Well, they finally are allowing me to tell you about the new restaurant that my partner Marc Dizon and I are designing at 146 Orchard Street. As I hinted at before, Top Chef alumni Camille Becerra is going to be the top chef there. After an unfortunate fire that started in the apartment above her Greenpoint restaurant Paloma, Camille has been negotiating and defining her role at this new spot. A name hasn't been decided on yet, but there is talk of calling it Paloma Orchard Street, since her involvement is increasing and all collaborating parties are happy with each other.

The food has been described to me as "fresh, quality-driven produce from farms in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. We will, of course, be purchasing from Queens County Farms. This is a farm-to-table type restaurant serving casual American cuisine with sustainable elements and some ethnic touches. It is farmers’ market-driven with house-cured meats and homemade cheeses.” Design-wise, we are making it comfortable and colorful, figuring that people don’t necessarily want to dine in a dark, unoptimistic place. The walls are made up of layers of diverse materials, and we have divided the large dining room from the bar area with a 4-foot-wide wall made of 10 layers of glass with images creating a 3-dimensional composition. We looked to Orchard Street and its vast history for inspiration. The restaurant is scheduled to open in early April, and I think that date will be real.