FOUND: the sushi hour

Thirteen Water plus Al Coro, fishmongers, Chelsea galleries, MORE

Aug 08, 2023

∙ Paid

THE ASK • FOUND LA

Here’s a scoop: FOUND is launching in Los Angeles later this year. It’s never too early to get on the list. We’re also looking for California-based contributors. If that’s you, hit reply or email found@foundny.com with FOUND LA in the subject line and we’ll chat.

RESTAURANTS • FOUND Restaurant

13 courses, 60 minutes, $75

In a city filled with omakase meals that set one back the equivalent of a monthly car payment, operator Linda Wang of Ume Hospitality Group has gone in a different direction with a series of casual sushi counters, the crown jewel of which is two-year-old, 16-seat Thirteen Water on East 7th St., half a block from Tompkins Square Park. There, a 13-course meal — including ossetra caviar, Hokkaido uni, and A5 wagyu — runs $75 a head. The catch? Seatings last only 60 minutes.

Head chef Aaron Liu (formerly of Water Mill’s Sushi Zuki) is known for creative nigiri like hamachi with citrusy julienned shishito peppers and lean tuna crowned with shiitake and black truffles. There’s also more than enough Instagram fodder, like milk bread layered with minced toro and a mountain of uni (above), plus wagyu nigiri capped with foie gras, blowtorched until the two rich proteins become one. When in season, Hokkaido hairy crab nigiri makes an appearance too. Each meal concludes with a toro and daikon hand roll.

With five 60-minute seatings per night starting at 5 p.m., there’s an energy here that’s not usually found at more traditional omakase restaurants. But it’s the unbeatable price-to-quality ratio that has inspired a fleet of regulars. Join them. –Kat Odell

→ Thirteen Water (East Village), 208 E. 7th St., Resy

→ Al Coro (Chelsea), the fine dining Italian restaurant from Jeff Katz and chef Melissa Rodriguez, will close by year-end, per Eater. The oddity here is not that the fussy tasting menu didn’t connect, nor that the restaurant in the old Del Posto space didn’t rewrite the rules of fine dining after all, but that news of the closing comes alongside an investment in the restaurant group by nightlife kings Tao Group. The plan: a new restaurant in the Al Coro space in 2024, and continued operation of more casual (and considerably more fun) Mel’s next door. Pump up the volume.

NYC RESTAURANT LINKS: José Andrés opens New York Bazaar at Ritz Carlton Nomad today • The rise of the restaurant reservation fee • Don’t believe the hype: outdoor dining in NYC will mostly end in 2024 • Remember My Open Bar?

GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines

Fishmongers

Lobster Place (Chelsea, above), gold standard at Chelsea Market
Tin Building (Seaport), fresh seafood and Fulton Fish Co. raw bar
Citarella (WVill, UWS, UES), founder was its first fishmonger
Sea Breeze Fish Market (Hell’s Kitchen), old-school fish purveyor
Midtown Catch (Sutton Place), fresh catch and Italian cooking staples
Dorian’s Seafood Market (Upper East Side), worthy successor to Rosedale Fish Market
Greenpoint Fish & Lobster Co. (Greenpoint), beloved hipster fish market/restaurant combo
Fish Tales (Cobble Hill), neighborhood favorite with prepared foods
Ocean Fish Market (Astoria), unique Greek and European seafood choices

Hit reply or email found@foundny.com with additions and subtractions.

GOODS & SERVICES LINKS: High-end clothing retailer AllSaints moving in MePa • A good look at 50 Norman, the Japanese food-themed retail concept in Greenpoint • The Ripped Bodice in Park Slope is city’s first all-romance bookstore • H&H Bagels plots national expansion • A murky future for bankrupt e-bike maker VanMoof.

WORK • Neighborhood Report

New art for an elevated Chelsea

Walking the streets of west Chelsea last week, with its shiny new developments and manicured, elevated walkways (like the new Moynihan Connector, above), it was hard to remember a time when the thriving art gallery scene provided stark relief to the neighborhood's embedded warehouses, garages, and gas stations.

As the neighborhood has evolved, other contenders to the gallery crown have emerged (see Tribeca, Noho). But the Chelsea art market is still tops. Last week, David Zwirner announced revised plans to add a third Chelsea gallery at 533 W. 19th St., designed by Annabelle Selldorf (who also designed the Zwirner offices on W. 20th St.). There’s also the handsome new Hauser & Wirth space at 443 W. 18th St., as well as new galleries from David Kordansky, Kurimanzutto, and Petzel. In Chelsea, it’s not just the new developments that are shiny.

NYC WORK LINKS: Durst signs new lease for Empire State Development HQ: biggest deal of 2023? • Class B office owners say they’re being unfairly maligned • What Dan Doctoroff built • Montclair scales down Lackawanna Plaza redevelopment • How proptech is trying to pave the way back to the office • Claim: mandated RTO worse than we thought.

WORK • Tuesday Routine

Manhattan penthouses in the Hamptons

LAUREN FITZPATRICK WEITZ, real estate broker & advisor, The Alexander Team x Official Partners
Neighborhood you work in: Gramercy Park

It’s Tuesday morning, where are you working?
This morning, I’m working from my home in the Hamptons, taking advantage of the quiet and focus. Later in the week I’ll head back to the city for property showings. My schedule varies from week to week based on showing requests and client needs.

What’s the Tuesday morning scene at your workplace?
My mornings always start at 7 a.m. when I wake up my eight-month-old baby, Lily. It's the coziest, happiest, and best part of my day. By 9 a.m., I’ll sit down with my coffee to catch up on emails and make calls. When I work from my home in the Hamptons, I alternate between workspaces — sometimes sitting in a little nook upstairs that's always flooded with morning light, and other times, at a table outside with my computer, enjoying the fresh air and sounds.

What’s on the agenda for today?
On today's weekly team call, we'll be discussing two of my favorite properties currently on the market: PH 96 at 432 Park Ave. and the Tadao Ando-designed PH at 150 East 72nd St. (above). After that, I'll take a break for a padel lesson — my new obsession! Later, I have a strategy call scheduled with our marketing team to launch content for a special ranch property we brought to the market in Aspen. Lastly, I hope to finalize a pending deal I've been working on in the Upper East Side — I helped my buyer find his dream apartment across from the Met.

What’s for lunch?
Carissa’s is my go-to place for lunch in the Hamptons. I could eat there every day (I pretty much do).

Any plans tonight?
Tuesday nights out here tend to be low-key since many of the restaurants are closed. But tomorrow, we’re taking a boat ride to the North Fork to try The North Fork Table & Inn, a restaurant I've heard great things about and am super excited to try.

ASK FOUND

Hit reply or or email found@foundny.com with questions and/or answers.

PROMPTS, one new, one for which we are seeking further intel:

What are best coffee shops for outdoor work (aka: includes wifi and enough tables to get a seat and not piss people off)
Where are the best private dining rooms for business dinners?

RESPONSES, from our correspondents and subscribers:

Q: Help!! Aunt Bunny is coming to town from SF. I need suggestions for fabulous restaurants in Manhattan. She likes California-fine-dining-style-contemporary-American grub. Think: Buckeye Roadhouse in Marin County, CA, or Spruce, Napa and Sessions at the Presidio in SF.

A: A few promising options from FOUND correspondents in the field: