New York Restaurant Openings - Week of Nov. 12, 2001
 Restaurants
EDITED BY ROB PATRONITE AND ROBIN RAISFELD
Week of November 12, 2001

Deborah — Life Love Food
Oh, Deborah: Chef Stanton and her partner David Oh.
After legitimizing hemp as a cooking ingredient at Galaxy, taking an Asian-tropical detour to Miami at Chow, and grilling Korean barbecue at Woo Lae Oak, chef Deborah Stanton has found her Greenwich Village niche. This week, she and partner David Oh (pictured) open Deborah — Life Love Food, a narrow aisle of a restaurant with red Ultrasuede banquettes, an open kitchen, and what Stanton calls a modern American comfort-food menu. Mini meat loaf, pork chops, and banana pudding are a given, but plundering the global larder for tuna-carpaccio napoleon with wasabi oil, beer-battered fish and chips, and a Cuban sandwich doesn't make this intrepid chef the least bit uncomfortable.
43 Carmine Street
212-242-2606
·
 Cuisine: Modern American


Deux for dinner: Pigalle.
Pigalle and Jean-Luc
Thanks to trend-setters like Keith McNally, SoHo is still considered the nexus of New York bistromania, but steak-frites and frisée salads are continuing their inexorable march into less culinarily blessed precincts. Like Hell's Kitchen, for instance, where the team from L'Express has somehow managed to transform the Metro Deli at the Days Inn into Pigalle, a brasserie outfitted with a tin ceiling, zinc bar, and terra-cotta tile floor. The kitchen, soon to be serving around the clock, covers all the bistro basics, from pâté to cassoulet, none of which costs more than $18.

790 Eighth Avenue, at 48th Street
212-489-2233
·
 Cuisine: French Bistro


West Side meets Left Bank: Ed Kleefeld at Jean-Luc.

Uptown, promoter Ed Kleefield has opened Jean-Luc, where former Raoul's chef Eric Le Dily supplements standards like steak au poivre and lobster bisque with such newfangled notions as bison carpaccio and crab-crusted Chilean sea bass. The room is equally eclectic, mixing brick-red velvet banquettes and Biedermeier chairs with second-century mosaics. Lest there be any doubt, the organic hazelnut crème brûlée is one innovation we wholeheartedly endorse.
507 Columbus Avenue, near 84th Street
212-712-1700

·
 Cuisine: French Bistro





Campbell's coup: @SQC's chef and namesake.
@SQC
At Avenue, Scott Campbell reacquainted New Yorkers with the often overlooked pleasures of brunch, the meal they love to hate. This week, he brings his rich repertoire of almond croissants, apple-cinnamon pancake soufflés, and pudding-thick hot chocolate to @SQC, his new base of blueberry-pancake operations. (The name comes from his initials.) After breakfast and lunch are up and running, he'll start dinner service, but for now Campbell fans will have to content themselves with daytime fare like scrambled eggs with scallions and goat cheese, assorted vegetable and grain salads, and a burger with Belgian-style frites.
270 Columbus Avenue, near 72nd Street
212-579-0100
·
 Cuisine: Breakfast/Brunch

 

 
Looking Ahead...



Late November

Marseilles, 630 Ninth Ave. at 44th St., 212-333-2323
Set-up: Two-story, 4000 square-foot space designed in 1940's French-Moroccan style with zinc bar and ebonized mahogany accents.
Cuisine: French/Mediterranean
Chef: Alex Urena (Blue Hill)
Owner: Simon Oren (Sushi Samba, L' Express, Maritime)


December

Blue Fin,
Set-up: Situated in the highly-anticipated W Times Square Hotel, this 400-seater will have a floating staircase connecting its two levels and a view of the Great White Way.
Cuisine: Seafood
Chef: Paul Sale (Icon at W Court Hotel)
Owner: Stephen "BR Guest" Hanson (Isabella's, Atlantic Grill)

January, 2002

Suba, 109 Ludlow St., 212-982-5714
Set-up: Subterreanean, multi-level grotto with moat, underwater lamps, and floor-to-ceiling glass-paneled doors. Designed by Andre Kikoski.
Cuisine:Pan-Latin
Chef: Stephane Bucholzer (L'Actuel)
Owners: Yann De Rochefort and Phillip Morgan

Fiamma, 206 Spring St., 212-653-0100
Set-up: Tri-level space in SoHo with exterior glass elevator and 130 seats
Cuisine: Italian
Chef: Michael White (formerly at the four-star Spiaggia in Chicago and chef di cucina at Ristorante San Domenico in Imola, Italy)
Owner: Stephen "BR Guest" Hanson (Blue Water Grill, Park Avalon, Ruby Foo's)


April, 2002

Blue Smoke, 116 East 27th St.
Set-up: Jazz joint with a built-in barbecue pit at former 27 Standard space.
Cuisine: Barbecue
Chef: Pitmaster Kenny Callaghan (Sous Chef, Union Square Cafe)
Owners: Danny Meyer (Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Cafe, Eleven Madison Park)

-- TISA COEN

Hear about a restaurant opening? Post an announcement - even a rumor - in the Food Forum.

 


Openings Archive

Week of November 5
Across the Street, Mezz@Town
Week of October 29
Commissary, Papillon
Week of October 22
The Harrison, The Minnow
Week of October 15
Dylan's Candy Bar, Luce, roomservicecafe




and more ...

Photos: Patrik Rytikangas.