Who’s behind it: Time and Tide is the latest Manhattan restaurant from Kent Hospitality Group. The opening comes after a challenging time for the group: This past June, its founder, chef Jamal “James” Kent, died unexpectedly at age 45, a tragedy felt throughout American fine dining. The group subsequently changed its name from Saga Hospitality Group to honor him.
At the helm is chef Danny Garcia (winner of the 2024 season of Bravo’s Top Chef), who worked with Kent for years to develop the restaurant. The two had previously worked together at the now-closed NoMad restaurant in New York and competed on Team USA in the 2016 Bocuse d’Or chef championship.
Why you should know about it: Time and Tide joins Kent Hospitality’s two Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence–winning establishments: Saga (now led by chef Charlie Mitchell, formerly of Best of Award of Excellence winner Clover Hill in Brooklyn) and Crown Shy (led by chef Jassimran Singh), both located at 70 Pine Street in the Financial District, along with the group’s Overstory cocktail bar. The restaurant is named after a song from jazz musician Charles Mingus (as part of the Red Norvo Trio), who married Kent’s grandmother, record producer Sue Graham Ungaro Mingus, in 1964. The new location is on the intersection of Park and 26th, a block away from Madison Square Park in the Flatiron neighborhood.
When it opened: Oct. 24
The culinary approach: While developing Time and Tide, Garcia and Kent bonded over memories of childhood summers spent eating simple, grilled seafood on Long Island. The result is a seasonal, seafood-focused, “fish house” menu fashioned like that of a steak house, designed around large-format main dishes with shareable sides (the likes of seared sweet plantains with tahini, chiles and black lime or charred cabbage with dijon and horseradish). The menu starts with raw options like oysters with a yuzu mignonette and shrimp cocktail with habanero pepper. Snacks include sardine toast and a large, smile-inducing, fish-shaped, cheddar cracker (in the style of Pepperidge Farms’ Goldfish.)
The bulk of the menu is then split into “small fish” and “big fish” dishes, the former made up of small plates like a classic New York oyster pan roast or a seafood spin on cacio e pepe (the pasta is replaced with tender slices of longfin squid). “It’s incredibly fun and creative,” Time and Tide wine director Kristen Goceljak told Wine Spectator.
The big fish entrees include a swordfish steak seared in duck fat, plancha-grilled prawns slathered in mussels-infused butter, and a halibut pithivier—that is, cooked in a golden crust with a duxelles—which Goceljak recommends with a glass of Chablis. (For those in the mood for beef, the menu offers one seared strip steak.) Garcia is also developing a dry-aging program for fish.
What’s on the wine list: Goceljak’s wine program is broken into two sections: Time and Tide. The first features classic regions that “stand the test of time,” and the second includes wines from coastal areas. “I wanted to make sure there was a throughline in the wine list that basically mirrored the menu itself,” Goceljak explained. “I decided to have this dichotomy of classic versus coastal because [guests] either come in and want to drink something classic from regions they already know, or they want to explore a little bit.”
Champagne, Burgundy and Germany are thoroughly represented in the Time section, with noteworthy selections from the likes of Adrien Renoir, Domaine Leflaive and Karthäuserhof. In Tide, Goceljak highlights wineries from regions along the Mediterranean (like Arianna Occhipinti from Sicily), Pacific (Merry Edwards, for instance) and Atlantic (including South Africa’s Alheit). “You’ll notice, with wines from the Atlantic, they are all from different countries but they have a similar style,” said Goceljak. “These wines are actually more similar based upon the seas they’re next to.”
The program sits at around 300 labels, and Goceljak expects the size will double by the end of the year, as she leans more into grower Champagnes and expands with other coastal regions, such as Croatia.
The design: Time and Tide’s interior draws inspiration from the family shore house on Long Island that Kent enjoyed during his childhood. Architecture firm Modellus Novus used “utilitarian materials” to “shorten the distance between the metropolitan location and the [Long Island Sound]” in the 100-seat dining room, which features sunset-evoking lighting, breeze block–accented walls and terracotta floor tiles.—Julia Larson
Michael Mina Brings Orla to the L.A. Area
Who’s behind it: In Santa Monica, Calif., chef Michael Mina and his Mina Group have opened their second Orla restaurant, only a few months after debuting the now Best of Award of Excellence–winning first location in Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. Mina’s portfolio also features a dozen Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners, including his namesake restaurant in Las Vegas, a collection of Bourbon Steak restaurants, Wit & Wisdom in Sonoma and Stripsteak restaurants in Las Vegas and Honolulu.
Mina is partnering with the recently opened Regent Santa Monica Beach hotel for this second location, which was originally meant to be the first (construction of the hotel had been delayed). “My team and I had begun to work on the Orla concept almost six years ago,” Mina told Wine Spectator. “When I saw the space at Regent Santa Monica Beach before construction started, with views of the Pacific, I knew this was the perfect home for this cuisine.”
Leading the kitchen is chef Jacob Solomon, who has overseen several of Mina’s restaurants since 2022 and was previously the corporate chef for Lettuce Entertain You Hospitality, one of Chicago's leading restaurant groups.
When it opened: Oct. 16, 2024
What’s on the menu: The restaurant’s cuisine mirrors that at the Las Vegas location, drawing inspiration from Mina’s Egyptian ancestry and the flavors of the wider Mediterranean. There are cold and warm mezze, such as kataifi-coated prawns with coconut, spicy mango and lime leaves, as well as several grain and pasta options, including toasted orzo with spicy duck, kefalograviera cheese and fresh peas. For larger entrees, expect a range of seafood and grilled meat options, such as char-grilled whole branzino and black harissa–grilled lamb chops, along with sides to complement them.
Despite their similarities, there will be some variance between the Santa Monica and Las Vegas menus, as the new restaurant has more access to California ingredients. “One thing that is really special [are] the bountiful Santa Monica farmers [markets],” said Mina. “It’s a chef’s paradise where our team will be shopping to source the freshest seasonal ingredients to add to the menu—whether as a special or a twist on an existing dish.” Additionally, to celebrate the launch of Mina’s newest cookbook, My Egypt, Orla will feature a My Egypt Tasting Experience ($105 per person), for which the kitchen will offer the table an array of shareable dishes (using recipes from the book, of course).
What’s on the wine list: The new Orla wine program comprises more than 800 bottles. Complementing the menu, and like its Las Vegas counterpart, the list gives particular attention to Mediterranean regions, including Lebanon, Corsica and Macedonia. There is a sizable selection of Greek wines, with Chardonnay, a Syrah blend and more from leading winery Alpha Estate, as well as bottlings from other well-known producers like Sigalas. The by-the-glass options include themed flights such as “Assyrtiko Around the World” and “Mediterranean Gems.” Beyond those key regions, an impressive range of wines covers prominent areas in other European countries, as well as California.
The location: Orla offers sweeping views of the Pacific coastline thanks to its oceanfront site, just a few blocks from the iconic Santa Monica Pier. “When you pull up the drive and walk through the door at Regent Santa Monica Beach, you’ll know exactly why we opened here!” said Mina, noting that the lively spirit of Orla is maintained at both locations, in different ways. “Orla in Santa Monica is on the beach. In Las Vegas, we have brought in outdoor elements to create [a similarly] vibrant feel.”
The design: AvroKO, the award-winning firm behind several other recent openings, created the look of the massive 270-seat space, which includes the main dining room, two-level outdoor seating, a 24-seat private dining room and a 36-seat semi-private dining room.
The restaurant conjures the Mediterranean but with a distinctive vibe of its own—open and airy, with sandstone features and light oceanic tones—that dovetails with its beachside setting. Much of the flooring is made from planks reclaimed from yachts. Perhaps the two most notable design features are the bespoke floor mosaic of an octopus (created by the SICIS studio in Italy from 300,000 hand-shaped tiles) and, mirroring it above, a hand-painted ceiling mural (also depicting an octopus) designed by Chicago-based Pretorius Studio.—Aaron Romano
San Francisco’s Aphotic Announces Last Day of Service
Fine-dining seafood restaurant Aphotic, located in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, has announced that its final day of service will be Saturday, Dec. 21.
“As all residents of [San Francisco] know, these are tough times for fine-dining operators,” read an Instagram post from chef and owner Peter Hemsley. He noted that the restaurant had achieved tremendous accomplishments: Since opening, Aphotic earned a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence for its 2,250-bottle wine list—which focused on California, France and Italy—as well as other prominent culinary honors for its food and its sustainability efforts. “The fact that we all did this is nothing short of a small miracle. And I believe in miracles. I have to, as a chef and restaurant owner in these times. But I also know that miracles do not last forever.”
The restaurant had a short run: Opening in 2018, it operated as Palette (a fine-dining restaurant and art gallery) until 2023, when Hemsley reimagined it as Aphotic. It quickly became a dining destination for its acclaimed multi-course tasting menu, with seafood dishes offered throughout the entirety of the meal, even for dessert. (The restaurant's current tasting menu features a sea urchin mille-feuille.)
Hemsley’s farewell post cited a challenging post-pandemic dining scene and a problematic location, not far from the city’s Moscone convention center and adjacent to a new Muni bus transit station. Altogether, the neighborhood has grappled with its post-pandemic recovery.
When contacted, the restaurant team provided no additional comment on the closure. It did mention that in its final weeks of service, the fall tasting menu will include an updated non-alcoholic beverage pairing. And the chef’s counter experience will expand to 16 courses, including new dishes such as smoked opah belly with gochujang and radish, as well as a sea urchin soufflé.
Hemsley’s final sentiment was that people should come together and commemorate Aphotic, rather than mourning the restaurant: “I invite you all to help make this small miracle’s last weeks a bustling and happy window before closure, celebrating our team’s accomplishments, while indulging in what we do best—seafood, cocktails, wine and impeccable service.”—A.R.
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