Top Vancouver Restaurant Group Toptable Is Already Expanding Its NYC Footprint

The team behind Gramercy Park’s Oceans is plotting next door restaurant

The well-regarded Canadian restaurant group that opened its first NYC restaurant in the fall is already plotting another local project. Toptable will soon open another restaurant directly behind its Gramercy Park seafood newcomer Oceans, with a separate entrance on 19th Street east of Oceans’s 233 Park Avenue South address. Details are still slim on what the restaurant will be, but according to insiders, the space, which seats up to 70 and is currently being used just for private events, is slated to be a casual Italian restaurant.

It’s an expansion following steady crowds at Oceans, a 220-seat space with an emphasis on fresh seafood that opened in November. Besides the growth, the restaurant will start serving lunch in mid-February, offering dishes such as ceviche with pineapple, a lobster roll, and a burger. — Beth Landman, contributing reporter

In other news

— April Bloomfield’s Ace Hotel gastropub, the Breslin, kicks off a dinner series later this month along with other acclaimed chefs from around the country. First up is Naomi Pomeroy of Portland’s James Beard Award-winning fine dining restaurant Beast. Bloomfield and Pomeroy will cook up a six-course meal on February 28 with tickets priced at $105.

— Maury Rubin, the owner of beloved, now-shuttered Union Square cafe City Bakery, has introduced happy hour drinks at his new hot chocolate pop-up, the Wonderbon Chocolate Company. The happy hour runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, and drinks include a mezcal-spiked hot chocolate, and a white chocolate concoction with rum.

— Prior to NYC’s single-use plastic bag ban going into effect, the city’s sanitation department is offering New Yorkers free reusable bags at various locations throughout all five boroughs.

— An A train commuter reportedly squirted a bottle of ketchup on the floor in front of the subway seat next to him to avoid being overcrowded by other commuters.

— Popular vegan doughnut destination Dun-Well Doughnuts is closing its St. Marks Place outpost. The original East Williamsburg location will remain open.

— Pork dishes like like roast pig bao sandwiches with hoisin sauce, and bacon candy with fennel kimchi will be the stars at the Charcuterie Masters event, which will be held at the Flushing Town Hall on February 22.

— Anton chef Nick Anderer and Adda chef Chintan Pandya will lead cooking classes during the upcoming season at De Gustibus, the cooking school at Macy’s.

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