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LES Restaurant Fung Tu To Close, Reopen As Nom Wah Tea Parlor Offshoot
By
Nell Casey
Published Jul 31, 2017
Modified Jul 31, 2017
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By
Nell Casey
Published Jul 31, 2017
Modified Jul 31, 2017
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Fung Tu, Chef Jonathan Wu's and owners John Wells and Wilson Tang's Chinese-American restaurant on Orchard Street, will close at the end of August and be reborn as the third standalone NYC installment in the Nom Wah Tea Parlor fleet. The restaurant's final day of service as-is will be August 31st; it will reopen as Nom Wah Tu in late September.
"The decision to close the LES restaurant stems from having gained a better understanding through our years of operation on the immediate neighborhood. Taking in feedback and incorporating it into our menu and aesthetic iterations have been proud points of evolution, as both Pete Wells and Ryan Sutton have noted in their reviews," the team said in the announcement sent to the press. "Even though the team took these steps to adjust their approach over the years, a much larger change was needed."
Wu opened Fung Tu in November of 2013 in what NY Times critic Pete Wells referred to as a "tentative start" in his two star review of the restaurant in May of 2015. "The sound of heads being scratched must have carried to the kitchen, because Mr. Wu has adjusted," Wells wrote, a reference made above by the restaurant. "Over three meals since the late winter, I rarely had any doubt what he was getting at."
Both Wu and current GM/Beverage Director Sophie Maarleveld will stay at Nom Wah Tu. Some of the dishes from the longstanding dim sum restaurant will be on the menu at Tu—shrimp and snow pea leaf dumplings, for example—but Wu will be tasked with bringing his "modern and playful tastes" to the new menu. The Fung Tu's beverage menu will also transfer to the new restaurant.
In the month leading up to the closure, Fung Tu will continue its Russ & Daughters fish collaboration, in addition to a Restaurant Week menu and a "greatest hits" tasting menu coming down for its final week.
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