RedFarm and Decoy Return!
Ed Schoenfeld's terrific Chinese American restaurant is back in business.
I’m happy to share a bit of nice news for your Monday morning: RedFarm is back! Now, I’m not sure if you remember Ed Schoenfeld, the gregarious and charming restaurant world legend and preeminent Chinese food expert who was known for his red Sally Jessie Rafael glasses and his insanely delicious Chinese-American restaurant, RedFarm.
The restaurant opened in 2011 at 529 Hudson Street, on the parlor floor of an 1828 brownstone, above a basement laundromat. Under Ed’s expert tutelage, and in partnership with father-son restaurateurs Jeffrey and Zach Chodorow and its original opening chef Joe Ng, the restaurant became an immediate hit. I can still remember the opening party with Gael Greene, Ruth Reichl, Robin and Rob, all the OGs.
In 2014, RedFarm opened a second location on the Upper West Side and the laundromat below the original location became Decoy, a cocktail bar and restaurant that soon became renowned for its Peking Duck dinners.
Ed passed away in 2022 after a battle with cancer, but his generous spirit and passion for hospitality lives on through the many team members, both front and back of house, who have worked at RedFarm for over a decade, including director of operations Andy Wang who has been with RedFarm since it opened in 2011.
The restaurant is now 14 years old and run by co-founder and partner Zach Chodorow (son of Jeffrey of China Grill fame) has been involved with RedFarm since it was just a wisp of an idea and continues to honor Ed’s memory with a menu that features all the old favorites: Crispy Beef, Ed’s Pastrami Egg Rolls, Cold Sesame Noodles with Chicken, Pork & Crab Soup Dumplings (in addition to 10 other signature dumplings like the Pac Man dumplings!), Crispy Skin Garlic Chicken, Grilled Prime Creekstone Bone-In NY Strip Steak and more.
RedFarm still has its cheery modern rustic farmhouse decor, originally created by Creme Design, which has been rebuilt almost exactly as it was before the fire, with chopsticks, greenery, Ed’s prized vintage water pitcher collection, and wine boxes stashed whimsically around the room.
But there’s more! Decoy, the cult-favorite subterranean “duck den” located below RedFarm is currently operating as a cocktail lounge on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 6 p.m. until midnight, with its own beverage menu and a robust selection of bar snacks available from the RedFarm menu upstairs.
In the coming weeks, this shrine to Peking duck will soon fully reopen with its famed, large format set menu with duck at the centerpiece. (Official launch date and reservations announcement to come.) See you there!
Ed was INCREDIBLE, we spoke on a panel at NYU together. I am grateful to hear his restaurant is back ❤️