Public

Profile

The two-level room that house Public used to be a bakery, and the proprietors have put in sliding industrial doors and hung trendy filament bulbs along the ceiling. Swatches of what appears to be cheesecloth cover the wine rack, and oil lamps line one of the brick walls. A wooden library-card catalogue has been placed by the coat check, and the menus are presented on clipboards and stamped like office order forms. Happily, this oddly forced décor is transcended, for the most part, by the cooking of the American-born, London-trained chef, Brad Farmerie. Australasian cuisine, as he defines it, is an agreeable mishmash of American structure, farm-fresh ingredients, and global (mostly Southeast Asian) spices and tastes. That includes inventive dishes like chestnut-crusted cod with mushroom dashi, black bass with muhammara and preserved lemon, and a grilled Buffalo sirloin with Japanese eggplant drizzled with a peppy nuoc cham.
— Adam Platt

Try visiting Public for the superior weekend brunch, which includes novel delicacies like pancakes with spicy poached pears (available without gluten), kimchi waffles, and a game-changing lamb shank shakshouka.

Weddings
This Michelin-starred restaurant in the heart of Nolita features a “free-spirited fusion” menu and can host sit-down receptions for up to 120. It can also be the site of the ceremony, with a lounge-cum–dressing room and a picture window looking onto the Elizabeth Street Garden. From $10,000.

Kimchi waffles, $17, Chestnut-crusted cod, $28; Buffalo sirloin, $31

Related Stories

New York Magazine Reviews

• Adam Platt's Full Review (2/9/04)

Best of New York Awards

• Best Brunch for Design Geeks (2007)