Today is the day when the new SD26 shows its face to the world. Last night was the requisite opening party, thrown by Tony May along with Eater and the Food Network Food & Wine Fest folks. Generally these things are a disappointing affair - light on food, tough to get a drink, etc. But I'll tell you one thing, Tony May knows how to throw a party.First a little back story - Tony May may not be a household name in NYC these days - San Domenico was on less-than-hip Central Park South and considered old-school - but the man is the godfather of Italian cuisine in America. He ran the Rainbow Room when it was relevant and then decided to introduce real Italian food to New York in a time when Italian equaled spaghetti with red sauce and meatballs. He brought over ginormous chef Sandro Fioriti 25 years ago for the first authentic taste of Rome and ran San Domenico as a glam Michelin-star type of restaurant. Michael White? Scott Conant? Andrew Carmellini? Mario? All these guys are kids playing in a sandbox Tony May almost single-handedly built (Lidia Bastianich gets an assist on this point too) and some worked in his kitchen, too.
Now Michael White works where San Domenico was, at the underwhelming though certainly stylish Marea. And Tony May headed down to Madison Square Park to open a very large new spot.
As per the usual, the room was full of media types and food luminaries - Morimoto, Payard, Marc Murphy, Cesare Casella, Joe Bastianich, the aforementioned Sandro, etc. - but the surprise of the night was the food (yes, we're a booze blog, and we'll get to that)...
When we hit the open kitchen, we were quite surprised to find it had been turned over to some of the biggest names in Italian food - billed as "an all-night chef's marathon." Michel Bras & Wylie? Forget it. Nine Italian chefs were on hand - many Michelin star holders - to dish out the food. Guys like Mario Iaccarino of Don Alphonso 1890, Salvatore Tassa, Nicola Batavia and Alberto Ciarla. 
It was amazing to see these chefs celebrating both the opening and the very idea of Italian cuisine. You see, when Tony May opens a restaurant, it is a very big deal. Maybe other chefs would be too ego-driven to showcase such chefs at their opening but the talented Odette Fada is not the type. She is one of the best chefs in the city - and perhaps the hardest working - but relatively unknown. This opening will be her time to shine.Now, about that booze. There was plenty of it - from the mezzanine to the lengthy bar manned by SDNY fixture Renato (Esquire's favorite bartender) to the intimate wine cellar destined for private party use. Props to them for ever-flowing champagne, copious wine and a full bar. Plus figuring out that if you spread the bars around, it makes it easier to get a drink.
In the front, just before the bar, will be a wine bar. They even have an enomatic wine machine like Union Square Wines. While we have no idea how the system works, it certainly looks cool. Not much chance it will take my USQ card but it can't hurt to try, no? Oh and they'll have digital winelists for you to peruse. Can't wait to play with those. SD26
19 East 26th Street
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