New LES Ace Hotel Spinoff Hires Esteemed Brooklyn Chef for Restaurant

Sister City — the newest spin-off brand from trendy hospitality company Atelier Ace, the company behind Ace Hotel — now has a name and chef for its Bowery hotel restaurant: Floret, with chef Joe Ogrodnek of Brooklyn restaurant Battersby at the helm.

The restaurant will be on the ground floor of the 200-room hotel at 225 Bowery, between Rivington and Stanton Streets, and the casual, all-day menu — still a work in progress — will make seasonal vegetables its centerpiece, Ogrodnek says, though it won’t be strictly vegetarian. Larger, formal dishes will be offered in the evening, and the restaurant will be open every day, including for weekend brunch.

He plans to pull flavors from several regions of the world, including the Mediterranean, East Asia, North Africa, Australia, and California, he says. The goal is to appeal to a wide spectrum of diners, from locals to tourists alike. As for prices, like the slew of other all-day restaurants around the city, he hopes it will be affordable and approachable — “the kind of place you can eat at a few times a week without breaking the bank,” Ogrodnek tells Eater.

Drinks will now come from Josh Hanover, formerly of similarly vegetable-heavy (and pan-regional) critical hits ABC Kitchen and ABC Cocina, and will draw influences from the kitchen’s use of fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

Floret’s ground-floor dining room along with a 50-seat outdoor patio will fit nearly 200 people, and restaurant decor will feature greenery, Italian terrazzo tiling, and exposed brick. Ogrodnek and Hanover will also run a rooftop bar 11 floors up.

It’s a slight switch for what’s previously come out about the hotel. Previously, Nicholas Morgenstern of the ice cream shop and El Rey had applied for the liquor license on the property, but the team at the Ace says the restaurateur was only a pre-opening consultant.

Ogrodnek has his own cred, though. Prior to opening Battersby with partner Walker Stern, Ogrodnek put time in at Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, and Alain Ducasse at the Essex House. He also ran the now-shuttered but acclaimed Dover restaurant in Carroll Gardens. He closed it last year after a three-year run; despite the praise it received, sluggish business forced the shutter.

The restaurant is still very much under construction, according to a spokesperson for the project, but Sister City plans to open in January 2019.