Marc Murphy gets back in the kitchen, The Boathouse is open, and it's pizza night at Sea&Soil

A little news for your gray Wednesday.

Friends, 

Happy Wednesday! How are you all, and where have you been eating? Where do I need to go next? Comment on this post and give me your list of faves.

The bar at Inga’s is as inviting as they come. And the burger is fantastic, too. (Photo via Instagram)

As for me, I’ve been staying close to home lately; I had dinner at Inga’s at the bar on Monday evening and then last night at Swoony’s with some girlfriends. Both spots have perfected that neighborhood restaurant formula—inviting vibe, lovely service, terrific food, the sorts of places that feel like shelter, that give comfort in the form of soft low lighting and the hush of intimate conversation. These are rooms you want to return to again and again, say on a rainy night for double smashburgers and a well-stirred Manhattan, or on an evening where you feel that first warmth of spring, and you might stroll over for plate of cod with brown butter and capers a bottle of Vermentino that’s drained quickly. Just a suggestion. 

Anyway, I’ve got a couple of restaurant openings to note for this week and a fantastic pizza event happening at Sea & Soil so read if you have the time. 

MARC179

Marc Murphy, whom I first met roughly one million years ago when he was cooking at La Fourchette on the Upper East Side, is now a fabulous Food Network star, but he’s getting back in the kitchen (yay!), opening MARC179, an Italian and French-inspired restaurant. It opens tomorrow, Thursday, March 7th, in the original Landmarc space at 179 West Broadway, between Leonard and Worth St, marking his return to his roots where he first opened 15 years ago. 

He’s doing something a bit different with MARC179, opening for dinner for three consecutive days each month, with a pre-fixe four-course menu that will change monthly, and the remainder of the month will remain home to MM Kitchen Studio as an event space. 

I haven’t been yet but the menu sounds like this: Arugula Salad with pan-fried artichoke, and sweet garlic vinaigrette; Cacio e Pepe; Roast Chicken Breast with mushroom, grilled filone, lardon, and chicken jus; and a Chocolate Mousse with bourbon whipped cream for dessert. The wine program features half and full bottles that span both old and new world regions with pricing that again shies away from the typical restaurant model and highlights Murphy’s ultimate goal: to enjoy good wine and food with friends. Yum. Can’t wait to see you Marc! 

MARC179, and Chef Marc Murphy with GM Ryan Hide and Chef de Cuisine Aaron Diener

The Boathouse is Back

If you feel like being a tourist in your own city — and why not? —  The Central Park Boathouse  is now open for the season with a new menu from Executive Chef Adam Fiscus (Food Glorious Food, Dallas, TX; New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ), along with acclaimed Consulting Chef Dave Pasternack (Esca, NYC; Picholine, NYC). You can pop in daily for lunch and dinner, and the always popular Sunday brunch, or just grab your BFF, a cocktail and the view and call it a day. 

Pizza Tonight at Sea & Soil

I’ve written before about Sea & Soil, the delightful and delicious sliding scale sandwich shop and bakery in Red Hook from two friends — Noah Wolf and Gaby Gaby Gignoux-Wolfsohn — who met working at the Center for Families in Sunset Park where they taught food justice in an after-school program. 

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At Sea&Soil they offer a menu of sliding scale sandwiches, which means exactly what you think it does; you choose what to pay, from $9-$16, for all sandwiches on the board— overstuffed two handers named for the children and pets in their lives. The River is Pan crisped miso braised pork, mozzarella, tomato jam, wasabi aioli, sprouts & greens on Focaccia; The Eilliott – Smoked Turkey, pickled peppers, cheddar, creamy fermented cucumber sauce, arugula, aioli on Sea&Soil Focaccia.

“We want to keep prices at a point that does not eliminate the customers in our neighborhood,” says Wolf. “Good food should be for everybody. Especially sandwiches, that is a food for everybody."

Noah bakes all the breads, from sourdough loaves to olive rolls, focaccia and pretzel buns. In the mornings there are also blueberry muffins, two-cheese popovers. and those warm from the oven pretzel buns, some stuffed with feta and chili crisp, and another stuffed with sweet red bean. On weekends the pastry flag flies: Noah bakes many croissants: butter, salted chocolate pretzel, and scallion pancake croissants, as well as puffy glossy yeast donuts on Sundays. SO GOOD.

On the first Wednesday of the month (tonight!) they do pizza night — turning out pies crafted homemade sourdough-started crust! Stop by from 2:30-7pm! I’ll be there with my kids and hope to see you tonight!