Latest news with #EvanFunke
Eater
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Group Behind LA Hit Mother Wolf Is Opening an NYC Restaurant
is a born-and-raised New Yorker who is an editor for Eater's Northeast region and Eater New York, was the former Eater Austin editor for 10 years, and often writes about food and pop culture. The Los Angeles hospitality group behind chef Evan Funke's hit Italian spot, Mother Wolf, is going to be opening a new restaurant in New York City. Ten Five signed a 15-year lease on the ground floor of 125 West 57th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues. It's a mixed-use development in the heart of Midtown's so-called Billionaires' Row, where the restaurant will take up 7,045 square feet on the ground floor, as first reported by the New York Post. Ten Five's managing partner, Dan Daley, said via a rep for the building's developers, 'We're excited to bring a new concept to this incredibly dynamic part of the city and to contribute to the continued evolution of this iconic corridor,' he wrote, describing it as 'a considered and ambitious project.' Ten Five's chief marketing officer, Kim Walker, writes to Eater that there are 'no further details to share,' but that the team is 'excited about the new space.' Eater has reached out to Funke to see if he is involved. Ten Five's first Los Angeles restaurants were coastal Mexican restaurant Ka'teen and rooftop bar Desert 5 Spot in 2021, inside the Tommie Hotel. Those were followed by Bar Lis in 2022, and French restaurant Mes Amis followed in 2022, both in the Thomson Hotel. But it wasn't until Ten Five debuted Mother Wolf in 2022, where Funke focuses on Roman-style Italian cuisine and especially his pastas, that they had a spot that received outsized culinary attention and celebrity patronage. At the time, Los Angeles Times critic Bill Addison described the spaghettone alla gricia as a 'pork-besotted masterpiece,' and was taken with 'all'amatriciana's potent mix of tomato and guanciale fused onto curving rigatoni.' Building on Mother Wolf's success, the group expanded with offshoots in Miami and Las Vegas. A rendering of 125 West 57th's entrance. Rendering: Neoscape Not all of their ventures have worked out. The company opened an LA-style British pub, the Chap, but closed it a year later, in 2023, in the middle of the company's lawsuit with then-partnering development company Relevant Group. This new, unnamed NYC restaurant isn't Ten Five's first venture into the five boroughs. Back in 2024, the group expanded Desert 5 Spot, a western-themed bar with bull riding, into Williamsburg. 125 West 57th is going to be a high-priced, fancy 30-story building run by real estate developers Alchemy-ABR Investment Partners and Cain International. The address had been home to the Calvary Baptist Church, dating back to the late 1800s, dubbed a 'skyscraper church.' As part of this new development, the church will reopen, occupying the second through 10th floors. The overall space is scheduled to open after Labor Day in September, per the Post. It's down the street from another big Midtown restaurant in the works. Over at 9 West 57th Street, Billy Durney and the team behind Kent Hospitality Group are working on their spot.
Eater
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Evan Funke's New Hollywood Lounge Goes Big on Roman Street Food
A new Roman-inspired cocktail lounge from acclaimed chef Evan Funke and Giancarlo Pagani, the managing partner of Mother Wolf Group, is headed to Hollywood. Bar Avoja opens in the short-lived former Mars cocktail bar space, tucked behind Mother Wolf, on May 30. Mars first opened in January 2024 with a $5,000 a year membership that came with a personal spirits locker, priority seating, and invitations to special events; the bar closed in April 2025. At Bar Avoja, Funke will prepare a menu inspired by handheld Roman street food, alongside folded and thin-crust pizza and cocktails. A frittatina di carbonara, a pasta stuffed fritter, is filled with spaghetti swirled with guanciale, black pepper, and egg, or eggplant, mozzarella di bufala, and ricotta salata. A fried arancini, a popular street food in the Eternal City, draws inspiration from cacio e pepe, with crema di pecorino romano and black pepper. At Bar Avoja, Funke will also prepare wood-fired pies. The Portafoglio folded to resemble a pocket, is topped with oxtail meatballs, braised greens, and fonduta di pecorino; the Wolfgang with smoked salmon, herb cream, and trout roe; and the Palermo with sugo di cipolla (onion sauce), caciocavallo, wild oregano, and sauteed bread crumbs. Funke's signature Palermo-inspired focaccia, sfincione all'aglione, will also be on the menu. Gelato and cannoli with ricotta and Santa Barbara pistachios will be available for dessert. Cocktails are made to pair with Funke's cooking, like the Morso Di Vita with Grey Goose, Chinola passion fruit, tomato, basil, and lemon, as well as the Santa Infuocata, mixing Malfy gin, Meyer lemon honey, and Olio Santo olive oil. Alongside cocktails, Bar Avoja will also serve wine and mocktails. Bar Avoja retains elements of the luxe Mars interior, like the intimate red leather seating and an accent wall with wire cages displaying bottles of liquor. Small glass tabletop lamps cast a gentle line downward onto dark wood tables, with strips of metal dividing the top into quarters. It's a venue that's easy to settle into for a few hours, catching up with friends over a bottle of wine and bites from Funke. The bar will be open Thursday to Saturday, by reservation only. For fans of Funke's cooking at Mother Wolf and his eponymous restaurant, Funke, the arrival of Bar Avoja offers an enticing new upscale cocktail option in the neighborhood that's guaranteed to have some top-notch food. Bar Avoja will open at 1545 Wilcox Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90028 on May 30 with hours on Thursday to Saturday, from 6 p.m. until late. Reservations are required and available on Resy . Sign up for our newsletter. 1545 Wilcox Avenue, , 90028
