The Upper East Side is so excited! The most coveted French macaron boutique in town opened today, Laduree on Madison Avenue. Everyone above 59th Street is there in line, while everyone below 59th Street is buzzing about their downtown expansion plans, which the rep confirms to Grub Street is happening ("We are looking at downtown locations, yes"). The first people to ever buy a Laduree macaron in... more.

Do try this at home.Photo: David Reamer/via Jeff Morgenthaler The Times' Robert Simonson might have already provided his primer on barrel-aging cocktails, but any cocktail nerd worth her rhubarb bitters knows it was Jefrrey Morgenthaler at Clyde Common in Portland who brought the trend Stateside. StarChefs checked in with the aged-quaff expert to get his recipe for barrel-aging a Negroni; it seem... more.

Photo: David Reamer/via Jeff Morgenthaler We've been talking about them for ages, but today the Times puts together a little thing on barrel-aged cocktails. (Summary: The same bars that have been doing this for a while are still doing this.) But here's something interesting! Robert Simonson got a barrel and decided to try it at home: I didn’t know that the barrel, which arrives bone dry, ne... more.

They're coming.Photo: Melissa Hom While America's been busy exporting "luxury brand" Magnolia cupcakes to all manner of far-flung ports, it seems that the French have been planning to bring their own precious pastries Stateside. Crafty, those French. It's been known for a while that famed Paris-based macaron-maker Maison Laduree is opening its first U.S. shop at 864 Madison Avenue this summer. Bl... more.

If you have short bangs and smoke, make an early reservation.Photo: iStockphoto Dressing the staff in Brooklyn Industries is one thing, but launching a website that is drenched in spiked punch, beer magnums, and artisanal everything is a little bit of a cliché, non? Regardless, Hotel Williamsburg on Bedford Avenue is opening next month, and its website is up; it looks like Pillar & Plough, w... more.

It sounds like a fun place! If our Meatopia slideshow had you kicking yourself for not getting in on the seared-flesh action, there's another meat-stravaganza coming up this summer. For the second year in a row, Jimmy Carbone is throwing his Pig Island celebration on Governors Island, and so far nineteen chefs are onboard to fire up the barbecue pit at the September 10 event. We hear Jacques Gaut... more.