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New York Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
The Dynamo Room Conjures Classic New York Next to Madison Square Garden
Opening The Brooklyn-based Sunday Hospitality Group, which runs everything there is to eat in the Hotel Chelsea, is opening its first stand-alone Manhattan restaurant. Steps from Madison Square Garden, the group is installing a 200-seat steakhouse that embraces some New York traditions with an oyster bar and décor that references the old Penn Station. The chef and a partner, Derek Boccagno, formerly at Café Chelsea, has a menu of classic steaks ($42 to $210), prime ribs, chilled deviled lobster and maitake steak with mushroom bordelaise. (Opens Friday) 2 Penn Plaza (West 33rd Street), 203-297-9477, Part of a larger group, this restaurant, with an elaborate dining room with black marble, gold veining and plush banquettes, is well represented across India, the Middle East, Canada, London and even in Bellevue, Wash. The food, by the chef Gaurav Chawla, takes liberties with tradition, with dishes like paneer lasagna, charred avocado tikka and smoked lamb curry. Chicken tikka made with goat cheese, keema pie, spiced broccoli florets, and truffled asparagus and mushroom bharta are a few of the dishes that will be served only in New York. (Thursday) 78 Leonard Street (Church Street), 646-499-9040, Nikki Zheng's career trajectory has taken her from Tokyo to New York to work with sushi masters at Masa, Sushi of Gari and Sushi Nakazawa. Now, she's in charge of her own 12-seat counter in a simple storefront with pale wood finishes. Her omakase consists of 18 courses for $195 and might include smoked Spanish mackerel and several cuts of tuna, some aged along with excellent rice. At her side is the chef Jeff Lam from Hong Kong. 317 East 75th Street, 917-921-3239, Guy Vaknin, the chef and restaurateur who first attracted attention with his clever vegan Beyond Sushi and has gone on to open more vegan restaurants, is adding this kosher dessert (and appetizer) spot. The pastry chef Makenna Hale comes up with complex, fruit-forward confections like the Sun, which delivers tastes of almond, orange blossom, passion fruit, cantaloupe, apricot, tangerine, caramel and white chocolate. Salads, salt-baked potatoes and mushroom sliders make up some of the savory side, and cocktails with dessert on their minds are part of the picture. (Thursday) 135 Metropolitan Avenue (Berry Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, This spot has relocated from its original location in Syracuse, N.Y., where wines were poured to match a tasting menu, to the former Veritas space, in Manhattan. In the hands of the chef and owner Jared Ian Stafford-Hill, the choices are a four-course tasting ($148), or seven courses ($188) with inevitable optional extras. The menus change from time to time and have a regional focus. There's Côte de Beaune to start. Flights of wines to go alongside are priced according to their pedigree. 43 East 20th Street, 646-375-0945, Want all of The Times? Subscribe.


New York Times
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Time is a Flat Portobello Cap
Image Derek Boccagno's maitake au poivre, adapted by Florence Fabricant. Credit... Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Hadas Smirnoff. Living any portion of your life online increases the likelihood of the digital jump scare: spotting an ex on a dating app, say, or receiving a LinkedIn invitation from a childhood nemesis. But neither compares to the minefield that is Facebook and Instagram's 'On This Day' feature, which highlights old posts. Remember the heartbreak? The vacation that ended in food poisoning? The time you bleached your own bangs? This week, 'On This Day' transported me to 2020 — the day after the pandemic was declared, specifically. That feels like a different lifetime. That feels like yesterday. It can be jarring to clock time's hurried march when we are less than prepared for it. So when a nice memory pops up, I savor it. Like the one of an old apartment I adored, or the one served to me Monday, of some mushroom tacos I posted two years ago. Then came a different kind of jump scare: I haven't written a Mushroom Week Veggie in two years. On this day, we remedy that, with many different mushrooms. Frilly maitake (or hen-of-the-woods) may be my favorite mushrooms to cook with, their edges becoming crisp and lacy when pressed against a hot skillet. Now imagine those browned bits beneath a blanket of piquant au poivre sauce, à la the maitake au poivre from Cafe Chelsea in Manhattan. Actually, you don't have to just imagine, since Florence Fabricant's procured the recipe. 'Made this for an intimate dinner party of four,' a reader wrote. 'Rave reviews and clean plates all the way around.' Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.