Bed-Stuy Bar Owner Goes Viral After Riffing With Conan

If you watched “Subway Takes” this week, you’ve already seen it: Conan O’Brien, tall as ever, trading improv lines with a stranger on a train and building out a full marriage-and-kids backstory on the fly. The stranger was Debbie Shields, and according to Eater New York’s weekly restaurant news roundup, she also owns a bar in Bed-Stuy. Confessions Bar opened in 2024.

The viral clip is the lead item in Eater’s latest rundown, but there’s plenty more moving on the city’s food and drink map as autumn settles in.

On the pop-up front, London Thai Chinese restaurant Speedboat Bar is in town for a multi-night run at the Otter, Alex Stupak’s restaurant inside the Soho hotel the Manner. It’s a partnership with JKS Restaurants, the company behind Ambassadors Clubhouse. Chef and founder Luke Farrell’s menu includes crispy pork in black pepper curry, minced beef with holy basil, and chicken skins with Zaep seasoning. It runs Thursday, October 22, through today, Saturday, October 24, at $85 a ticket with timed seatings, booked through OpenTable.

In Nomad, Hill Country Barbecue Market has reopened after a two-month temporary closure. New executive chef Greg Jamiolkowski runs the menu, with pitmaster consultant Matthew Van Orden, who previously worked at Franklin Barbecue in Austin. The Big Shorty, a nam jim jaew-style smoked beef short rib, is on the list, along with Cherry Bombs, smoked pork belly bites glazed in cherry gochujang. Three new smokers from Texas-based M&M BBQ Company anchor the kitchen, and the space has new art, a revamped Pit Room and a retail market stocked with Lone Star State goods.

Diwali is already shaping November calendars. Tamarind is serving a 15-course feast for $101 from Friday, November 6, through Sunday, November 8, with a vegetarian option. The price nods to shagun, the Indian custom of giving gifts ending in an odd number. At Crown Shy in the Financial District, executive chef Jassimran Singh and executive pastry chef Anushana Sharma are cooking a two-night dinner on November 6 and 7 for $125, with seatings from 5 to 10 p.m. Vikas Khanna is hosting a $500 Diwali dinner with Macallan whiskey and paired drinks at Bungalow in the East Village on November 6. And Tribeca’s Musaafer is selling a $45 box of Diwali sweets online through November 8.

Some openings and closings worth knowing. MGK’s 27 Club Coffee opened its third location at 47 Adelphi Street in Fort Greene on Sunday, October 18. Boots Bread, formerly Apt. 2 Bread, signed a lease at 638 Nostrand Avenue near Dean Street in Crown Heights after a successful Kickstarter, with an opening planned for early 2027. Tanaka New York, the Japanese wagyu restaurant with outposts in Singapore and Hong Kong, is headed to 428 Greenwich Street in Tribeca. Jeju Noodle Bar is expanding with a second spot at 204 Elizabeth Street in Nolita.

On the sadder side, AnnTremet Cake closed its West Village bakery on Monday, October 12, though the team will keep making catering cakes from its Long Island City kitchen. Looking ahead, Soho House is planning a third New York club in Nomad in 2028, at the same address as the Ned Nomad. The New York Post reports that Cecconi’s and Little Ned will stay put.