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Grass Roots Owner to Open Restaurant for 'All Walks of LIfe'

By Serena Dai | June 6, 2014 8:38am

WILLIAMSBURG — The owner of the nearly year-old juice shop Grass Roots is opening a restaurant next door for everybody from vegans and the gluten sensitive to lovers of gamey meats.

A.W.O.L., standing for "all walks of life," should be opening in the next month and a half at 336 Graham Ave., said Danny Zuanetto, chef for the restaurant owned by Mariano Diaz. Zuanetto currently creates raw dishes for Grass Roots.

The menu will be rotating weekly to begin with, but could end up changing as much as every day, Zuanetto said.

"We’ll be farm to fork," he said. "Whatever we have in stock and what’s new for the farmers, that’s what we’re going to make."

Though ingredients will change, the basic structure won't. A.W.O.L. will always feature five grilled pizzas, five sliders and 10-15 small plates. Sliders could range from typical beef burgers to quinoa and zucchini ones.

"I'm really catering to the people," he said.

In other neighborhood restaurant news:

► Smoragasburg sandwich purveyor Landhaus opened this week in local bar The Woods, 48 S. 4th St., with dinner service from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and late night service from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

A more permanent space also means more food options. Landhaus's menu has twists on Korean, Filipino, Mexican and American Southern dishes, like a crab rangoon with pimento cheese and pepper jelly and hush puppies made with jalapeno cheddar.

Landhaus started as a "farm to sandwich" stand in 2011.

► A Bushwick taqueria that's been open for more than 13 years is expanding, though not far. Taqueria El Fogon, 1050 Flushing Ave., will soon be opening Taqueria El Fogon II at  241 Cook St., at Bogart.

The hope is to open by Father's Day, June 15, said Estefania Rodriguez, whose father owns the restaurant. The menu of classic Mexican dishes will largely remain the same, Rodriguez said.

► Verb Cafe, 218 Bedford Ave., will be shuttering at the end of the month, according to Gothamist. The cafe, open since 1999, opted to close after the landlord asked for a 70 percent increase in rent.