Off the Menu
Bodai offers a Chinese vegetarian tasting menu, KF Seetoh’s Hainan Jones brings hawker food to DeKalb Market Hall and more restaurant news.
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Opening
Clemente Bar
This highly anticipated bar and beyond, upstairs from Daniel Humm’s Eleven Madison Park, is a collaboration with the neo-expressionist artist Francesco Clemente. The artist aspired to have a drink named for him; Mr. Humm, who has many pals in the art world, responded with an entire cocktail lounge that Mr. Clemente decorated in situ. An abbreviated tasting menu ($225) at the counter is an option, as are vegan bar snacks like tempura fries and an agedashi tofu dog to accompany often elaborate drinks.
Second floor, Eleven Madison Park, 11 Madison Avenue (24th Street), 212-889-0905, clementebar.com.
Miss Nellie’s
Billed as an American restaurant, this theater district addition is named for Nellie Bly, the intrepid journalist of the early 20th century who went around the world; the décor incorporates hot air balloons and artifacts from that era. The food is utterly now however, with a chopped salad, chicken Parmesan, burgers and a fried chicken sandwich. Drinks are themed with names like Traveling Light, with mezcal, passion fruit and ginger beer among other components. A complex of dining areas and two bars define the space.
325 West 44th Street, 646-360-3012, missnelliesnyc.com.
Bodai
Chinese menus easily accommodate vegetarians. A new nine-course tasting menu ($99) goes beyond; vegetarian is the only option. It’s now served within Chef Guo, a Chinese tasting menu restaurant that opened two years ago where 19 courses, not vegetarian, cost $518. The executive chef, Guo Wenjun, plans to open Bodai, relying on Buddhist principles (Bodai is a state of enlightenment), elsewhere in Midtown, but that has been delayed. So for now he has added it to his existing 10-seat spot. First tea, then jewel-box bites to showcase five tastes followed by small courses, many mushroom-based; sweet-and-sour “riblets” of tofu skin and Asian pear are a highlight.
135 East 50th Street, 917-463-7997, bodainyc.com.
Monkey Thief
Asian flavors richly spangle the snacks and small plates at this Hell’s Kitchen spot from three partners, Avi Singh, Rishi Rajpal and David Muhs. Corn nuts with zaab seasonings, calamari with sweet chile sauce, baby bok choy with chile confit, lamb kebab with mint chutney, and Basque cheesecake seasoned with Thai tea can accompany wine or drinks mixed with fish sauce, coconut and sesame oil.
401 West 47th Street, monkeythiefbar.com.
Hainan Jones
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