UPON THE PALACE CLOSING FOR KITCHEN WORK
Upon the Palace, the Chinese restaurant that opened on Greenwich in November 2024, announced it is closing for a few days this week — October 5 to 8 — to make some urgent work in the kitchen, the team told me. (The website makes it sound like a new concept, but it is not.) Thanks to A. for the tip.

FIDI’S LUNCH BOX IS TOMORROW
The Downtown Alliance will host its annual celebration of local restaurants — Lunch Box — on Wednesday, October 7, from 11:30a to 2:30p at Fosun Plaza, 28 Liberty. The pop-up food fair features 11 restaurants including some fresh additions to the neighborhood’s dining scene. Lunch boxes are $10 each. Rain or shine. Admission is free.

LUDICO LOOKING GOOD FROM THE OUTSIDE
Ludico, the new Italian from the owners of Beefbar, looks really lovely from the outside. Talk about warm lighting… A. caught the shot above; that’s mine of the door below, with the deco touches. It could open soon…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT: GATED SCHOOL STREET
This is in Hudson Square, but I am putting it here as a source of inspiration: City-As School on Clarkson Street is getting a permanent swing-arm gate to close off part of a street (not sure which one…) to create a School Street, an expanded play area for kids. This is a project with NYC DOT and Open Plans. It took a year of study and design and a couple of grants to implement the gate, which the city of Paris uses all the time.