AskaNewYorker: We’ve decided to come to the restaurant opened up by a past New Yorker of the Month to see how he’s been doing, how the opening went, and give everyone a little update on Jeff Mills’ progress. He’s named the restaurant The Biltmore Room, and it has developed quite a bit since we first saw it in June. It is definitely a place you should check out (290 Eighth Ave in Chelsea, at 25th St).
Jeff: We’re two and a half weeks since the opening, and we’re basically booking out most week nights, which is great. Although we haven’t have any major food reviews come out, we’ll be written up in the New York Times tomorrow (which would be Sep. 26), which means they’ll review us within the next 4-6 weeks. We’ll be officially reviewed in the New York Post next Wednesday (Oct. 1), which is great. So far, we’ve been really really successful.
AskaNewYorker: Tell us about the food.
Jeff: Our cuisine is progressive American. Our chef is Gary Robins, who has had a ton of success in the city. He started off about 15 years ago at Gotham Bar and Grill. He spent some time there, and then he wanted to be the executive chef at Match Downtown, and also Match Uptown, which also saw a ton of success. People were really blown away by Gary’s interesting mix of spices in the food. Gary is one of the people who actually started fusion cooking, and making food look really really good, structurally.
AskaNewYorker: One of the first people in New York?
Jeff: No, not only in New York, but the world. Gary also had a lot of success with a restaurant by the name of Asia. And then he went off to Miami to open the Wish Hotel in Miami. After that, he spent some time in Los Angeles. For the past 3 or 4 years, a lot of the food writers who’ve loved Gary have been writing columns, “Where is Gary Robins?”…that’s how big he is. It was a really big deal for me and my partner Chris to get Gary to come back to the city. The food writers are all over it.
AskaNewYorker: Excellent. Jeff, last time we spoke, you were still searching for a name for the restaurant. How did you come up with “the Biltmore Room”?
Jeff: People laugh now when we tell them that we spent so much time trying to name the place, because they think the Biltmore Room is so fitting. A lot of the marble and brass inside the restaurant is from the old Biltmore Hotel. As easy as that sounds, it wasn’t easy to find a name for the place, especially when you see it.
AskaNewYorker: The restaurant has a terrific bar area.
Jeff: Two of the bartenders, Willy and Scott, are outstanding bartenders who came with us from Boston. Our bartenders have the ability to draw a clientele, which is going to benefit all of us and provide a great atmosphere in here.
AskaNewYorker: Tell us about your favorite dish.
Jeff: My favorite dish on the menu now is the sea bass; I recommend it to people who like fish. It’s unbelievable. Outstanding. For people who like meat, I recommend the Algerian spiced rack of lamb. Also unbelievable.
AskaNewYorker: Last question: can you see yourself as the next Rocco’s? Any desire to be on a reality show?
Jeff: No, but we did joke in the beginning that someone should have done a reality show about us when we were first starting. And it would have been a lot more real than what Rocco went through. Rocco put that place together in six weeks, and that’s just impossible. It really is. You have to find the location, find the money, put the staff together, etc. I watched Rocco’s show, just to watch it, but it drove me crazy because I know a lot of it wasn’t true. And also their opening compared to our opening…pretty much night and day. Our opening went so smooth. People from the food industry came in and said they’ve never seen an opening go so smooth. I’m proud of that.
