headliner
Nine Orchard, Corner Bar and Lobby Lounge
Like several major downtown commercial buildings, the 1912 Beaux-Arts building that housed the Jarmulowsky Bank on the Lower East Side has been converted into a hotel. DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners, the owner of the building, oversaw the completion of the restoration. Rooms at the hotel, Nine Orchard, will be available for booking from June 20, but two of the three dining areas – Corner Bar, a bistro and Lobby Lounge – are already serving food and drinks. Mattos Hospitality, the business of executive chef Ignacio Mattos, will run it, along with the Amado Grill, an intimate 44-seat fine-dining restaurant opening in September adjacent to the Corner Bar. (Mattos Hospitality also operates Lodi in Rockefeller Center, Estela and Altro Paradiso.) Mr. Mattos, who once lived in the area and took the opportunity to arrange food and drinks for the hotel, including room service, said he was smitten with the order . Corner Bar focuses on tavern fare, with raw bar specials, chicken liver mousse, steak au poivre, cod with leeks, roasted chicken with morels, boudin blanc and spaghetti with tomato sauce; it will be open for breakfast and dinner, lunch will follow shortly. The wine list will be American because, as Mr. Mattos put it, visitors should be able to appreciate what is made here. Installed in a former bank cash register with arched windows and a vaulted ceiling, the Lobby Lounge offers small plate cocktails such as oysters, cheese and shrimp cocktail, and will also add tea service. Plans are in the works for a private rooftop event space on the 14th floor.
9 Orchard Street (Canal Street), 212-804-9900, cornerbarnyc.com, nineorchard.com.
Opening
53
This expanded new contemporary Asian restaurant is a departure point for Ahmass Fakahany’s Altamarea Group, known for its Italian dining. Mr Fakahany lived in Asia for 10 years and said he was long tempted to try an “Asian cuisine experience”. Designed by ICRAVE and installed in the new Jean Nouvel-designed apartment tower, just west of the Museum of Modern Art, the restaurant has a dramatic cocktail lounge under a series of half-dome slats on the ground floor. Below the lounge is the large dining room, covered by a roof with a continuation of the slats in a rainbow of colors. Akmal Anuar, who is from Singapore and runs restaurants in Asia and the Middle East, is the chef and a partner. By his side is Mark Yu, the chef, whose experience is rooted in New York at Pastis and Catch. Their menu features entrees, including some dim sum like crystal dumplings and fluke kombujime, grouped as hot or cold; other dishes are filed according to technique, such as steamed (razor, bok choy), grilled (lamb ribs), clay pot (duck, tiger prawn) and wok (quail, pea shoots with belechan). The name is a reference to the street where it is located and the building number. (Open Wednesday)
53 West 53rd Street, 646-535-3994, 53-nyc.com.
Coco Shack
The restorer Pino Luongo is on his way. He recently moved his Coco Pazzo restaurant from Prince Street to 307 Spring Street (Hudson Street), which he took over last year, and renamed it Coco Pazzo Trattoria. Now he opens a seafood restaurant not far from the old Coco Pazzo space. Its Italian roots can be found in crudo and tagliolini with sea urchins, but it goes much further with swordfish tacos, seafood paella, and shrimp and grits. The chef, David Camara, worked in Hawaii. (Friday)
184 Prince Street (Sullivan Street), 917-675-7500, cocoshacknyc.com.
Noordwijk
Andrew Quinn, who was an executive sous chef at Eleven Madison Park, along with Cedric Nicaise, a former wine director there, opened this American restaurant with a seasonal approach in the corner space that housed John Fraser’s the Loyal until the pandemic. British-born Mr. Quinn’s menu includes curried cashews, scallop crudo with grapefruit, kale salad with avocado, salmon with bell pepper and tomato, smoked hanger steak with scallions, cherry pie with almonds and, for an English twist, lemon posset with ice cream and rhubarb. The 70-seat room is done in earth tones and the name is said to be the colloquial Dutch language for ‘North District’, once the name for the area that was the West Village. Bridgette Zou is also a partner dealing with the creative and marketing aspects of the business.
289 Bleecker Street (Seventh Avenue South), theoortwyck.com.
