Sector leaders took the opportunity to visit New York with MCA and Restaurant to see what’s hot in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Mark Wingett reports

Late last month, MCA and Restaurant magazines took more than 30 leading operators to New York as part of their 72 Hours in… series. This year’s trip further explored the underbelly of the city’s independent food and drink scene and explored how operators in New York are going back to their respective roots to stand out in an ever-increasing market.

The trip started with what could have been seen as a sidestep to the independent fare that was set to come, with a first-evening visit to Vandal – a 320-cover, 22,000sq ft, split-level bar and restaurant. The site has seen Chris Santos, a long-time Lower East Side chef, team up with Rich Wolf, partner and owner of TAO Group, the hospitality conglomerate that operates many nightclubs internationally. The whole place has embraced street art and street food, with a menu featuring pressed New York Hot pretzel steak tartare and chicken Katsu & Hong Kong egg waffles. Despite the size, the venue retains a communal feel – two-seater tables are kept to a minimum. At weekends, the site generates 1,500 covers.

The food tour started the next day at Sadelle’s, a New York bakery and restau-rant from the Major Food Group founded by Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Jeff Zalaznick. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers sliced-to-order salmon and sturgeon with chopped salads. Every night, Sadelle’s transforms from a bakery into a brasserie specialising in traditional Russian caviar and vodka service – or a Russian-Jewish bistro.

Only seven months old, the space has an aged look – a common trend in New York design. The theatre of bagel cooking, but right in the centre of the room, adds an extra dimension to the site, while different seating levels create an impression of greater space.

A real standout on the first full day was By Chloe, a trendy vegan food restaurant that has plans for rapid expansion. Aiming to make vegan food more accessible and Instagram-friendly, By Chloe’s best-selling Gauc burger is the vegan answer to Shake Shack. Last July, the concept opened its first location in New York City’s West Village to a queue down the block, and will be opening two more locations within the first half of this year. An approachable, colourful, fun space, co-founder Samantha Wasser believes that being a restaurant by Millennials for Millennials has contributed to its success. The numbers are certainly impressive, with the group’s first site attracting up to 1,400 people a day and turnover over $500,000 (£345,000) a month.

With Hawksmoor set to bring its contemporary take on the traditional steakhouse to New York next year, Quality Eats is a modern twist on the classic neighbourhood steak joint, in the heart of the West Village. The concept focuses on affordable and lesser-known meat cuts, plus a significant bar with award-winning cocktails. It has been described equally as a “steakhouse disguised in restaurant trends” or as “By Chloe for people who don’t care what their body looks like”.

A day three highlight was UrbanSpace, a food hall in the centre of the city’s Midtown.Think Dinerama, but based in the City underneath an office block. The 12,000sq ft hall unites city favourites like Roberta’s, Mimi’s Hummus, and Dough, as well as brand-new concepts, such as the Brooklyn-founded Burger and Hard Times Sundaes. With property prices in the city currently standing at $300 per sq ft, Urban Space gives fledgling operators a relatively cheaper entry point to raise brand awareness and if possible secure further investment.

Away from Manhattan, three concepts caught the eye and imagination in Brooklyn, starting with Torst. Opened by Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso, a noted Danish brewer – Evil Twin brewing, and Daniel Burns, the former head of Momofuku’s test kitchen, Torst is all reclaimed wood, communal tables and an eclectic soundtrack and home to 21 steel-and-wood taps and a 26-cover restaurant accessed via a secret door at the back of the bar – a Pint Shop on steroids so to speak. As high-end restaurants expand their beer lists to match the seriousness of their wine lists, Torst is avoiding wines and cocktails altogether, and serving only beers.

For many, the highlight of the trip was Threes Brewing, an eclectic space, which encompassed a brewpub, coffee shop, DJ area, vinyl record store and a food offer that changes every four to five weeks. Every piece of space was used and having a local operator provide the food – a regular pop-up, with aforementioned Roberta’s taking the spot while we visited – keeps the offer fresh and puts the site at the centre of the community. The demographic in the site while we visited highlighted its communal credentials – from Millennials to families to bar aficionados, all were represented.

Finally, a mention for Mekelburg’s, a subterranean grocery, restaurant, and bar in the city’s Clinton Hill area. If Torst was Pint Shop on steroids, this harked back to what Bill’s started life out as, with the retail side of the business taking precedence over the F&B offer. From the outside, you would be hard pressed to believe there was popular restaurant and bar waiting behind the food emporium, offering porchetta sandwiches and baked potatoes, including an obligatory pork belly version. Charcuterie and cheese platters showcase the grocery’s wide-ranging selection.

Wider trends experienced on the trip, included the increasing influence of Instagram, which is growing as a visual tool. Patrick Janelle, best known as @aguynamedpatrick has 443,000 followers on Instagram. Influencers such as Janelle are a direct line to the coveted Millennial audience, and there’s no prize greater for the food-loving crowd or an operator than having a coveted shot of a new menu item or fascia posted and shared across Instagram.

The trend towards informality in staff – wearing what they want and being themselves – continues to build across the city, with the caveat from “as long as they know their stuff” emphasised. In terms of drinks, sour beer is having a moment, especially in terms of food/cheese matching, while the Brooklyn-based New York Distilling Company is establishing itself as one of the nation’s premiere craft gin distilleries.

With Danny Meyer’s decision to start eliminating tipping from his 13 New York restaurants still being digested, it was interesting to hear that many operators believed the majority of the city’s eateries would follow suit over the next five years – arguing that guests are willing to pay a little more for local produce and how each business takes care of its staff.

Operator view

Tim Molema, head of food at Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK)

■ Favourite concept: The resounding story behind my favourite concepts was very similar – a great idea followed through with complete self-belief and the balls to push the boundaries. I love what the guys at Torst are doing, the world’s first beer-only Michelin-starred restaurant operating out of a tiny, no frontage site in Williamsburg. Their fastidious commitment to detail and passion for their craft means, for me, they’re absolutely nailing it. I can’t wait to go back.

■ Key takeaway: By Chloe really opened my eyes to how quickly the vegan market is changing. Seeing what they’re doing has spurred me on to develop this side of our menu.

Simon Potts, managing director of the Alchemist

■ Favourite concept: Vandal – it just epitomised how

I grew up, visualising NYC in the late ’80s/early ’90s – from film and books; I loved the secret tardis entrance before stepping through to the vibrancy, clamour and energy of the bar and restaurant spaces. It was obviously very cool as well in terms of make-up and décor.

■ Key takeaway: The theme that I felt was consistent throughout the weekend was one of co-operative enterprise and partnership among brands and businesses for a common goal.

Paul Pavli, managing director of Punch’s Mercury Pubs division

■ Favourite concepts: Threes Brewing (my favourite learning experience). I liked how they have made use of all the space available, brewing area, private room, cracking bar area, good outdoor space – many of our pubs in the UK don’t make good use of all of the space available. I also think it’s a brave to make the food offer a permanent pop-up, quite a few pubs that don’t do food well over here give the kitchen away and after a while the offer becomes stale, having a pop-up every five weeks or so, sounds like a really good idea, especially as street food is going through so much growth at the moment. And Mekelburg’s – what a great space to have in your local area, a real asset to the community. It was a bit like the work Pub is the Hub does, but the other way around, with an eating and drinking space within a retail area.

■ Key takeaway: It has to be the use of the pop-up food offer at Threes Brewing, a real piece of excitement for the consumer, having a different top-class food offer in your community pub on rotation.

Martin Williams, founder of M Restaurants

■ Favourite concept: Salvation Taco. Inspiring to meet and see how April Bloomfield has created an upmarket private members-style venue (in the former Sally Army HQ) selling premium tacos and great cocktails; there were great synergies with what we are creating at M.

■ Key takeaways: Each venue inspired or made you question your vision in a great way. Even venues where you didn’t feel you would take much from (a store/café in Brooklyn) had an offering (when adapted) that would be ground breaking in London and that would fit beautifully within my brand. I took ideas from everywhere.

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