“Shop while you dine” was a revolutionary concept when restaurateur Donna Lennard and Italian partner Alberto Avalle launched beloved Il Buco in a charming Bond Street antiques shop back in 1994. They even developed their own product lines along with curated goods to further their Mediterranean chic aesthetic.
Now, architect and designer Mark Zeff and his wife Kristin have just launched Blackbarn, a flagship shopping mecca in Chelsea Market that includes a new restaurant style cafe.
The twist: All of the dishes, flatware, glasses and linens used in the restaurant are for sale.
The 2,000-square-foot eatery, helmed by Chef John Doherty — the former chef at the Waldorf Astoria — will seat 65 people. It’s inside a new 4,500-square-foot flagship Blackbarn design shop from Zeff.
The restaurant, open from 11 am to 10 pm daily, serves locally sourced fare from upstate New York farms. Think grilled sandwiches and paninis, along with salads, gourmet toasts and more upscale items, like red snapper crudo, braised octopus salad and beef short rib served with mashed potatoes. Also on the menu: smoked salmon tartine, chicken Milanese sliders, duck confit salad, coq au vin, and desserts like rum butterscotch bread pudding and chocolate cremeux.
It is a “lite” version of the Nomad restaurant of the same name, also helmed by Doherty, who served as executive chef of the Waldorf Astoria for 23 years. (There’s also a Blackbarn design store, which does not come with an eatery, in Dumbo.)
The flagship store will also feature a boutique from Lexington Gardens and a library curated by Aaron Hicklin, of One Grand Books.
Photos of the space available for download here (photo credit for all is Colin Miller).