Inside Luksus: a Sneak Peek at Tørst’s New Restaurant
It’s only been a few months since Greenpoint beer haven Tørst opened its doors, but it’s quickly become beloved not only for its extensive, brilliantly curated beer selection, but also for the perfect atmospheric balance that it has managed to strike. In short, Tørst is a high concept spot that lacks pretension, a rare find indeed. In the last few months though, despite having just about any beer your heart could desire, the Tørst dining experience was limited to bar snacks, albeit some of the most delicious bar snacks available, including a cheese plate featuring house-made dark Danish rye bread. But now, with the opening of Luksus, a 26-seat restaurant tucked away at the back of the bar, patrons can treat themselves to a five-course tasting menue courtesy of chef Daniel Burns, formerly of Noma and Momofuku.
What kind of things can diners expect? Burns explained to us that, much like with Tørst, Luksus will offer an exceptional dining experience, but without the affectations that frequently accompany high-caliber cuisine, saying that Luksus will be, “A casual experience but really great food, it’s a small little restaurant in the back of a bar in Greenpoint, but we’re also trying to serve something modern and meaningful.”
Even the name Luksus, which means “luxury” in Danish, is a nod to the balance that Burns and partner Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergsø seek. Sure, there’s something inherently luxe about a locally source, multi-course tasting menu, but also, the name Luksus is, as Burns points out, just “fun to say.” And so it is with the food, you might be served a beautifully composed plate of roasted beets and baby carrots is served with a carrot-egg cream and scattered with mustard flowers or a dessert of beet and rhubarb meringue topped with pea and anise hyssop sorbet, both of which look almost too beautiful to eat. But eat them you do, at which point you realize that not only is the food at Luksus gorgeous to look at and delicious to eat, but it’s fun. It’s unexpected and adventurous and is just the kind of thing that is exciting to experience in the back of a bar in Greenpoint.
Luksus (615 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint) opens July 16, reservations can be made online at torstnyc.com
Follow Kristin Iversen on twitter @kmiversen
