You may have heard that Alex Julian will be doorman at the Dream Downtown’s soon-to-open pool and lobby bars, and you may have heard that acclaimed neurologist-chef Miguel Sánchez is opening a $245-a-meal restaurant in the hotel. Here’s something you haven’t heard: We’re told there will also be a restaurant off of the lobby called Marble Lane, and it’ll be headed by Top Chef alum Manuel Treviño, who will also create menus for the pool lounge, the rooftop bar, and 24-hour room service. Treviño has already left his position at another TAO/Strategic operation, Lavo (the new chef there is Lavo’s Vegas chef, John Deloach), and tells us that his “steak joint and bar” will open early next month.
Marble Bar will be separated from the lobby by a wall and sunken three feet into the ground; it’ll feature marblelike handblown light fixtures, black-leather banquettes, and white-marble tables, with a couch-dotted lounge in the back for bottle service. The menu hasn’t yet been finalized, but Treviño says it’ll be 30 percent steaks ranging from a $30 cut to a $95 porterhouse for two. The meat will be 28-day dry aged; there’ll be a selection of American Kobe; and each steak will have its own twist. True to Treviño’s Mexican roots, the strip steak, for instance, will be done carne asada style, with roasted poblanos and roasted corn pico. That won’t be the only exotic touch on the menu: There’s also a ponzu Kobe hangar steak with shishito peppers and shiitake mushrooms.
“We were originally thinking to go with an American concept,” says Treviño, “and then we had so many different thoughts that we decided to accept them all — French, Italian, Asian, American.” That’s why on the pool lounge’s menu of “hip spa cuisine,” there’ll be a double Kobe patty melt with wild mushrooms and wild onions. Meanwhile, Marble Lane’s menu will also feature fish and chicken dishes (entrees will range from $21 to $28), salads, a raw bar, a weekly pasta, and $10 to $22 appetizers like calamari à la plancha and 24-hour pork ribs.
Marble Lane will open for breakfast and dinner during the first or second week of July, with lunch to follow.
Marble Lane, Dream Downtown, 355 W. 16th St., nr. Ninth Ave.
