Andanada on West 69th street was one of two UWS restaurants that received their first Michelin star this week.
Two restaurants just got their first Michelin stars, Tavern got a new chef, and Bustan won accolades. Oh, and they’re testing solar-powered ice cream carts in Central Park.
Michelin released its 2015 restaurant guide, and several Upper West Side restaurants received stars. Jean Georges got 3 stars, while Andanada, Dovetail, Lincoln Ristorante, Picholine and Telepan got one each. It was the first star for both Andananda and Picholine, so congrats and Bon Appetit!
Tavern on the Green picked celebrated California chef Jeremiah Tower to run the restaurant. (Former chef Katy Sparks left a few months ago.) Tower was a trailblazing chef in the 80’s and 90’s but has mostly been scuba diving and renovating old houses in recent years. Some people are already questioning the choice. “Bringing in a 71-year-old kitchen legend who hasn’t run a restaurant in nearly 20 years is either a masterstroke, or a stroke of madness. I’d hope for the first, but bet on the second,” wrote Steve Cuozzo.
Bustan was named the best restaurant on the UWS by the Village Voice. “Above 14th Street, there’s no better place for modernized Middle Eastern cuisine.”
Apparently, there are solar-powered ice cream carts in Central Park now courtesy of European food company Unilever. And they’re the first ever in the world, apparently. “New Yorkers can cool down by grabbing a Good Humor or Magnum ice cream bar or Popsicle from the new, and first-ever, solar-powered freezers that are now being tested in Central Park.” Has anyone seen these?
Good Humor eh?!
Well, as the Assistant Custodian* at the excellent secondary school Manhattan Center for Science & Math (M.C.S.M….a.k.a. Manhattan Center for S and M 😉 ) was fond of saying every time someone’s bad joke laid an egg, “If you don’t like good humor, try Bungalow Bar**!”
*as all veteran NYC teachers know, the most important staff-members to befriend in any school are the custodial staff and the secretarial staff…they are the true power-players, much more important than any principal or other administrators (take special note of the word “MINI” in “administrator”!)
**For readers too young to know, Bungalow Bar was a brand of street-vended ice cream treats sold from little white trucks sporting fake “bungalow roofs”…and they did NOT play annoying jingles!