The Danny Meyer-founded Union Square Events is running the cafe and bar, led by chef Skyllar Hughes, who had most recently been at Italian restaurant Ci Siamo. This means an initial American menu with dishes like tuna nicoise, tagliatelle pomodoro, club sandwiches, and strawberry tarts, alongside baked goods such as croissants and kale-ricotta scones. Drinks include American and European wines, nonalcoholic options, and cocktails that are inspired by the museum’s video and book Cocktails With a Curator.
The 50-seat restaurant is open to people visiting the museum only; day-of reservations have to be made in person by visitors with tickets or museum members. It’s part of the museum’s overall renovations, which debuted back in April. The name comes from the Frick family’s private train car that they used to travel across the Northeast in the 1900s. Union Square Events is also opening a restaurant, Babette, within the forthcoming members-only club Moss.
Details on PDT co-owner’s other new bar
Iconic East Village speakeasy Please Don’t Tell co-owner Jeff Bell is in the middle of opening a three-part dining-and-drinking complex in the West Village. There’s going to be an agave bar, Mixteca, and the first East Coast location of famed Los Angeles taqueria Tacos 1986. There’s also going to be a new cocktail bar evoking the glamorous post-Prohibition nightclubs of New York, as reported by Substack the Mix. Kees will open at 1 Cornelia Street, at West Fourth Street, in the fall.
Bell tells the newsletter that he wants Kees to work as a “special occasion place” that “capture[s] the essence” of places like the Stork Club and El Morroco. The basement bar will be able to fit 55 people (with a 12-seat bar). It’ll serve classic cocktails and other iterations. There will be wine by sommelier Dustin Wilson and food. The bar’s name had been a nickname for Cornelius, who had been one of Bell’s relatives who came from Holland to New York in the 1600s. It also works as a play on the word “key” and “seek.”
Berlin Korean fried chicken pop-up makes New York debut
A Korean fried chicken pop-up from Berlin is making its way into New York City this week. Eating Fantasy’s pop-up is taking place in Bushwick at Orion Bar on Thursday, June 5, from 6 p.m. until everything is sold out. Chef Häran Kim, who started the pop-up in 2023, will serve Korean fried chicken with varying sauces.
