McNally's Augustine Will Rock the FiDi Like It Has Never Been Rocked Before

The Keith McNally restaurant that's coming to the Beekman Hotel in the Financial District finally has a name: Augustine. McNally revealed this plus a bunch of other juicy details about his masterpiece-in-the-making at last night's CB1 meeting. Kool Keith had an easy time winning support from the board last night, because he's charming and has an outstanding track record as an operator. No brainer. He will be surely become the figurative mayor of this area, even if the literal mayor works right around the corner.

The kitchen will be helmed by Daniel Parilla and Shane McBride, the chefs that also run the show at McNally's critical hit Cherche Midi on The Bowery. DNAinfo reports that Augustine will be a French bistro with dishes like escargot, a mushroom tart, and a "petite aioli" plate with seafood and vegetables. Because this is a Keith production, odds are that menu will also include a top-notch burger of the fancypants variety and a monster slab of dry-aged meat for two. Sadly, Augustine will not handle room service. But if you're staying at the hotel, a good hack might be to simply order some extra food with your meal and take it back up to your room to enjoy later.

The Beekman will also have an as-yet-unnamed Tom Colicchio restaurant, if you're into that kind of thing. If everything goes according to plan, the hotel and its two restaurants will open in early 2016.

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