NYC Restaurants: Pizza, Rats & Caviar Edition Of Food News

NEW YORK CITY — A protester burned over proposed oven rules staged his very own Pizza Gate at City Hall, rats got bad trash news, some extremely pricey caviar was served and a boozy bodega opened.

Phew.

New York City had a week chockablock with food news.

And, as usual, Patch's single-serving-sized newsroom as there to whet our dear readers' appetites.

Check out our weekly food news roundup, and come back next week for more.

Call it City Hall's Pizza Gate.

A protester angry over proposed rules for coal- and wood-burning pizza ovens flung a pie over the gates outside City Hall.

"Give us pizza or give us death!" the protester screams in the widely circulated in an online video. "New York City is nothing without pizza."

The cheese-inspired meltdown — which was preceded by anti-trans rhetoric — was over rules that pizzerias using coal- or wood-fired ovens would have to curb their carbon emissions by up to 75 percent, which the New York Post first reported.

But the backlash to the proposed rules was quickly met by a chorus of New Yorkers saying to cool it, because the mandate would only affect fewer than 100 pizzerias and that "true New York pizza is not coal-fired."

• City Hall Pizza Gate: Coal-Oven Rule Outrages Pie-Throwing Protester

City Hall wasn't done making food rules this week.

Restaurants, bodegas, delis and grocery stores soon will have to put their food waste into rat-proof containers, officials announced.

The rule is anticipated to put 4 million pounds of waste out of rodents' mouths every day.

"The numbers don’t lie: less access to food means fewer rats," a top city official said.

• NYC Restaurants, Bodegas Must Put Trash In Containers Under New Rules

A soon-to-open Brooklyn venture will combine two of New Yorkers' favorite things: bodegas and booze.

The Bodega Lounge is expected to open in Prospect Lefferts Gardens during July.

On one side of the store, patrons will eat healthy and decadent food made in-house with Afro-Caribbean influences. The cafe shares a space with the "bodega" stocked up with goods created by local Black, queer and/or woman-owned brands. On the other side of the storefront sits a wine lounge.

The whole venture will exclusively feature products made by Black, queer and/or woman entrepreneurs.

Speaking of twists on old classics, Central Park's Loeb Boathouse café partially reopened.

Nearby on the Upper West Side, New Yorkers with more refined tastes, and plenty of cash to spare, got a treat: a restaurant with a $830 caviar option.

The pricey caviar is served by Wallace Lounge, a lounge and piano bar.

Or perhaps French is more your tastes.

Good news: the hit Brooklyn-based La Sandwicherie French sandwich spot is looking to open their second location on the Upper East Side.

And in a plot twist, an upcoming Upper East Side restaurant isn't French. Danish bakery Ole & Steen announced plans to open in the neighborhood and bring its hearty rye breads, delicious pastries — including Danish classics like tebirkes, spandauer and frøsnapper, plus their signature cinnamon social — and big smørrebrød sandwiches.

Across the river in Queens, a smorgasbord of new restaurants were in the offing.

Harlem Shake opened their third location in the city, this time in Queens.

Also in Queens, comfort food favorite Food Struck reopened and the bubble tea and dessert shop Julieat's Café opened.

• PLG's New Boozy Bodega Will Create Safe Community Space
• Central Park Loeb Boathouse Partially Reopens: Cafe And Row Boat Rides
• Newly Opened Upper West Side Lounge Offering $830 Caviar
• French Invasion Continues: La Sandwicherie To Open UES Outpost
• Danish Bakery Ole & Steen To Open Upper East Side Spot
• Harlem Shake Opens Third Location In Long Island City
• Food Struck, An Astoria Comfort Food Favorite, Reopens Its Doors
• Bubble Tea, Dessert Shop Open On Metropolitan Avenue

Looking for good cheap eats?

A new Eater NY list — "40 Inexpensive Dining Destinations" — has some ideas for you.

Restaurants in Forest Hills, Midtown and the West Village were among the honorees.

• Forest Hills Dumpling Joint Named Among Best Cheap Eats In NYC
• Midtown Uyghur Spot Is A Best Cheap Eat: List
• West Village Taquito Spot Is A Best Cheap Eat: List

A former New York City public schools official whose corruption led to students snacking on metal-filled chicken tenders in their lunches was convicted on extortion and bribery charges.

Jurors found Eric Goldstein, 55, and three food company executives guilty Wednesday on all counts after a four-week trial in a Brooklyn federal court.

“The defendants’ criminal conduct is a textbook example of choosing greed over the needs of our schools and the well-being of our children," said United States Attorney Breon Peace, in a statement.

And in other not-so-great food news, Lenny's Bagels had its last day of business after more than two decades on the Upper West Side.

• Ex-Schools Exec Guilty Of Metal Bits In Kids' Chicken Scam: NYC Feds
• UWS Lenny's Bagels Set To Close After More Than 2 Decades