New Shake Shack in Nolita

We apologize for going MIA yesterday. Never again, we promise. To make it up to you, we're going to go on a posting spree-- and we start with some pretty fantastic news:

As we told you last week, Shake Shack will be expanding to three new outposts through New York City. And now, we are told that it's newest location will be...

on 47 Prince Street, on the corner of Mulberry and Prince. We really love that whole area because it has everything we could want- Epistrophy for some good caprese and wine, McNalley's to escape into literature, Rice to Riches for some 5000 calorie rice-pudding heaven, and of course, Charlotte Ronson for a shopping fix.

But now that Shake Shack is here, we know we're going to be in Nolita heaven. This reminds us of that Vanessa Carlton song, Nolita Fairytale. Blissful.

Shake Shack here, Shake Shack there

Yummy Burger-and-chocolate shake-haven Shake Shack somehow always seems to have a line longer than the H&M dressing rooms, the DMV, and the TKTS booths combined. (We swear it's true!)

Of course, we completely understand why. This little gem in Madison Square Park churns out the some of the best mouth-watering delights, so it's no wonder that it's constantly packed.

But that's about to change- Shake Shack will be expanding to three more New York locations, then to new spots around the nation, and eventually, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Seven new outposts will be opened in the Middle East, according to Eater. No definite timeline has been given, but we are keeping our fingers crossed for some "ASAP" action.

photo pulled from curbed

Following Frank's frankness

Former NYTimes food critic Frank Bruni is everywhere nowadays, since he doesn't have to mask his identity anymore in order to remain 'anonymous' when going to restaurants and reviewing them. Since his departure from the Times, Bruni has been giving surprisingly frank (pardon the pun, heh) interviews, explaining his complicated relationship with food, the best and worst things about being a food critic, and now, tips on how to order the best things on a restaurant menu.

Frank has made an audio appearance on GQ's blog and has a set of rules for ordering:

"Look at the list of appetizers and entrees....cross out the appetizers and entrees you've seen at every other restaurant- that's the chef and restauranteur playing to the lowest common denominator. Then find the weirdest dish, and cross off each of those because that's the chef indulging his or her own worst vanity. And look at the dishes left and order from those."

Grub Street has applied Bruni's advice to three newcomers-Hotel Griffou, Graydon Carter's MonkeyBar, and DBGB, and has a list of what to eat.

We are going to try the 'Frank Bruni' ordering method this week- we will let you know how it works out.

Photo pulled from huffingtonpost

Glitterati chowing down around NYC

This week, we had celebs wining and dining all around the city as usual, and we bring you their whereabouts, courtesy of NYMag.

For the week of August 23, 2009

Ballato: Rihanna ate with L.A. Reid before heading to Greenhouse.

Cafe Gitane: Michelle Williams ate outside with friends.

The City Bakery: Uma Thurman let her kids sample the macaroni and cheese while they waited in line.

Dojo: Debra Messing dined at the NYU hangout.

Dos Caminos: Drew Barrymore ate enchiladas.

Gemma: Cameron Diaz and some female friends sipped white wine.

Jean Georges: Muhammed Ali allegedly read a fan's mind over dinner.

Pastis: Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen dined outside before heading to the Gansevoort Hotel.

Saint Ambroeus: Whitney Port giggled while eating outside.

The Smith: Chelsea Clinton ate an egg-white omlette with her boyfriend, Marc Mezvinsky.

The Standard Grill: Hugh Grant wooed his date.

We, personally, would have loved to share a some wine with Cameron, have our mind read by Mr. Ali, or have Hugh whisper sweet nothings in our ear all night! What about you?

Photos pulled from People.com

This week's celebrity spottings

Since we all love knowing even the most mundane of details about the rich and famous, we will be bringing you celebrity sightings from restaurants and bars around the city every week, courtesy of NYMag.

For the week of August 16, 2009:

Bar Pitti: Beyonce dined with hubby Jay-Z

Jane Ballroom: Hugh Grant bought a birthday tequila shot for an adoring fan. Chace Crawford and Fonzworth Bentley were also on the scene.

Highbar: Mr. Big (Chris Noth) took vodka shots with fans.

LEVANTeast: Adrian Grenier, Josh Hartnett, and Zach Braff dined together.

Minetta Tavern: Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant dined, drank, and flirted (harmlessly, of course) for hours.

Waverly Inn: Lindsay Lohan and friends sat at the table next to where P. Diddy sat.

We love to see interesting mixes of celebs breaking bread together. Let us know if you spot anyone this weekend!

Photo pulled from gawker, guestofaguest

The Best of Red Velvet

We can't help ourselves. Just the plain sight of red velvet cupcakes makes us want to hail a cab over to a cupcake store- ANY cupcake store in the city. But in case you are slightly pickier than us, BlackBook Mag has provided a list of Top Ten Bakeries with red velvet cupcakes.

The list contains vegan bakeries like Babycakes and Atlas Cafe & Bakery, Solomon's Porch in Brooklyn South, and the usual contenders, like Crumbs, Sugarsweet Sunshine, and Billy's.

BBMag doesn't exactly explain why these particular bakeries should be in the top 10 (is the cream cheese frosting creamier than others? are the sprinkles prettier?) but it does have a shortlist of reasons why people would want to visit that particular bakery in the first place. Hey, so long as red velvet is revered as a specialty, we're not going to complain.

Hilarity from the Finance World

Do you ever wonder: what do those finance guys really do all day besides stare at Excel? Well at this very moment, an analyst (late 20's) at an unnamed hedge fund on Park Avenue is gorging himself with junk food for sport, in an attempt to break the record for an earlier gorger/intern over in Citi's London office.

He has 9 hours to eat 40 items, which include Snickers, Butterfinger, Trail's Best Double Salami, Cheez-its, and chedder fries. If our hedge funder succeeds, he would have engorged 9030 calories, 422 grams of fat, and 566 grams of sugar.

sidenote: It should be noted that many of the items on the list have been expired for 1-2 months.

5:46 pm Update: 31 items down, 9 items left to be eaten

8:00 pm Update: 35 items down, 5 to go- Threw in the towel

Ah. Good to know that the guys whose jobs it is to take care of people's money are spending their time so wisely.

Photo pulled from Dealbreaker.com

Wine at Whole Foods Uptown

Trader Joe's isn't the only market with an extensive wine shoppe conveniently next door to its market anymore. Today, Whole Foods is opening its wine store, Wine at Whole Foods, on 98th and Columbus, where it will also be planting its roots next week with its latest supermarket addition. 

Wine at Whole Foods will carry about 1,000 different wines and specialize in wines from New York State. Here's to hoping that Whole Foods channels some of Joe's amazing $5 bottle prices- cheers!

Photo pulled from Racked.com

Cupcakes = the reason for NYC's garbage issues

Apparently, Magnolia Bakery's ridiculous lines at all hours is not the only disturbance at its Bleecker Street location.  It was reported last week that discarded cupcake wrappers, boxes, used forks and napkins were strewn across the park near the store. However, the company's president Bobbie Llyod reassured Fork in The Road that the bakery is well aware of the problem and is trying its best to ensure it doesn't happen. He also insinuated that most of the mess may be caused by tourists who "might not grasp that this is a neighborhood where people live, not Disneyland". 

In more interesting news, Magnolia is preparing to open its newest store in the Grand Central location. Bobbie said it may be the last expansion in New York. Hmm....didn't Walt Disney say the same thing about Disneyland?