In what might be the most exciting, near-simultaneous restaurant openings ever in Manhattan, two of the year’s most eagerly anticipated places opened within weeks of each other under the same FiDi roof.
“Top Chef” star and Craft creator Tom Colicchio’s Fowler & Wells and Odeon/Balthazar genius Keith McNally’s Augustine both bowed in late October in the beautiful, new Beekman Hotel (123 Nassau St., at Beekman Street).
They signify a sea-change in the former culinary desert of FiDi, where Wolfgang Puck’s Cut recently opened and Nobu plans to relocate early next year.
The McNally and Colicchio restaurants bookend the Bar Room at Fowler & Wells, a romantic, antiques-filled lounge beneath the Beekman’s long-hidden, nine-story atrium in a landmarked former office building known as Temple Court.
It’s a stunning setting for a drink or “bar” dishes priced up to $27 — and stylish scenemakers are already flocking there — but should you head to McNally’s or Colicchio’s for dinner after? Here, a look at how they compare.
Fowler & Wells
Colicchio’s first new Manhattan restaurant in six years is named after medical quacks who plied their trades at the site in the 1840s. The 88-seat dining room’s brick walls and ceiling pipes frame leather and mohair-velvet banquettes, burgundy-leather booths with brass trim, multicolor-stained-glass wall panels and an antique mirror — a sea of luxe with just enough industrial edge to feel “downtown.”
Augustine
McNally, “the man who invented downtown” with Tribeca’s mythic Odeon, takes the plunge in the real downtown with a French-themed brasserie that’s like a compressed Balthazar. The layout generates lots of cozy corner booths. The built-in buzz vibrates off tiled floors, walls and columns, and glowing globe lights illuminate Art Nouveau mosaics and vintage mirrors. It’s named after a fourth-century saint who led an excessively sinful life before converting. “[That] appealed to me, more the sinning than the conversion,” says McNally.
The Food
Fowler & Wells:
The “quintessentially old New York menu,” as Colicchio calls it, updates 19th- and early-20th-century classics like schnitzel (substituting rabbit for veal, $37). Executive chef Bryan Hunt’s standout dishes include sweetbreads ($25), hot-smoked sturgeon ($39), loin of lamb ($41) and black bass with Mayan prawns ($43).
Augustine:
Less expensive than Fowler, its French menu is less traditional than Balthazar’s, with well-chosen detours to New England, Italy and American steak country. The strongest dishes from executive chefs Shane McBride and Daniel Parilla include marvelous Calvados-braised pork ($27) and duck à l’orange ($33), bouillabaise ($31), sea-urchin spaghettini ($29) and a deep-flavored whiskey burger ($27).
Warning: Neither place is for calorie-counters or fully-committed leaf-eaters. Expected rich sauces and dressings, even in salads.
The Scene
Fowler & Wells: Uptowners (meaning from as far north as Tribeca) don jackets — even a few ties! — and dresses to enjoy the time trip back to 1883. Our spies also spotted Hugh Jackman in the dining room and Chelsea Handler in the Bar Room.
Augustine: Lots of casually clad guys and gals from Wall Street and creative fields who’ve made FiDi the city’s fastest-growing residential nabe. Anna Wintour and her Condé Nast team pop in from their World Trade Center offices.
The Choice
Fowler & Wells: Although neither kitchen has yet hit its full stride, Colicchio’s pricier fare so far holds a razor-thin edge over Augustine’s. But, give us a burger, Tom! — at least in the bar.
Augustine: Its sexy scene handily trumps the more sedate Fowler’s, but some heavy starters — bone marrow, cheese souffle — almost undercut wonderful main dishes.