Empire Builder Behind Tiny’s Adds 2 More Restaurants in Tribeca

From the owner of popular Tribeca restaurants Yves, Smith & Mills, and Tiny’s comes two new neighborhood restaurants, a Summer Day Cafe and Holy Ground.

Both are at 109 West Broadway between Duane and Reade streets, but have decidedly different ideas behind them: A Summer Day Cafe channels the Amalfi Coast, while Holy Ground goes hard on smoked meats. Restaurateur Matt Abramcyk is creating a mini empire in the neighborhood with these two additions, along with Holy Ground partners Nathan Lithgow (Café Altro Paradiso, Sauvage) and Franco Vlasic (Fort Gansevoort BBQ).

At Holy Ground, with a below ground entrance on Reade Street, the focus is on smoked meats served steakhouse style, so chef Tadd Johnson (Navy, La Pecora Bianca) serves up dishes such as prime rib with smoked au jus, smoked half chicken, and beef ribs. There’s also a gimmicky-sounding “$1,000 steak” that doesn’t actually cost that much — it’s a grilled, 21-ounce, 20- to 30-day aged, bone-in ribeye topped with a sweet onion demi glace that takes a couple of days to make. Pricing varies nightly, but is around $130.

Drinks are from Matthew Hunter, who made a menu of pre-Prohibition style cocktails — served in vintage glassware — such as a gin sour with peach, apricot, lime, and bitters. The 58-seat room and nine-seat bar is dimly lit and filled with red leather banquettes, mahogany wood, and black-and-white checkerboard floor.

Vibes are decidedly different at a Summer Day Cafe, which goes for light and bright and can perhaps ease some of the Instagram envy of following people visiting the Italy coast. Partner Michael Oliver (The Osprey) and chef Mike Matteo go hard on seafood in dishes like smoked bass crudo with pickled mushroom and toasted almonds, a Ligurian lobster salad, and spaghetti al frutti di mare. The full menu is below.

Drinks are accordingly lighter, also from Hunter, with options such as the Capri with aperol, vodka, fino sherry, lime, grapefruit, cinnamon, and passionfruit. The room is lit by floor-to-ceiling windows with blonde wood countertops, and newly requisite plants.

Tribeca has been on the receiving end of quite a few new hot spots as of late, including Frenchette, Tetsu, and Primo’s. These two are now entering the fray, with Holy Ground open Sunday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. and on Friday and Saturday to 2 a.m., and a Summer Day Cafe open Monday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and until 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Photo via Holy Ground