""It's possible for two chefs to arrive at the same dish, I said to myself when I noticed several restaurants serving skate wing in a pool of sauce on a round plate in September. There are only so many combinations that fit the exact price point for a well-priced, chef-driven seafood entrée in any given neighborhood below Houston, so I wasn't too surprised to see that more than one chef had been inspired to offer a slab of fibrous bottom-feeding fish for under $30.""
""Not only was it possible, but perhaps even more likely, that more than one chef, broker, or restaurateur would arrive at the exact same location when it came to scouting for a spot at the intersection between Chinatown, the Lower East Side, and Two Bridges. That's why it didn't surprise me when Roman mentioned that he was intimately involved with the lease at Casablanca and in fact was the one who got it for the Dapper Gentleman.""
A restaurateur explores downtown restaurant options, considering swapping a West Village pocket listing for a Lower East Side space with a potential partner, the Dapper Gentleman. Several nearby kitchens converged on similar menu ideas, such as skate wing under $30, driven by neighborhood price points and limited combinations for affordable, chef-driven seafood below Houston. Interest concentrated on a Casablanca lease at the Chinatown/Lower East Side/Two Bridges intersection because it avoided a $700,000 gut renovation, kept the neighborhood fit, and provided space for an expanded Gazebo. The restaurateur remained unsure about partnering with the Dapper Gentleman despite admiring his aesthetics and crowds, due to a history of false starts.
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