Wenwen’s name and design is influenced by Asian American women.
It take Eric Sze a yr and a half to bringWenwen — the follow - up to his wildly popular Chinese restaurant,886 — to living . Named after his mom , Wenchi , and wife , Wenhui , the Greenpoint eating house is bigger than its East Village sibling in many way : the outer space is physically larger at 60 behind , the food for thought persist in to work up upon Sze ’s bluff Formosan cookery , and there ’s now a full cocktail program , too .
Wenwenrepresents a growing up of sorts for Sze and his married person , Andy Chuang . “ If 886 is the rager - political party dining experience you love in your mid-twenties , then Wenwen is the dinner party company you notice yourself enjoying in your 1930s , ” tell Sze . ( If that dinner party also have Formosan comfort food and a riff on Long Island iced Camellia sinensis sized for four called The Shyboy 4XL . )
There are nod to 886 on the menu — you’ll still find Lo Ba Beng and Fly ’s Head here — but the ace are Sze ’s new large - formatting plates , admit the Pork Belly & Cuttlefish barrack by a recipe from his mom . He ’s tweaked the breakers - and - turf saucer to also make up court to his agnate side ’s Shanghainese etymon by using three types of sugar and create a glaze that ’s reminiscent of hongshaorou ( red - cooked porc ) , a embarrassing - scented braised porc abdomen with origin in Shanghai .
Wenwen|Photo by Adam Friedlander
Other shareable homestyle plates admit the Whole BDSM Fried Chicken , a special five - a - night only fried poulet marinated in sour soybean , a numbing celtuce salad entwine with Sichuan pepper , and fried black sesame tangyuan topped with dehydrated peanut butter and coriander . The cocktail menu was created by beverage director Morgan Robison ( 886 , Mace ) and features classical drinks with a twist , such as the Bird ’s Eye Daiquiri infused with its namesake chilly ; and Sze ’s personal favorite , the Kavalan Old Fashioned sweetened with Chinese mordant sugar .
“ The more complex and thicker syrup stand for it ’s an old forge with a thicker grain and a much more subtle sweet , ” say Sze . “ The Sichuan tincture provide a provocative numbness and it ’s made with the Taiwanese whiskey , Kavalan , so the ethnic aspect is huge for me as well . ”
The Wenwen outer space formerly domiciliate Greenpoint watering cakehole , The Royal , and though the wooden bar itself stay the same , the rest of the restaurant now channels Taiwan - by - agency - of - industrial - Brooklyn thanks to national excogitation by Studio Wooster . The backroom — knight “ The Alley”—was posture after the back street and corners of Taipei , while floral patterned looking glass on the back bar is , as Sze explains , “ synonymous with grandmas in Taiwan . ”
Sze also brought in Asiatic American creatives to labialise out his design vision : Ji Hae Byun ofLIVINhandled plant life installation , designerJJ Lincreated usage signage , and Mei Li ofOvericeworked on the logo and other graphics .
“ I realized that we hired almost only Asiatic American woman for the creative design work , but I did n’t even really assay it out . I consider in lease the correct people for the correct caper and it turns out Asiatic Americans are really near at building an Asiatic - American restaurant . There ’s no ethnical barrier to leap through , ” says Sze , who also exploit former Win Son extern Kathy Chen to be Wenwen ’s top dog chef . “ I suppose it pee horse sense since the eatery is describe after two of the most authoritative women in my life . ”
Located at 1025 Manhattan Avenue , Wenwen is currently open from Wednesday to Sunday from 5 autopsy to 11 pm . Reservations are available viaResy .
Photo by Adam Friedlander
Photo by Adam Friedlander
Photo by Adam Friedlander
Photo by Adam Friedlander
