Richard Parsons, ex-chief executive of Time Warner and Citigroup, as well as restaurateur and jazz fan extraordinaire, has reopened Minton’s, the Harlem jazz club at 206 West 118th St.
Its sister spot, The Cecil, remains closed to the public and, for now, open only for private events.
Minton’s kitchen is run by The Cecil’s executive chef, JJ Johnson, who will be cooking his Afro-Asian-American favorites at Minton’s five days a week for dinner and weekend brunches with live music.
(Parsons is also chairman of the Jazz Foundation of America.)
New dishes include short rib toast with spicy pickled okra and yogurt, and a rice fritter with crab and coconut. There will also be classics from The Cecil, including oxtail dumplings with green apple curry and taro root.
Cocktails will include Blood & Fire, with Del Maguey Vida Mezcal, Allspice Dram, Bissap and lemon juice, and an Ella Fitz, with gin, Aperol, lime and sparkling rose.
Goodbye, Greek. Hello, Steak.
Royal 35 Steakhouse, at 1 East 35th Street, opens later this month where Avalon Estiatorio used to be, Side Dish has learned.
The executive chef is former Top Chef contestant Joseph Paulino, who previously worked for Chefs Jean Georges Vongerichten and David Burke.
The classic steakhouse features a mahogany walled dining room with dark leather banquets and an upper level private dining room that overlooks the ground floor.
There’s also a walk-in custom class meat locker on display.
Food ranges from dry aged USDA prime beef to a raw bar and seafood.
After five years in real estate and a stint with Major Food Group, Jonathan Banayan and partner Gabe Weiser are opening next month Marinara Pizza, a modern version of a classic NYC slice joint, at 1376 Lexington Avenue.
“I was a suit and tie guy in real estate and finally realized it wasn’t for me,” Banayan said. “Pizza is a favorite food of mine and many people’s, so I decided to go with that. We really wanted to create a classic NYC slice joint — but elevated.”
After taste-testing “research” at pizzerias across all the boroughs, Long Island and Westchester, the team came up with their own recipes and concept.
“We will have a selection of classic New York City slices, and specialty slices with a monthly collaboration slice with other local restaurants and chefs,” Banayan said.
Salads and pastas are also on the menu along with “wings oreganata” — garlic Parmesan wings.
The design is classic with white instead of red exposed brick and fusion tunes that range from Dean Martin to Billy Joel and Jay Z.
“This is how we think a neighborhood slice joint should be done. Who says you have to follow the rules? We’d rather have fun and make this our own,” he says.
Banayan is already looking at a second location in Coney Island. The goal, he said, is to open five NYC locations in the next two years.
We hear…that Rouge Tomate Chelsea, a pioneer of health conscious dining at 126 W. 18th Street, is offering non-alcoholic ‘detox’ cocktails, with tumeric and nettle, for the New Year from beverage director Pascaline Lepeltier. Non-alcoholic drinks include Root, with carrot ginger, tumeric, orange, orange marmalade and Plant, with nettle, lettuce, sorrel, spinach, lemon, pear, and black radish pickle. New healthy brunch options from Chef Andy Bennett include a cauliflower salad with tamarind, Emmer wheat and almond; a roasted carrot salad with watercress and orange and a Quinoa bowl with acorn squash, tatsoi, cashew, radish and tofu.
We hear…that Kirsh Bakery & Kitchen at 551 Amsterdam Avenue, has launched a dinner service. It’s from Israeli restaurateurs Dan and Anat Kirsh, of Zuni, in Israel.