« July 2006 | Main | December 2006 »

September 16, 2006

How a small family-owned restaurant gave the lawyers of a mid-town lunch counter something to "dish" about

The restaurant used to be called Little Dishes. Back in February, chef, Colin Wright and his wife Mira Friedlaender, opened their doors to provide Park Slope with mezze such as salt cod fritters, the most tender octopus salad we've eaten since Spain, cauliflower soup that tastes like Ambrosia from the Gods. Critics from the New York Times, New York Magazine, and Time Out New York liked what they ate and said so in their columns.

The postive press elevated them from beneath the radar to being the subject of the #1 find on google when you type in "Dishes Restaurant".

For the mid-town restaurant called Dishes, this was a threat.

Until Ben McGrath of The New Yorker featured them in last week's Talk of the Town, Dishes restaurant was below the press's radar too. But unlike the articles featuring the restaurant formerly known as "Little Dishes," this column was not a review of the food. The title of the column was "Poaching." But the content of the article did not discuss salmon preparation techniques. This article was about the pilfering variety of poaching. In the article, Ben McGrath writes about the tug of war that ensues when a couple of employees from Paul Smith, the British clothier for men, are charmed by two employees at Dishes, Avalon and Salma. Avalon and Salma are recruited to work as sales people at Paul Smith which obviously didn't make Moshe Mallul, the co-owner of Dishes happy. The story twists and turns. There's a party. There's tension in the air and then there's a surprise resolution. It was a fun column to read.

While Dishes may have been the victim of employee poaching, this restaurant chain has waged a battle against the family-owned restaurant formerly known as "Little Dishes," that's worthy of a follow up Talk of the Town that could be entitled "Dishing it Out."

Dishes may have gotten press. But restaurants want public evaluation of the quality of the food and the atmosphere in the form of a review. But the closest McGrath comes to evaluating the food at Dishes is to say, "A decent midtown lunch spot—not the expense-account sort but a good, clean sandwich shop, with a fresh salad bar, and maybe some seafood tom yum, if that’s your thing—can be hard to come by. Once you find one, you tend to stick with it." Dishes is that "decent" restaurant.

With rave reviews about "Little Dishes" spreading across the internet, Dishes decided to take action.

Earlier this summer, Little Dishes got a letter from the lawyers of Dishes restaurant threatening litigation if the restaurant didn't change its name. According to the laywers the word "little" doesn't modify the word "dishes" enough. Co-owner of Little Dishes, Mira Friedlaender wrote:

The name changed was forced upon us due to legal action taken by Uncommon Grounds, Inc.. They own the federal trademark rights to the word Dishes®, which is the name of their establishment(s) in Manhattan and elsewhere in the US. According to their lawyers, having ‘Little’ in our name was not sufficient to forestall customer confusion between our two businesses. As a new small business, we did not have the resources to fight to keep the ‘Dishes’ part of our name, and we have agreed to make a change.

For the past month Friedlaender and Wright have been trying to come up with a new name that didn't include the word "dishes." This has proven to be a difficult feat since they need to hold onto enough of the old name so there will be a ring of recognition for customers. But "little" is the only word left from the original name that they are allowed to use. They want diners to know they will still get the same dishes as when the restaurant's name actually contained the word "dishes" in it. After trying out some new names, they finally settled on Little D Eatery. Same food, same owners, different name.

We like the ambiguity of the "D" in the new name. "D" can stand for dishes or it can represent "D" for delicious. In the old name "Little" use to be the word describing the "Dishes." Now, we say the "D" stands for delicious. And that "D" describes the food you will get when you eat at Little D Eatery.

Little D Eatery
434 7th Avenue
(between 14th & 15th Streets)
Park Slope
Brooklyn, New York 11215
718.369.3144
www.littled-eatery.com

Posted by Cakehead at 01:08 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2006

TODAY: Come Eat Cake & Drink Cheap Beer and learn about W. Bush's base

Today, help celebrate the release of Robert Lanham's new book, The Sinner's Guide to the Evangelical Right, with a reading, Q&A and launch party in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The best part is the reading will be held in a church santuary!

When: Wednesday, September 13th
6pm-7pm: Free snacks and fellowship in a wholesome, Christian environment.
7pm: Hipster Handbook author, Robert Lanham, reads from his new book.
8:15 pm: Join us at The Pencil Factory for the after party
Location: Reading: Greenpoint Reform Church, 138 Milton Street (@Greenpoint Ave), Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Drinking: The Pencil Factory, 142 Franklin Ave., Greenpint (2 blocks from the church),
What: The night will feature a reading, book signing, and Q&A at Greenpoint Reformed Church with a special introduction by pastor Ann Kansfield, an openly gay minister whose denomination published literature labeling her a "dyke" before firing her father from his post at the Reformed Church of America for supporting her decision to come out of the closet.
Cost: Free cake, fried chicken and snacks before the reading. At the Pencil Factory $3 Brooklyn Beers and Well Drinks for anyone with a copy of the book.
For more information click here.

Posted by Cakehead at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2006

Hilarious new book teaches sinners like us how Evangelical Christians eat, think and plan for the Rapture

A new book by Robert Lanham, author of The Hipster Handbook, is now in bookstores. It's called The Sinner's Guide to the Evangelical Right and is a must for sinners and Christians alike who want to laugh while they learn how people who speak in tongues have come to influence government policy. You can buy the book here.

The book also provides fantastic tips about which megachurches offer the best dining options!

We can personally vouch for the hamburgers at the permanent barbeque stand at Rick Warren's Saddleback church in California. However, when we asked about vegetarian options for our companion, they looked at us as if they expected us to take out our anti-War picket signs and start protest against "freedom".

And the "Quivers" are a refreshing beverage to wash down the meat. For those not familiar with a quiver it's "a unique frozen beverage hand made fresh daily with real fruit and contain no fat, cholesterol, or dairy. From the eye opening colors, to the mouth watering flavors and the smooth velvety texture, Quivers serves energy and fun in a product that is guilt free and unique in every aspect." Despite the promises, we felt guilty for giving the Christians our money. The way the money is spent on abstience only program is enough to make any non-believer quiver with fear.

Posted by Cakehead at 05:22 PM | Comments (0)