The proposed complex for the Aqueduct Racetrack
Rendering: Courtesy of Delaware North Companies
- Another major development project has fallen victim to the recession—Delaware North Companies is unable to raise the $370 million needed to seal the deal with the state to build a casino at the Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens. [NYT]
- Dismissing rumors that it may turn the Rainbow Room into office space, Tishman Speyer revealed that it has hired a restaurant consultant to secure a new operator for the venue. [NYT]
- Seth Greenberg, owner of Capitale and Espace, is interested in Tavern on the Green and will be submitting a bid for the historic space. [NYO]
- Despite the real estate slump, there are several hotels planned for downtown Brooklyn, including a 300-room Sheraton. [Metro]
- Restaurateur Simon Oren, who operates eateries Marseilles and Nice Martin, will expand with a bilevel bistro on 33rd Street and 10th Avenue. [NYP]
- Keith McNally doesn't think Minetta Tavern is a historic spot and isn't hoping for any particular type of crowd. [Zagat]
- According to designer Steve Lewis, the Biltmore Room will reopen in April as the Gates. [BlackBook]
- Donatella Arpaia and Michael Psilakis, the pair behind restaurants Kefi and Anthos, will launch a seafood restaurant at Miami's Viceroy hotel. [NYP]
- Although Frank Bruni finds that at 10 Downing the "layout is awkward" and the noise sometimes "excruciating," he claims the menu from chef Jason Neroni is "more than ample compensation for the agitation." [NYT]
- At Co., a new pizza place in west Chelsea, Jay Cheshes is impressed with chef Jim Lahey's gourmet pies, but doesn't like the "cramped communal seating." [TONY]
- Disappointed by Butcher Bay, Danyelle Freeman pans the East Village seafood spot, where she claims "the most imaginative thing about Butcher Bay is its name." [NYDN]
