Why Dine at the RH Restaurant, From the Brand Formerly Called Restoration Hardware?
Last year, when The New York Times profiled The New Restaurant, the former Restoration Hardware restaurant space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, it brought up the question of whether or not The New could become a regular dinner destination or become a neighborhood staple that becomes part of Williamsburg’s cultural fabric. The NYT’s story noted how the project was already underway but the plan to open the restaurant didn’t emerge until just days before the publication deadline.
On Wednesday, April 16, that plan was officially unveiled at a press conference held by Red Hook City Council candidate Richard Lewis, and attended by local restaurateurs David Legg, a real estate developer, and former New Restaurant co-owner John Sarno, a venture capitalist. According to Lewis, the restaurant would be created by Lewis, Red Hook City Council candidate David Brin, and Sarno.
“Restoration Hardware as a brand has, in fact, become the restaurant that exists in the neighborhood. It’s in Red Hook, it’s in Williamsburg, it’s in Downtown Brooklyn. It’s a brand that’s now the restaurant. The idea is to kind of create our own, which we’re doing now. The restaurant will be a Red Hook City restaurant. We’re doing it on the former Restoration Hardware site. We’re not going to have a new restaurant—we’re not doing that—we’re doing it on the former Restoration Hardware site,” Lewis said during the press conference. He said the restaurant would be called New Restaurant, and would be a “full service bar and restaurant with a different focus.”
The Press conference was held at Red Hook’s former Restoration Hardware site and served as the inaugural event at the now empty space, which was sold at auction last year to local restaurateur and local art collective The Red Hook Collective