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Horizons packing it in off South; Midtown Village concept on the way
Rich Landau, who has run Horizons (611 S. Seventh St.) with wife/pastry chef Kate Jacoby since 2006, tells Meal Ticket he and his team will close their lauded vegan restaurant on or around July 4.
Horizons packing it in off South; Midtown Village concept on the way
Rich Landau, who has run Horizons (611 S. Seventh St.) with wife/pastry chef Kate Jacoby since 2006, tells Meal Ticket he and his team will close their lauded vegan restaurant on or around July 4. It was both a business decision and a creative one — the owners have found a buyer (a pizzeria operation, according to The Insider) and were able to strike up an amenable agreement of sale, allowing them to move on to something new. "We have been wanting to streamline for a while now," Landau says. "Running a two-floor restaurant with our style of food has been a challenge. We have always said that if a serious buyer comes along that we will certainly entertain a fair offer — and this deal is pretty good for both parties. Originally, this new project was going to be a second space, but now with a buyer for our building it frees us up to go all out with our new vision."
That new vision will be birthed in the hugely hopping Midtown Village area — Landau says they've narrowed their search down to three spaces in the neighborhood, but are "very close to signing with one." It'll be a small, 50- to 60-seat liquor-licensed restaurant (no name yet) with a focus on small/medium plates, as opposed to the more traditional appetizer/entrée/dessert approach. It'll also mark a definite shift in cooking style for Landau, who's well-known for his elaborate treatments of proteins like tofu, seitan and tempeh — he wants to bring the focus back squarely on the great variety of vegetables available to chefs in the region."Beautiful, amazing vegetables are our passion and inspiration right now," says Landau, "and we want them to be centerstage."
That's not to say that he'll shrug off his old recipes altogether — he and Jacoby just want to reach out to a more mainstream brand of diner, one that can and should gain an appreciation for Landau's vegan cooking via his careful treatment of vegetables, and not merely preparing proteins to ape the feel of meat. So that famous barbecue seitan won't be an everyday staple, but it will make special, sporadic appearances. "That theme has worked so well for us for so long," says Landau, "but chefs need to cook from their inspiration these days, not their history."
Photo: Michael T. Regan
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