Keith Benjamin (right) and business partner Alec Gropman at a ribbon-cutting for Bodega Mount Pleasant.
File/Ralph Mancini/Staff
“Alec, in very short order, showed us that he was just a world-class culinary talent,” Benjamin said. “And so we had to figure out how to keep him.”
Just two years into his tenure at Uptown Social, Gropman launched a breakfast sandwich pop-up named Bodega, which operated out of the bar and restaurant’s ground floor. It quickly gained popularity across the area, with the chef putting his nostalgic spin on the handhelds of New York City bodegas.
The pop-up turned into a brick-and-mortar location downtown and, two years later, a second outpost in Mount Pleasant.
Late last year, having also devised the culinary offering at Uptown Hospitality’s bar and restaurant Share House, he set his sights on a new challenge: revamping the menu at By The Way, the group’s year-old restaurant on Spring Street.
The result has been an offering that blends the techniques he gleaned from culinary school with the whimsy of a chef who doesn’t take himself too seriously.
‘There’s not much that he can’t do’
Beef, seasoned heavily and seared so it’s still raw in the center, is sliced and set beneath a myriad of textures. Snappy pickled shallots, crunchy hazelnuts, crispy arugula and creamy truffle honey aioli combine to complement the thin shavings of tenderloin.
Alec Gropman is the culinary director of Uptown Hospitality Group.
File/Provided
At By The Way, this elegant take on a carpaccio might share the dinner table with meatballs, richened by wagyu beef and Italian sausage and floating in creamy tomato sauce; warm marinated olives with a burst of garlic and orange zest; or a crab and white cheddar grilled cheese, made with toasty sourdough that graciously accepts a dunk in a bowl of classic tomato bisque served on the side.
These items, plus entrees that range from steak-frites to local fish milanese and pan-seared scallops with spinach gnudi, are what guests can expect to find on Gropman’s new menu. Paired with a craft cocktail — I’ll be having the tart, warm and crisp pear-infused seasonal Paper Plane — and you have a place that caters to dates, small groups and solo guests cozying up at the bar.
Dining and Cooking