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Zentan at Donovan House Opens Today

Where: 1155 14th St Nw [map], Washington, DC, United States, 20005

An older rendering for Cha restaurant; now called Zentan.

Alright, restaurant at Donovan House: let's try this again, shall we? The restaurant formerly known as Cha was soft-opening for a while and had Todd English's name all over it, but then English went bye-bye and Susur Lee, the Toronto Chef behind Thompson LES's Shang, took over the kitchen side of things.

And so now Zentan has been born — and the restaurant opens today. We don't quite know much about the menu, though, because the website doesn't seem to be up and running (er, or anything beyond totally skeletal black and white nothingness) but here is what we do know:

The restaurant will feature Chef Lee's bold and inventive approach to pan Asian cuisine, and the menu will feature favorites from Shang in NYC and his restaurant, Lee in Toronto. The menu will also feature a selection of sushi, sashimi and Asian crudos available at the rooftop lounge this summer.

We will wait patiently for that rooftop stuff to be happening; in the meantime, if you have a chance to check out Zentan, let us know what the scene is lookin' like. The resto's phone number is 202.379.7066.

Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Thompson Hotels / Susur Lee / Hotel Websites / → All Tags

Thompson LES' Shang Gets a Fly New Website

Where: 190 Allen St [map], New York, NY, United States, 10002

We told you back in early March that the dudes behind Thompson Hotels had gotten together to form a restaurant group called Do Not Disturb, which is now managing the restaurant soon to be known as 'Zentan' inside DC's Donovan House (formerly known as 'Cha'), the food and nightlife venues at Thompson LES (Shang, Above Allen), as well as the restos in Gild Hall, the Hollywood Roosevelt and the upcoming Thompson Toronto.

Zentan inside Donovan House is set to open up on June 8th with Susur Lee's name on the place (as opposed to Todd English's, who was originally the face of Cha) — and Susur Lee's other Thompson restaurant, Shang, now is showing off a hot, hot new website. It's got menus, all the requisite look-at-our-celeb-chef promotional goodness, press clippings and a pretty decent image gallery. Was this the first order of business for the Do Not Disturb group?

Uh, maybe they could go do a bit of work on the Zentan website next. It's a little bit... naked.

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Shang is Shangalicious, But Not Recession-Friendly

Where: 190 Allen St. [map], New York, New York, United States, 10002

The New York Post's Steve Cuozzo is giving the thumbs-up "mmm-mmm good" to newly-opened Thompson LES' Shang Restaurant. He calls the chic eatery "an all-over-the-map mix'n'match of Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian and American styles and ingredients."

The only thing the Post really knocks is Shang's goofy PR statement that attempts to set the atmosphere: "Chinese wallpaper with erotica designs more than 600 years old creates a tantalizing escape." Yeah, perhaps they should hire a better copy writer. We're not sure what is tantalizing about 600-year-old erotica.

Otherwise, the food created by Hong Kong-born chef Susur Lee of the Toronto epicurean scene and who apparently "boldly matched TV's 'Iron Chef' Bobby Flay platter for platter to a culinary draw" is tasty by Cuozzo's palate, even though the timing for the restaurant's opening may not have been ideal.

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Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Celebrity Chefs / Hotel Hype / Thompson Hotels / Jason Pomeranc / Susur Lee / → All Tags

Toronto Chef Opening Restaurant in Thompson LES

Where: 190 Allen Street [map], New York, ny, United States

More news on the Thompson Hotel front. The Thompson LES Hotel will get a Pan-Asian restaurant from Susur Lee, considered Toronto's Rock Star Chef for his namesake restaurant, Susur.

And the Thompson Hotel peeps must be paying him good. Lee is closing down his fancy Toronto shop to move to NYC and open a restaurant inside Thompson LES. (His casual restaurant, Lee, will remain.) Here's what Lee and the National Post had to say about the project:

"Jason Pomeranc is great," he tells me, referring to the cool-dude hotel warrior who is considered by many as the "next Ian Schrager," and the one behind this up-and-coming crash pad. Called the "thinking person's sex symbol" by Vanity Fair recently, he's the chap responsible for the ever-popular 60 Thompson in New York's Soho District as well as the re-charged Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, among other properties.

(Note: Vanity Fair on Pomeranc.)

Interestingly, Susur Lee comes from Toronto where Thompson Hotels is also opening The Thompson Toronto. Maybe he'll return to the city then. He's not saying anything for sure now.

As for the restaurant inside Thompson LES, that isn't expected until September's Fashion Week. Meanwhile the hotel is now set for a June 2 opening.