At last night's Community Board 1 meeting, chef Michael White's team announced plans for The Butterfly, a new restaurant at 225 W. Broadway in Tribeca. White won't be cooking Italian fare here, but rather the food of his home state of Wisconsin. The Tribeca Citizen got a hold of the sample menu, which includes things like spinach and artichoke dip, chicken wings, cobb salad, French bread pizza, fried cheese curds — basically Midwestern comfort foods made with top-notch ingredients. This will be a somewhat small restaurant with just 17 tables and a bar that seats 14.
Although this sounds like an odd choice for one of NYC's biggest chefs, we've heard rumors that White is perhaps planning his own version of a very specific, much-beloved style of Midwestern restaurant: The Wisconsin supper club.
These restaurants are typically cozy, lodge-like spaces, where people traditionally spend the whole evening — drinks and dinner, followed by some form of entertainment or after-dinner socializing. The menus usually feature trays of relishes, pickles, and crackers served on lazy Susans, and also steaks, chops, and a number of fish dishes, plus pub grub like cheese curds and brats — all things are on the sample menu that was presented at last night's meeting. (Check out more on the Wisconsin supper club phenomenon here.)
No word yet on when The Butterfly will open, but they were initially approved for 1 AM closing time during the week, with a 2 AM closing time on the weekends.
UPDATE: Reps from the Altamarea group write in with a few more details on the project. They describe The Butterfly as "a mid-century style cocktail bar with a supper club feel," and Eben Freeman, who is the head of bar operations for the group, will work on a menu of era-specific classic cocktails, with a few more modern drinks too. The restaurant will serve a few weekday supper specials including prime rib on Wednesdays, and a fish fry on Fridays.
UPDATE 2: Although the menu presented last night was full of Wisconsin food, the reps note that "The Butterfly has very little to do with Wisconsin, if anything." Apparently, the menu was submitted months ago.
· Chef Michael White’s New Wisconsin-Style Restaurant [Tribeca Citizen]
· All Coverage of Michael White [~ENY~]