Two years after a fire shuttered Chinese restaurant RedFarm and it reopened with restricted service this summer, the original West Village location is now fully open. ConEd finally turned on the gas at 529 Hudson Street, at Charles Street. Founded by the late Ed Schoenfeld with Jeffrey and his son Zach Chodorow, the restaurant features items like Ed’s pastrami egg rolls, Pac-Man dumplings, and crispy beef. Andy Wang, who has been with the restaurant since it opened in 2011, remains director of operations.
In addition, RedFarm opened a new cocktail lounge, Decoy, in the basement of the restaurant. It operates on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, from 6 p.m. to midnight, with cocktails and its own menu. Soon, the kitchen will serve a Beijing duck prix fixe.
Schoenfeld died of cancer in 2022. A spokesperson says restaurant elements that reinforce his memory — farmhouse decor, the vintage water pitcher collection, etc. — maintain his choice of details.
An opening date for the Union Square Time Out Market
The buzzy Time Out Union Square Market with spots from folks from Dhamaka, Fornino, Tatiana, and more — is opening on Friday, September 26, 8 a.m. The new food hall is found at Zero Irving (124 East 14th Street, between Third and Fourth avenues) at the intersection of Union Square and the East Village.
A downtown Georgian restaurant boom
On his Substack, former Eater critic Robert Sietsema has put together a guide to downtown Georgian restaurants, including a handful of brand new ones like Laliko (80 Carmine Street, at Varick Street), Meama (78 Second Avenue, between East Fourth and Fifth streets), Askili Orchard (401 Sixth Avenue between Christopher Street and Waverly Place), Mamali (70 Christopher Street, at Seventh Avenue South).