Go ahead, order the king crab
Uncle Lou, San Sabino, Marc Murphy, Bayon, BKLYN Larder, best cheese shops, RaiNao, Saiko, Gen Z bosses, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Person
Deadliest catch
“Lock, it’s Larry!,” said someone calling from inside what sounded like a sold-out Madison Square Garden. I don’t have any friends named Larry.
“Larry! From Uncle Lou!” Ah, yes, that Uncle Lou: the Chinatown restaurant where we had a big birthday dinner planned for my wife the next night. “We’re going to be able to get the Alaskan king crab, if you want to go ahead with it,” he continued. “It’ll be about nine pounds, at a price of $60 per pound.”
I did the math in my head for our group of nearly 20 people. It sounded like a reasonable investment. “Let’s do it,” I said.
“We’ll serve it over three courses!” Larry continued. “First, king crab legs!” Great, I said. “Second, fried crab!” Great, I said, more emphatically. “And finally, crab fried rice!” Great! I was screaming now, partly out of my own excitement and partly to make myself heard over the din of dinner hour at Uncle Lou on the other end of the line. After I hung up, I thought to myself: Now that? That was a great phone call.
The next night, around two round 10-top tables pushed together, our group oohed and ahhed — and in a few cases, recoiled — when our Alaskan king crab, very much alive and writhing, was proffered to us, then placed on the table. One brave soul in our party picked it up by two legs and posed with it in the style of a Deadliest Catch deckhand, before the crab was whisked back to the kitchen for prep. A member of the Uncle Lou team cupped his hand to my ear: “Closer to 10 pounds!”
Our crew devoured all three crab courses — be sure to mind the shell bits in its fried iteration — along with a feast of plates that kept our twin lazy Susans spinning all night. Special praise to the stuffed eggplants, chilis, and fried tofu; bone-in crispy garlic chicken; and lobster Yee Mein (aka longevity noodles, for a birthday feast, of course).
Uncle Lou, a Cantonese restaurant that opened towards the bottom of Mulberry Street in late 2021, is (like Rolo’s in Ridgewood) another pandemic-era spot that somehow emerged from that era over-delivering, not just on food, but also, the pure fun and joy of dining out. When king crab goes out of season, perhaps a whole roast suckling pig or Dungeness crab feast, each available with three-day notice? Don’t worry, they’ll call to confirm. –Lockhart Steele
→ Uncle Lou (Chinatown) • 73 Mulberry St • Wed-Mon 11a-10p • Reservations for groups of six or more: (212) 966-5538.
RESTAURANTS • Intel
FULL BOAT: It’s amazing how many restaurants there are in New York — and how many you wish were just a bit larger. Perfect example: West Village Italian mashup Don Angie, still one of New York’s hardest restaurants to book, six years running. Tonight, the team is opening San Sabino (above), an Italian seafood spot next door on Greenwich Avenue. It feels like dining inside a Louis Vuitton trunk, and will undoubtedly be another very tough table. Reserve.
A FOUND operative dined at San Sabino during previews and reports a standout dish: Lobster Triangoli, a reverse Chinese soup dumpling, but Italian. They come four to a plate, and look like long flat ravioli, draped in foam. Inside, a crimson, lobster-studded, tomato-laced vodka sauce escapes once the pasta’s thin skin is pierced.
ANGKOR WHAT?: A FOUND correspondent emails: “Worthy of attention: Newly opened Bayon Cambodian Restaurant (Upper East Side) is the reincarnation of Angkor Bistro in the same space, which went belly up mid-pandemic. Same chef and hostess (Ming and Mandy), same menu, albeit evolved. It was in my regular rotation through 2020. The Pradhok, the crepe, the nem nuong, the tamarind duck, and the amok are all sensational.” Reserve: (646) 476-4709.
MARC IT UP: Following last week’s report that chef Dan Kluger is operating a three-nights-a-month tasting menu pop-up inside Greywind comes word that chef Marc Murphy is charting a similar course. In the space that once held his restaurant Landmarc and has more recently served as an events space, Murphy is helming Marc179 (Tribeca), his own three-nights-a-month $75 prix fixe with a rotating menu. Next bookings: April 11-13. Reserve.
NYC RESTAURANT LINKS: Design watch: at BondST Hudson Yards, intimacy meets elegance • In Soho, Scott Sartiano brings back exclusive nightclub Submercer • Cote plans Midtown location to open next year • Ruth Reichl wonders, Is the $39 lunch at Porter House the best lunch deal in New York? • Cafe Carlyle is NYC’s last great supper club • Are moderately priced restaurants doomed in Tribeca?
WORK • Tuesday Routine
WFH playlists
JULYSSA LOPEZ • deputy music editor • Rolling Stone
Neighborhood you work in: South Slope
It’s Tuesday morning, where are you working?
I usually go into the Rolling Stone/PMC office near Bryant Park about once or twice a week, but on Tuesdays, I’m working from home. After I drop my two-year-old son off at daycare, I might grab coffee on the way back — I love Os Cafe in South Slope and Daytime Cafe in Windsor Terrace (my son's favorite sweet ever is their tahini chocolate chip cookie). If I have extra time, I might go to Elk Cafe, also in Windsor Terrace, which has a really nice patio. (It's also where my husband wrote a lot of his forthcoming book, Custodians of Wonder: Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive.)
On my walk, I usually catch up on news and podcasts. One of my main beats is music and culture from Latin America, so I listen to stuff like Radio Ambulante's El Hilo, which I'm a really big fan of; I also love Songmess, Radio Menea, and Alt. Latino. I’m writing a lot about musica Mexicana for an upcoming story, so I’ve also been revisiting Ídolo: The Ballad of Chalino Sánchez, a podcast Sonoro and Futuro Studio did a few years back about beloved King of Corridos/rumored cartel hitman Chalino Sanchez, whose legacy continues to inspire a new generation of artists.
What’s the Tuesday morning scene at your workplace?
The first thing I do when I log in is check Slack and emails and start getting my editorial calendar ready. We have news and production meetings starting at 10 a.m. every morning, so I try to get my ducks in a row before then, making sure pieces have been assigned, writers have clear deadlines, etc. I think of this as my “admin mode” and typically use the time to catch up on new albums or singles. This week, I've been listening to a few people we've written about recently: Puerto Rican saxophonist/singer RaiNao released an album called Capicú I love, the new Serpentwithfeet record Grip is great, Shygirl's EP Club Shy is super fun, Cuban artist Daymé Arocena‘s Alkemi is really beautiful.
What’s on the agenda for today?
By 11 a.m., I start diving into assignments — that's usually edits, but I try to write as much as possible. Right now, we’re getting ready to launch the next edition of the Rolling Stone print magazine, so I've been doing a ton of work on a few different stories: I'm editing a piece on a Peruvian artist, which has sent me down a rabbit hole of listening to Los Saicos, considered the first proto-punk band. If I’m not listening to music that’s part of story research, I usually try to focus with a lot of ambient music. I’m a huge Brian Eno fan and also love The Books, William Basinski, and Grouper. I interviewed the artist Ethel Cain a while back, and she shared this great playlist that’s probably my go-to on busy days.
What’s for lunch?
My husband and I both work from home on Tuesdays, so we try to break (if we can) to catch up on each other's day and have a proper meal together. If we grab takeout, we both love a few local places near us, Java for Indonesian and Saiko for Korean-Syrian fusion. If we're cooking, we might try to stop by United Meat Market, a local butcher that’s been in the neighborhood for a long time.
Any plans tonight?
We do a lot of dinners at Crosta, a super kid-friendly restaurant run by the same people who own Piccoli Trattoria in Park Slope and Bella Osteria in Clinton Hill. If we're feeling ambitious and found a babysitter, we're big fans of Epistrophy in Nolita, which has Sardinian-inspired food.
In all likelihood, I'm in bed with a book by 10 p.m. Right now, I'm reading Blackouts by Justin Torres, Every Day Is for the Thief by Teju Cole, and Kathleen Hanna’s memoir Rebel Girl.
WORK • Or don’t work
Gen Zzzz…
Amidst the flurry of post–pandemic “future of work” takes, a dominant theme suggests that Americans are increasingly detached from their jobs. They don’t want to go to the office, they don’t want to hang out with co-workers, and maybe they don’t want to work at all.
Witness two exemplars of this form from the Wall Street Journal last week:
What Gen Z Will Lose if They Don’t Have Friendships at Work?:
Key stat: “[P]eople who were 51 years or older were twice as likely to have met at least one of their friends at work (44%) than people under 30 (21%).”
Americans Don’t Care as Much About Work. And It Isn’t Just Gen Z.:
Key stat: “In 2017, 24% of respondents to a Pew survey said their job or occupation was very important to their identity. In 2021, just 17% did. Later surveys corroborate this finding.”
To explain the shift, a secondary, emerging theme is that Americans, particularly younger Americans (maybe it is just Gen Z!), are increasingly detached from work as defined by previous generations. It’s not necessarily the labor they’re resisting, but the offices, forced social structures, and broken systems inside of work culture.
And when they can gain control of those systems, they’re upending them. See also in the WSJ last week:
What’s It Like to Work for a Gen Z Boss? Very Different:
Key stat: “According to a report published last year by Deloitte, Gen Z workers consider ‘empathy’ the second most important trait in a boss; their managers, on the other hand, rank it a distant fifth. (The No. 1 value for Gen Z: patience.)”
That means more mental health check-ins, understanding bosses, and maybe even “personal user manuals” for employees. And until this transition is settled: more trend pieces on the future of work. –Josh Albertson
WORK LINKS: Is Manhattan’s flight to quality over? Prime ‘class A’ rents plateau • Chelsea Piers' new owner inherits a cash cow resting on a soggy foundation • Office-to-residential conversions are tough. Here’s how to do it. • 180 days is ridiculous.
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GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
When the larder is bare
BKLYN Larder, an exemplary cheese-and-provisions shop on Flatbush Ave., was founded by the owners of Franny’s, the beloved Prospect Heights pizzeria... that Brooklynites haven’t stopped mourning since its closure in 2017. At risk of shuttering in that year too, BKLYN Larder managed to survive because of Mandy Wynn, a local resident who took over the business and continues to run it today.
Inside, find a broad range of cheeses, from herby house-marinated feta to pungent French Roquefort to caramel-y Dutch goat gouda, as well as charcuterie, like Olympia Provisions salami and Casella’s prosciutto. I often walk there to buy my favorite French butter and local yogurt, but the business isn’t just for ingredient nerds. The shop also carries excellent prepared foods like sandwiches, sweets, grazing boards, and house-made gelato — all with a side of neighborly enthusiasm. –Phoebe Fry
→ Shop: BKLYN Larder (Prospect Heights) • 228 Flatbush Ave • Daily 10a-7p.
GOODS & SERVICES LINKS: The Brooklyn Erewhon that never existed • Whole Foods planning small-format shop on Upper East Side • Why are grownups waiting in line to buy candy at BonBon on the LES? • Champagne era for luxury industry prices start to go flat • The quiet man who makes fashion brands pop • Meet the glove maker to the stars.
GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines
Cheese shops
BKLYN Larder (Prospect Heights), gourmet grocery with artisan cheese