A Cambodian Restaurant Is on the Way From Red Hook Tavern Employees
Two Red Hook Tavern employees are opening a Cambodian restaurant in the neighborhood, joining Billy Durney’s hospitality group, which also includes Hometown Bar-B-Que.
“I’m trying to reimagine what fine dining looks and tastes like, it doesn’t have to be white tablecloth... there’s an edge to what I do, especially with the primal style of cooking with live fire,”
Bun Cheam, Red Hook Tavern’s executive chef, and his wife, Cait Callahan, the restaurant’s general manager and wine director, are opening their first restaurant. Hōp (pronounced hope), will open later this year at 358 Van Brunt Street, a former dance studio, across from Red Hook Tavern. Cheam, who is Cambodian, says the menu will be a mix of Cambodian breakfast dishes, as well as French pastry with Asian influence by day. For dinner, there will be street food dishes like grilled meats, stews, and noodles.
Cheam and Callahan say they are looking forward to joining a growing chorus of Cambodian restaurants in New York, still somewhat rare, alongside Lula Mae in Clinton Hill, and the forthcoming Bong in Crown Heights.
Billy Durney, Red Hook Tavern’s owner, is a partner in their new venture, and Hōp has joined Durney’s restaurant group Four Clover, which includes several locations of Hometown Bar-B-Que (also in Industry City and Miami) and Sag Harbor Tavern in the Hamptons (the latter, which Callahan helped open).
“We are funding the restaurant but we are staying way out of it; I’m guiding them if something goes off course, but this is their restaurant, down to how it’s run and designed,” Durney said. “Bun is one of the best chefs I’ve ever worked with — and it so extraordinary to see this couple live out their dreams; there is no chef I’m more proud to call family and a friend.”
The news comes on the heels of a New York Times report last week that Durney’s Four Clover had taken on investment from Kent Hospitality Group, the late restaurateur Jamal James Kent’s company, behind Fidi spots like Saga and Crown Shy. The partnership covers Durney’s existing restaurants and future ones, including Hōp.
Durney and Kent were longtime peers, and bonded over “being kindred spirits,” growing up in New York in South Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan, respectively, and feeling like “a bit of a different breed” than other restaurateurs, Durney said. They had had loose discussions over the years about working together on something, but nothing materialized.
As the Times reported, Durney, now with Kent Hospitality Group’s bolstering, is additionally opening his first fine dining restaurant — an entirely new restaurant, still unnamed — at 9 West 57th Street, near Fifth Avenue, in Midtown. It’s in the space that was recently vacated by Cucina 8 1/2, in a building originally owned by the late Sheldon Solow that included a dramatic red-carpet staircase that was used in Sex and the City.
“I’m trying to reimagine what fine dining looks and tastes like, it doesn’t have to be white tablecloth... there’s an edge to what I do, especially with the primal style of cooking with live fire,” said Durney. He estimates the seat count will be 150 split between the bar, lounge, and main dining room. There are also private dining spaces and a banquet hall.
Prior to the joining of the groups, SC Holdings, a private equity firm that has helped fund Kent Hospitality’s expansion over the years, had asked Durney if he wanted to be a part of the Midtown space. “I initially said, ‘No, that’s not my world; I’m a Brooklyn guy,’” Durney told them in jest. “But I quickly realized it was an amazing opportunity.”
Kent was known as a mentor, investing in his employees like Danny Garcia now of Time and Tide, and Renata Ameni at Birdee. Durney also wanted to play a greater mentorship role. While a Cambodian restaurant is outside of Durney’s current playbook, he hopes to follow Kent’s lead starting with partnering with Cheam.
