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New York may be a few thousand miles from the Italian coast, but a new East Village spot is hoping enough spritzes can close that Euro-summer distance.
Recente, a new coastal Italian restaurant and aperitivo bar, opens today at 182 Second Avenue as the first standalone project from Willem Hock and Lukas Canan, longtime hospitality vets whose résumés include Dante, Amor y Amargo, The Surf Lodge and The Nines. The pair first met when they started working at Dante on the same day nearly a decade ago; Hock eventually became general manager, while Canan served as head bartender.
The new digs are considerably roomier than your average downtown watering hole: Recente has a 60-seat dining room and full bar, plus a 30-seat courtyard garden and a 16-seat sidewalk café. Dinner runs Tuesday through Sunday, with late-night service until 2 am Thursday through Saturday. Weekend brunch will join the mix in September.
As you might expect from two Dante alums, drinks are a huge focus: the $18 spritzes include an Al Limone with makrut lime, Meyer lemon, limoncello, Bitter Bianco and prosecco; an olive-heavy Oliva; and a hibiscus-spiked Aperol spritz. There are also three $22 house martinis, including the Martini Sozzo with olive-oil vodka, house vermouth and olives. Stick around long enough and things get decidedly more ’90s: a “Discoteca” section resurrects the Appletini, the Pornstar Martini and the Strawberry Vesper.
The food comes courtesy of culinary consultant Monty Koludrovic, the former executive chef of Sydney’s Icebergs Dining Room & Bar. The “New World Italian” approach blends Australian and Asia-Pacific influences into Italian cooking, including dishes like oysters with prosecco mignonette, pickled mussels with salsa verde and Meyer lemon, caviar “bruschetta,” lumache with hand-picked crab and smoked tomato, pappardelle with XO oxtail ragù and tiger prawn saltimbocca.
As for the space itself, expect late-’60s and early-’70s Italian modernism, with burlwood and chrome accents, white tablecloths, glossy ceilings and long banquettes. It’s a little slice of coastal Italy built for an East Village night out—preferably with a cold spritz in hand.
