Eater New York’s survey last month named Sisters Cuisine at 47 East 124th Street as the number 1 killer Caribbean restaurant in the New York area. This small eatery in East Harlem has been serving locals for over twenty years with top notch freshly prepared authentic Jamaican food. Congratulations to our dear friends Marlyn Rogers and her son RanDe on getting this well deserved top spot.
Toptable Group’s First New York Restaurant
For over three decades, Canada-based Toptable Group has defined elegant and approachable dining with renowned restaurants and award-winning chefs. Its regional restaurants in Vancouver and Whistler include Araxi, CinCin, Thierrey, Elisa, Il Caminetto, and Blue Water Café. This month the group opened its first New York restaurant, Oceans, at 233 Park Avenue South in Manhattan, specializing in locally and globally sourced seafood and sushi. Executive Chef Andy Kitko leads the team at Oceans, having trained in Michelin-starred restaurants such as Café Boulud and Aqua, and most recently at famed Estiatorio Milos. The space was occupied years ago by Canastel’s. Bernstein Redo, P.C. is proud to be part of the Toptable Group and Oceans team.
Nexus Club New York
Continuing the stream of private clubs opening in New York, Nexus Club opened its doors to its members in TriBeCa. The brainchild of British magnate Joe Lewis, Nexus Club New York occupies 34,000 square feet on the seventh floor of 100 Church Street. In addition to a full restaurant and bar, the club offers its members a 7,800 square foot fitness and wellness center with a spa and two studios for private workouts and a hair salon. Family services are also offered including child day care. Event space is also available. The club was designed by Morris Adjmi and includes artwork selected by Sotheby’s. Nexus plans to open similar clubs in Los Angeles, Toronto, and elsewhere. Bernstein Redo, P.C. is proud to be part of the Nexus team.
Michael White’s Morini
Celebrity Chef Michael White and his partner in Altamarea Group, Ahmass Fakahany, opened their new Morini in Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City last month. White was trained extensively in Paris and Italy and in 2002 became the Executive Chef at Fiamma at 206 Spring Street in Manhattan, which received a Michelin Star. He was named Esquire’s Best New Chef in 2002. Partnering with Fakahany in 2007, White opened a number of restaurants in New Jersey and New York, including Marea which garnered three stars from The New York Times and won Best New Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation. The first Osteria Morini opened in October 2010 and a second was opened in Washington, D.C. in 2013. Vaucluse, Altamarea Group’s first French restaurant, opened on East 63rd Street in 2015. Bernstein Redo, P.C. is proud to be part of the Osteria Morini and Altamarea Group team.
WS New York – Hudson Yards New Members Club
A members club will be unveiled next month in Hudson Yards, New York’s newest neighborhood. Created by the developers of Hudson Yards – Stephen M. Ross and Kenneth A Himmel, and Marvin R. Shanken, the publisher of Wine Spectator magazine, WS New York will be a food and wine focused private club and located on the second floor of 37 Hudson Yards. The 92-story building will also feature a soon to be open Related-owners restaurant on the ground floor, and the first Equinox hotel. Bernstein Redo, P.C. is proud to be part of the Hudson Yards/WS New York team.
Course On New York Retail Liquor Licensing
On Friday, October 18th at 9 am, Bernstein Redo, P.C.’s Donald Bernstein will be teaching a continuing legal education course on Retail Liquor Licensing in New York. It is a three hour, three credit class sponsored by the National Law Institute, and held at Morgan Stanley, 1585 Broadway in Manhattan. We will cover all aspects of the law and process for licensing a hotel, restaurant or bar, including who is qualified to hold a license, tied-house restrictions, the 200 foot rule, the 500 foot rule, special permits including temporary and one day catering permits, what premises can or cannot be licensed, licensing private members clubs, the community board and State Liquor Authority process, and other many matters. There is no fee for these classes. Please contact Roy Fenichel at the National Law Institute (rfenichel@mitnational.com) if you would like to register, or Donald@brpclaw.com.
Daily Provisions Opens on Upper West Side
Danny Meyer’s neighborhood café Daily Provisions made its debut on the UWS at 375 Amsterdam Avenue on the corner of 78th Street this week. With a culinary team led by Chef Amanda Wilson, Daily Provisions opens early in the morning with fresh baked goods – including its famed cruller – and breakfast sandwiches, with other offerings including salads and rotisserie chicken throughout the day as well as a selection of beer and wine. This is the second outpost for Daily Provisions; the first is near Union Square on 19th Street and Park Avenue South. A third location is planned at 29 Bedford Street in the Village. Bernstein Redo, P.C. is proud to be part of the Union Square Hospitality and Daily Provisions team.
Award-Winning The Riddler Comes to the West Village
Jen Pelka, owner of San Francisco’s award-winning Champagne bar, will be opening The Riddler at 51 Bank Street at West Fourth Street in the West Village. The original in San Francisco’s Hayes Valley was named wine bar of the year in 2017, was a winner of a Wine Spectator “Grand Award,” and was all female-funded, as is its New York outpost. Jen, who will split her time between the two coasts, began her career in New York at Daniel. She earned a James Beard nomination, was in Forbes “30 under 30”, and founded Magnum PR drawing on her decades of experience in marketing, events and media relations. The design of the New York location was led by the women team at ROY, a California based design studio, and Richard Lewis, who worked on the new Pastis, is the architect. Bernstein Redo, P.C. is proud to be part of The Riddler team.
Tacombi Continues it Expansion
A hospitality company born on the beaches of the Yucatan in Mexico in 2005, Tacombi focuses on sharing its love of Mexican taco culture with its neighborhood taquerias. It all started with selling tacos out of a 1963 Volkswagen Kombi bus driving around Yucatan, and then the opening of two locations in Playa del Carmen. Tacombi then planted itself in New York a few years later opening its first store on Elizabeth Street. Tacombi now has seven locations in Manhattan, Montauk and Brooklyn, its newest opening on the Upper West Side at 377 Amsterdam Avenue this summer. New locations are in the works, including East 70th Street. Bernstein Redo, P.C. is proud to be part of the Tacombi team.
Third Party Providers Revisited
In July of last year this site included a post discussing the issue of third party providers, such as e-commerce and internet platforms that facilitate the purchase of alcoholic beverages at restaurants or package stores. The issue presented was whether such third party providers, or TPP’s, were considered trafficking in the sale of alcoholic beverages under New York law such that they would be required to obtain a license. Our July 2018 post noted a number of rulings made by the New York State Liquor Authority on the issue, which some commentators argued were inconsistent. On August 12, 2019, the SLA issued a draft Advisory #2019-x addressing this issue. The proposed Advisory would allow TPP’s to be paid a flat fee for its services, or to be paid 10% or less of the licensee’s profits, without requiring the TPP to be licensed. If a TPP is receiving more than 10% of the licensee’s profits, or exercised some level of control over the licensee’s business, then it would have to be licensed, or it would be considered illegally availing itself of someone else’s license. This proposed Advisory would apply to management companies, landlords, delivery services, website hosts, and some other third parties. The SLA is inviting comments from the public and the industry before it finalizes this Advisory.