The restaurant world is buzzing right now

Dinner for one served to me at Elder | Photo by Bret Thorn

There’s a weird kind of energy in the restaurant world these days and I’m having trouble putting my finger on what it is exactly. 

Two Mondays ago hardly any of my colleagues were in front of their laptops. We were all at conferences or visiting a variety of chain restaurant test kitchens. I was in Jacksonville, Florida, as a guest of Firehouse Subs, sampling new items (love the Steak & Cheese Melt that was introduced in May). That was just a month after I was touring Miami restaurants with Hat Creek Burger Company sampling Cubanos six days before the Austin-based chain launched its own version of the sandwich as a one-month limited time offer. 

Meanwhile, I’m going to more restaurant openings, parties, and new-menu launches than I’ve been to in years, certainly since before the pandemic. 

A big one was the 15th anniversary of The Dutch, a beloved restaurant here in New York City by chef and restaurateur Andrew Carmellini. Famous fine-dining chefs were handing out non-fine-dining food. Alex Stupak, former pastry chef of avant-garde landmarks Alinea and WD-50, was handing out nachos. Wylie Dufresne, formerly of WD-50, had a pizza truck parked outside, and The Dutch was passing out fried chicken (and prime rib). 

Now, to be fair, Stupak does run a taqueria and Dufresne has a pizzeria, but it’s still interesting, as was Gramercy Tavern Pastry Chef Karen DeMasco serving apple cider doughnuts. 

There were fancy cocktails from big-name mixologists like Meaghan Dorman of Dear Irving and Julie Reiner of Clover Club, and also Dirty Snow Cones — essentially a Dirty Martini slush that’s a signature of The Dutch’s new Martini Bar.

When I was younger I would have stayed until late, when most of the chefs would have arrived, but I had work in the morning and plenty of other events on my calendar. 

I went to sample two fried chicken restaurants two blocks away from each other on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn — Philadelphia-based Love & Honey and  Brooklyn-based Pies & Thighs — both of which insisted on loading me down with more food than I could handle. Fortunately, fried chicken and pie keep well. 

United Kingdom-based pan-Asian concept Wagamama has added dozens of new items to its menu and revamped its sake list, and invited all sorts of media over to try it all.

That was a lot, but nothing compared to what was laid out for me at Elder, Sujan Sarkar’s new Indian-influenced British chophouse in New York’s Hudson Yards development. After filling me up on appetizers, he presented me with the spread that is illustrating this column — easily dinner for six. 

“Haha yeah, it definitely is a heavy meal – I’m sure the leftovers will be yummy :-),” the restaurant’s publicist said in an email when I pointed that out. 

I mean, she was right, but it’s still a lot. 

But what does it all mean? I’ve seen a similar level of energy before. Before 9/11, when the economy was booming, lavish parties included the opening of the Tribeca Grand hotel, for which invitations were etched on metal plates and where six kilograms of Iranian Osetra caviar were consumed. 

And before the 2020 lockdown, I was exhausted from all of the openings, dinners, and parties I was going to. Being trapped at home felt great … for about a week. 

That doesn’t mean I’m expecting a similar disaster any time soon — I’m not not expecting that, simply because everything in the world is so weird right now, what with wars, high gas prices, AI panic, an anemic jobs report, elections, and I’m sure things I have forgotten — but the mood doesn’t seem either exuberant or desperate, just busy. 

As I said, it’s a weird energy, and maybe that’s because restaurant operators can’t predict the future any more than I can. So they’re doing what they can and doing it with enthusiasm while keeping an eye on whatever comes next.