A New Wine Bar for Music Lovers Has Opened in Nomad
Wine bar Libera has opened in Nomad, in the space that previously housed Liberty Hall in the basement of the Ace Hotel (20 W. 29th Street, at Broadway).
“will give the restaurant the option to buy back the building.”
Hwa Yuan saga continues
Last year, legendary Chinatown restaurant Hwa Yuan reportedly owed $12 million and had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to stop the foreclosure of the restaurant. Chen Lieh Tang, son of the late Shorty Tang, and his son, James Tang, own the restaurant; it remained open through the filing.
Shorty Tang arrived in New York in 1963 and introduced New Yorkers to Sichuan-style sesame noodles, with the recipe imitated all over town; the original location of Hwa Yuan Szechuan Inn opened at 40 East Broadway in Chinatown in 1971; Tang died in 1976. and the restaurant closed in the ’80s. The family bought the 42 East Broadway property in the late 1970s after he died. It had been a bank for many years until the family reopened the restaurant in the building. In 2017, the New York Times declared it “the return of a Chinatown pioneer.”
Now, its Toronto-based mortgage lender Owemanco, also known as the Ontario Wealth Management Corp., owns the building, according to New York Business Journal. The property is the mortgage company’s first U.S. acquisition; it plans to lease the building to Hwa Yuan Szechuan and “will give the restaurant the option to buy back the building.”
A Chicago coffee and chocolate import opens today
Chicago’s popular Dark Matter Coffee from founder Jessie Diaz opens its first New York outpost today. The company started in 2007 and has opened in the East Village at 1 E. First Street, at Bowery. It’ll also house an open kitchen from sister company Sleep Walk Chocolateria. The shop is going as ¡Adios Amigos! in a nod to the Ramones.
A fancy noodle treat
As special holiday desserts and other seasonal items roll out on menus through the month of December, Momofuku is also getting into the game. Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village and Columbus Circle will offer its seasonal truffle ramen, which features a roasted miso broth and truffle butter, topped with an egg yolk and truffle shavings, for $55.