In 2019, Ed Szymanski and Patricia Howard were sitting on a bench in New York City’s West Village neighborhood when they shook hands and agreed to open Dame, a British fish and chips restaurant. The project would be a culmination of their many years in the restaurant industry including Howard at Red Gate Bakery, Szymanski at Cherry Point, and both at the Beatrice Inn, where they met.
But on top of being a celebration of the duo’s careers, Dame is a restaurant driven by community. It began in February 2020 as a pop-up, pivoted this past winter to a grocery store that still sells sought-after fish and chips twice a week, and will open this June as an English seafood restaurant in a brick-and-mortar space next door. But Dame truly embraced its business model last summer and fall when it hosted a weekly pop-up series in which friends took over the restaurant space, with proceeds benefiting various charities. Howard, 29, and Szymanski, 27, see their restaurant as not solely theirs
Shay Harrington/Black Seed Pizza [Official]
Black Seed Bagels in the East Village will soon make wood-fired pizza
Another one of New York City’s bagel shops is getting into the wood-fired pizza game this week. The newest entrant comes in the form of Black Seed Pizza, an after-hours, wood-fired pizzeria based out of the East Village location of Black Seed Bagels, located at 176 First Avenue. The Montreal-style bagel shop will continue to make bagels as usual only now chef Bobby Hellen, a veteran of GG’s in the East Village, will use its ovens to make Sicilian-style pan pizzas in the evenings. Black Seed Pizza will offer five sourdough pies to start, which are available for takeout and delivery starting on Thursday, February 11.
Dame [Official]
Dame reopens for the winter as a deli and bottle shop
After a busy summer slinging fish, chips, and other English fare, West Village pop-up Dame is back for the winter season. In the second iteration of their pop-up, co-owner Patricia Howard and chef Ed Szymanski are reopening as a deli and bottle shop, offering bottled negronis, local produce, and pantry staples from newly opened restaurants in the neighborhood. There’s no clear end date to the concept, but Szymanski, an alum of Greenpoint’s well-received Cherry Point, is bringing a revamped menu to the pop-up, one that includes conservas marinated and smoked seafood available by the half-pint along with several seafood soups. His sought-after fish and chips will be making a comeback, as well, though as a special served only on Fridays and Saturdays.