There’s been a lot of snarky ink spilled about how fast the ill-fated BarFry transformed into Cabrito. As is the case with many restaurants that fall under the scrutiny of bloggers, this new Mexican spot helmed by Dave Schuttenberg, whose pedigree includes stints at Fatty Crab and Craft, has already had the viability of its concept questioned. Blogger blathering aside, an initial visit shows Cabrito to be a high-end homage to a broad swath of......

Marc Jacobs, who is no angel himself, had a questionable employee managing one of his three stores in the Village. The NY Post reports that 24-year-old Kyle Avila stole approximately $62K from the designer in just 18 months. Gawker notes that the Kansas boy also once posed nude for a Jacobs t-shirt (pictured), so maybe he just felt he was due. It appears no one was the wiser at the 385 Bleecker Street shop, as......

This week the Times’s Frank Bruni hands down his verdict on Commerce (pictured), the trendy new inhabitant of 1911 West Village carriage house formerly occupied by Blue Mill Tavern, among others. Overall, he deems the new tenant fussy and cacophonous; chef Harold Moore’s “polyglot menu and intricately wrought dishes let him strut his stuff in a way that a more archetypal bill of fare might not. In doing so he creates a rankling dissonance, his......

The Times’s Frank Bruni chimes in at last on the abundantly reviewed Merkato 55 (pictured), an ambitious pan-African brasserie in the Meatpacking District that “pivots into a sexy evening for the Marc Jacobs set. It’s Spice Market on the Serengeti.” Dishes like the cast-iron pot of lamb meatball in smoked tomato sauce are "a delight," but overall it’s hit or miss. And some unlucky waiter made the mistake of pouring water into his wine glass......

Why would a triplex in the West Village, measuring about 3360 sq ft, go abandoned for decades? More importantly, what's inside? amNY takes a look at the mystery of 43 MacDougal Street, which has had locals rumor-mongering about it for ages."I heard that it used to be a hangout for the mafia, and there was a police shootout there, and they had to close it for evidence," said Tal Kon, 22, who has lived on......

Chef Anita Lo, whose intimate and sophisticated Barrow Street restaurant Annisa has been a hit for years, has now opened a bigger venture in the West Village. It’s a 120-seat Asian barbecue restaurant called Bar Q, which specializes in dishes like baby back ribs made with Lo’s mother’s “special sauce.” In an interview last February, Lo said she’s been thinking about opening an Asian barbecue restaurant for at least six years, in part because her......

The Justice Department is denying federal benefits to the families of the two auxiliary police officers who were brutally killed by a marauding gunman in the West Village last year. Yevgeniy Marshalik's and Nicholas Pekearo's families each applied for $300,000 in benefits, part of the 2003 “Hometown Heroes” Congressional bill for families of first-responders killed in the line of duty. But the DOJ doesn't think they qualify, because NYC's “auxiliary police are not recognized as......

The police arrested a 19-year-old man suspected of attacking two women in the West Village earlier this month. The Post reports Anthony Rosado was "picked up" on Friday for the assaults. In the early hours of March 2, a man viciously accosted women in separate incidents on Bleecker Street. In one attack, he threw the victim to the ground, hit her head against the ground and ripped off her pants, while in the other, he......

When a restaurant throws down a chili-laced gauntlet with the title, “Can you take the heat?” most people expect to be crying by the end of the meal. Andy Yang, Rhong-Tiam’s executive chef, has issued just such a challenge. Yang’s three-month old West Village Thai spot is offering a special tasting menu, which gets progressively hotter, through April 15. The prize for eating every last spicy morsel is dinner for two at his upcoming East......

The construction worker who killed actress-director Adrienne Shelly in her West Village office was sentenced to 25 years in prison yesterday. Diego Pillco, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, pleaded guilty last month, and yesterday, he faced her family's sadness and rage. Shelly's mother Elaine Langbaum mentioned her young granddaughter Sophie, "The baby [Shelly] wanted for so long will never know her mother. "She will never hold her mother's hand, kiss her mother's face or feel......

Remember that whole Hep-A scare at West Village bar Socialista? Reports came in this week that the whole thing may have been a joke -- but who's laughing? Probably not the owners of Socialista. Word is that Ashton Kutcher has a new show coming out called Pop Fiction, which has thus far been kept under wraps. Not straying far from his Punk'd roots, the series (which will air on the E! network) is a prank......

Police are looking for a man suspected of assaulting two women in separate early Sunday morning incidents and released a surveillance video of him. One of the victims said after getting thrown to the ground she got away and called 911 - only for the attacker to try again as she walked on Bleecker Street. She told the Daily News, "I started walking and calling 911 on my cell ... and he attacked me again...I......

The police released a sketch of a man suspected of attacking two women early Sunday in the West Village. In both incidents, the women were exiting cabs when he attacked. Around 2:15 a.m., a 30-year-old woman got out of her cab at 240 Bleecker Street, near Our Lady of Pompeii school. According to the Post, the "hooded thug lunged from behind, threw her to the ground and smashed her head on the ground." Though the......

In Warhol's days everyone was famous for 15 minutes, now everyone is famous for 15 blocks. Two twentysomethings have recently risen the bar, however, by getting a NYMag piece profiling their neighborhood "fame." These two ladies (typically stationed at 90 Charles Street) aren't helping out the community, or even talking to anyone but themselves, they're simply sitting on a stoop. All day, every day, winter, spring, summer and fall. The long-time friends moved here on......

Yohji Yamamoto's recently opened Y-3 store at 317 West 13th Street in the West Village is upsetting some locals. One tipster writes in:The idiots at the new Y-3 store on 13th street leave the front door (a garage door) open all day long. It is 30 degrees outside, yet that strip of the sidewalk is toasty warm.While a toasty warm sidewalk may sound cozy, it shows the wasteful energy practices of the store. Council member......

Untitled, by Pabo76 at flickrToday on the Gothamist Newsmap: a power outage on Cranford St. and Amboy Rd. on Staten Island, a bank robbery on East Gun Hill Rd. in the Bronx, and a carjacking on the Horace Harding Expressway and 108th St. in Queens. Update on the 14-year-old girl who was killed and stuffed into a boiler by her father: The ME's office found that she was pregnant - and they are testing......

When one hears there are caves at Murray’s Cheese, images of damp, subterranean chasms loaded with mounds of exotic fromage spring readily to mind. As a recent tour revealed, the cheeses aren’t stored and aged in actual caverns, but rather climate-controlled walk-in refrigerators designed by France’s leading affineur, Hervé Mons. Before entering the cheese storage area you’ll be told to wipe your feet on an antibacterial mat. This is to prevent unintended bacteria and molds......

It used to be one only had to worry about "the morning after" if they took another bar patron home with them, but the NYC Health Department is asking at least 800 imbibers of a West Village bar to get a hepatitis A vaccination! The precautionary measure is being taken because a bartender at Socialista has the disease. Now everyone who was at the bar on February 7th or 8th after 8pm or February 11th......

If you've been following the Julian Schnabel-branded apartment building, Palazzo Chupi, then you might be interested to learn that the remaining two units went on the market today. What's not good enough for Bono and Madonna may just be good enough for you! So if you've had your savings earmarked for that perfectly pink West Village apartment that you can call home, The NY Times has the listing and Curbed has the floorplan; here are......

The construction worker who killed Adrienne Shelly in her West Village office pleaded guilty to manslaughter - and gave new details about why he killed the actress-director. Diego Pillco will receive 25 years in prison; as an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, the Post says his sentence will be "almost certainly followed by deportation." Originally, Pillco had told the police he killed Shelly in November of 2006, he was in a "bad mood" and picked a......

Here's some good news for all you offal lovers out there, specifically those with, ahem, a foot fetish. Hakata Tonton plans to reopen tomorrow. The West Village Japanese spot specializing in all things pig feet has been closed for a little over a week after recently failing a Department of Health inspection. The gal who picked up the phone at the restaurant today said the temple of trotters plans to open tomorrow. DOH gave them......

Frank Bruni, the Times’s top restaurant critic, awards the new 2nd Avenue Deli one star today, which isn’t bad considering it is, despite all the history, still a deli. We popped in there for food and photos just before it reopened at its East 33rd Street location and found the sandwiches (pictured) as monumental as ever; a second visit turned up no sign of the free bowl of gribenes (chicken skin fried in chicken fat)......

Islero: This new Spanish restaurant (pictured) takes its name from the bull that killed famous toreador “Manolete” in 1947, shocking the nation and resulting in three days of Franco-decreed mourning, during which only funeral dirges were permitted on the radio. Anyway, there’s no bull on the menu, but chef Jessica Floyd, previously of DB Bistro, does have an appetizer of crispy pork belly, olive oil poached apple, fino vinegar jus and candied pinollas. An entrée......

Move over Crazy Cat Ladies of New York, a West End Avenue tenant may just have you beat. The Post reports that court papers have been filed by a building owner against 71-year-old tenant Jacqueline Bartone, calling her apartment a "zoo" and listing the pets that reside with her -- including three dogs, several reptiles and cats, "and as many as a dozen birds, including an African Grey parrot and a macaw parrot." Bartone and......

In the restaurant world, terminology like "organic," "local," and "seasonal" have become so commonplace they can be easy to ignore. But, when Market Table – which offers all three of these – opened on Carmine Street (at Bedford) in the West Village last September, they highlighted a new buzzword: market. With an emphasis on bringing food from the market directly to the table, the restaurant simultaneously offers a capacious (and beautiful) dining room headed......

While we're always on the hunt for both the new and the unfamiliar in New York's kitchens, we also have standby favorite restaurants. One place we find ourselves returning to over and over again is Bedford Street's 'Ino, the sliver of a cafe and wine bar specializing in panini, tramezzini, bruschetta and a laundry list of wines (mostly Italian), with a handful available by the glass or half-bottle. Intimacy comes to mind in a......

In the course of conducting soil testing during the renovation of Washington Square Park, archaeologists discovered the skeletal remains of four people. Some adjustments will be made to redesign plans, but the skeletons will be left in place as a gesture of respect for the dead. The unplanned discovery of dead bodies in the park was not a complete surprise. Washington Square served as a potter's field, where the indigent of New York City were......

Tom Brady sure loves New York, huh? Not only does he walk around town wearing a Yankees hat, but he comes here to spend time with his ubermodel girlfriend Gisele Bundchen in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. Brady was spotted walking to Bundchen's West Village apartment Monday carrying flowers (how sweet) and wearing a protective boot on his right foot. About the injury, Brady said that it's not a big deal, "Ah,......

Our favorite bespectacled WNBC political reporter was beaten and robbed in the West Village last night! Naturally, WNBC has the scoop. Apparently Jay DeDapper, who had finished reporting on the Democratic debate for the 11PM newscast, stopped at a pizzeria on his way home.After he left the restaurant, three people jumped him, hitting him on the head and kicking him, according to authorities. DeDapper fought back, and the attackers eventually fled. The attackers didn't have......

Easy, sugar fiends - the new Magnolia Bakery outpost on the Upper West Side (Columbus at 69th Street) isn't quite opening at 11AM as Eater reported yesterday. We walked by around 9:30AM and the sign said that they anticipated a noon opening. Magnolia had always been a popular West Village stop for more super-sugary and homey desserts when a seemingly sudden cupcake craze hit the city. Next thing we knew, there were analyses of......