A personal duck and fuji apple wrap at RedFarm. Photo by missmeng.
For months, we have been hearing rumors that RedFarm, the popular West Village Chinese restaurant, is planning to open a new restaurant on the Upper West Side. In April, critic Gael Greene said that her sources told her the restaurant would be in walking distance from her 73rd street apartment.
And now we know exactly where the restaurant is planning to open, courtesy of a liquor license application submitted to Community Board 7.
RedFarm is headed to 2170-2178 Broadway, at the corner of 77th Street. That’s the current home of Fatty Crab, Serafina/Geisha and On the Ave Hotel (it’s a big building, and there could presumably be another space in the building that RedFarm is moving into). RedFarm had no comment on whether they would be taking the place of either of those restaurants. A spokesperson for Serafina and Geisha (both run by the same company) said they aren’t going anywhere. We’ve contacted Fatty Crab but haven’t heard back. (Update: Eater, in linking to our story, says it’s heard rumors that Red Farm will move into Fatty Crab’s space. Still no word from Fatty Crab two days after we called)
RedFarm is also applying to open a sidewalk cafe outside the space.
RedFarm, run by top Chinese chef Joe Ng and restaurateur Ed Schoenfeld, is incredibly popular — the waiting list can stretch for longer than two hours. It made Eater’s list of 38 essential New York restaurants. And it was recently awarded two stars by New York Times reviewer Pete Wells, who called the dumplings “bundles of delight.” He calls Ng “one of New York’s greatest Chinese chefs.” RedFarm is known for it’s dumplings, which are stuffed with lobster, crab & duck, and other delights. Here’s the dinner menu. Says Wells:
“For sensations like this, people have stood in line, and stood and stood, since the restaurant opened last August. RedFarm belongs to that post-Momofuku generation of restaurants made possible by the discovery that people will wait in line, open their wallets and put up with a reasonable amount of discomfort if the cooking consistently vaults above usual levels of intensity. No reservations are taken, except for large parties.”
Gael Greene previously pegged September as “the earliest possible opening date.” We’ll update as soon as we learn more.
Wait! What about the old Ruby Foo’s loacation, still empty, no? Please don’t kill the Fatty UWS outpost!! Very happy to welcome the new place but… can’t we all just get along??
Ruby Foo’s is long gone. Closed over 2 years ago, building it was in was torn down last year. Ugly luxury rental is going up in its place. Fatty Crab is OK, but overpriced.
I spoke to a Serafina manager…and he said they aren’t going anywhere. So you’ve got Fatty Crab on the block – I guess. Meanwhile, across the street, the Fratata La Bufala (or whatever it’s called) appears to be drawing no crowds whatsoever.
its now all most 2013. any guess when ?
Sadly, I think it will be at least another month. Last I checked there wasn’t much action at the site. We’ll keep you updated! Avi