After exiting a restaurant in LA that had ended dramatically, chef Timothy Hollingsworth is opening a restaurant in New York. Yet the French Laundry-trained California chef is not debuting in Manhattan as one might expect: Instead, he’s on track to open a restaurant…near the Belmont racetracks and the Islanders sports arena on Long Island.
Though the location might seem unusual for a chef of a formerly hot LA restaurant to land, it’ll be one of the offerings at the newly built Belmont Park Village, a luxury destination with shops from designers like Vivienne Westwood, Thom Browne, Missoni, and Lacoste that’s part of Belmont Park, which includes the arena and the racetrack.
In partnership with the New York-based Patina Group — behind Lincoln Ristorante and Grand Tier, both at Lincoln Center, as well as restaurants at Walt Disney World and elsewhere around the country — Hollingsworth is on track to steer Hundredfold (2501 Hempstead Turnpike, Elmont). It’s an aspirational name that points to “the joy of sharing great food,” and offering “more than what’s expected.”
“I’ve always wanted to open a restaurant in New York,” Hollingsworth told Eater, citing the days when, as a chef under Thomas Keller, he helped open Per Se in 2004. As Hundredfold opens this summer, he’ll be based in the city, with his wife and family in Los Angeles.
Hollingsworth, most recently, is a co-founder of Chain — a celebrity-backed food pop-up celebrating fast-food chain restaurants that he founded in partnership with actor B.J. Novak; the West Coast-based festival ran in New York earlier this year. In partnership with the brands, Hollingsworth dressed up iconic fast-food items. Aside from Chain, he was behind the Los Angeles restaurant Otium which co-owned with three partners. It shuttered last fall with employees protesting after not getting a final paycheck (they were paid shortly after). He ran a barbecue restaurant inspired by his mother’s cooking called Barrel & Ashes, also in Los Angeles. Prior to that, he worked at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry for nearly a decade. And he won the Rising Chef award from James Beard in 2010, the year after he competed and placed in the culinary Olympics, the Bocuse d’Or.
Renderings of the bar at Hundredfold.
Hundredfold
In the new open-air Belmont Park Village (which opened in October), the French brasserie will offer classic American touches in a restaurant that seats over 200 diners, with a wraparound bar, an outdoor patio, and a coffee and wine counter for grab-and-go options. There’s a fireplace and bookshelves inside; gallery walls and fishbowl views as well as more intimate nooks. “We want it to feel like you’re eating in someone’s home,” says Hollingsworth.
“We get to use products I’m excited about,” Hollingsworth says, for a menu that displays French technique with an occasional cheese pull. Look for items like a Stouffer’s-inspired French bread-style pizza. The pizzas remind him of the days when he was cooking with Corey Lee — now chef-owner of the three-Michelin-starred Benu — when they’d go eat late night after a shift. “He’s an amazing chef; I really look up to him.”
There’s also a French onion dip with homemade chips and beef tartare with whipped bearnaise. More hearty dishes include a croque monsieur or madame layered with Comte, ham, and black truffle; a lobster roll; and steak frites with thick-cut fries. In keeping with the moment, roasted chicken is on the menu, dressed in a white wine garlic jus, served with artichokes, carrots, and mushrooms. Desserts include vanilla soft serve on a Nutella base, topped with banana cream and peanuts for a compact banana split. No word yet on prices as the menu has not been finalized.
The drink menu comes from Patina Group VP Olivier Rassinoux, who’s offering a mini martini flight, along with drinks with names like the Hip Flask, with rye, cognac, and Pedro Ximenez.
The opening of Hundredfold parallels the rise of restaurants connected to retail, with the debut of places like the food court at Nordstrom; the Stephen Starr-run cafe at Louis Vuitton; the opening of Maison Passerelle and others at the new French department store, Printemps; and perhaps Prada in the future.
Timothy Hollingsworth.
John Troxell
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