From Gabriel Stulman, the restaurateur behind a handful of spots in New York’s West Village, Simon & The Whale – a name inspired by the whale-patterned gifts given to his toddler Simon – is a corner street-facing neighbourhood restaurant on the ground floor of the city’s new Freehand hotel.
As with the rest of the property, design firm Roman and Williams has highlighted the original details of the building – the former George Washington Hotel – while revealing its signature aesthetic with a warm palette of Iroko millwork, rich mint-hued marble, green ceramic tiles and burnished brass accents throughout.
A laidback and cosy setting then, to indulge in chef Matt Griffin’s modern American menu which includes dishes such as the black bass crudo served with shiso, puffed rice and coconut milk; tasty cauliflower dressed with veal tongue pastrami; and the deliciously crips pork collar Milanese topped with aioli, apricot mostarda and arugula.
Upstairs, Stulman also oversees Studio, the light-filled all-day café and the George Washington Bar, an intimate den, set in the former library, where cocktails such as Nothing Gold Can Stay – a concoction made with dry vermouth, umeshu, benedictine and sakura – are served alongside a menu of small bites.
INFORMATION
ADDRESS
23 Lexington Avenue
-
Tobi Masa lands at The Chancery RosewoodChef Masa Takayama’s debut London restaurant transforms modernist geometry into a space of ritual calm and culinary purity
-
Bionic Labs builds precision next-level Apple accessories from aluminium and stainless steelFrom stands, chargers and keyboard trays to a set of accessories for the Vision Pro, Parisian design studio Bionic Labs offers only the best for your Apple gear
-
Yuko Mohri’s living installations play on Marcel Duchamp’s surrealismThe artist’s seven new works on show at Milan’s Pirelli HangarBicocca explore the real and imaginary connections that run through society
-
At Duryea’s Sunset Cottages in The Hamptons, it’s all about stillness and open horizonsA beloved Hampton restaurant becomes a tucked-away retreat set on a windswept bluff above Fort Pond Bay in Montauk
-
The return of Genghis Cohen: LA’s cult Chinese diner lives onThe 1980s Chinese-American landmark returns with red booths, neon nostalgia, and a fresh dose of Hollywood eccentricity
-
A24 just opened a restaurant in New York, and it’s as cinematic as you’d expectHidden in the West Village, Wild Cherry pairs a moody, arthouse sensibility with a supper-style menu devised by the team behind Frenchette
-
Seven kitchens, one fire: inside LA’s hottest new food marketAt Maydan Market, chef Rose Previte turns global street food and layered design into a vibrant, fire-lit experience
-
The Viceroy Hotel Group wants you to get on your bikeAcross properties in Santa Monica, Chicago, Washington DC and the Algarve, Viceroy guests can experience curated cycling routes and community events
-
Big flavours and bold design define La Nena Cantina, Los Angeles's newest Mexican hotspotFrom handmade tortillas to 40-ingredient mole, this new Sunset Boulevard restaurant takes Mexican cuisine seriously
-
Aperitivo time is this Los Angeles bar’s ‘ragione di vita’Located in Echo Park, Bar Bacetti is a welcoming haunt celebrating the great Italian ‘art of snacking’
-
This boisterous cocktail bar in Denver was inspired by Le CorbusierA 1950s furniture showroom has been reborn as a modernist social hub in the city’s Sunnyside neighbourhood. Its cocktails? Semiprecious
