In New York, Russell Steinberg is bringing fresh energy to the locale in a deeply personal vision in the form of new restaurant Cecilia on Saint Marks.
Over the past few months, astute observers of Saint Marks Place in Lower Manhattan may have noticed an understated, Art-Deco-esque new signage pop up in a quieter stretch between First Avenue and Avenue A. “Cecilia” reads the lettering on the window, next to a stairway leading down to the space. Behind the entrance lies a bar, farther back is an intimate dining area, and beyond this is a quaint backyard patio.
The project is the latest from nightlife aficionado Russell Steinberg, whose resume includes the likes of defunct-Keith McNally SoHo spot Lucky Strike and infamous burlesque-cum-nightclub The Box. Now, with his most personal endeavor yet, he’s setting out to tackle New York City downtown life from a new angle: “I feel like I'm putting something into the community, into the world, that is, it's a positive place,” he says. “I want people to come and have fun, and the food to be good.”
The new restaurant is housed in what was once Yaffa Café, where Steinberg enjoyed many a late night with his fellow restaurant and nightlife workers in the 1990s and aughts before the bohemian mecca shuttered in 2014. More recently, in picking out a place for his daughter Cecilia’s 3rd birthday in February 2022, he by chance landed at the same address. “I got a pang of nostalgia,” he says. Steinberg stepped up to acquire the space and set out to build the restaurant according to his own vision, complete with subtle autobiographical flourishes for those in the know. Of course, his youngest daughter became its namesake. “It’s my legacy for her,” he says. “She was the inspiration, and she’s a little spitfire!”
In the decor, with its checkerboard flooring and warm, dim lighting, the Keith McNally energy is strong. “I summoned all the things that I love and that make me feel good and comfortable,” he says. “Having worked at Lucky Strike, and how much people loved the environment and vibe, that was definitely a big influence and muse for this. I wanted to catch the old New York and the comfortableness.” Establishing an East Village parallel to the West Side’s Waverly Inn or Minetta Tavern was also central on the proverbial mood board.
The wall art is bristling with inside jokes and winks between Steinberg and friends and family members. One frame contains a likeness of his “alter ego” Johnny Fava from Steinberg’s days as an actor-entertainer, the image created by his other, now-adult daughter Antonia when she was in her teens. Another is a New York City subway poster he’s had for years. Nearby is a pic of old-school porn star and performance artist Annie Sprinkle, gifted to Steinberg by the photographer Ricky Powell back in 1998. And there’s the fake Basquiat that Tatiana von Fürstenberg (daughter of Diane) bought for him as a tongue-in-cheek present sourced from a recently busted ring of Basquiat fakes out of Florida. Beneath it Steinberg placed a plaque that reads “Fake, please do not steal.”
For the menu, Steinberg set out to channel an “elevated American bistro” feel, serving “zhuzhed-up comfort food” throughout the night. Options range from bar snacks like pickled anchovy toast and marinated mushrooms, to appetizers from wedge salad to chopped liver to grilled squid, to hearty mains including rigatoni, burgers, and ratatouille. He grants that, while dishes like the chopped liver might be “divisive” (as he puts it, “nobody’s ‘lukewarm’ about chopped liver”), a sense of familiarity and contentment is the goal. “It’s been a real labor of love,” says Steinberg. “It’s been so many serendipitous moments in terms of good fortune and things going my way, I just feel like this place was meant to be.”
Cecilia is located at 97 St. Marks Place, New York, New York, 10009.