Old New York supper club vibes arrive at the Public Theater with the Astor

A wood-paneled restaurant and bar called the Astor opened Tuesday, Sept. 15, inside the Public Theater in Noho. It sits at 425 Lafayette Street, by Astor Place, and replaces the Library, the theater’s previous restaurant.

Its decor channels a vintage version of the city, with the feel of an old-school tavern or a classic supper club. A more casual spot is also coming to the building: Bar Torino, a cafe built around snacks, whose first location is in Hudson Yards.

What’s on the menu at the Astor

Angel Monge shares the kitchen with chef and partner Andrew Carmellini, whose other restaurants include Cafe Carmellini, Bar Primi, Lafayette, the Dutch and Locanda Verde. The team says the menu looks back to a golden age of New York dining. Prices run $14 to $23 for “parlor snacks,” $18 to $25 for “savories” and $25 to $65 for entrees, with sides also on offer. Diners will find clams casino, steak Diane, chips and dip and “Devilish” eggs, plus pigs in Wellington with bourbon mustard and a French mushroom dip served with au jus.

The bar leans just as nostalgic. Darryl Chan, the bar director, organized the list around classic New York cocktails. One section, “From the Ice Box,” pours Bijous, Manhattans and martinis served extremely cold. Elsewhere on the list, a drink called the Charlie Chaplin puts a new spin on a pre-Prohibition cocktail that was first mixed at the Waldorf Astoria.

A pre-theater and post-show spot in Noho

The main dining room holds 70 guests. Another 20 can sit at the bar, a lounge fits 12, and a newly added mezzanine with 52 seats looks down over the theater lobby. When Joe’s Pub and the Public’s stages all have shows on the same night, upwards of 1,000 people can pass through the building.

The team has a long history at the Public. In 1998, Kevin Abbott, Paul Salmon, Josh Pickard and Serge Becker opened Joe’s Pub together with the theater. Carmellini and Luke Ostrom of Noho Hospitality came aboard later, and Michelle Cunha and Jersey Katz now serve as managing partners for the new spaces. Both venues were developed with the Public, whose leadership includes executive director Patrick Willingham and artistic director Oskar Eustis.

Abbott, who holds a managing partner role at both the Astor and Joe’s Pub, said the aim is to give audiences somewhere to stretch out the night once the show ends. “There’s this desperate need and desire in society right now to be together in a way that the arts bring you together,” he said.