A taste of Manhattan’s Lower East Side is coming to Sydney’s city fringe this month.
For two nights only, Monday 22 August and Tuesday 23 August, New York City chefs Fabian von Hauske and Jeremiah Stone – chef-owners of Manhattan restaurants Contra and Wildair – are taking over the Harpoon Harry dining room.
“It’s a big deal for us,” says Stone. “We are even closing Contra for one week. It’s a nice time of year to be in Australia and I can’t wait to take some inspiration back to New York.”
Contra opened on Orchard Street in New York’s Lower East Side in 2014, and sibling restaurant, Wildair, followed in 2015, just a few doors down. Both restaurants opened to rave reviews from the likes of The New York Times and The New Yorker, and have since become known for their contemporary set menus that deploy French-ish, Asian and American flavours to winning effect (take Wildair’s potato Darphin, uni and jalapeño, for instance, or pork Milanese with gribiche and mustard greens).
Harpoon Harry chef Morgan McGlone (the man behind Belles Hot Chicken) met the Manhattan chefs at the Omnivore food festival in Paris in 2012. “They’re both really good buddies of mine, and they’re amazing cooks,” he says. “The best thing about these dinners is that you get to cook with all your friends. We were the young bucks in 2012 and we’ve stayed in contact since.”
While the menu for the Contra-Wildair stint at Harpoon Harry is yet to be finalised, McGlone says guests can expect a line-up that’s heavy on Australian seafood with “a modern American twist.”
This is the fourth instalment in the ongoing Friends of Harry’s series, which has seen Belon chef James Henry, South Carolina pitmaster Rodney Scott, Africola’s Duncan Welgemoed and Icebergs chef Monty Koludrovic all host special dinners.
Von Hauske and Stone will cook just the one sitting each night and there are only 45 tickets available for each dinner. The $110 ticket price will include snacks and a five-course menu, with the option of an additional wine or non-alcoholic drink pairing ($65 and $35, respectively).
Fabian von Hauske and Jeremiah Stone at Harpoon Harry, Monday 22 August and Tuesday 23 August, 7pm; tickets are $110 for snacks and five courses, excluding drinks. To book email [email protected] or call (02) 8262 8800.
Harpoon Harry, 40/44 Wentworth Ave, Surry Hills, NSW, hotelharry.com.au/bar