Seen & Heard: More of Le District Is Open

••• More of Le District opened yesterday, but not the grocery part in the rear. And I went to Beaubourg last night for dinner, but we aborted after a drink; to call the service hapless is a major understatement. (Pictured above: My dining companion’s “Negroni,” a.k.a. gin on the rocks with a wedge of lime.) I think I’ll wait a few weeks to try it again. In the meantime, perhaps the restaurant will add a meat-free dish to the menu.

••• I hope you enjoyed this year’s April Fool’s post. I feel for the folks who didn’t realize it was a joke—until I remember that that’s what you get for not reading every word of text. By the way, the Canal Street Post Office is landmarked.

••• You know how Trader Joe’s is considering a store at 28 Liberty? I hear that before that the company was sniffing around the former Megu space (but decided against it).

••• From Lynn Ellsworth at Tribeca Trust: “I’m trying to gather better data on how many rent-stabilized units are in Tribeca buildings scheduled for demolition. My own count is six buildings and about 80-100 affected units—57 Franklin, 67 Vestry, and 360 Broadway, and three more in south Tribeca. Not all have demolitions permits per se, but I have heard that people are getting eviction notices. The goal is to write a piece asking the Di Blasio administration to protect these buildings as part of its goal of keeping affordable housing in Manhattan.” You can email Lynn at lynnellsworth@tribecatrust.org.

••• It’s CSA time.

Birdbath CSA••• This was news to me. According to a 1990 article in New York magazine about the opening of Tribeca Grill, Streisand refused fingerprinting because she was “a militant civil libertarian.”

babs••• I’ve worn Dita eyeglasses for 13 years now, so I was thrilled that the brand has opened a spiffy store at 273 Lafayette. I had to ask them to replace a lost nut, and there was zero attitude. If you’re tired of the same old eyewear options, check it out.

 

7 Comments

  1. We went to Beaubourg yesterday for lunch and found it charming. It will be better once the outside scaffolding down, but service was excellent (we had a welsh waiter, whose name I didn’t get) and the two managers came and checked in, offering us a complimentary glass of wine. There was both buzz and anticipation. And the steak was great. We will definitely go again… We want to find out what a Belgian Brunch consists of!

  2. We had a similar experience. The hostess seemed confused. We sat at a two top in the bar and when the third waiter walked by us without acknowledging us, we left. The menu is not actually that appealing, especially for a place that’s going to have outdoor seating. I can see a lot of people ordering the burger or croquet Monsieur .

  3. We went for lunch at Beauborg and found the same experience. Every single item was incorrect.
    Drinks arrived and they were wrong and The main dishes arrived as appetizers. The food was fine, but I agree we will def be back in a few months when kinks are over.

  4. We tried Beaubourg on Friday evening and had a pretty good experience. Before dinner we had a glass of wine at the wine bar in Le District – the service was pretty slow but enjoyed the glasses of wine. When we went to Beaubourg to get a table the front of house was very disorganized; they weren’t able to figure out which tables were free versus taken. To be fair, it was only the second night they were open.

    Once we sat down we had a great experience. Dana, our server, knew the menu inside and out, made good wine recommendations, and took great care of us. We loved the charcuterie, the roast chicken for 2, and a pastry from the patisserie. The food was great. We’ll definitely be back once they’ve worked out the kinks.

  5. The Megu Space? Too small.

    How ’bout the space where Fairway was rumored to open – I believe it was 255 Greenwich Street right below Whole Foods?

    Too bad Amish Market can’t be kicked out and replaced by TJ’s. AM sucks. All it is an oversized Korean grocery

  6. Well Ive booked my birthday at Beaubourg for April 25th…lets see if they can handle a party of 10!! Update to come.

  7. Oh boy, negroni is pretty classic cocktail; shocking that they thought that was what they were serving.