I’d been eyeing the nook of West Broadway and Houston ever since Dos Caminos, the longstanding Mexican chain, started to lose its luster. OK, possibly it by no means had luster, however as a child within the ‘90s and early 2000s, we’d stroll round SoHo and sometimes find yourself on the landmark nook’s gated outside patio for some dependable tacos. When Dos Caminos lastly shuttered in Might 2024, I used to be intrigued to find Catch Hospitality can be taking up the storefront and introducing a brand new idea instead.
A departure from Catch’s signature seafood and steak venues—all well-executed, splashy and (generally deservingly) overpriced—the Nook Retailer would as a substitute pay tribute to nook shops and the New York Metropolis of the ‘80s and ‘90s.
After I consider New York nook shops, I consider native spots which are nonchalant and genuine—locations with unintentional allure and workers who’ve been making the identical overstuffed sandwich for thus a few years that it by the way turns into unforgettable, and even iconic. This Nook Retailer, regardless of its efforts, isn’t that.
And the way might or not it’s? Replicating these qualities is a problem for any restaurateur, because the very artwork of being a nook retailer depends on a mixture of neighborhood, necessity and time. Nook shops are the essence of “mother and pop,” and so a company restaurant group like Tilman Fertitta, Mark Birnbaum and Eugene Remm’s Catch—albeit a profitable one with 9 places all through New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Aspen, Miami Seashore and Dallas—trying to glamorize this idea is bold, if not bordering on ironic.
The night time after the restaurant’s September 9 grand opening, I snagged the earliest obtainable reservation, which ended up being a 9:30 pm slot that Tuesday night. The already-worn inexperienced mat marked “The Nook Retailer” on the stoop demonstrated foot site visitors had been heavy.
The maître d’ was tattooed and wore pants checkered with pop artwork emblems of the whole lot Americana, from Betty Boop to Camel cigarettes. The well-attended, 13-seat bar up entrance appeared, at first look, to take up the entire area. As a blonde host, poised in a cream blazer costume, led me alongside the bar, I spotted it gave method to a stunning two-tiered eating room, dimly lit in hues of amber and royal inexperienced.
The slender setup felt intimate, regardless of ample cubicles and seats that lined the nice and cozy, welcoming area. Maybe because of Catch’s signature horny, Instagrammable interiors, most tables have been stuffed by same-sex pal teams dressed to see and be seen. The sooner crowd, I heard from a pal who dined at 7:30 p.m., appeared to come back for the after-work cling: drinks, steaks, fits.
Pictures stuffed the modern wooden and pale rouge partitions: David Bowie on a metropolis block, Salvador Dali with a red-haired girl (which I acknowledged as Slim Aarons shot from 1959, not Nineteen Eighties New York) and the famed Nineteen Seventies image of Jets quarterback Joe Namath carrying a mink coat within the sidelines. Regardless of deviating from a long time The Nook Retailer claims to have fun, the curation was a superb stroll via the stylish, bizarre, rambunctious and unassuming moments New York serves its residents—an ideal gallery to imbibe throughout lulls in dialog, not that the martinis would allow many.
Martinis are the cornerstone of The Nook Retailer’s beverage program. With classics performed effectively, just like the Soiled, Vesper and, in fact, the martini of the second (espresso), in addition they present variations that pair with the menu’s glorified child meals. The funkiest is the Bitter Cream and Onion Martini, with spring onion cream-washed gin, dill-infused Dolin Blanc and pickling liquid—served with, you guessed it, bitter cream and onion chips. For $40, visitors can order the tableside martini cart service for 2, the place doting servers in old skool Eton jackets and bowties pour chilled alcohol from custom-branded bottles. Non-martini drinkers can select from cocktails just like the Pornstar Royale or Lieutenant Crunch’s Milk Punch, in addition to wines by the bottle, a small choice by the glass, beer and mocktails.
The menu was created by Catch Hospitality Group’s culinary director Michael Vignola and govt chef Paul Castro, previously of Catch New York and Nobu (each of which set a robust normal for uncooked shellfish and seafood). My first expertise at Catch was on the Las Vegas location, which is maybe the restaurant group’s splashiest setting, and I used to be stunned on the melt-in-the-mouth high quality and freshness of every uncooked fish dish, thirds of which graced our desk of 4.
To match The Nook Retailer to its sister restaurant’s sea legs, I started the meal with the Snapper Crudo with Sorrento emon and caper berries—a lighter possibility amidst starters like 5 Cheese Pizza Rolls with pepperoni, jalapeño, sizzling honey and ranch; spinach artichoke dip and mini lobster and caviar rolls (at $19 per piece). These have been all beneficial by the server, who possessed a real demeanor that did embody the native really feel of an precise nook retailer whereas upholding elevated allure. The remainder of the uncooked bar was conventional: oysters du jour, shrimp cocktail, tuna tartar and filet mignon tartare. The snapper was sliced skinny, however not skinny sufficient to offer its naturally meaty texture a extra delicate chunk. The flavour was not as clear as one might anticipate from Nobu or Catch, given their distinctive status for premium seafood. The citrusy liquid through which the snapper swam was brilliant and aromatic however overpowered the caper’s briny notes (a tall order).
Following the Crudo, I loved the Nook Retailer Caesar. It was distinctive and creative, with a nod to New York bagels, the roots of which started greater than a century in the past within the Decrease East Facet tenements. The romaine was completely coated in a creamy dressing that boasted the correct quantity of peppery umami. Every thing bagel croutons with a hyper-crunch balanced out the cream cheese “croutons,” which impressively held their gently fried dice form till bitten. Solely then got here the stunning pop of heat cream cheese swirling with garlic, salt and seeds in opposition to the crisp membrane of lettuce. Slightly bizarre, however completely lovable.
Turning a facet right into a star, the menu prominently displayed the $12 hand-cut fries. I used to be into this concept, not as a result of they’re Idahoan (if I needed to decide my potato, it’d be from the great soils of New York or the neighboring Backyard State), however due to the sauces. Accessible à la carte for a further $1.95 or $5.85 for “the works,” dipping choices embrace Avocado Ranch, Horseradish Aioli and McOli Sauce—described as a “secret sauce,” which, together with the Apple Hand Pie dessert, additional confused me as as to whether this was paying homage to New York nook shops or Mickey D’s (hand pies originated in England however, for People, are a signature of the Golden Arches).
As a substitute, I bypassed the sauces to style the $39 Disco Steak Frites. For many who aren’t acquainted, disco fries are an atrociously scrumptious deviation from poutine that rose in reputation with the after-disco membership crowd at 24-hour diners within the Nineteen Seventies. Earlier than I used to be sufficiently old to hold within the metropolis solo, I spent many an evening consuming disco fries and smoking cigarettes in the one institution open all night time—a ceremony of passage for a New Jersey teenager (I’m not proud). The Tick Tock Diner in Clifton, New Jersey is recognized to have invented the dish smothered in brown gravy and melted mozzarella cheese, however it’s a New York diner staple, too.
In lieu of gravy and cheese, as a result of I’m certain a good chef like Castro has his limits, The Nook Retailer’s disco fries use au Poivre and peppercorn aioli. Piquant and satisfying, this was solely facet of the meal I truly needed to be heavier. With only a drizzle of the sauce, the fries have been extra ballroom than disco, and when you’re going to go for it, effectively, I say, go for it.
The au Poivre on the skirt steak was deeply satiating, and sadly, was the redeeming element. Sourced from the steakhouse favourite, Chicago-based Allen Brothers, this USDA Prime skirt steak comes from beneath the ribs of a cow; it isn’t the leanest. The marbled fats supplies taste and this one had a pleasant browned exterior, selection inner temperature for skirt steak (medium-rare) and was sliced in opposition to the grain. Nonetheless, extra fats is finest trimmed and this one had a great deal of extra—three discarded items’ value.
Dessert stayed true to nostalgia and, thereby, secured its capability to invoke surprise and delight. Along with the aforementioned pie, a tender serve ice cream sundae rotates flavors like Cracker Jack, Black Forest Cake and Leggo My Eggo Maple (there’s the ‘90s!).
General, The Nook Retailer, with its prime location and expertly curated ambiance from the main architecture-design agency, Rockwell Group, is one other dependable spot to cease for an ice-cold martini, fries and saucy selfies consuming pizza rolls within the bustle of West Broadway. It’s sultry and playful, and with the opening of its insulated patio later this fall, will proceed to name in Catch’s devoted following and curious passerby. For these looking for a night that actually rewinds time to a bygone New York, there are older, smaller, much less publicized locations that do it genuinely. However we’ll save these for an additional story.
