LOWER EAST SIDE — A new farm-to-table Asian restaurant restaurant isn’t letting gas — or the lack of it — get in the way of its opening this week.
The Lucky Bee, located at 252 Broome St., plans to open at Thursday night with a slimmed down menu of southeast Asian street food-inspired dishes, which will be cooked on induction burners while it waits for the gas to turn on.
“It’s still a fantastic and delicious menu. It’s just a little smaller than we anticipated,” said co-owner Rupert Noffs.
Noffs described the menu, designed by chef and co-owner Matty Bennett who was formerly a chef at The Fat Radish, as “spicy and seasonal.”
“It’s really about making sure that everything’s fresh and everything is delicious and you know where everything is coming from.”
Highlights include coconut poached organic chicken with lemongrass, beansprouts, Thai basil and peanuts as well as local oysters with nahm jim, a Thai chili sauce Noffs called “absolutely, ridiculously addictive.”
The Lucky Bee will also serve wine and classic cocktails, as well as a trio of mixed drinks it’s calling “Karma Cocktails” made with honey from the state. The restaurant plans to donate $1 from every purchase of the specialty cocktails to the New York Beekeepers Association, Noffs said. The owners also hope to have a beehive on the roof starting this spring, he added.
In keeping with its local, sustainable mission, Noffs decorated the restaurant’s colorful, 50-seat interior with objects he bought from stores within a three-block radius of The Lucky Bee, he said.
Noffs and Bennett said they decided to open the restaurant without gas because they could no longer afford to keep waiting for the FDNY and Con Ed to sign off on their gas being turned on.
Noffs said they renovated their kitchen to include an update of its fire supression system, meaning the FDNY has to sign off on it.
“We are waiting for the building owner to complete required work before we can safely provide gas service," a Con Ed spokeswoman said. The FDNY said it was looking into the case.
