In April, Buddha Bar (coming to 62 Thomas) went before Community Board 1 for “application for liquor license for Buddha Bar and TBD”; Alex, who has been following the restaurant closely, commented that “the TBD is Assunta Madre, an Italian seafood restaurant well known in Rome with other locations in Moscow, Porto Cervo, Barcelona, Milan, and London.” I couldn’t stay for the whole meeting, so I wasn’t sure whether that meant Assunta Madre was simply becoming a co-owner of Buddha Bar or whether it would share the space in a meaningful way. And then I forgot about the matter.

On the occasion of Megu closing in Midtown—it was previously at 62 Thomas—Alex emailed over the link to the CB1 stipulations [PDF] for the 62 Thomas liquor license. It states clearly that there will be two restaurants: Buddha Bar in the basement and Assunta Madre on the second floor.

In 2014, the Financial Times called the Rome outpost of Assunta Madre “the city’s best seafood restaurant […] a place of pilgrimage for the cognoscenti.” While that location was “shut down [in 2017] by police on suspicion of being used as a front for money laundering,” says the Telegraph, it has since reopened. The London restaurant, meanwhile, has permanently closed. (And the restaurant in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, seems to be officially called Assunta Madre Billionaire.) Below: Photos of the Rome dining room and food.