Plus, a Brooklyn cafe bans influencers from taking photos — and more intel
One of Chicago’s best restaurants is coming to Manhattan. Lula Cafe, a New American restaurant in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, will pop up at Altro Paradiso (234 Spring Street, at Sixth Avenue) from 12 to 4 p.m. on October 20 to celebrate the release of its cookbook. Lula Cafe owner Jason Hammel will be there making a handful of the restaurant’s popular dishes: littleneck clams with sorrel almond pesto, pappardelle with a walnut Bolognese, and more. In Chicago, the restaurant is known for its affordable prices and farm-to-table approach to cooking. Reservations are available online.
A BEC ramen stand is coming to Manhattan
Rāsheeda Purdie, the pop-up chef behind Ramen by Rā, known for New Yorkified interpretations of ramen like its BEC version, has signed on a food stand at the open-air Bowery Market in Noho. Purdie is a former fashion stylist whose client list included Beyoncé and Michelle Obama, before she went to culinary school, and worked at restaurants like Melba’s and Red Rooster in Harlem. She launched Ramen by Rā in 2021, originally as meal kits, before hosting pop-ups at the Lower East Side events space Sommwhere. This new headquarters for Ramen by Rā is targeted to open this November. — Emma Orlow, reporter
Brooklyn cafe says ‘no more influencers’
Dae, a new cafe and design shop that opened in Carroll Gardens, has banned its customers from taking photos and videos. “The TikToks and Instagram photoshoots have gotten a bit out of control,” the business shared in an Instagram Story last week. “Quick snaps” at your table are permitted, but Dae’s co-owner, Carol Song, tells Curbed that influencers have been pouring into the shop with Nikon cameras and tripods since she opened in August. Sometimes, they don’t even purchase food. “I didn’t want to be a place where people just come and go for the trend,” she said. “I regret we didn’t do it from the beginning.”
The original H Mart is back open
Woodside residents celebrated the return of the city’s first H Mart this month. The Korean supermarket now has locations in California and Hawaii, but it started with a single store at 59-18 Woodside Avenue, near 60th Street, in 1982. The grocer closed for renovations in 2021, leaving locals with one less home for Asian groceries and snacks.
Source: Eater