It echoes down the canyon of Lafayette Street: plywooooood. Who are we to deny its call?
Brace yourself for this one, because it's not every day a restaurateur has the chutzpah to describe a venture as the Balthazar of Chinese Food. That man? John McDonald, he of Lure and Lever House, who's partnering with Josh Picard (Joe's Pub, Lever House) to open Chinatown Brasserie in the old Time Cafe space on Lafayette. Regular plywood readers first glimpsed this one back in February; while opening remains a month or two away (we're hearing "May/June"), here's what we can tell you now (with a tip of the plywood fedora to Keil and photo tipster BVN):
· The numbers: 10,000 square feet, 210 seats, $6 million budget
· Menu: classic Chinese, natch
· Diners enter on a bridge that hovers over the lower dining level (design by Bill Georges, Aby Rosen's designer). Also look for a wall of family Chinese portraits.
· Public relations by KB Network News
After the jump, your first peek at the interior.
· Bistro Lever-ing into Hood [Keil/NYPost]
· Plywood Report: Chinatown Brasserie [~E~]
