NOM WAH’S WILSON TANG IS OPENING A NEW RESTAURANT WITH AN ‘UNEXPECTED’ PARTNER

An operator known for a Manhattan famous dim sum spot is joining forces with a new guard Brooklyn red sauce restaurateur to open a Cantonese restaurant in Cobble Hill.

Sal Lamboglia has built a name with Italian and Americana hits, Cafe Spaghetti and Swoony’s in Carroll Gardens. Earlier this year, Eater reported that his team had signed on a space at 521 Hicks Street, at Degraw Street, previously home to Vekslers, a bar that closed last summer. It was billed to be a concept that his team claimed would be “unexpected.”

Lamboglia has made good on his promise: For his next act, Lamboglia is opening a Cantonese American restaurant with Wilson Tang, a co-owner of Nom Wah Tea Parlor. It’ll be called Sal Tang’s and it's opening this fall.

While it’s a departure from Lamboglia’s Italian fare, he pursued the idea because he has been itching to see more Chinese food in his neighborhood. He was approached by the Vesklers team to take over their Hicks Street space and got to thinking about potential partners: mutual friends set him up with Tang.

Tang is most known for breathing new life into the historic Doyers Street Nom Wah Tea Parlor. Today, he is no longer an owner in that original location but says he remains involved in the brand’s other outposts. Lately, he has tacked his name to other projects, including a pink bar in the East Village called Romeo’s. Over the past couple of months, Tang took over the dining room of John McDonald’s Hancock St. transforming it into a Hong Kong-style diner pop-up.

But Tang says that the menu he piloted as Cha Cha Tang, is completely different from what he’s planning for Sal Tang’s: “Cha Cha is a playful version of a Hong Kong tea diner and Sal’s will be Cantonese American with an ode to Wo Hop in Manhattan. Like anything else, there may be some similarities under the Chinese food umbrella. but vibe, location, and business model are different,” says Tang via email.

Lamboglia adds that Doron Wong, who has been working for Tang, will lead Sal Tang’s kitchen; Giovanna Cucolo, a manager at Lamboglia’s other establishments, joins as a partner.

2024-07-01T19:01:09Z dg43tfdfdgfd