MADISON SQ. PARK— Luke Ostrom, A Voce's chef de cuisine, lets us know that Andrew Carmellini isn't the only one unhappy with the restaurant's owners, The Marc Group: "...after two and a half years as chef de cuisine of A Voce restaurant, in which I had the pleasure to open with Andrew Carmellini, I have left to pursue more chef driven concepts. The Marc group from London and I had a dissimilar vision and decided to part ways." He'll be leaving on to open a new spot in Manhattan. [EaterWire]
UPPER WEST SIDE— Bottomless Dish reports that Tom Valenti's West Branch, and possibly Zak Pelaccio's new Fatty Crab, has been delayed due to a busted boiler. However Valenti says they were just waiting for an inspection. He tells us: "Should be cookin' any minute now." (Assume that in this case, "minute" means "week.") [BD; EaterWire]
MIDTOWN— Midtown Lunch reports that a street vendor on 50th and 6th caught fire. Nearby office workers helped to put him out. [ML]
SAN FRANCISCO— Think the fro-yo scene is a tad out of control in New York? Over in SF, fro-yo joint Swirl Culture is hosting fro-yo happy hours. [~ESF~]
'BUCKSWIRE— The latest in this year's long line of Starbucks changes will arrive next week, when the coffee giant will introduce a(nother) new line of warm breakfast sandwiches. These ones, they're artisanal: "The sandwiches, called Piadini, will feature artisan bread and will be filled with either sausage, egg and cheese or portobello mushroom, spinach and ricotta cheese" Starbucks also announced that new lunch items will arrive in the next six to eight months. [Yahoo via Eater SF]
LOWER EAST SIDE— The above photo, found on the Facebook page of The Eldridge, is Ice T (and what looks like his wife Coco), hamming it up for the camera, trying to get into the oh so hip club. [Facebook]
