A Quentin Tarantino bar is coming to Williamsburg

Williamsburg is now home to a Quentin Tarantino-themed bar called KillBar, equipped with a six-foot-tall piece of artwork of Uma Thurman in her signature yellow bodysuit from Kill Bill, as well as an oil painting of Jamie Foxx on a horse from the movie Django Unchained. More art will come later, and the bar will have movie nights on Mondays, according to Patch. Located at 82 South 4th St., the 41-person bar will have a simple menu of dishes like burgers, chicken wings, and chili. There presumably will be no call out to Thurman’s allegations that Tarantino forced her into a car crash on the set of Kill Bill, which the director has called “the biggest regret of my life.”

More openings, closings, and coming attractions

The upcoming Japanese izakaya and dinner theater Wara is shaping up at 67 First Ave. at Fourth Street with new signage. It’s expected in early February. While Lebanese restaurant Lil Gem recently closed, vegan celebrity chef Matthew Kenney is plotting a new restaurant to go in its place at 29 Clinton St.

East Village farm-to-table restaurant Midwinter Kitchen closed. It sourced its food from Midwinter Farms in Ancram, NY, and a statement on the website cites the labor intensive cost of farming.

An East Village cheap eats icon is at risk

While there’s no closure pending, there are concerns for the future of Punjabi Grocery & Deli, the purveyor of 24/7 vegetarian South Asian steam buffet food. The deli has been around for 25 years, serving mostly taxi drivers. Nearby construction has severely impacted the business, and the rise of ride-hailing apps has affected the way taxi drivers take breaks, which also affect’s Punjabi’s business.

More reviews come in for Benno

Following Pete Wells’ three-star review, Adam Platt at Grub Street writes that chef Jonathan Benno’s “has found a comfortable balance between intimacy, ambition, and his own highly particular gourmet style” in his new eponymous restaurant Benno in the Evelyn Hotel. Platt claims that while there’s nothing groundbreaking about the menu here, the pastas satisfy with their old-school simplicity.

Russ & Daughters settle wage lawsuit; Root & Bone suit dismissed

LES Jewish appetizing icon Russ & Daughters has settled a class action unpaid wage lawsuit for $250,000. Former Root & Bone partner Richard Freedman’s lawsuit against the restaurant’s chefs Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth alleging that they used nearly $290,000 in restaurant profits for personal gain has been dismissed. Both sides abandoned the lawsuit without payments.