Hi! This is Caper and I’m Emma Orlow. Last week, I was invited to take a tour of the Acme Smoked Fish factory in Greenpoint. So I suited up in a hairnet, smock, and rubber boots and got to it. Stay tuned for more on that, as well as talking about Sardi’s selling out, Barney Greengrass’s hypebeast era, a protest at The Metropolitan Opera’s restaurant, and more news.
Mentioned today: Ferdinando’s Focacceria, Cafe Spaghetti, Sardi’s, Swoony’s, Danny Meyer, The View, Barbetta, Chez Napoléon, Joe Allen, New Asha, Lakruwana, Acme Smoked Fish, Zabar’s, Barney Greengrass, Utopia Bagels, Apollo Bagels, Wegmans, Whole Foods, Lincoln Center, the Patina Group.
The 121-year-old Ferdinando’s Focacceria, which closed last year, and was once used as a set in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (despite it taking place in Boston), will relaunch on April 15th. It’s now called Bar Ferdinando and is in the hands of Carroll Gardens operator Sal Lamboglia (Cafe Spaghetti, Swoony’s).
Alcoholic beverages have returned to the Staten Island Ferry for the first time since 2019. It would make for a fun date, chased with a stop at a Sri Lankan restaurant like New Asha or Lakruwana.
From the Caper tipline: The Lower East Side’s Cafe Katja celebrated the 99th birthday of a longtime regular, Jerry, on Saturday. The whole bar sang happy birthday and staff had temporary tattoos of him. Lin-Manuel Miranda was also spotted there that night (unrelatedly). Have a tip yourself? Email [email protected].
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