Dale Talde’s Rice & Gold Serves Dim Sum and Then Some at Hotel 50 Bowery

With its unprecedented views atop Chinatown, Hotel 50 Bowery’s rooftop bar became an instant after-work destination when it opened this summer. On Tuesday, the 21-story hotel is adding a restaurant also operated by famed Top Chef alum Dale Talde.

Talde and his partners David Massoni and John Bush recently branched out into Italian with the ambitious Massoni, but if you know them from Talde and its locations in Brooklyn, Jersey City, and Miami, you won’t be surprised to hear that the specialty at Rice & Gold is also pan-Asian cuisine. Here, however, there are some touches of Jewish deli (corned beef tongue skewers for dinner, Black Seed bagels and lox for breakfast), Jamaican (a jerk-hoisin sauce on the whole roast duck), Indian (rabbit vindaloo and tandoori beef rib), and Spanish (fideos with chorizo and shellfish, plus flan for dessert).

In a statement, Talde says that “especially right now” it’s important for him to recognize “the different immigrant cultures that comprise our country, especially here in NYC.” That said, the menu, as you can see below, also offers something for the Trumps of the world: a 36-ounce dry-aged rib-eye priced at $145.

Drinks include 20 whites, 30 reds, sake, and cocktails with Asian touches such as yuzu and sake.

Hotel 50 Bowery opened last year on storied ground. Among other things, it was once home of the Bull’s Head Tavern, where General George Washington addressed troops on the day the British left Manhattan; that fact caused a stir among historians when artifacts were unearthed at the site during the hotel’s construction. The hotel played nice with neighborhood activists in trying to identify the artifacts, which ultimately couldn’t be connected to the tavern, but hit a PR snafu when its forthcoming basement lounge, also operated by Talde, was marketed as “opium den” themed. That characterization was deemed an “insult to Chinatown” by Bowery Boogie, and Talde disavowed it as “a real fuck-up” by PR.

At Rice & Gold, a mural by New York City artist Mr. Ewok One nods to the neighborhood in a less incendiary manner, depicting locals and tourists in a way that, we’re told by a different PR company, gives “a true sense of place in the dynamic Chinatown neighborhood.” Above is a look at the mural and below is the menu.

R&G Dinner Menu by Daniel Maurer on Scribd

Rice & Gold, Hotel 50 Bowery, 50 Bowery, bet. Canal and Bayard Sts., open daily for breakfast (Monday to Friday, 7am to 10am, Saturday and Sunday till noon) and dinner (5pm to midnight); 646-630-8055.