What better name for an upscale kosher restaurant than Jezebel, the, uh, free-spirited Phoenician princess? The opulent new SoHo restaurant, which features a gold-plated shofar as a door handle and a remake of da Vinci's Last Supper portrait with Woody Allen as Jesus, opens tomorrow night. Here's a peek at the wonders that await.
On Monday night, Rabbi Marc Schneier and Russell Simmons gathered to hang Jezebel’s mezuzah, joined by Princess Sharis of Abu Dhabi. The restaurant's owners, Henry Stimler and Menachem Senderowicz, promise "sophisticated, modern American fare 'that happens to be kosher'," with a menu from award-winning chef Bradford Thompson (who is not Jewish). His eclectic, intercontinental menu includes Roasted Bone Marrow with parsley, pickled onion and toasted breadcrumbs; Shabazi-Spiced Beef Tartar with chive flowers and purple potato chips; and Braised Lamb Agnolotti with marjoram and baby tomatoes. An Orthodox Jewish rabbi will be keep watch in the kitchen to make sure it's all kosher.
A lounge downstairs seats 50, while the upstairs dining room has room for up to 100 chosen diners. The main bar upstairs is, we're told, "overflowing with fresh herbs and composed of black leather, is punctuated with alternating high-gloss black wood fins and back-lit white onyx panels, and boasts over 300 floating bottles of wine." All the artwork in the joint was commissioned from "young" New York artists, and plays off a Jewish theme, superimposing Jewish "icons" on famous portraits. In addition to the Woody Allen last supper, Jezebel also has a painting of Mayor Bloomberg as George Washington. (He probably gets mistaken for GW all the time.)
Check out the preliminary menu below.
323 West Broadway // (646) 410-0717
