All About the New Forgione, Now Open in Tribeca

1. It’ll still feel familiar.

Hugging the corners of Hudson and Duane Streets (the official entrance is at 30 Hudson), the new Forgione — once home to the late chef David Bouley’s Danube and Brushstroke restaurants — is situated only a few blocks away from its original incarnation.

“We didn’t not create a new concept because we’re lazy or lacking in creativity,” says Forgione. “We just weren’t ready to shut Forge down.” He adds that the move wasn’t solely based on location, either: “It was about the people who work here and dine here.”

Brooklyn-based 71 Collective, also responsible for designing Forgione’s Trattoria One Fifth, collaborated on the space. Familiar well-worn, vintage-like aesthetics carried over from the prior space include reclaimed wood, whitewashed brick, and candlelit lanterns. “There was a specific feeling that we wanted to keep going,” says Forgione.

Of course, like most New York restaurant openings, there were also some unforeseen hold-ups. “We signed the first lease in 2018, and had to sign a new one post-pandemic in 2020,” says Forgione. There were some silver linings, though; an additional eight months of construction happily uncovered original columns that were lovingly restored to their former glory.

And at the behest of his loyal following, the original restaurant’s tables and chairs were also moved over to the new space. The new, slightly narrow, high-ceilinged dining room seats 60, and includes a round leather banquette on the corner of Duane that’s flanked by large picture windows. Weather-permitting, an outdoor space can seat up to 50.

The music may also be familiar to Forge regulars. “It starts a little groovy and progresses to rock and louder stuff,” Forgione says, who likens the venue’s thoughtfully curated tunes to having your own personal DJ. (You can even find the playlists on Spotify, a few of which were curated by one of Forgione’s best friends.

2. Be sure to take a look around while you’re there.

“If I didn’t remember the backstory, I didn’t take it with us,” Forgione says, explaining that he personally sorted through the entire restaurant before the move to the new space. The wall-mounted wooden shelves that once lined the Reade Street location are once again filled with personal memorabilia and gifts — wine bottles, trophies, taxidermy, and an array of special books and photographs. “It’s a meaningful collection of objects, and everything has a story,” explains Forgione, including “the Braveheart sword I got for Christmas from my brother as a teen.”

Hanging above the slightly open kitchen as you arrive is local artist Peter Tunney’s “Fearless” painting, which served as the team’s pandemic mantra: “If you fear less, you become fearless.” Nearby, a handsome hutch from Hyde Park’s Vanderbilt Mansion doubles as a service station; there are also reclaimed handcrafted iron shutters from a neighboring building and student drawings from nearby PS 234.

Behind the dining room, a white hallway has been transformed by local graffiti artist Roachi, whose bold, colorful (red, pinks, blue, and beige) works now cover the walls. “I used to tag when I was a kid,” explains Forgoine, who went under the moniker “Seek.” Among some of the tagged names are “Godfather” for the legendary chef Larry Forgione, who also happens to be Marc’s father, and “L.T.” for Forgione’s mentor, chef Laurent Tourondel, alongside remembrances of those who have passed, including a special ode to chef Bouley.

3. The menu still has all your favorites.

As it did before, the menu is meant to be approachable, making use of seasonal and locally sourced ingredients. And longtime Forge chefs, like chef de cuisine Connor Pratt, who’s been working with Forgione for more than half a decade, and pastry chef Jami Callao, also remain in the kitchen.

Signature classics like the multi-layered hiramasa — on the menu since day one — remain alongside charcoal-grilled smoking hot savage blonde oysters and a slightly updated chile lobster on a toasted garlic-parsley buttered sesame bun. The simple, crowd-pleasing Snowdance Farm chicken under a brick continues its coveted reign in an iron pan with Yukon gold potatoes, broccoli rabe, and requisite drippings.

4. But you shouldn’t sleep on the new dishes.

New dishes include the Crowley agnolotti with morels, asparagus, and Mangalitsa belly ham. There’s also a bucatini verde with Peconic escargot, nasturtium, and Guérard’s secret, a sauce Forgione picked up from one of his mentors, the French chef Michel Guérard. Main course débuts feature a dover sole with leek en papillote, inspired a trip to Le Rock, where Forgione thoroughly enjoyed the eatery’s signature leeks vinaigrette and dover sole on the same plate, finding great “harmony in the flavors being mixed together.” Also, in a nod to the famed Katz’s Deli, Forgione treats pastrami hanger au pierre poivre like a traditional New York pastrami, albeit with pomme chanteduc and green peppercorn bordelaise.

New desserts from Callao include a strawberry cheesecake and a local rhubarb meringue with orange blossom, which dovetail with golden oldies like “The Egg,” a defrosted egg-shaped passion fruit sorbet dipped in white chocolate and cracked open tableside to mimic a broken egg.

5. Don’t worry: The in-house burger will be back.

Exclusive to the 12-seat bar is the restaurant’s off-menu “In-House Burger” but it’s only available on a limited basis, because the burger is made from the excess trimmings of meats used for other dishes, such as the tomahawk and hanger steak. To make sure you can grab one, Forgione explains it’s best to call ahead or simply drop by to see if it’s on the menu. And it’s also best paired with the Champagne of beers, too.

6. They’ve got you more than covered when it comes to drinks, too.

Wine director Grace Phillips and head sommelier Kyle Sachs (alongside master sommeliers Dustin Wilson and Sabato Sagaria), oversee a beverage program with something for everyone.

When it comes to cocktails, you’ll find unique fruit-and-vegetable-forward drinks like the Bitter Bliss made with mezcal, Forthave Red, blood orange, and coconut milk wash; Spring Taim with dark rum, Velvet Falernum, carrot, celery shrub, lemon, and egg yolk; and the Shiso Sunshine, mixed with bourbon, rhubarb, lemon, shiso, and soda.

Reflecting Forgione’s ever-evolving culinary style, the wine list includes carefully curated pours from France, Italy, and California. And in a fortuitous twist for oenophiles, a spacious wine cellar downstairs has plenty of real estate to properly house a robust bottle collection.

You can sip your dessert, too: The Banana Jameson, another classic carried over from the prior menu, makes unique use of banana-infused Jameson whiskey poured over a large ice cube. And now, guests can also order several different Jameson vintages for the after-dinner staple.

7. You might want to consider Forgione for your next private dinner party, too.

New to Forgione is a private dining room that’s located just below the restaurant. There are two ways to access the cozy space — the first is a private, timber-clad staircase directly behind the main entrance, and the second is a private side door on Duane Street. The latter leads guests through a narrow passageway and down the aforementioned graffitied staircase in an experience that might just recall Ray Liotta’s famed back-door arrival at the Copacabana nightclub in Scorsese’s “Goodfellas.”

Downstairs, the warmly lit room can host cocktail receptions for up to 40, or a seated dinner for up to 30. And situated in one of the corners, you’ll spot a classic refurbished, albeit non-functioning, Glenwood stove from the early 1900’s.

Forgione hopes that in its new space, the restaurant will continue to flourish, just as it did on Reade Street for the past 16 years. “It’s the perfect representation of how both me and the restaurant have evolved over the years,” he says. “Some people might be scared to carry the burden of such an iconic space, but for me it just adds fuel to the Forge fire.”

Forgione is open Mondays through Saturdays for dinner.

Kate Donnelly is a New York-based freelance writer who has contributed to The New York Times, T Magazine, WSJ Magazine, Condé Nast Traveler, Architectural Digest, Travel + Leisure, and Vogue. Follow Resy.