Openings: Nudibranch on 1st Avenue

The new home of Nudibranch recently debuted at 125 First Ave. between Seventh Street and St. Mark's Place.

Nudibranch got its start last spring as a pop-up restaurant across the way at 130 First Ave.

The chefs here, Jeff Kim, Matt Lee and Victor Xia, alum of Momofuku Ssäm and other fine-dining establishments, are offering a tasting menu. (Find that menu here.) As Eater noted, "the restaurant features several interpretations of dishes the team piloted when Nudibranch was operating as a pop-up last spring, such as its shaoxing mushroom dish with egg yolk."

Nudibranch is open Wednesday-Sunday from 5:30-10 p.m., with a 10:30 close Fridays and Saturdays.

Follow them on Instagram here.

Thanks to Steven for the photo!

About Nudibranch, bringing a pop-up tasting menu to 130 1st Ave. this month

Nightmarket closed earlier this year at 130 First Ave. near St. Mark's Place. But there has been activity inside the space of late. 

Eater had the scoop yesterday on what's been happening here.

Two Momofuku Ssäm Bar alums have teamed up on an exciting, new tasting menu pop-up that's running in ... through the end of this month. Nudibranch ... is a collaboration between chefs Victor Xia and Jeff Kim, and the first solo project for the duo. 

Kim and Xia met working at Ssäm Bar several years ago, and teamed up on Nudibranch last year to create a menu that paid homage to all the kitchens they've cooked in around the city as well as the food they love eating everyday.  

While the menu incorporates several Asian ingredients in various dishes, the chefs don't want that to be the defining factor of the project. "We hate the term Asian fusion or pan-Asian," says Xia. "That is how a lot of people just want to describe food like this. But if you look at the menu you won't really be able to tie it down to any particular cuisine. Not having to label it is something we really enjoy."

Visit the Nudibranch website here for more details.

Nightmarket, a quick-serve Taiwanese restaurant specializing in braised beef noodle soup, opened in July 2019, taking over from NuNoodle.

Photo from January by Steven