Bullwinkel’s debut novel, Headshot, is about an all-girls boxing tournament. It does not feature any fish. Illustration: Ryan Inzana Rita Bullwinkel is the editor of McSweeney’s Quarterly, author of the (excellent) novel Headshot, and an on-the-record superfan of steakhouses, most especially House of Prime Rib in San Francisco. “Everything costs like $65, but you get so much — a disgusting amount of food,” she says. “It’s one of those restaurants that has a really performative doggy bag because you’re meant to take stuff home. They’re like, ‘Do you want more bread to take, too?’” She was ..read more

At Penny, all of the seating is at a communal bar. Photo: Hugo Yu Wine bars are taking over the city, naturally — keeping pace with the natural-wine boom and as a matter of course. There’s no imported trend New York will not digest and then supercharge. The diminutive bars à vin of Paris, where you get a splash of better-than-ever local plonk and a little saucer of saucisson sec, are urban treasures where you can expect grumpy service (in English, at least) and indulge existentialist fantasies. But the influential neo–wine bars that began cropping up in New York — Estela in 2013 and the F ..read more

This article originally appeared in Eating New York, a weekly newsletter for subscribers featuring food news and advice straight from our critics’ mouths. Sign up here. Some vendors say new regulations are overly onerous. Photo: Suzanne Saroff April is a month of promise and optimism at the Union Square Greenmarket. The barren, beet-stained days of winter are over. Vendors have started to show up with bunches of agretti, ramps, and fiddleheads. Soon there will be asparagus. Once again, life will feel worth living. But this past April was marred by a terrible turn —&nbs ..read more

Cotton candy at the Four Seasons. Photo: Amy Sussman/January Images/Shutterstock All month, Grub Street has been documenting New York’s past through its assorted restaurant scenes. The focus has been the people, but this is not to say the food was completely secondary. Certain dishes have always had a way of breaking through to mass awareness and acclaim. To cap off the series, we present 14 of the buzziest individual dishes in the city’s history, the culinary innovations that were delicious and sophisticated enough to create little scenes entirely of their own making. 1913 Oyster Pan Roa ..read more

Collierville, TN  (RestaurantNews.com)  Mugshots Grill & Bar proudly announces the grand opening of its 21st location in Collierville, Tennessee, marking a significant milestone as the first Mugshots in Tennessee. This exciting expansion into the heart of Tennessee signifies Mugshots’ commitment to providing exceptional dining experiences and burgers to communities across the Southeast. Located in the vibrant city of Collierville, Mugshots Grill & Bar’s newest establishment is poised to become a hotspot for locals and visitors alike. Boasting a diverse menu featuring 19 sig ..read more

Photo-Illustration: Grub Street In 2008, then-governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich was famously musing on his options to fill the Senate seat that would soon be vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. “I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden,” he said. “And I’m just not giving it up for fucking nothing.” The sentiment, in part, got Blagojevich sent to prison; the same idea has worked remarkably well for New York City restaurateurs for decades. I haven’t run the numbers lately, but the city is home to something like 100 trillion restaurants (give or take). Yet throughout its history ..read more

Las Vegas, NV  (RestaurantNews.com)  Miami Grill, Florida’s iconic fast casual restaurant chain renowned for its vibrant Miami-inspired atmosphere and diverse menu has expanded into multinational retailer Walmart, starting with Las Vegas opening at 2310 East Serene Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89123. A second Miami Grill Walmart location will be opening in Oceanside, CA this Summer. “Miami Grill’s brand expansion with store locations around the country marks a monumental win for our brand,” expresses Evan Friedman, Executive Vice President. “Miami Grill has successfully captured the heart ..read more

Redstone, with her buttered oatmeal, tofu larb, and more. Illustration: Margalit Cutler Ruby Redstone, marked a New York “It” girl by this very magazine, is a fashion journalist and historian known on Instagram for her bold wardrobe of mixed prints. She graces her feed with billowing ruffles, bottle-blonde hair clipped back with seashell accessories, Mary Jane flats, and bright pops of color. As she puts it, she likes to “mix a bit of antique, vintage, and contemporary, every day.” In her monthly newsletter, Old Fashioned, she takes readers on a tour of modern couture to clothes of years ..read more

The year has brought six locations to the brand’s network of stores with more on the way. Fullerton, CA  (RestaurantNews.com)  Fans of ube-centric franchise Café 86 have reason to celebrate this month as three new locations have just been announced for California. The dessert and coffee franchise will be bringing new stores to Fullerton, Oxnard, and Turlock. The new Fullerton Café 86 was purchased by husband and wife team, Dean Velasco Fonacier and Pauline Bianca Cansino Quintana. Franchise partners Austin and Breanne Meyer have signed for the store in Oxnard, and Hurmuz Lazarian i ..read more

Photo: Eye Ubiquitous/Alamy For New York’s anniversary, we are celebrating the history of the city’s restaurants with a series of posts throughout the month. Read all of our “Who Ate Where” stories here. I arrived in Manhattan by train from Toronto, in September 1983, to start an off-campus studio program. It must have been early evening, and we all packed ourselves and our luggage into a large (old-school) checkered yellow cab, headed downtown from Grand Central. One of the first stops was at St. Marks Place and Avenue A. As the cab turned the corner from Third Avenue, a v ..read more