After sign-off from the health department this week, Anna Weinberg and Jennifer Puccio (Marlowe, Park Tavern)—partnering with Weinberg’s husband James Nicholas—will be opening the doors to their most recent project, THE CAVALIER, this Friday August 2nd. As mentioned previously on tablehopper, the team at Ken Fulk designed the inviting space (it’s in the Viceroy Hotel Group’s new downtown property, Hotel Zetta—formerly the Milano).
Here’s the first look at the menu, which is very London-inspired brasserie meets gastropub. The menu is flexible (do you just want a bite, or are you totally hangry?), and includes lamb scrumpets, a duck Scotch egg, Welsh rarebit soufflé, plus some lighter starters, like a farro salad or prawns with Marie Rose sauce. Larger plates include fish and chips, a rib-eye, and a variety of pies (like wild mushroom), and a couple of items off the rotisserie, including leg of lamb.
The cocktail menu has a Pimm’s Cup and a Royal G&T (perfect after a day of shopping), plus some “Club Cocktails,” from places like The Savoy in London (the White Lady), while the “Colony Cocktails” include a rum punch and East Indies Sling (Bombay Sapphire gin, sweet vermouth, lemon, Fernet Branca, and maraschino).
Ken Fulk has created an eye-catching space that evokes English fox hunts and pubs, with a touch of bohemian 1960s London. There are a variety of different areas, starting with the all-day bar area (the Blue Bar) in the front with room for 45. It will transition well from light-filled mornings to after-work drinks to a bite in the evening. You can plunk down in the comfortable leather banquette while the taxidermy animal heads peer from overhead, or have a seat at the loooong 27-seat zinc bar.
Pass through a set of stable-style doors into the 45-seat dining room, which offers a more formal setting, with tones of loden green and huntsman red (to go with the fox hunt scene hand-painted on the walls) and sleek brass and silk light fixtures. The team paid very careful attention to customizing the lighting—while the room will have a dark, clubby feeling, guests (and their plates) will be in a warm glow.
There is also a skinny space (the Rail Car) with 14 tables—it has the sensibility of a railroad’s dining car, complete with brass luggage racks overhead (where you can stow your Bloomingdale’s shopping bags) and eclectic artwork. It’s cozy and shiny, with long, tufted banquette seating—the light-filled room is sure to be in demand for lunch.
Coming soon will be the speakeasy-ish salon, Marianne’s (named after Weinberg’s favorite British style icon, Marianne Faithfull), accessed through a separate entrance—or, for those in the know, via a secret door. The space (dimly lit, natch) will feature club chairs and Moroccan touches and little nooks. Fulk says, “I admit that I had ulterior motives while designing this space. Our studio is just a few blocks away so I imagined a place that I could thoroughly enjoy. I could see myself having breakfast meetings here or just reading a magazine in one of the corner booths.”
Hours for now are dinner only 5:30pm-11pm (bar opens at 5pm). From October 1st onward, breakfast will be served in the Blue Bar (7am-10:30am), and lunch will be added as well (11:30am-2:30pm); the Blue Bar will also have an all-day menu available. 360 Jessie St. at 5th St., 415-321-6000.
Seating at Cavalier. Photo by Lauri Levenfeld.
