Danny Bowien Is On a Mission

Mission Chinese started as a pop-up in San Francisco in April of 2010.  Just over a month ago, on May 22nd, 154 Orchard Street became the East Coast home for what the restaurant's website calls chef Danny Bowien's "Americanized Oriental" food.  In just two years, Danny Bowien's unique approach and generosity have his name being thrown around with the likes of David Chang and Andy Ricker.

In his two and a half star review of Mission Chinese Food today, Ryan Sutton refers to Danny as "a philanthropic kind of guy."  Bowien was born in South Korea and rasied by adopted parents in Oklahoma.  He's humble, reluctant to take credit for his mission.  He gives it to "fucking awesome cooks around me to make me look good."  He donates 75 cents from every dish he sells to the Food Bank of New York and his San Fran location has "raised almost $150,000 for the Food Bank, [which makes] you feel like you can mess up a little bit and still be okay. I’m not taking a salary here [in New York], so that I can just put everything back into the restaurant and our cooks."

Bowien is already miles down the road less traveled and his is a name added to the growing list of "high-profile ambassadors for a cuisine in which he has no family roots."  His take on authenticity?  "Who cares anymore?  What's the point?  Authentic isn't even good sometimes.  It's just, do you like the taste or not?  If I stay closed-minded and say I'm not making it if it's not authentic, I can only get so far.  To become great, you can't box yourself in.  I won't allow that."

First Bite: Mission Chinese Food

Welcome to First Bite, a new feature at digestny where we post about some of the city's most anticipated restaurants shortly after they open. We'll take some pics, eat some food, digest, and then report back to you. This time around its Mission Chinese Food, Danny Bowien's San Fran import. On our recent visit, it was made clear why the hot spot is so... hot.

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Mission Accomplished

Bowien n' co. courtesy of the TimesDanny Bowien catches the Andy Ricker wave and is the next west coast import to bring Asian cuisine to New Yorkers.  He landed at 154 Orchard Street (@ Rivington) and opened a branch of his wildly popular, San Francisco based Mission Chinese Food to the public last night.  Lunch service will start tomorrow at 1130 and the restaurant will be open six days a week, they're closed Wednesdays.

Tables will likely be tough to snag in the tiny space, but reservations can be made for the 12 seats available at the bar.  Nothing on the menu is more than $13 and beers are $5.  On top of the cheap prices, Bowien is donating 75 cents from every dish Mission sells to the Food Bank for New York City.  Once they get their liquor license, another 75 cents from every cocktail goes to the Food Bank as well.

Gym, Tan, Laundry, Max Fish

It was believed that iconic Lower East Side dive bar Max Fish was going to close at the end of January last year.  Owner Ulli Rimkus fought for a lease renewal that got Max Fish and neighboring Pink Pony another year.  That took them up through January 31st of 2012, when they signed on for another year and now stay open on a year to year basis. 

Max Fish is now expanding to Asbury Park and there are plans for a shuttle bus that will run once a month and take people on a Max Fish-a-pa-looza from the LES location to the Asbury Park location and back.  Max Fish at the Beach Bar will be opening this weekend and remain a weekend only bar until Memorial Day, whereafter they'll be open every day through October.

Located on the boardwalk, there will be Skee-Ball, pinball, and shaved ice drinks.

The New WD-50 Tasting Menu

It was announced earlier in the week that culinary wizard Wylie Dufresne was overhauling his tasting menu.  He has created an entirely new menu at his 50 Clinton Street restaurant WD-50 and it will become available to the public starting next Thursday, May 10th.

At $155, the tasting runs thirteen courses.  An optional wine pairing is available for $85 and includes booze from France, Germany, Japan, Greece, Italy, and Spain.

The Times has a slideshow featuring some of the new dishes, which include sole with black licorice-pil-pil, lobster roe with charred lemon, root beer ribs, and an amaro soaked egg yolk that comes with peas 'n carrots, kind of.  The 'peas' are tiny balls of carrots that have been rolled in pea powder, obviously.

Wylie Dufresne is Giving WD-50 a Food Lift

Wylie Dufresne is one of the city's great chefs.  His restaurant WD-50 on the Lower East Side is an atelier for his truly unique, gifted set of culinary ideals.

An article published in The Times yesterday reveals that, "Starting on May 10, every item on the restaurant’s current menu will, as if subjected to a chemistry experiment, evaporate."

There will be an a la carte option available only at the bar.  In the dining room, there will be the option of two tasting menus.  For $75, you can work your way through what Wylie is calling the "From the Vault" menu, which offers past dishes made famous in the nine years WD-50 has operated.  The other choice will be the $155, 12-course menu, featuring entirely new dishes.

"Mr. Dufresne is an intrinsically American pioneer, so it makes sense that, in the language of the menu, many of the new creations sound like stolid heartland fare (crab cakes, brisket, root-beer ribs, fried green tomatoes, Key lime pie, even what you might describe as an elevated twist on a TV dinner). On the plate, though, they psychedelically thwart what your eyes, teeth and taste buds expect."

“I want people to think,” he said. “And it has to be delicious, too. Let’s not forget that.”

Wylie Dufresne's whimsical, experimental approach to life is further explored in this article explaining the bathroom situation at WD-50.

San Sebastian, Meet Frank. Frank, Meet San Sebastian.

The Lower East Side outpost of Frankies shut their doors earlier this week for a quick makeover.  They will reopen tonight as Francesca, a Basque-style restaurant headed by chef Ryan Bartlow.  He made the move from Frankies 570, on Hudson Street, to the new-old location at 17 Clinton Street.  His experience working at Akelarre, a three-Michellin-star restaurant in San Sebastian, shows on Francesca's menu.  There's an attached glossary that will conveniently save the servers the hassle of answering the same question 7,318 times a night.  Good move.

Katie O'Donnell, formerly of Esca, has taken over at 570.