You heard it here first (maybe–I’m too lazy to check other blogs):

1) Philoxenia, the brief but beloved place on 23rd Ave, appears to be reopening on 34th Avenue, in the space that, geez, four years ago was a great Peruvian bar, Gustavo’s, and hasn’t been anything since. Philoxenia was a little Greek place that was super-home-style and felt like eating in someone’s living room. And, it turned out, you kind of were–apparently the space was not at all zoned for resto use. I hope they make it in the new space–it’s surprisingly large, with a big bar up front, and quite a lot of seating in the back.

2) New patisserie, called La Brioche d’Or, about to open on Steinway right next to the Little Morocco sandwich joint, immediately north of the little T-intersection with 24th Avenue. You know in my fantasy this is just the guys from Le Petit Prince reopening under a new name. Damn, that would be sweet. But it would also rock if there was a Franco-Maghrebi pastry joint in the neighborhood.

Which reminds me–it’s Ramadan. So don’t go to Steinway during daylight hours and expect service with a smile, or even service at all. Just wait till the sun sets, and then the party gets started. (Ramadan will be done in the second week of October.)

And, totally unrelated, my alpine strawberry plants had four little fruits on them! They taste just like fake strawberry flavor, just like I remember when I went berry-picking in Norway. So delicious, in a confusing, maybe-I-shouldn’t-really-like-this way.