Good morning friends,
Couple of openings to share with you today – one in Brooklyn and one in the Penn District, a neighborhood that is heating up in terms of restaurants and retail. I’ll have a big piece on that real estate boom in Bloomberg this week so look out for that. Actually, if you’re into Rag & Bone’s Miramar – those jeans that are actually made of sweatpants – they are doing a pop-up inside Moynihan Train Hall, testing the waters with its first-ever standalone shops. Apparently, while Rag & Bone is a household name, Miramar is driving nearly half of the brand’s women’s new customers. The shop runs through the holidays! I totally want jeans made of sweatpants. Anyway, back to food!
Koju omakase to ACE Hotel Brooklyn
LDV Hospitality, which opened Lele’s Roman at ACE Hotel Brooklyn over the summer, has transformed the hotel’s private skylit glass-enclosed garden space into a 14-seat omakase bar and restaurant called Koju.
Meaning “fortunate pearl,” Koju marks LDV’s first Japanese restaurant. It’s under the care of Executive Chef Kevin Garrison, formerly Executive Chef of Sushi Zo Hanare in New York, and Partner Hiro Nishida, a global restaurateur who co-founded MEGU and has launched more than 30 acclaimed dining concepts worldwide.
His omakase menu ($145/person) offers nine courses with three opening appetizers and dessert, with optional supplemental courses available. The menu has nigiri and hand rolls, with fancy fish like Ha Gatsuo (striped bonito), a fall delicacy showing up now, alongside Hokkaido scallops and kinmedai (golden eye snapper) and includes more inventive combinations like a triple toro roll layered with akami, chutoro, and otoro.
Beverage Director Giacomo Ellena is doing a cool collection of signature cocktails that blend traditional Japanese ingredients with Western mixology, including a spritz with Ume Sake and prosecco, a Japanese Yuzu Highball, a pickled ginger gimlet, and an Eastern-inspired Old Fashioned with Japanese whiskies, Sakura honey, and chocolate bitters. Their full bar highlights Japanese gin and whisky, along with sake from rare bottles to hyperlocal Brooklyn producers.
I have to mention one more thing here. The team is very into music and the way it’s essential to make a dining experience more holistic and authentic. They’ve curated a collection of over 120 vinyl records spanning from 1935 to 1990, highlighting the breadth of Japanese pop music. The soundtrack is played on a super rare Audio Technica vinyl player—one of two that exist in the world—that glows in shifting colors! Handmade speakers from Silence Please, positioned behind the sushi counter, bring a gorgeous sound experience that envelops the space. It’s very cool.
Koju is open now at ACE Hotel Brooklyn, at 252 Schermerhorn Street. It’s open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday, with two seatings at 5:45 PM and 8:15PM. Reservations are available via SevenRooms.. For more information, please visit sushikoju.com or follow @sushikoju on social media.
Limusina Opens Monday, the first Mexican restaurant from Quality Branded
Quality Branded (Twin Tails, Zou Zou's, Don Angie, Quality Italian) and its chef Craig Koketsu are opening Limusina (think Limousine) on Monday, the first Mexican restaurant in the group's portfolio.
Designed by GRT Architects, it’s located in an airline hanger-sized 5,000-square-foot space that once housed a parking garage. The 215-seat, tri-level Mexican restaurant on the corner of 34th and Ninth is super glamorous and totally on brand with the over-the-top Quality Branded vibe: cheeky high-low takes on classics; tableside presentations; and big bold colorful cocktails.
Craig, who grew up in California, created a menu that’s inspired by the various regions of Mexico with touches of California and Texas. There’s a Lobster al Pastor with achiote-chili butter and avocado crema; Amaebi Sweet Shrimp with calamansi and blood orange; signature Machetes, long tortillas stuffed with a choice of cheese and squash blossoms or truffles and guava; and Solteros, platters of individually dressed nachos with toppings such as lobster and Montauk corn, and steak barbacoa. If you’re into birria, you must have the Long-Bone Short Rib Quesabirria–a gigantic birria short rib covered in queso, rich and spicy beef broth. Make your own tacos and dip them into the soup. Insane.
Quality Branded’s pastry chef Lucy Blanche, one of my favorites in the biz, is having fun here – she’s doing Jelly Donut Conchas filled with tart strawberry jam and Bavarian creme; and a Lemon Icebox Cake with layers of crisp Maria cookies and tangy lemon cream cloaked in fresh hibiscus flowers are just two treats created by Pastry Chef Lucy Blanche.
If you like margaritas, this is your spot – there are a few twists on classics and a frozen Vampiro (tequila with grapefruit and pomegranate sangrita), an homage to the classic Jalisco street cocktail made famous by vendor Oscar Hernandez.
Limusina, opens Monday September 15th and will be open for dinner Sunday through Thursday from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.; and on Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Reservations can be made through OpenTable.