"NewYorkRestaurants" news and stories

• Chicharrones, anyone? US plans to loosen regulations on pork-rind products.
• Restaurants are closing and reopening at record speeds in New York. How long does it take to change the look and the menu?
• After the massive recall of cured meats last week, popular labels such as Daniele, Dietz & Watson, Black Bear of the Black Forest and Boar's Head found themselves recalling products due to possible salmonella poisoning.
• Food & Wine published their list of the World's Top 10 Life-Changing Restaurants. Two American restaurants made the cut -- Thomas Keller's The French Laundry and Dan Barber's Blue Hill at Stone Barns.

For all its vaunted culinary diversity, New York is actually surprisingly provincial. Sure, this is a place where someone can pay $1000 for a plate of paella or $175 for a burger, but many New Yorkers seem unwilling or unable to travel far from their comfort zone. When people think of NYC's culinary wonderland, they generally imagine Manhattan; more specifically, they imagine the island's southern end, where former ethnic enclaves like Little Italy give an Epcot-style glimpse at culinary diversity, and high-priced haute cuisine joints offer dishes like sauteed wallaby foreskins garnished with eel farts for only slightly more than the cost of a used Saab.

The 2008 Zagat guide lists over 1,500 restaurants in the borough of Manhattan. By comparison, the Bronx has a mere 26. Part of the reason for this lies in the simple fact that the Bronx can't financially support the kind of diverse restaurant scene that fills Manhattan. The other side, however, lies in basic chauvinism: most Manhattanites are either too frightened or too ignorant to venture past 125th Street. This was recently played out in New York Magazine's "Where to Eat 2009" issue. Although the author, Adam Platt, dedicated an entire section to "Big Fat Italian" restaurants, he focused entirely on upscale Manhattan eateries, completely ignoring the Bronx's impressive (and authentic) Arthur Avenue neighborhood. By comparison, this would be like writing an article on barbecue that ignores Memphis, but obsesses over the McRib.

When I go into a fast food place such as McDonald's, Burger King, or Wendy's (which I think I've done maybe 3 times in the past 3 years), I know beforehand that I have made a decision to eat badly that day. I don't care if these places have "salads" or "low-fat foods," it's still fast food to me, and I don't need anyone to tell me what I'm about to eat probably has a lot of fat and calories.

Having said that, I see no real problem with New York City restaurants having to show calorie info where customers can see it. The law took effect earlier this week. Some of the fast food companies argued that it "violated their First Amendment rights," which I still don't understand. Some places are putting the info in areas where they're not immediately accessible to customers, while other places, like Subway, have the info upfront.

Fines will start being issued October 1 for restaurants that violate the law.

And you thought a two-month advance reservation for French Laundry in California's Napa Valley was a big deal? Try going out in New York City. If you were lucky enough to have a hotel room at the Marriott Marquis, you made that reservation in 1983. Dinner too? The Rainbow Room was completely booked for New Year's Eve 1999 four years in advance.

It's not quite so difficult to land reservations in premier spots these days. Sure it takes some careful planning, a lot of patience, and some quick reflexes on the redial button. An article in the New York Times lists some of the slightly more difficult tables in the city -- Per Se, Mario Batali's Babbo, Le Bernardin -- and a good strategy for "getting in."