It's The Gander, a new Flatiron leviathan of seafood, landfood and the wines they both go with, opening tonight.
Bring a date. Bring parents visiting town. Bring newly engaged friends to feel out whether they're tolerable anymore. Bring a lunch meeting (not yet, but soon). Bring 'em all. The place is—to borrow a term from the scientific community—ginormous. Two soaring rooms of marble bar majesty, six-person banquettes and chandeliers made with lots of lampshades.
But the important thing here is brisket tots. They're so much more delightfully complicated than they sound. Think brisket braised with corned-beef fat, then mixed with caramelized onion, mozzarella and caraway seeds, and breaded with fried potato. And now try not to think about that. We dare you.
The man behind this is also responsible for Recette in the West Village, so the tots are basically a diversion from stuff like a creative take on trout tartare and pastas with suckling pig ragù.
Pigs just don't stand a chance, do they?