Shopsin's

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Plump, grouchy, and with his gray bouffant bursting out from beneath his Mets cap, looking a bit like a dyspeptic Shelley Winters, the inimitable Kenny Shopsin is back in business. “Fuck!” he says one afternoon as the orders roll in. “I was getting used to not working—give me the ticket, asshole.” Masochistic fans are thrilled to rediscover Kenny’s pumpkin “slutty cakes” in their new home at the Essex Street Market, and we can personally vouch for the aggressive maltiness of his chocolate malted, the garlic assault of his Rooster sandwich (chicken salad, spicy Cheddar, avocado on garlic bread), and the mad genius of his deep-fried pickles. Although this space adjacent to the Saxelby Cheesemongers kiosk is about as big as a janitor’s closet and the menu has yet to be restored to its 1,000-or-so-item glory, there’s still room for an arsenal of ingredients arranged on towering shelves. And should Kenny ever run out of mango for his mango chicken lime, or blue cheese for his Svetlana kielbasa breakfast plate, he has the entire market at his disposal. — Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

Check out the last days of the original Shopsin's by watching "I Like Killing Flies," a documentary film about the restaurant and its family, by Matt Mahurin.

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