Unfortunately, Airport Food Is Going to Get Even More Expensive in New York

You don’t have to travel abroad to realize, that try as New York has to level up its dining options with chef partnerships, our airport food is seriously lacking, and, not to mention incredibly expensive. Unfortunately, the cost is only going to go up in 2025. A proposed rule affecting airports like LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark would allow their restaurants to raise prices by around an estimated 7.5 percent starting in 2025 (including a built-in quality of life surcharge), to pass rising labor costs to customers. A New York Times report puts it in plain terms: Bobby Van’s Steakhouse at JFK charges $29.50 for a (mind you, not very good) burger and $17 for a glass of chardonnay; starting next year the cost of the combo could be around four bucks more, at nearly $50 before tip. That price won’t be going into improving the quality of the food. Meanwhile, airports have been courting big-name chefs: David Chang is working on opening a new food stand called Peach Palace at JFK, while José Andrés has a restaurant lounge in the works at LGA.

Two new wine shops have opened

The owners of the lively Bed-Stuy natural wine bar with a pool table, Frog have opened Frog Wine Shop a couple of miles away in Brooklyn Heights at 389 Henry Street, near Warren Street. Meanwhile, across the bridge, at 83 Henry Street in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Magazzino is another new bottle shop by owners Christina Suarez and Elizabeth Nattinger. It replaced a previous wine shop tenant Leisir.

Sohla El-Waylly debuts lunch in the East Village

Recipe developer and chef Sohla El-Waylly is offering a couple of dishes from her cookbook Start Here on the lunch menu of Hearth, a longtime Tuscan East Village staple, including her quinoa salad and brownies. Hearth is located at 403 E. 12th Street, at First Avenue; lunch is served Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. The partnership runs through the end of the month.

Top Chef alum opens a Midtown establishment

Ed Cotton, who was a runner-up in the finals of Bravo’s Top Chef season 7, and worked in the kitchens of Daniel Boulud, Laurent Tourondel, and David Burke before opening Jack & Charlie’s No.118 in the West Village, unveiled Leonetta earlier this week at 181 Lexington Avenue, in Murray Hill. The restaurant, designed to feel like a seaside villa, will focus on shareable small plates and spreads, a raw bar, pastas, and charcoal-grilled seafood and meats. Among the highlights are black truffle mafaldine, crispy pork shank shawarma, and grilled branzino. — Beth Landman, contributor