in just 18 months. Gawker notes that the Kansas boy also once posed nude for a Jacobs t-shirt (pictured), so maybe he just felt he was due. It appears no one was the wiser at the 385 Bleecker Street shop, as......

The police arrested a 19-year-old man suspected of attacking two women in the West Village earlier this month. The Post reports Anthony Rosado was "picked up" on Friday for the assaults. In the early hours of March 2, a man viciously accosted women in separate incidents on Bleecker Street. In one attack, he threw the victim to the ground, hit her head against the ground and ripped off her pants, while in the other, he......

Police are looking for a man suspected of assaulting two women in separate early Sunday morning incidents and released a surveillance video of him. One of the victims said after getting thrown to the ground she got away and called 911 - only for the attacker to try again as she walked on Bleecker Street. She told the Daily News, "I started walking and calling 911 on my cell ... and he attacked me again...I......

The police released a sketch of a man suspected of attacking two women early Sunday in the West Village. In both incidents, the women were exiting cabs when he attacked. Around 2:15 a.m., a 30-year-old woman got out of her cab at 240 Bleecker Street, near Our Lady of Pompeii school. According to the Post, the "hooded thug lunged from behind, threw her to the ground and smashed her head on the ground." Though the......

Elettaria: Hendrix shredded here once upon a time, when it was a music venue called The 8th Wonder, but now the stage is an open kitchen and South Asian-spiced American dishes are the stars. Decorated by the man behind Allen & Delancey, the seductive 72-seat interior (pictured) features a rustic reclaimed barn-wood ceiling, plush banquettes, old-world paintings and exposed brick walls. Appetizers include a dish of dayboat sea scallops with celery root puree, oxtail, Meyer......

When one hears there are caves at Murray’s Cheese, images of damp, subterranean chasms loaded with mounds of exotic fromage spring readily to mind. As a recent tour revealed, the cheeses aren’t stored and aged in actual caverns, but rather climate-controlled walk-in refrigerators designed by France’s leading affineur, Hervé Mons. Before entering the cheese storage area you’ll be told to wipe your feet on an antibacterial mat. This is to prevent unintended bacteria and molds......

Sure, you could go to a traditional sports bar to watch the Super Bowl, but that would just be so . . . traditional. We've rounded up a few more options for you -- find one to suit your mood. For something a little less ordinary, try the Blind Tiger. Having cleared up their liquor license drama from early last year, they've been up and back in action for some time now. As for......

Some people may prefer other bakeries, but from the looks of the crowd at the Magnolia Bakery's new Upper West Side location, people are hungering for some heavily frosted cupcakes. If the treats are available, that is. We stopped by the bakery yesterday, a day after its Saturday opening, and the shop was packed. And many of the customers were victim to the opening frenzy, because Magnolia ran out of cupcakes for a spell......

Easy, sugar fiends - the new Magnolia Bakery outpost on the Upper West Side (Columbus at 69th Street) isn't quite opening at 11AM as Eater reported yesterday. We walked by around 9:30AM and the sign said that they anticipated a noon opening. Magnolia had always been a popular West Village stop for more super-sugary and homey desserts when a seemingly sudden cupcake craze hit the city. Next thing we knew, there were analyses of......

Another pot farm bites the dust: A small fire in Queens led the Fire Department to over 200 marijuana plants growing inside a home. The FDNY wanted to inspect some smoking utility lines and entered another home at 61-20 Bleecker Street to turn off the electricity. When they got to Ridgewood home's basement, they found 217 pot plants, ranging in height from 2 to 6 feet, plus three illegal propane tanks. The home's occupant who......

THEATER: We like our comedy like we like our women: black and absurd. So it’s promising that the press release for a new play by Kevin Mandel uses those two irresistible words to describe A New Television Arrives, Finally. The strange story concerns “an American couple visited by a charismatic man presenting himself as a television set. Is the handsome stranger a charlatan or a guru?” Emmy award-winning actor Tom Pelphrey [Guiding Light] leads the......

This week Inside Edition aired footage of rats in some of New York's more popular restaurants. The statement we received from the program states: "In middle to late August, Inside Edition’s 'Rat Patrol' took to the streets of Manhattan between 1am and 4am peering their cameras and flashlights into the windows of a wide variety of eateries from fast food places to fine dining establishments." In total they found 22 restaurants harboring the urban......

After searching for the driver of a red Mitsubishi Eclipse that fatally ran over 7-year-old Christian Aceteopan in Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon, the police arrested Queens resident Jose Vargas for leaving the scene of an accident. Vargas was arraigned last night with bail set at $300,000; the NY Times notes that it was "$50,000 more than the assistant prosecutor...had requested." Vargas' license was also suspended. Witnesses had said that the Eclipse driver had hit the......

A boy riding his scooter on Bleecker Street between Central and Wilson Avenues in Brooklyn was killed after two cars struck him yesterday. Christian Acetopan, who would have started first grade this week, was pronounced dead at the scene. Around 5:20PM, a red Mistubishi Eclipse ran down Christian, who was with his brother (also on a scooter) and mother. A witness told the Daily News said the boy "was in the street riding the scooter.......

The PR team over at Mercadito sent us a very disturbing email earlier today: On Sunday, August 26, at 7:20 am Antonio Barranco Hernandez was killed, and Luis Romero and Augusto Bravo were seriously injured after a drunk driver slammed into the back of the van while the men delivered produce to Mercadito Grove restaurant, located at 100 Seventh Avenue South in New York City. Mercadito has set up a fund to accept donations on......

A jury convicted 15-year NYPD veteran Alberto Sanchez of beating his subordinate and girlfriend in Manhattan last year. Sharon Gandarilla had accused Sanchez of punching and kicking her on Bleecker Street after she had spoken to another male officer at a party. Sanchez and Gandarilla, who were in other relationships at the time, had been having a consensual relationship that started at a Harlem Precinct and continued when Sanchez, and then Gandarilla, transferred to the......

Yesterday, a police officer testified that her police captain boyfriend viciously beat her. Sharon Gandarilla, who was married to another man at the time of the affair, had filed a sexual-harassment suit earlier this month, alleging that 17-year NYPD veteran Alberto Sanchez had assaulted her multiple times during they three-year affair. She also claimed that Sanchez forced her to have sex at their East Harlem precinct house and at the Police Academy, where he was......

August 4: Winemaking Demo - Bottling Learn about the wine bottling process as students bottle, cork, capsule and label their 2006 and 2005 California wine in this final step. Stop by for a free demo and tour of the Piazza Brothers School of Winemaking, and taste the 2006 wines. 10:00 - 3:00, 690 Gulf Avenue, Staten Island, 732-299-8812. August 6: Regional Mexican Dinner at Mercadito Mercadito brings back their four-course regional Mexican dinners every Monday......

June 3: A Day A Whey (the Sequel!) Join Saxelby Cheesemongers for a day trip to the Valley Shepherd Creamery in New Jersey to see a sheep dairy in action. Learn about the cheesemaking process from start to finish and end the day with a picnic on the farm. 11 am to 7 pm. Tickets are $75 and are available online. June 4: Japanese Food Demonstration and Tasting Head on over to the Brooklyn Kitchen......

The papers take a look at the life of David R. Garvin, the man who shot and killed a restaurant employee and then two auxiliary police officers in a shocking Greenwich Village incident Wednesday night. Garvin's brother Charles Garvin spoke extensively with the Daily News, that his ex-marine brother said to him two weeks ago, "If anything ever happens to me, remember the name Morales." The employee at DeMarco's Pizza was named Alfredo Romero......

Last night, a man carrying two handguns and over 100 rounds of ammunition shot and killed a pizzeria employee in Greenwich Village and fatally shot two unarmed auxiliary police officers, before responding police officers shot him on Bleecker Street. The slain counterman at DeMarco's Pizza is being described as Romero Morales or Alfredo Romaro (we will refer to him as Romaro). The auxiliary police officers were identified as 19-year-old Eugene Marshalik, a NYU student,......

After a long-term struggle with the local community board over their liquor license, the Blind Tiger will be opening just in time for their 11th Anniversary. Per owner Dave Brodrick's email: The draught system is going in, we just ordered fifty kegs and I don't know how many cases, Louise is firing up the kitchen, and Carl Uhlman is flying back from Hawaii, having had to cut his vacation short. So on Thursday, sometime after......

As more restaurants are being closed as the city's health department tries to improve its inspection procedures, questions remain. First: As many of rodent problems are due to garbage pickup issues, will the city allow commercial businesses to have garbage disposals? Though residents are now allowed to have garbage disposals (thanks to Mayor Giuliani), business still aren't. The NY Sun reports that restaurant groups, like the National Restaurant Association and the Latino Restaurant Association, believe......

ART FAIR: The Fountain New York Independent Art Fair aims "to reflect the avant-garde in-your-face attitude of the Dada movement." Located a few blocks of the Armory show, it presents a ton of young Brooklyn based galleries. So go check out the works they have to showcase. 11am to 7pm, through the 26th // 660 12th Ave // Free THEATER: Tearing your hair out over lousy subway service, Williamsburg’s trust-fund hipsters, or the frequency of......

Restaurant Girl visits the newly open and extravagantly hyped Bar Martignetti, and concludes that "With some kick-ass cocktails and a satisfying menu, [it] will undoubtedly breed a following of aspiring regulars." Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: an electrocution on 33rd Street, a serious MVA on Bleecker Street, and an All Hands call on Delancey Street. Stupid burglar decision #1: robbing a VFW hall in Broad Channel, Queens. Stupid burglar decision #2: trying to hide......

December 1 & 2: Warm Up with Mulled Wine Stop by The Greene Grape and learn how to make this toasty winter warmer from the authors of DRINKOLOGY EATS: A Guide to Bar Food and Cocktail Party Fare. Using a recipe from their new book, James Waller and Ramona Ponce will share their expertise in making this festive drink, and they will be happy to sign a copy of any of their DRINKOLOGY books as......

Kevin Spacey is coming back to Broadway with the acclaimed London production of A Moon for the Misbegotten. (Spacey last appeared on the Stem in two other Eugene O’Neill plays, Long Day's Journey Into Night and The Iceman Cometh.) A Moon for the Misbegotten will begin previews on March 29th at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, which was recently befouled by the Twyla Tharp/Bob Dylan catastrophe The Times They Are A-Changin’. The incoming Spacey might bring......

Yesterday, there was an interesting NY Times article about new trends in retail store design. Namely, how some stores are eschewing big windows for more secretive look - and how Ruehl, an off-shoot of Abercrombie & Fitch for the post-college consumer, looks like a city townhouse. While there is Ruehl on Bleecker Street that sells accessories, most of the stores are in the suburbs. From the article:Intrigued by a store they cannot see into, consumers......

MOVIE ART: Young artists with wtf?-attitudes come together to bring us "Risky Business" - a showcase of mixed media, including video, sculpture, collage, painting, and photography. A parents-out-of-town themed art party will follow the opening. 6 to 8pm // Tonight through August 18th // PPOW [555 W. 25th St] // Free THEATER: It wasn't just the Fringe Festival opening this weekend. Waterwell's Marco Millions (based on lies), which is actually based on a not-very-famous play......