A seafood tower, Dover sole, and brioche doughnuts are coming to Manhattan’s PUBLIC Hotel. But the story behind its new restaurant begins with a person, not a plate.
Buddy & Son, a French-American brasserie from chef Jake Epstein and business partner Shelley Armistead, is scheduled to open Monday, October 26, on the Lower East Side, according to Eater NY’s opening report. Both partners previously worked with Gjelina, the California-born restaurant group with a New York outpost.
The restaurant is named after Epstein’s father, Buddy. In an announcement statement quoted by Eater, Epstein recalled that his father “remembered people’s names, what they were drinking and how their kids were doing.”
That memory gives the opening a personal center. Before diners encounter the menu, the name points toward the kind of hospitality Epstein wants to celebrate.
A New Brasserie on Chrystie Street
Buddy & Son will occupy the ground-floor restaurant space at Ian Schrager’s PUBLIC Hotel. The hotel’s official website confirms its address at 215 Chrystie Street.
The project was announced in September, when Caper reported the restaurant plans. That report identified Epstein’s responsibilities as covering both the restaurant and the lobby cafe, while the upstairs bar would remain separately operated.
The cafe is expected to offer coffee, juice and lunch, giving the project a more casual counterpart to the brasserie.
Armistead told Eater that she believes a brasserie suits a hotel. She credited Schrager’s support, designer Dominic Kozerski, and the kitchen team with bringing the restaurant together.
For diners, the result will be a new French-American option inside a familiar Lower East Side address.
Gjelina Alumni Take a Different Direction
Epstein was the executive chef who opened Gjelina New York. Armistead spent more than a decade with Gjelina Group, helped guide its 2023 New York debut, and left her CEO position in 2025.
Buddy & Son brings that professional history into a different restaurant concept rather than presenting itself as another Gjelina.
Joining Epstein are chef de cuisine Dan Everhart and pastry chef Kimberly Limoncelli. Both are longtime colleagues who have cooked alongside him across Craft, Eataly, Carissa’s and Gjelina, according to the opening report.
Armistead and Epstein have worked together since 2022. Discussions about this New York restaurant began in spring 2026, and construction started August 10.
Their shared background adds to the opening’s appeal. The menu, however, gives the new restaurant its own identity.
Seafood and French-American Classics
Seafood has a prominent place on the announced menu.
A tower is planned with oysters, littlenecks and fluke crudo. Dover sole will be served with beurre blanc, while a deboned half chicken will come over red wine jus.
Smaller dishes include a crab cake with gribiche and beef tartare with colatura. Vegetable preparations include cider-braised cabbage and oyster mushrooms with cognac and crème fraîche.
The lineup moves between seafood, substantial mains and vegetables without reducing the brasserie idea to a single signature dish.
Epstein described the concept to Eater as “an ingredient-driven French-American brasserie.” Early announcements mentioned Cajun cooking, but he clarified that it is one influence rather than the menu’s foundation.
That distinction helps set expectations: Buddy & Son’s announced direction is French-American, with room for other flavors rather than a menu built principally around Cajun dishes.
Chocolate Mousse, Doughnuts and Classic Cocktails
Limoncelli’s planned desserts include chocolate mousse, coconut cake, brioche doughnuts and daily ice cream.
That gives the final course several directions, from chocolate to a doughnut, without requiring diners to leave the brasserie setting behind.
The bar is set to serve classics including Sazeracs and French 75s. A house cocktail called Le Métro combines Beefeater gin, Suze, lemon and soda.
The announced wine list includes selections from France, Italy, Spain and California. Alongside the desserts, those drinks round out the restaurant’s opening plans beyond the main courses.
What to Know Before Visiting
Buddy & Son is scheduled to open October 26 at PUBLIC Hotel, 215 Chrystie Street, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Restaurant hours, menu prices and reservation procedures were not established in the opening reports reviewed for this article. Check the restaurant’s or hotel’s official channels for current details before making plans.
The opening brings together a new menu, colleagues with a shared working history, and a name rooted in Epstein’s family. Those elements give diners a reason to be curious without predicting how the restaurant will perform.
Ultimately, the most distinctive part of the announcement may be the simplest: Buddy remembered people. If the food brings diners through the door, could being remembered be the reason they return?
