Seafood restaurants may have a bit of a boom in New York in 2017. Already, “Long Island-inspired” restaurant Out East and the Contra alum-run Gloria will be opening soon. Now, a seafood restaurant from chef Alain Allegretti and a sustainable fish and chips place called Simply Hooked will be opening, too.
Allegretti, a once-hot NYC chef who was critically acclaimed for his take on French food, will be taking over the Wassail space at 162 Orchard St., according to Bowery Boogie. The preliminary menu submitted to Community Board 3 notes that it will be called Frenchie’s Fish Bar, and it sounds far from the haute French cuisine earned Allegretti respect. The menu features basics like crab cake, fried calamari, shrimp popcorn, hanger steak, seafood risotto, and a whole fish of the day.
The new restaurant will be the chef’s full-time return to NYC since running Chelsea French restaurant Bistro La Promenade (formerly known as La Promenade Des Anglais) for several years. It closed in 2014, but when it originally opened as La Promenade Des Anglais, Allegretti received high praise from most of the local critics. Times critic Pete Wells awarded it two stars and called Allegretti, “one of the city’s most adept practitioners of modern French cuisine.” Since then, he also worked on a now-shuttered Atlantic City seafood restaurant called Azure and did a stint consulting on Midtown restaurant for the 1 percent, Beautique.
Meanwhile, down the street, Simply Hooked Fish and Chips has put up signage at 47 Clinton St. for “a modern rendering of a timeless classic,” noting that they plan to use only sustainable fish. Presumably they will serve fish and chips and other fried seafood items. Eater has reached out and will update with further info.