Red Sorghum Is a Luxe New Chinese Restaurant Dressed Up Like a Film Set | Eater NY
"On the first floor of Tishman Speyer’s Jacx office tower on Jackson Avenue, I visited Red Sorghum, a new Sichuan- and Hunan-focused restaurant run by Vincent Lin and Mandy Zhang with Bruce Li as executive chef; its Chinese name, “Night Banquet,” and the décor—inspired by old-school cinema and Wong Kar Wai’s set designs—make the place feel like a 1930s movie set, all red tones, beaded lampshades and Edison bulbs, fringed blinds that can be lowered to create evening, a dominant bar, orange banquettes, bent-cane chairs, and large Chinese vases. The menu is built for groups and big-format sharing: highlights include an eggplant dish with green chiles and century eggs mashed tableside in a mortar; a fiery fish soup with green peppercorns made with black sea bass; a stir-fry of dried radish and smoked pork; a creamy soup of red dates and pork meatballs; and Miss Lou’s famous beef stew, a homely brisket with enoki mushrooms and konjac noodles. Red Sorghum doubles as a scene-y cocktail lounge with many baijiu-forward drinks (a sorghum sling, a Negroni featuring two forms of baijiu alongside mezcal and vermouth, a warm Pimm’s-and-Pastis cocktail), plus 18 straight baijius across six flavor categories available in $20 flights, as well as wines, whiskey, and nonalcoholic spirits—though beer is an easy fallback. Mid-afternoon on a Saturday it was mobbed and patrons tend to dress up; bring a crowd to sample more dishes and dress up a bit so you won’t feel like a schlump." - Robert Sietsema
