Ardent Reopening Next Week With New Offerings

Ardent, 1751 N. Farwell Ave. Photo taken May 9, 2024 by Sophie Bolich

During the course of its decade-long tenure on the Lower East Side, Ardent has emerged as a fine dining restaurant fueled by passion and — at times — intensity.

There’s no doubt that Ardent has lived up to its name, which evokes fiery warmth and zealousness; however, chef and owner Justin Carlisle hopes to bring down the heat as he leads the restaurant into its 11th year.

“To re-evaluate how we started — looking back 10 years ago — we never wanted to be a pretentious, all-inclusive place that people thought they couldn’t get into, or they’d have to wait three months for,” Carlisle said. “Unfortunately when people hear the name Ardent, that’s what they think of, and I don’t want people to think that way anymore.”

The restaurant, 1751 N. Farwell Ave., now a dual-concept space encompassing Ardent Tasting Room and Ardent Bar + Lounge, will soon return to service after a wintertime hiatus.

The lounge is set to reopen on May 17, while the tasting room will resume service in June, though only on Fridays and Saturdays.

The lounge made its debut in November as a casual counterpart to Ardent’s tasting room, which simultaneously moved next door into Carlisle’s former noodle shop, Red Light Ramen.

The menu lends itself to shareable snacking and easy pairings, emphasizing dishes one can linger over with a beer or cocktail in hand. That includes small bites such as anchovy-stuffed olives, hamachi crudo and focaccia, spreads like chicken liver mousse and beef tartare, pastas and entrees including Iberico pork secreto and a roasted half chicken.

The lounge also serves a smash burger and hot dog, each with its own gourmet twist.

A beverage list features a handful of creative cocktails, a healthy selection of wines, beer and cider, spirits and zero-proof options.

Carlisle said he hopes to put forth a neighborhood feel at the lounge, which he described as a middle ground between a top-dollar establishment and a dive bar.

The goal is to target a demographic of mid-20 to 40-year-olds — many of whom have young families — whose wants and needs for a night out are evolving, he added.

“There’s a lot of clientele who used to visit us and now they have families and they can’t, right? So we would like to make a space to make sure they can come visit us again.”

The lounge also plans to serve brunch on Sunday mornings and, in the evenings, will host a pop-up from sous chef Vanessa Rose. The concept, called Mother’s, centers on comfort dishes from across the world as an homage to family foods and safe space for the LGBTQ+ community.

Additional specials will pop up on a weekly basis, with Carlisle’s other concepts making regular appearances. Mondays in the lounge will be Laughing Taco nights and Saturdays will feature Red Light Ramen. Guests can also expect Friday fish fries.

Come June, the tasting room is set to reopen, albeit on a more limited basis than before. “We’ll still do Ardent, but only Friday and Saturday nights. And it will be reservation only,” Carlisle said.

In contrast to the adjacent lounge, the tasting room will serve a multi-course, fine dining menu complete with beverage pairings. A sample menu for the tasting room is available to view online.

During the remainder of the week, the tasting lounge will double as a wine bar, with plans to open Sunday through Thursday starting in mid-June.

Carlisle said the wine bar will be “super chill,” serving a small cocktail menu, snacks and high-end alcohol, along with non-alcoholic beverages. He also plans to introduce sidewalk dining as summer approaches.

“You can come in the afternoon and have your Aperol Spritz and hang out with your dog outside, have a couple of razor clam tins or something of that nature,” he said.

The restaurant’s temporary closure, which went into effect in January, was a response to a major drop in December revenue, Carlisle said. “We had the worst December in 10 years.”

Up until then, the chef had been working tirelessly to recover from the lasting effects of the pandemic. It was time to hit pause.

“We really haven’t had a break since COVID,” he said. “We’ve definitely been doing whatever we can for as long as we can, just trying to get our feet back on the ground. So this was also the time period where it’s like, ‘okay, let’s just stop and analyze what’s been happening over the last three-and-a-half, almost four years.'”

During the hiatus, Carlisle hosted a number of pop-ups, including several collaborations with fellow chefs. The mix included a Cinco de Mayo celebration; sandwich pop-up with Noah Sandoval and Larry Feldmeier; Friday fish fries; a la carte dinner featuring Brian Fisher; Red Light Ramen nights and more.

Starting May 17, the lounge will open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, with plans to slowly ramp up to daily service. Sunday brunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday evening pop-ups will be announced as they’re scheduled.

The tasting room will open Friday and Saturday evenings for reservation only. Once open, the wine bar will operate in that space Sunday through Thursday from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Reservations for the lounge are expected to be available by the end of the week. Tasting room reservations could be available as soon as next week, Carlisle said. The wine bar will not accept reservations.

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