Latest news with #TwinTails
Time Out
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
This new cocktail bar in FiDi is an ode to 'Moby-Dick'
You may not be familiar with the name Bryan Schneider, but if you've knocked back a pepperoncini martini at Bad Roman or a handful of Bangkok screwdrivers at Twin Tails, he's certainly treated you to a drink. Tending bar since 2005, Schneider has shaken and stirred at some of New York's most beloved drinking establishments starting with Daniel, eventually overseeing the aforementioned bars while working as the beverage director of Quality Branded. Like many in the industry (and really, most of us out there), Schnieder always envisioned owning his own bar. But for him, it wasn't a lofty, unobtainable thing. Instead, his vision was a modern, maritime meeting place, ripped from the pages of Herman Leville's classic novel, Moby-Dick. 'While reading the novel a decade ago, I took about ten pages of notes for a Moby-Dick -inspired bar,' Schnieder told Time Out New York, also describing how he was taken by the book's ties to New York and the vivid description of the smoke-laden, whaling tavern in chapter three, named The Spouter Inn. Ten years passed before Schneider serendipitously came upon his prized find, a bar space near the waters of the Hudson River. And so he decided to harpoon his own catch. Last Friday, Quick Eternity opened its doors at the South Street Seaport in the Financial District, bringing forward Schneider's interpretation of a seaside whaling tavern through a modern lens. The name of the drinking den is drawn directly from chapter 41 of Moby-Dick: '...to chase and point lance at such an apparition as the Sperm Whale was not for mortal man. That to attempt it, would be inevitably to be torn into a quick eternity.' Less of a dive for weary souls and more of a modern revue to raise spirits, the two-level bar features heavy brick walls, leather-backed chairs and cherry wood tables etched with ivory-like accents. Above sits The Gam, a private event space that also houses Idler Books, an independent bookstore offering a thoughtfully curated selection of new and used titles—including a collection of vintage editions of the obviously inspiring seafaring classic. Owner Rachel Leal, Schneider's wife, plans to develop literary programming as well, including a reading club that will take a deep dive into, you guessed it, Moby-Dick. The most eye-catching sight is found behind the bar on the first floor. Beyond the marble counter sits a darkened mural of the whale from the novel. Breaching from the murky sea, the picture is framed by weathered bones seemingly pulled from the beast itself. The maritime mural was commissioned by Tribeca-based artist Azikiwe Mohammed, whom Schneider met while studying art in college. 'For the mural, I gave Azikiwe a particular passage in chapter 3 that describes an oil painting in the entrance to the inn,' said Schneider. 'Azikiwe created his own version of the painting described in that passage.' Mohammed's touch is felt elsewhere as well. The bar has partnered with New Davonhaime Food Bank, an organization conceived and operated by Mohammed that provides fresh produce and pantry staples to New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity. As you contemplate your own white whale, you can sip on a menu of cocktails that pull from references and excerpts from the book. The namesake drink of the bar, the Quick Eternity, is a play on a Corpse Reviver #2, made with Perry's Tot Navy-Strength Gin, passionfruit, Lillet, lemon and absinthe. The Rachel (made with Michter's bourbon, Saveiro madeira, lemon and a float Three Valleys red wine) has a double meaning here: it's named after the whaler ship that eventually pulls Ishmael from the water in the novel and Schneider's own wife. Upgraded tavern fare comes courtesy of chef Antonio Mora. A personal friend of Schneider's, chef Mora (previously of Daniel, Morandi and Quality Meats) has created a New England-accented menu. The chilled Manhattan clam chowder eats more like a ceviche spun with classic chowder flavors, while the Captain's Crunch is reminiscent of a Frito-Pie that swaps out chips for prawn crisps, yours to shake up with Du Breton pork chili. Filling meals from the gallows include the Gam Burger with charred onions and a 'chaos' sauce, plus corndog-battered lobster tails. As for desserts, the sticky toffee pudding is drizzled with a Navy-Strength Jamaican rum caramel is a go-to.
New York Post
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
NYC has an amazing new Southeast Asian restaurant in Twin Tails
Did I dream that I was eating fabulous Vietnamese beef satay and Lao-style grilled chicken, not at Indochine or Tao Downtown, but on the achingly sterile third floor of Deutsche Bank Center, aka the former Time Warner Center? Nope, it was all real — and one of the year's happiest restaurant-world surprises. After a mixed-results launch last fall, Twin Tails has hit its stride and is the new culinary star of the Columbus Circle mall. The sprawling Southeast Asian place from the Quality Branded team blows away ghosts of three flops that preceded it on the third floor. Quality Branded runs venues from tiny Italian trattoria Don Angie to giant steakhouse Smith & Wollensky to Middle Eastern-themed Zou Zou's. This is the group's first foray into Asian fare and it's surprising great. 6 The Night Market chicken at Twin Tails is one of the best poultry dishes in the city right now. Tamara Beckwith 6 The stylish, dimly lit interiors make you forget you're in a mall. Tamara Beckwith While the crowd-pleasing, gently cosmopolitanized Southeast Asian fare is reminiscent of clubby downtown spots, Twin Tails stops short of being a party scene. It's crafted for grown-ups — and for grown-ups' finances, with small plates priced up to $29, most main courses in the $39-65 range and a few esoteric meat dishes costing up to $130. Yet, not once did waiters annoy us with the standard 'all our dishes are made for sharing' upsell pitch, even though — get this! — they all were large enough to be shared. The antiseptic mall mood vanishes once you step through the brass doors. Twin Tails boasts 300 seats including the bar, a lounge and private rooms, but what most diners will experience is the 140-seat main dining room, which is sectioned by design firm AvroKo into five intimate areas separated by low-rise planters. It wears its faux-exoticism lightly; there are no temple motifs or jade elephants. Mirrored walls are pink and amber, banquettes are upholstered in deep yellow. Table tops are of burled rosewood, each with its own small shaded lamp that lets you see what you're eating even if you don't happen to be seated under custom-made amber glass chandeliers. The menu is divided into various categories, such as satay, small plates, fish, shellfish, steak, and pork and fowl. There are tons of spices, but no red-hot chilis to blow off the roof of your mouth. 6 Twin Tails stops short of being a party scene, but there's still a great energy in the space. Tamara Beckwith The 'Night market' grilled chicken — a reference to the flavorful grilled meats found in the night markets of Thailand — was one of the best poultry dishes I've had in recent memory. The leg, thigh and breast are brined in fish sauce and lemongrass; spiced with cumin, garlic and ginger; then grilled and roasted. It's served in a pan with broth made from the drippings. The white meat was as juicy and tender as the dark. In a city full of dry, boring chicken dishes, it's a showstopper. The restaurant can be packed at night, but I had the place nearly all to myself for a recent lunch, where I was bowled over by the pork cha gio rolls. A mineral-rich grind of meat and umami-rich cloud ear mushrooms are encased in super-crisp spring roll wraps. They burst with flavor on their own, but wrapping them in lettuce leaves and dunking them in tangy, fish sauce-based nuoc cham takes them even higher. 6 The red curry sea bass shows the kitchen's skill with seafood. Tamara Beckwith I was skeptical of red curry sea bass after several under-performing seafood choices in the restaurant's early days. But chef/partner Craig Koketsu and executive chef Chad Brown now have the kitchen cracking. The familiar fish is marinated and wrapped in banana leaf, then grilled and roasted with pungent hints of galangal and lime. Strangely, the only flop was a dish the waiter said was the house pride: crispy garlic shrimp 'Lotus of Siam'-style, named for a famous Las Vegas restaurant. Maybe I caught them on a bad night, but the shrimp were almost inedibly chewy and tough when extracted from their shells, and they turned hard and cold after just minutes. 6 Crispy shrimp were the only flop that The Post's Steve Cuozzo had a Twin Tails. Tamara Beckwith 6 Desserts, such as a rainbow sherbet cake, end things on a fun note. Tamara Beckwith The fun returned with desserts such as multi-color rainbow sherbet cake layered with guava, Makrut line, pineapple chili and graham-cashew crunches. Remarkably, the flavors don't merge into a sweet blur but stand up for themselves individually. Twin Tails might not be Saigon or Bangkok, but it's a shorter trip to Columbus Circle — and exactly what the southeast Asian-deprived junction point of Midtown and the Upper West Side needed.
