A 7th Street Burger Competitor Closes on the Lower East Side

Smashed, one of the first restaurants in the latest smash burger trend, has closed. The restaurant was seized by the Marshall’s office, according to a source; the business has since announced its closure on Instagram.

At one point, Smashed was the main competitor of 7th Street Burger. Smashed opened first, and the New Yorker once said it served the city’s best burger, but it was slower to expand: By the time it opened a second location last year, in the West Village, 7th Street Burger had spread across the city. Last year, Smashed closed its original burger shop to move into a bigger location at 167 Orchard Street, at Stanton Street, but the burgers weren’t the same.

Carnitas tacos from fine dining chefs

Connor Kaminski and Tahiz Gonzalez, two fine dining chefs, have a new business specializing in carnitas tacos: They’re one of several businesses in the city selling them right now. The couple’s resume includes big names like Uncle Boons and Eleven Madison Park, but in December, they started selling slow-cooked pork under the name Beto’s Carnitas. Their next event is this evening, May 20, from 5 to 10 p.m., at Fifth Hammer Beer in Long Island City (10-28 46th Avenue, between 11th Street and Vernon Boulevard).

A Wildair-produced Catskills restaurant opens

Restaurant Matilda — the restaurant from the Wildair team inside the new Henson hotel — has opened its reservations starting May 24. Jonas Offenbach leads the kitchen; he has worked with Fabian Von Hauske-Valtierra and Jeremiah Stone for some time, most recently building out the menu at Day June, a luncheonette with stellar breakfast burritos and cheddar chipotle pancakes in Windham, New York. It’s part of a trio of projects in the area for Stone and Von Hauske-Valtierra, including Paracasa, a neighboring pantry shop. — Emma Orlow, reporter

A new pizzeria is headed for Greenpoint

Rita’s Pizzeria is opening in Greenpoint at 160 Huron Street, at Manhattan Avenue, the first restaurant from Jimmy Kunz, in what had been part of Archestratus (which is still open in smaller digs on the same street). Named for his Swiss grandmother, the restaurant will offer a menu of seasonal pies, calzones, and garlic knots; Greenpointer also reports it will feature grocery items. Kunz, who lives in Greenpoint, founded the Truffleist, a Long Island City business that focuses on truffle-infused products. He is the son of Gray Kunz, the late culinary giant behind restaurants like Cafe Gray, which closed in 2008. Chefs such as Andrew Carmellini, Rocco DiSpirito, and Corey Lee cooked under him at the iconic Lespinasse. — Melissa McCart, editor