Dante Elizabeth Street Opens in NYC With Martinis, Spritzes, and

4 min read

Linden Pride and Nathalie Hudson initially had no interest in Elizabeth Street for the newest outpost of their growing empire. Still, the couple—whose collection of eateries already included Caffè Dante (the OG), Dante West Village, Dante Aperitivo, and Dante Mayfair (the London expansion)—opened their Elizabeth Street location earlier this fall, right across from the beloved Elizabeth Street Garden.

When the space came on the market, Linden was happy to consider it, but Nathalie was less convinced. “The landlord loved Dante,” she says. “He got in touch with us and said, ‘There’s a space that I’d love to show you in Nolita.’ Linden mentioned it to me, and I said, ‘Oh, I’m not really interested in Nolita.’” She agreed to take a look—even though there was still an eviction notice on the door of the airy downtown space.

Even once the couple had toured it, Nathalie remained skeptical. “Linden said to me, ‘Look, just go for a walk, go into the gardens, just have a think about it.’ So I went and sat in the garden, and as I sat there, this flood of information went into my mind, and I suddenly realized what this space was. It was a restaurant called Public.” And: “It’s where we went on our first night in New York all those years ago.” Public, a long-ago hotspot that featured kangaroo on its menu, was once described by Florence Fabricant as “tipping its hat to the Antipodes.” For the Australian restaurateurs, it was fate. Suddenly, they were all in.

Together, they worked on the design of the space, managed the beverage program, worked with chefs, built a staff—and found time to open the bustling Milanese coffee bar Caffè Paradiso down the block.

Giada Paoloni

A table set for dinner at Dante Elizabeth Street.

Two busy years later, on a warm September day, Dante Elizabeth Street welcomed its first guests, drawing on the recipe that has made the brand a success for the past decade. Like at other Dantes, there’s a playful, unexpected take on American and Italian classics. But there, much of the food is served family-style, and the focal point is fire; there’s even a wood-burning oven in the open kitchen at the back of the restaurant. The starting point was good produce, just touched by the stove, and the final menu includes steak, scallops, and other familiar favorites (as well, notably, as the more elaborate “Champagne & Pearls” tart, made with caviar and champagne “pearls”). The goal was simplicity well done, “If you get the most perfect piece of fish and you just prepare it in the wood-fired oven, that, with some olive oil and lemon alone, can be absolutely amazing.”

At Dante, though, cocktails always have a starring role. Linden remembers when “the Spritz first had its big moment, with Aperol, and then it came back tenfold with the Hugo.” Then there was the no-alcohol-at-all trend. “But,” he says, “It’s not about getting drunk, but about just savoring the moment and maybe having one less, while still seeking out premium experiences.”

Courtesy of Dante

From left: Nathalie Hudson, Martha Stewart, and Linden Pride at the Dante Elizabeth Street T&C event in September.

At Dante, Martinis have been a particular constant. The menu at Dante Aperitivo features a whole page devoted to the cocktail. Dante West Village goes even further with a “Martini Hour.” Martinis are back on Elizabeth Street, as is an entire menu of on-tap spritzes.

The Dante team was ground zero for the drink’s post-pandemic renaissance, and they’ve also had plenty of time to consider why it’s been such a success in recent years. “I think the martini has always been a big New York thing. I [also] think that there’s been a real renaissance of different types of martinis, so you’ve got the Porn Star Martini from the ’90s and the Espresso Martini from London in the ’90s. You’ve got these kind of flavored martinis, but then the Dirty Martini just went crazy and became very popular, with the blue cheese olives and a savory moment where people felt like they could pour their own brine in and all these kind of bits and bobs.”

Giada Paoloni

The door between the bar room and the dining room. There’s also a small garden out back.

But as the couple know better than anyone, a success is more than its martinis, spritzes, or any other items on the menu, “You can have a great kitchen, a great energy, great cocktails, but if you cannot run a good door, it’s the success of a whole business,” says Linden. “You may think, ‘I don’t know how I’m gonna make space work,’ then you say, ‘I can definitely offer you two seats at the bar. Can you stand over here on this ledge? Balance some books on your head.’ And that’s how people feel from the very beginning.” Indeed it might be the most important of a hotspot: kindness.

Dante Elizabeth Street begins lunch service this week, and will begin serving lunch after Thanksgiving.

Dorothy Scarborough (she/her) is the assistant to the Editor in Chief of Town & Country and Elle Decor.