Alpine vibes
Sal Tang's, Brooklyn townhouses, Il Buco, Sag Harbor, Snowpine Lodge, Magazzino, Commerce Inn, après ski, MORE
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Surveying the Brooklyn townhouse market, behold three intriguing single-family homes that have come to market since the start of December.
→ 115a King St #1 (Red Hook) • 4BR/3BA, 2750 SF townhouse • Ask: $2.799M • Recently built three-story residence w/ roofdeck • Days on market: 24 • Monthly taxes: $1100 • For sale by owner.
→ 297 Pacific St (Boerum Hill) • 5BR/4.1BA, 5685 SF townhouse • Ask: $8.5M • 25’ wide four-story carriage house w/ private parking • Days on market: 23 (and previous) • Monthly taxes: $1166 • Agent: Lesley Semmelhack, Corcoran.
→ 104 Willow St (Brooklyn Heights, above) • 5BR/4.1BA, 5235 SF townhouse • Ask: $11.995M • Four-story Federal-style home built 1829 w/ original restored moldings and floors • Days on market: 32 • Monthly taxes: $2874 • Agents: James Augustine and Emma Teitgen, Compass.
REAL ESTATE LINKS: Where brokers see the NYC real estate market going in 2025 • Checking in on progress at 270 Park, JP Morgan Chase’s Midtown supertall • Facade installation begins at RAMSA’s 16 Fifth Ave in Village • Mulchfest is here.
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Cantonese collab
The Skinny: Opened at the very end of 2024, Sal Tang’s joins this decade’s crop of new, notable restaurants in the western reaches of Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill. The eponymous venture is a collaboration between hospitality pros Sal Lamboglia (Cafe Spaghetti, Swoony’s) and Wilson Tang (Cha Cha Tang, Nom Wah Tea Parlor).
The Vibe: Sal Tang’s occupies the address recently vacated by beloved neighborhood spot Vekslers. The first major change is the restaurant’s entrance — now around the corner from Hicks St. on Degraw, it feeds into a dedicated waiting area adjacent to the host stand. A couple of high-tops signal hopes for patient crowds walking in. In the dining room beyond the holding area, the jackalope mount that used to peer over the space has been swapped for cheery floral wallpaper and bright lights. The previously roomy booths have likewise been eschewed for closely spaced tables.
The Drinks: Beer, wine, and a few cocktail recommendations like the golden vesper and lychee martini. But the bartenders know what they’re doing here, so order as you wish.
The Food: Billed as Cantonese-American, Sal Tang’s debuts with a tight menu featuring mostly classics. Vekslers, whose menus were glancingly pan-Asian, offered a big egg roll for a time, and Sal Tang’s turns out a plump offering too. It’s pleasantly stuffed with vegetables, plus pork and shrimp, then fried to crack and sliced in half to great UX effect. Dumplings — especially the crystal shrimp varietal — are also a delight. These small plates are some of Sal Tang’s best items, and they’d be terrific bar snacks once the early crowds abate and the bar becomes passable. For mains, large chunks of tasty thigh meat lurk in the General Tso’s chicken (two-biters, at least), and the crispy orange beef surpasses sticky-sweet expectations.
The Verdict: An obvious new hotspot for the Manhattan Uber set that might need to cool down before locals can become regulars. –Amber Sutherland-Namako
→ Sal Tang’s (Cobble Hill) • 521 Hicks St • Tues-Sat 5-10p, Sun 5-930p • Reserve.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Friday Routine
Sea to shining sea
DONNA LENNARD • co-founder • Il Buco restaurants
Neighborhood where you live: Noho
It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?
With my son in college and my house finished in the Hamptons, I’m spending the majority of my time out east. Fridays have always been (and are still) special as I sense the approach of the weekend, the ensuing desire to disconnect. I try to schedule lightly so I can finish up early and head to the barn for a ride on my horse, Stallone. After a gallop in the fields to shed the stress of the week, I often linger at the barn while he grazes as the light begins to shift toward dusk.
Then, it's often off to our restaurant al Mare in Amagansett for a drink at the bar with some friends (and usually a bite from our chef Grecia's kitchen), then home for a slow unwind. If I happen to be in the city, in the evening you can usually find me trying out a new restaurant or frequenting some of my faves: Estela, Atla, Cervo’s, Four Horsemen. Occasionally I’m trying new dishes at my own Noho spots, or catching the latest art house film or an oldy at the Film Forum.
Any restaurant plans?
In the Hamptons, there are a few spots where you can find me on an off night. I love the Crow's Nest in Montauk at sunset. Rita Cantina and Springs Tavern And Grill are my local haunts when I want to stay close to home. Then there are the classics like The American Hotel in Sag Harbor or the tavern at The Palm in East Hampton, where you can't go wrong with a simple grilled steak and a martini.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Although in my free time I love to be anywhere in nature, I'm always keen to take advantage of the art scene both in the city and in the Hamptons. Out east, Guild Hall in East Hampton has great programming, whether it's an art opening or any number of intriguing speakers. Then there’s The Church in Sag Harbor, which has insightful exhibitions. When the weather is left of center, you'll find me at the Sag Harbor Cinema watching more art house.
Any weekend getaways?
It's tough to get me away from the Hamptons on the weekends, but I do love an occasional trip up the Hudson to visit friends. I’ll check out the latest show at Magazzino or Dia Beacon, or simply spend time in nature and enjoy cooking dinner at home with friends.
What was your last great vacation?
I just returned from the perfect yoga disconnect trip to Puglia with Anton Brandt's The Sacred Fig, set in a beautiful private villa in the small town of Porto Tricase at the heel of Italy’s boot. Spending the week with a great international group of yogis, practicing twice a day, and being fed the most delicious home-cooked meals with daily splashes into the Mediterranean was the perfect antidote to life as a restaurateur. Even the few days checking in on my little outpost in Ibiza, Bottega il Buco, didn't feel like work at the end of that trip!
CULTURE & LEISURE • Season’s Fleetings
Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes • Radio City Music Hall (Midtown) • Fri @ 8p • orch 4 row J, $152 per
George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker • David H Koch Theater (Lincoln Center) • Sat @ 2p • orch center row G, $1021 per
Professional Bull Riders: Unleash the Beast • Madison Square Garden (Midtown South) • Sat @ 745p • sec 117, $221 per
CULTURE & LEISURE LINKS: The sculptures are real; the history is fake • Checking out Shifting Landscapes at the Whitney • Must-visit January art fairs • Art museums debuting new amenities to lure visitors • The newspaper that wrote 17,000 stories about cult-y dance troupe Shen Yun.
GETAWAYS • Ski Country
Alta-rnative digs
Renowned as one of the last true skier’s mountains in America (no, snowboards are most definitely not allowed), Alta can be a tricky nut to crack if you’ve never graced its slopes. That stems in part from the fact that it lacks a village of any sort; the resort, such as it is, is a series of hotels and boarding houses that line the side of the two-lane road running up Big Cottonwood Canyon, a 45-minute drive from the Salt Lake City airport. There’s no luxury shopping to be had, and no restaurants outside of the hotels to reserve.
And Alta’s hotels — if that’s even the right word for these throwback ski lodges — aren’t the sort of places to be booked on points. Five of them, all independently family-owned, line the valley from the (extremely) rustic Goldminer’s Daughter and the nicer Peruvian at one end, to the more upscale (but still very firmly set in the ski era of the ‘60s and ‘70s) Rustler Lodge at the other. To further that feel, these lodges all include breakfast and dinner — board, in the parlance — as part of one’s stay.
I’d never skied Alta myself until last winter, when a friend of mine and I sought it out for a February ski weekend. Having not yet made head or tail of Alta’s old-school lodging offerings, we booked at the one new hotel to open in the valley in the past several decades, Snowpine Lodge. Billed as the valley’s first luxury ski resort when it opened in 2019, the vibe is actually one of familiar modern alpine charm, with warm woods throughout its 59 guest rooms, many with balconies. As vertical as the mountain it faces, Snowpine covers six floors, including a spa, as well as two very enjoyable restaurants, Swen’s for fine dining (consider the large format elk osso buco, $160 per) and the casual Gulch Pub for drinks and bar fare (though the mountain’s true après spot is back at the Peruvian — all hail the P-Dog).
As for the skiing, Alta’s terrain and snow need no introduction, but both proved sublime over our three days on snow. Snowpine Lodge is ski-out ski-in, with a private chairlift to hoist one back to the resort at the end of the day — a final luxurious touch. Perhaps next time, we’ll try one of the old-school lodges, but for Alta newbies, a stay at Snowpine Lodge will make you feel like you’ve been skiing these slopes your whole life, and rather stylishly at that. –Lockhart Steele
→ Snowpine Lodge (Alta, UT) • 10420 Little Cottonwood Rd • King rooms from $1059/weekend night.
GETAWAYS LINKS: The drones have come for Sag Harbor • American adding new routes from LGA, including longest to FCA (Kalispell, MT) • British Airways rebrands loyalty program, plans new rewards system for later this year • I tried Delta’s new (first-class only) Shake Shack burger, and • Why secret luxury hotels are opening inside existing properties.
GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines
Oysters & Champagne
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of NYC's best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@foundny.com.
Penny (East Village), elegant seafood counter, pristine oysters, epic wine list