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How Does a Mexican Seafood Restaurant Sound?
The big news out of last night’s Community Board 1 Tribeca Committee meeting—the full minutes will come later today—is that Robert Collins of Lure Fishbar, Burger & Barrel, and El Toro Blanco [see below] is indeed cooking up plans for the Churrascaria Tribeca space (221 W. Broadway/5 White). He said that he’s moving away from his current restaurant group and starting his own, beginning (presumably) with a “Mexican seafood” restaurant tentatively called Pescado. He told the committee that there would be “minimal changes” to the 220-seat space, but as he was leaving he said to me that he was excited to add booths and to change the lighting.
The menu is big and tasty-looking—click the images to see what I mean. (Sorry, the type is tiny.) Elsewhere in the submitted materials it was noted that Pescado will have a “full-time mixologist on staff lighting drinks on fire.” The application was to serve alcohol till 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Collins said that “down the line” he’s hoping to install sidewalk café seating on White, which committee members politely acted as if they didn’t hear. (CB1 Tribeca has a rule against outdoor seating on side streets, but then rules sometimes get broken.)
The committee didn’t ask if a lease had been signed, so it’s not entirely clear whether this is a done deal.
The vote was 6-0.
UPDATE: About that correction: A rep for Collins emailed to say he’s not affiliated with those restaurants; Collins must have mentioned them in the meeting simply to show the breadth of the restaurant group he works for.
Update: Comments have been turned off due to spam. To have them turned back on, email tribecacitizen@gmail.com.
12 Comments
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Super. Great. I am sure Lindsay Lohan will love the menu, but did they get a 4am closing? And will the waiters dress like mariachi pirates and circle the dining room with an endless variety of fresh fish on skewers to be filet at the table? If not, then really what’s the point to all of this?
Tough to get excited about its overpriced menu. Some of the price points are surprising. It would be nice to have an affordable Mexican meal in this neighborhood.
Waiting for Suzanne F Bruni’s review before I pass judgment.
Tough neighborhood for 200 seat restaurants….without a major following not sure anyone can make it work on the block.
I hope this new restaurant works for my son. He has worked very, very hard in the restaurant business for many, many years and hopes this endeavor works out in his favor. He has always managed to get the people in wherever he worked.
We hope so too, Ms. Collins.
Yeah, well I hope it works out for my son too. I’d like for him to finally find something that he can stick with and stop floating from one wild dream to the next. I’d also like for him to repay a portion of the thousands of dollars that I have “invested” in his numerous visionquests-of-the-week. Yes, it is true, that he has always managed to get the people in wherever he worked, but that’s because he would give away too much and make unkeepable promises….just like his mother. Don’t get me wrong, I love his mother, my wife, but that woman has a heart of gold and a mind of lead. In conclusion, please support my son and please, please, please, keep Lindsay Lohan and her sideboobs in a galaxy far, far, faaaaaaaaar away. And don’t show this to his mother. Thank you.
Sigh.
Hi, SLTH! Sorry to disappoint, but it’s unlikely I’ll be visiting. But this much I can say already:
1. Place is not overpriced if it’s good-quality ingredients, given the current charges at popular well-conceived restaurants that go for the same demo. Prices are 100% in line, and in some cases are lower. (Have you tried to order the whole chicken at The NoMad? Even at Benoit, it costs more than here.)
2. Yes, that big a place will be tough economically, esp. at that relatively reasonable price point. Seafood usually = higher food costs. But presumably the owner knows how to deal with that from his experience at the successful (and well-thought-of) Lure.
3. In general, to “N”: Please stop thinking that Mexican food should be CHEAP crap. That’s the Americanized Chipotle/Taco Bell garbage version, not real Mexican cuisine(s). If you want inexpensive Mexican-ish, there’s always Mariachi’s. The shame of the neighborhood is that it hounded out Enrique Olvera, one of the finest chefs in the world, because he cooks the REAL Mexican cuisine. This new place won’t be anywhere near as exciting as his would have been, but looks like it sure beats that faux-Mex place where Delphi used to be.
Dear N,
Affordable and really good Mexican is available at Los Americanos, Church and White…
Are we actually calling Los Americanos Mexican?
This will definitely be a restaurant with a lot of personality. He’ll make it a hot spot in tribeca that’s for sure.