Chef-owner Aaron Toensing recently reopened Maybeck’s and brought on board longtime friends Lori Baker and Jeff Banker, the couple formerly of Baker & Banker. “We see this as a great opportunity for all three of us to come together, push our creativity in the kitchen, and cook delicious, seasonal, technique-driven food,” says Banker. “We also want to give our guests access to wine and cocktails that excite and surprise the way our cuisine can, while offering a menu you can’t find anywhere else in the neighborhood.” Highlights include grilled Brokaw avocado in a spicy sauce, accompanied by hijiki salad and puffed rice; half a Liberty duck with fried rice, baby bok choy and puffed duck eggs; and, showcasing Baker’s dessert prowess, a Brooklyn blackout cake alongside a chocolate stout egg cream. The interiors were also refreshed, with the addition of a crudo counter. On August 17, the Marina restaurant will launch special ticketed dinners, held the third Wednesday of each month through the end of the year, featuring beef Wellington — an old Maybeck’s fave. Sunday brunch commences this month, too, and an on-site wine shop debuts in the fall.
There’s only one place you can secure Bottega Veneta’s Brick Cassette in Denim: the Italian fashion house’s expanded flagship in the City, where the handbag, part of the Wardrobe 04 collection, is exclusively sold. But there’s plenty more in store beyond the 3,600-squarefoot Union Square venue’s Absolute Black Zimbabwe stone–clad façade. All categories for men and women are carried here, which means: Intrecciato, its signature leather weave, for everyone. The interiors are appointed with sculptor Anders Herwald Ruhwald’s ceramic plant vessels, as well as artist and skater Raphaël Zarak’s oak shelving and furniture collaborations with the luxury brand. And if you can’t get enough of its popular “Bottega Green,” check out the fitting room swathed in the vibrant hue — hooks, walls, ceiling, seating and all.
Chef Jarad Gallagher, previously of Michelin-starred Chez TJ, now helms the Mediterranean restaurant located inside the sleek and stylish Shashi Hotel. Spanish and Portuguese flavors shine at his latest venture, Broma. The menu offers à la carte plus three-course prix fixe options and will change based on the seasonality of ingredients. Dishes can be enjoyed with craft beers, wines, sangrias and nonalcoholic beverages, as well as cocktails devised by The Emerald Hour. Among the specialties of the house are the Alentejo pork cheek and clams, spicy stuffed squid and Castro y González jamón de bellota ibérico, all inspired by Gallagher’s excursions through the Iberian Peninsula. “I’m enthralled with this place in our world — the people, ingredients and style of eating,” he says. “Things there just move differently — calmer, more deliberate. The entire culture just looks forward to spending time with their friends and family over food. I always get the sense when I’m there that they just really figured it out.”
