CO-OP Food & Drink

OK Co

A Distinctly Downtown Hotel Restaurant

None 3 Photos CO-OP Food & Drink
Sometimes, the best ideas are the simplest ones.

Other times, the best ideas are the ones that involve a collection of Polaroids, the fusion of brasserie fare with sushi and a staff of androgynous punk-rock waiters.

We know, you’ve been saying that’d work for years.

Prepare to meet CO-OP Food & Drink, a gritty, downtown-glamorous playground of provisions at the Hotel on Rivington where you’ll go to fortify for a night out, taking reservations now for Thursday.

Think of this as just the right amount of crazy (and buttermilk-brined roasted chicken) required before properly barnstorming the rooftop at Hotel Chantelle. A kind of 1970s downtown interpretation of the Waldorf’s grand ballroom, with sashimi from a former Sushi of Gari chef and braisings from a former Le Bernardin guy.

As with any good story, this one begins at a 40-foot, gold-mirror-tiled bar. Order a quartino off the American-only wine list (unless you hate the subtle top notes of freedom) before either heading left to the omakase sushi bar, or straight to the skylight-roofed main dining room.

And while a Patti Smith–styled server brings a menagerie of crudos to a colossal communal table carved from a single slab of walnut, you’ll take notice of the surrounding walls covered with oversized Polaroids of LES icons like Debbie Harry, Jay McInerney and Moby.

The project took nearly two years of shaking to develop.

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