Buddy & Son plans to open October 26 at the Public Hotel, 215 Chrystie Street. Shelley Armistead, formerly of the Gjelina group, and former Gjelina New York chef Jake Epstein describe an ingredient-driven French-American brasserie with Cajun influence as an accent rather than the governing idea.
The announced menu has promising detail: fluke crudo, Dover sole, cider-braised cabbage and oyster mushrooms. The seafood tower centers oysters and littlenecks; the sole comes with beurre blanc; the crab cake has gribiche; the mushrooms have cognac and crème fraîche. The remaining questions are how heavily butter, cream and egg-led sauces dominate, and whether the hotel room becomes a destination. Those need an actual menu and substantive criticism after opening.
Eater’s framing supplies the informed-local objection: this striking Herzog & de Meuron hotel has repeatedly failed to make dinner a reason for New Yorkers to enter. Armistead and Epstein may change that. Until there is a settled menu and independent criticism, the status is WATCH, not “book now.”
Eater NY — “Gjelina Alums To Open a New LES Spot in the Public Hotel Later This Month,” October 13