Diner’s Journal

What You've Always Wanted in a Food Truck - Booze

By GLENN COLLINS

The Pera Turkish Taco Truck has been granted a license to sell beer, wine and spirits at its location at the former Tavern on the Green.

Restaurant Review

Imperial No. Nine

By SAM SIFTON

The chef Sam Talbot’s large and glittery restaurant at the new Mondrian hotel in SoHo suffers from inconsistency.

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$25 and Under

Zabb Elee

By DAVE COOK

A restaurant in the East Village avoids Thai standards in favor of dishes from a region of the country that borders Laos.

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Shopping With Eben Freeman

Ice Cube Trays

By RIMA SUQI

Ice needs to do more than chill a drink; it has to entertain, too. Eben Freeman, director of bar operations and innovation for Altamarea Group, went shopping for trays.

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Rooms

A New Bar, With a Nod to Whitman

By TIM McKEOUGH

The Vault at Pfaff’s, a new subterranean lounge in NoHo, is named for the proprietor of a bohemian gathering place in the area 150 years ago.

The Curious Cook

A Hot-Water Bath for Thawing Meats

By HAROLD McGEE

Frozen steaks and other compact cuts can be defrosted in as little as 10 minutes, without compromising their quality, and with very little effort.

Little Espresso Bars Might Be Big Business

By OLIVER STRAND

TSG Consumer Products recently made a major investment in Stumptown Coffee Roasters, and has met with other top boutique coffee companies.

Wines of The Times

Roussillon, Into the Sunlight

By ERIC ASIMOV

The wine panel recently tasted 20 dry reds from Roussillon, a sunny region in France.

• Pairings Recipe: Rice With Rabbit

Findings

Could Liquid Nitrogen Help Build Tasty Burgers?

By JOHN TIERNEY

To produce the best burger, one needs advanced scientific cooking techniques, a former Microsoft executive says.

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Off the Menu

By FLORENCE FABRICANT

Fatty Crew’s outpost in Battery Park, Momofuku Milk Bar in Brooklyn, and other openings and closings.

Dining Calendar

By FLORENCE FABRICANT

Barbecue and rhubarb are the subjects of two festivals; a vegan chef stops at a pop-up; jazz at a Manhattan oyster bar; and other events this week.

City Assisting Food Industry With Space and Money

By PATRICK McGEEHAN

Unlike most other city industries, food making has grown steadily in the last year, and officials say a $10 million loan fund will help sustain that trend.

Cookbooks

Reviewed by SAM SIFTON

More than a dozen new cookbooks, full of fantasy, truth, good meals and bad.

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Diner’s Journal

The Minimalist: Four-Spice Salmon

By MARK BITTMAN

How to make pan-seared, spice-rubbed salmon, a recipe from the Minimalist column archives.

Books About Lobster

By RICHARD J. KING and ELISABETH TOWNSEND
Reviewed by DAWN DRZAL

Two short books on lobster, the food and the creature.