The carefully curated menu by Executive Chef Lucas Harrell is designed to create a refined culinary experience with fresh ingredients and diverse flavors.
SOHO, NEW YORK CITY – New York City | La Rubia, a Latin American raw bar concept and café, opens at 11 Howard Hotel in Soho, New York City, brought to you by Colombian restaurateur Andrés Diaz, owner of sister restaurant Her Name Was Carmen.
Nestled within the 11 Howard Hotel, La Rubia welcomes you any time, any day, and on any occasion – offering coffee, grab-and-go, dine-in, or cocktails at the raw bar. From early hours to happy hour, La Rubia sets the tone for an unparalleled culinary experience that suits the schedules of New Yorkers in a laid-back, yet sophisticated atmosphere with an elevated culinary experience.
The carefully curated menu by Executive Chef Lucas Harrell is designed to create a refined culinary experience with fresh ingredients and diverse flavors. The menu evolves throughout the day – from coffee and fresh pastries in the morning, to a full lunch spread in the afternoon, to a raw bar that spans into the evening hours. Seafood-based dishes bring the raw bar to life, along with ceviches, salads, and flatbreads, which make for a unique and delectable offering. The espresso and cocktail bar become the connecting thread that keeps La Rubia going from morning to evening, and the menu is entirely versatile in its nature, allowing for it to be eaten in or taken to go.
Dish highlights include a ceviche, comprised of lightly seasoned and marinated scallops, tilefish, and fluke, dressed with blood orange sauce and garnished with seasonally rotating fruit and avocado; a steak tartare of hand diced Tender Teres Major filets mixed with a relish made from roasted garlic, charred cipollini onions, castelvetrano olives and pickled mustard seeds; a crab and endive salad of pickled blue crab meat dressed with brunoise jalapeño, red onions, creme fraiche and finger limes; and a lightly poached Halibut in an aromatic olive oil served on top of a sofrito of roasted fennel and leeks.
Bespoke cocktails and an impeccable wine selection define La Rubia’s offering. Tequila and Mezcal become the protagonists of the cocktail selection, with eccentric flavors coming together to create expertly crafted drinks. Cocktails will embody La Rubia’s essence, mixing fun and fresh flavors with top-quality liquor. The curated wine selection is carefully crafted by sommelier and wine advisor Yuval Bar-kokhba, which compliments the raw bar menu. Wines from oceanic and marine-influenced regions will come together with elegant reds to create a delectable selection that will satisfy customers individual palates.
The design aesthetic of La Rubia is tropical yet elegant. The lush vegetation conjures colonial-era nostalgia that cements La Rubia’s reputation as a tropical oasis in the heart of New York City. Lush green velvet booths (formerly the headboards at the iconic Gramery Park Hotel), and plants inspired by luxuriant botany set the tone, which evokes the romanticism and mysticism of colonial towns. Various hues of greens, earth and muted tones come together to create a visual symphony that results in a chic laid-back atmosphere. The outdoor area is the ultimate hangout spot, with tropical vegetation and muted tones, signature of La Rubia, make the setting the ideal getaway for guests and visitors looking to disconnect and recharge with a good coffee, a fresh dish, or a bespoke cocktail regardless of the time of the day.
As an all-day hot-spot, La Rubia will have a music program that will transition throughout the day and adapt to the mood and moment, as well as to the menu. Curated by music director Nacho Isa (a DJ, producer, music curator, and the founder of 343 Labs), the music selection will be eclectic and fun, adding to the laid-back yet elevated experience that La Rubia will offer.
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