Maille, the mustard store at 185 Columbus Avenue (68th street), opened last weekend. This ain’t your average ballpark frank mustard, though. The store offers more than 20 flavors, including truffle, saffron, apricots, basil, mushrooms, blue cheese, and hazelnut. It even serves gourmet mustard from five taps with mustard that tastes like White Wine; Chablis; Sauternes; Wholegrain Chardonnay; and Black Truffle and Chablis. There are some other items, too, like cornichons.
And Maille even has a mustard sommelier! “Maille’s U.S. Mustard Sommelier Pierette Huttner will be based at the NYC flagship boutique, assisting customers (much like a wine sommelier) in discovering the varieties that best suit their tastes, as well as suggesting food pairings to complement the product flavors.”
Sugarcane, the Vietnamese spot that replaced Szechuan Gourmet, has opened at 98th street and Broadway. The chef is from Saigon Grill, Barbara tells us (although the ownership is not). A Columbia Spectator reviewer stopped by and said that the menu has some hits and misses. The Pho Bo soup and Chao Tom shrimp appetizer hit the spot, but some of the entrees were “mediocre,” despite large portion sizes. “I found my curry overly light and sweet, and the rice was on the dry side.”
“Sugarcane is worth a try if you’re looking for something slightly different, as some of its more unique menu items are done remarkably well.”
We’ve heard from several people that Bed, Bath & Beyond is set to open a new store in the retail development still under construction on Columbus between 92nd and 93rd. But a company spokesman wrote to us that there is no done deal there: “Bed Bath & Beyond is always looking for new locations to open stores however, we do not discuss potential store locations prior to completion of leases for those locations and at this time, I have no information on a store on the Upper West Side that I can discuss.” Party City is supposed to be coming, however. Thanks to Ken for the photo.
CityMD has put up signs at 104th and Broadway showing it will indeed be opening in the former home of Rite Aid, as we first reported here. One of our tipsters wrote: “In early fall, an Urgent Care took over the space vacated by Radio Shack. Now, replacing the Rite Aid which recently closed on 104 and Broadway will be a City MD. Do we really need two of these services?Is Urgent Care/CityMDs the new Duane Reade/rite aid battle for residents?”
