César

Following a Split From a Three-Michelin-Starred Restaurant, a New Spot From Its Former Chef

Eater NY
July 15, 2024

For a decade, chef César Ramirez was synonymous with the three-Michelin-starred Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, and before that, Bouley, from the late David Bouley, where he built his reputation in New York. Yet following a dramatic split between the chef and owner at Chef’s Table that has resulted in lawsuits, Ramirez is opening César, his very own tasting menu spot, tonight, July 15, at 333 Hudson Street, at Charlton Street, in Soho.

Ramirez will indeed be serving the uni toast he helped make viral, as well as his delicate and laborious frozen souffle. The menu features around 13 courses that start at $365, and spotlights some rare and lofty ingredients, including the white quail that it apparently took him eight years to get, from Wolfe Ranch, which also sources for Thomas Keller.

Ramirez, who is of Mexican descent, grew up in Chicago, and moved to New York to work at Bouley, and Bar Blanc in New York, among other places. In its Eater four-star review in 2016, former critic Ryan Sutton noted the emphasis on the diner at Chef’s Table in his experiences there.

It was “a proper restaurant that’s less about the chef and more about the guest, and a venue that still feels as relevant as ever as its strengths switch from the cutting edge (which it still embodies) to the classic (which it’s becoming).”

Years earlier in 2011, Sam Sifton for the New York Times, gave the restaurant a three-star review, in which he noted Ramirez fans, “who bring to the restaurant some of the flavor of a sports bar devoted to haute cuisine, food zealots with encyclopedic knowledge of highlights and statistics, delighted to have a courtside seat.”

In his new restaurant, the equivalent of those courtside seats are available in the 13 spots at a counter that wraps around the open kitchen. The decor is otherwise minimalist for this white tablecloth, 36-seat restaurant (of which 3,300 square-feet is on the ground floor). And in case you’re wondering, yes, there will be a trolley, this one featuring Champagne and spirits.

The launch comes as reports that Chef’s Table, located adjacent to a Hell’s Kitchen grocery store, had dropped its price — so now, it, too, offers a $345 tasting menu.

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