Goodbye. . .for now

A Twitter post by Bobby Flay and the NY Times Dining section today announced that Mesa Grill is closing on August 31. Flay's post indicated it will reopen in another location. Until then, remember the Flatiron location, which served customers for 22 years.

Photo by Evan Sung for The New York Times

Hennessy X Os Gêmeos

For it's third artist collaboration, cognac brand Hennessy has invited Os Gêmeos to design a limited-edition bottle label. The Brazilian identical-twin brothers, Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo (os gemeos means "twins" in Portuguese), said their design, quite a departure from the graffiti-like art they're known for, is similar to a drawing each of the brothers did when they were around 6 years old. Today, the twins are busy in their São Paulo studio preparing for two big exhibitions: one in Brazil in 2014 and one in NYC in 2015.

Meanwhile, Hennessy, which began its artist collaboration in 2011 with Kaws and followed in 2012 with Futura, is finalizing which artist it will partner with for 2014. Every Limited Edition Hennessy V.S bottle in this artist series is individually numbered.

Here's a recipe from the twins for a cocktail called Brazil Spice: 

Brazil Spice

1.5 oz Hennessy V.S

.5 Fresh Lime juice

.5 Fresh Simple Syrup

Splash of soda

Optional: 4 dashes of Angostura bitters

Garnish: Lime wheel

Note: The lime and simple syrup can be substituted with 1 oz of sourmix.

Method: Shake all ingredients but the sprite and strain into a rocks glass with ice add a splash of sprite and garnish with lime wheel.

The Butterfly, NYC

Michael White's latest endeavor is a bit of a departure. Unlike his other Altamarea Group restaurants Marea, Ai Fiori, and Costata, a visit to The Butterfly in TriBeCa doesn't require a special occasion or an expense account. It does require, however, a taste for the vintage and the mid-century modern—both in design and somewhat in cuisine. For those wondering about the restaurant's name, it actually hails from Wisconsin (as does White): working at the Butterfly Club in Beloit was one of White's first cooking jobs. Although he was there in 1989, White's NYC reinterpretation has a mod 1960's feel, rendered by Stefano Angeli and Franco Rosignolo, his frequent design collaborators. You'll find George Nelson clocks, mid-century Scandinavian cupboards, a Sputnik pendant fixture—even the waitstaff wears plastic pen pocket protectors. The menu skews toward Americana nostalgia, too. There are versions of a reuben, a patty melt, and fried chicken on the menu; our dessert, called Little B, was like a fancy, and equally yummy, Ring Ding. The Midwest Butterfly offered entertainment with dinner; the urban version plans to host screenings of Packers football games and the Oscars on a huge flat-screen. 

Crab cakes

the upscale Ring-Ding: Little B