Friends & family: Spring Restaurant Rush

Plus captivating home speakers, the best block in Manhattan, Peking duck picks, more

May 02, 2023

∙ Paid

RESTAURANTS • The Nines

Spring Restaurant Rush

Ma-dé (Nolita), sister to Wayan from Ochi and Cédric Vongerichten
Mischa (Midtown East), elevated American from Alex Stupak
Greywind (Hudson Yards), Dan Kluger’s new greenmarket American
Superiority Burger (East Village), redux: bigger menu, full-service, bar
Seoul Salon (Koreatown), Atoboy drinking parlor with serious food
Virginia’s (East Village), bistro fare with a relaxed vibe
Principe (Soho), NoMad alums go seafood-centric in former art gallery
Raf’s (Noho), Musket Room team’s French-Italian resto/bakery
Press Club Grill (Koreatown, above), Franklin Becker’s upscale continental play

Got a take on a new restaurant? Hit reply or email found@foundny.com.

MORE SPRING OPENINGS & RE-OPENINGS: Appreciating the reborn and rebranded 15East @ Tocqueville (Union Square), which plans to unveil The Omakase Room, a new $225 20-course sushi and sashimi experience, this week • Mark Forgione (Tribeca) has reopened temporarily on Reade Street in advance of its summer move around the corner • Jaffa Cocktail and Raw Bar, sibling to Laser Wolf, coming in May to Hoxton Hotel (Williamsburg).

GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Object

Syng speakers

What it is: A high-end spatial audio speaker with Kubrick-esque sci-fi industrial design capable of filling up great rooms. When up to four are paired together in a space, they self-tune using microphones to coordinate a very large, realistic sound.

What was found: The first day I tried Syng, so captivating was the stage that I sat in an Eames lounge and listened to music for 8 hours. Louder and bigger than HomePods and prettier than Sonos. And not as fussy as a full-on home audio component system.

Quirk: No Dolby Atmos support yet. –Brian Lam

→ Shop: Syng Cell Alpha, $2499.

GOODS & SERVICES LINKS: Reno at Tiffany continues to turn heads: LMVH aims high, pics from inside, and Bernard Arnaud on the reported $500m cost — “You cannot dream when you talk numbers.” • Louis Vuitton to build new flagship in NYC as luxury retail booms • Century 21 in Fidi to reopen May 16 • All about Karl Lagerfeld at The Met Store and in Fendi’s windows.

WORK • Tuesday Routine

Christian Anthony, cofounder, ListenFirst Media

Work Neighborhood: NoMad

It’s Tuesday morning, where are you working?
Tuesday is my one day in NYC at the ListenFirst offices at 27th & Park. I take the train from Connecticut and usually walk from Grand Central. Sometimes I'll do a breakfast meeting at Pershing Square Cafe — always solid and dependable. The neighborhood corridor has really bounced back.

What’s the Tuesday morning scene at your workplace?
We try to get as many NYC-based employees into the office as possible on Tuesdays. We do our town halls on Tuesdays and the room has been getting more crowded.

What’s on the agenda for today?
Meeting with the executive leadership team, followed by in-office lunch for whole staff from Eataly or Cava. We’ll do one-on-one meetings in the early afternoon before the 3pm town hall, which is a mix of updates against plan/goals and culture building — in and out in 30 minutes.

What’s for lunch?
Upland (above) is around the corner and is a favorite. I always love the pizza at Marta. My longtime business partner and resident NYC guide just took me to Caffè Panna and Anita for ice cream and gelato — Caffè Panna had the best soft serve special I've had in a while.

Evening plans?
I’m probably in NYC two to three nights per month for dinners or events. Been doing a lot of events lately at Quality Bistro in Midtown. When I’m in Connecticut dining out with the family, we like to hit Mediterraneo and Terra, both in Greenwich.

WORK • Neighborhood Report

The best block in Manhattan

Is Great Jones St. between Bowery and Lafayette the best retail block in Manhattan?

Start with the food: there’s Gabe Stulman’s Jolene, a worthy successor to the late, great Great Jones Cafe; elegant market/sitdown Il Buco Alimentari; and Bohemian, once the most mysterious restaurant in the city, tucked behind bespoke butcher, Japanese Premium Beef. (Nevermind 4-star Yoshino around the bend on Bowery and all-day Lafayette across the other intersection.)

Coffee? Check, at Current. Tea? Yes, Kettl. Spa? Great Jones Spa. Boutiques? 3.1 Phillip Lim and Dear: Rivington. There’s even a classic NYC firehouse and a stacked-car parking lot on the corner.

But the real star of the block may be the flourishing art scene. Eric Firestone, Aicon, and La MaMa, and Adam Lindemann’s Venus Over Manhattan are all exhibiting on the stretch. And this week, Lindemann is opening a second space.

“I didn’t think we needed to be in Chelsea, it’s already full of galleries, and when I looked at Tribeca it’s even further away,” Lindemann told ARTnews. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of really good galleries there. But the idea of the sort of ‘Great Jones neighborhood’ seemed more ‘Old New York’, and kind of retro.”

NYC WORK LINKS: ‘Shark-like’ investors descend on NY cannabis scene • Vice Media cuts news staff, reportedly preps for bankruptcy • New York is closer than ever to beating the Bay Area on tech • VC Greycroft closes on $1B across two funds • Katmai raises $22m series A for office metaverse • Stress builds as office building owners and lenders haggle over debt • ‘The limo business isn’t your father’s limo business anymore.’

ASK FOUND

Duck and covers

Q: What are the new-ish Peking duck places? We've always been partial to Peking Duck House but are looking for new recommendations.

A: A FOUND subscriber emails: "The answer to this is Wu's [Wonton King] in Dimes Square. Been around forever. Dim sum lunches and great HK-style bbq items (tops Great NY Noodletown). Four key attractions: 1. Peking duck (half or whole), 2. massive Dungeness crab feasts, 3. whole roasted suckling pigs if you're with a large group, and 4. entirely BYO." BONUS: “At the Soho House on Ludlow, upstairs, they do a Peking duck,” emails another FOUND subscriber. “It’s roasted hanging in a big brick fire oven. It’s excellent.”

PROMPTS, one new, two for which we continue to seek intel:

Where does one find the best mezcal Negroni poured over a big rock ice cube in NYC?
I need a new statement work bag. Where can I shop for one IRL?
Where can I take my parents for a dinner uptown, somewhere with white tablecloths and relative peace and quiet?

Got an answer (or question)? Hit reply or email found@foundny.com.