A ‘TOP CHEF’ WINNER WILL STEER JAMES KENT’S LEGACY IN FLATIRON
Plans remain on track to open a Flatiron seafood restaurant following the unexpected death of an industry giant, chef and restaurateur, James Kent on Saturday, June 15.
The late chef’s burgeoning restaurant group, Saga, includes three restaurants at 70 Pine Street in Fidi: the two-Michelin-starred tasting menu spot, Saga; cocktail bar Overstory; and ground-floor Michelin-starred Crown Shy. Next up for the group: the 140-seat restaurant at 360 Park Avenue South, called Time and Tide: It’s due to open in the fall, a spokesperson confirms. Top Chef season 21 winner Danny Garcia Is leading the kitchen.
“[Kent’s] goal was to give everybody around him the limelight to shine,” Garcia told Food & Wine. “… We’re going to continue to do everything that he envisioned and planned for us, because that’s what he would have wanted.”
Kent’s memorial is Friday, June 28, at a closed service at St. Bartholomew’s Church in Midtown. Since Kent’s passing, a GoFundMe has been established, “benefiting the Jamal James Kent Family Legacy Trust, a vehicle created exclusively for Chef Kent’s family — his wife, Kelly, and children, Gavin and Avery — to ensure that they’re financially stable and well cared for,” a spokesperson for Saga said over email.
Time and Tide is the first up of several projects, with others that include a bakery helmed by pastry chef for the group, Renata Ameni, in Brooklyn, along with potentially five restaurants in Paris department store import, Printemps, overseen by celebrity chef, Gregory Gourdet. And there’s a fast-casual concept in the works, Crown Chicken and Sundae, that came about during the pandemic, with plans to open the first standalone shop soon. Earlier in June, Saga opened Snackville at Santa Monica Pier’s Pacific Park, which includes Smashie’s Burgers, Mr. Nice Fry, Churrito Churro, Scoops Creamery, and Cosmic Funnel.
Time and Tide was first conceived as an homage to Kent’s grandmother and a nod to Grand Central Oyster Bar, which, according to Robb Report, was where his grandmother, Sue Mingus, first dated jazz great, Charles Mingus. They married and she oversaw his legacy until she died in 2022, the New York Times reported.
Think steakhouse, “but for seafood,” says Garcia of the restaurant, with large cuts of fish yet an emphasis on sustainability, according to Food & Wine.
Kent’s mentorship shaped Garcia’s career, he says. They worked together when Kent was running the kitchen at the Nomad and Kent later advised him through the prestigious chef competition, the Bocuse d’Or. Kent also facilitated Garcia meeting his wife, pastry chef Sumaiya Bangee, when they were employed at Crown Shy.
Garcia also worked at the French Laundry in California and at Victoria Blamey’s Mena, among other positions. (Blamey later accused Garcia of not attributing a dish to her in an earlier winning round of Top Chef.)
Garcia was announced this year’s Top Chef winner a week ago, with his win featuring a parade of dishes including a scallop crudo with leche de tigre, in a nod to Kent; as well as spiny lobster with salsa macha and chaaza, a Burmese curry his wife has made him; and a cantaloupe piragua con leche, shaved ice similar to a childhood dessert.
The New York watch party was at the upcoming restaurant. On the Saga Hospitality Group Instagram page, a post reads, “Last night, we celebrated Danny’s Top Chef win just the way James would have wanted: with a big group of family, spraying Champagne. Now we’ll keep watering and caring for the seeds that Jamal planted. This fall, we’ll open @timeandtidenyc — the restaurant that he and Danny built together.”
2024-06-25T20:33:17Z dg43tfdfdgfd
