Chris Crowley

2 weeks ago | grubstreet.com | Chris Crowley

The topic du jour inside the New York restaurant industry is not who makes the best new spritz or which Greenmarket stand’s rhubarb is at its peak: It’s general managers, specifically how few good ones are out there. “The other day, our linen supplier came in, and he was like, ‘Yeah, there’s a lot of high-profile general-manager changes in the city,’” says Austin Baker, the owner of the Snail, a bistro on the northeastern edge of McCarren Park.

3 weeks ago | grubstreet.com | Chris Crowley

The eviction notice has been posted to the front window of Mah-Ze-Dahr’s now-closed location in the West Village. Mah-Ze-Dahr, the high-end bakery known for its cheesecake and brownies, has been given the boot from its West Village location. A two-week eviction notice for the business was posted in April, and the storefront is now dark.

1 month ago | grubstreet.com | Chris Crowley

Eric Huang says it might reopen, but it also might not. Tomorrow will be the last day to get a chile-chicken sandwich and dirty fried rice at the Park Slope location of Pecking House, the Sichuan-meets-southern fried-chicken spot — at least for a while. Rumors started bubbling up this week that the restaurant would close because of a rent dispute, but it sounds like something more complicated is afoot.

1 month ago | grubstreet.com | Chris Crowley

Ryan Hardy in 2019. Vinny Milburn runs the seafood wholesaler Greenpoint Fish and Lobster, and he’s used to restaurant owners who don’t pay for their fish on time: “I joke that I am not a seafood provider — I’m a source of capital who offers a zero percent interest loan.” This is because chefs don’t buy ingredients like most people. Restaurants run on credit lines.

1 month ago | grubstreet.com | Chris Crowley

When Absolute Bagels closed in December, it shocked the Upper West Side residents who had come to depend on the 30-year-old store. (It also shocked them, perhaps, to learn about the multitude of health violations they had been willing to overlook for bagels that many of its fans deemed to be among the best in the city.) And then another jolt hit the neighborhood: Last week, the news broke that someone had taken over the space and was planning to reopen it as another bagel shop.