Openings

César Ramirez’s Chef Table Will Seat 50

Photo: Courtesy of the Hall Company.

Last spring, Bouley alum and former Bar Blanc executive chef César Ramirez started cooking at the glorified bodega Brooklyn Fare and he now turns out prepared foods and hosts $70 chef dinners in a glass-enclosed kitchen next to the market. The eight- to ten-course meals have a Manhattan fan base that fills seats five nights a week, and we learned at dinner this week that Ramirez and his partners in the Fare will parlay their success into a 50-seat restaurant next door. (Ten spots will be in a glass-enclosed kitchen, to echo his current setup.) Ramirez tries to be understated when talking about his food, but dishes like croquettes that explode with liquid foie gras, crab roulade over American caviar, and sweetbread-and-scallop surf and turf in vanilla-bean sauce best his intentions. But don’t expect to see those if you go — the chef never re-creates the same plate twice. It’s these chef-driven tasting menus (shades of Ko, but probably cheaper) that Ramirez hopes will draw diners to his restaurant next year. But in addition to having a limited selection of à la carte dishes, the new place won’t be BYOB.

César Ramirez’s Chef Table Will Seat 50