“It took a while to find a venue that was 100% mine so I could put all my DNA into it. As the sole owner, there was no one else involved to dilute my vision.”
NUR KHAN, long New York nightlife’s Pied Piper (think Rose Bar, Electric Room, Sway) opens Maison Nur on the Bowery with a Michelin star chef, a scene-y crowd and his own Damien Hirsts on the wall. PETER DAVIS books a booth.
Three leggy blondes in skinny jeans sidle up to the bar and order martinis. Nearby, two guys in navy blue suits and John Lobb shoes ogle the modelesque girls before sending over Petrossian caviar (an expensive flirtation at $158). But before the fish eggs are spread, one of the girls jumps up and gallops towards the front door as if a fire alarm was pulled. Nur Khan, in his signature leather motorcycle vest and rock ‘n’ roll silver jewelry, has made his entrance. The girls surround Khan like adoring fans by the bar. Electronica music trills the room. A nightlife vet with 3 decades in the city’s late-night trenches, Khan is a pioneer of countless hot spots and a pied piper of cool. The Beautiful People trail Khan wherever he goes, starting in 1995 when he debuted Wax, a moody lounge with a tight door policy. Most recently, Khan opened Two Fifteen with hotelier and Studio 54 founder Ian Schrager in the Public Hotel. But the most ambitious and personal of all Khan’s project is his newest: Maison Nur, a sophisticated temple to fine dining in the unexpected location of the Bowery.
“Maison Nur feels sexy and secretive, like a private club with a password.”
Entering Maison Nur is like slipping behind the velvet ropes at one of Khan’s clubs. An attractive woman in all-black armed with an iPad checks reservations and then just beyond heavy gold curtains is a space that feels like a Parisien speakeasy with a slightly punk rock edge. Plush mohair banquettes line a deeply patinated wall, facing a marble bar with four crystal skulls topping the shelves. A large white chandelier made of sawfish nose bones anchors the curved gilded ceiling. There are touches of alligator skin and leopard prints and two circular Damien Hirst butterfly pieces. “All this art came from my apartment,” Khan says, his eyes darting around the restaurant. “My walls at home are empty.” There are also pieces by Araki, Michael Joo, Sante D’Orazio, Neil Grayson and Harif Guzman. Khan created Maison Nur—which feels sexy and secretive, like a private club with a password—with designer Jason Volenec. “I always had these ideas in my head for the design. It took a while to find a venue that was 100% mine so I could put all my DNA into it,” Khan continues. “As the sole owner, there was no one else involved to dilute my vision.”
Khan is as serious about cuisine as he is about design. The French-American menu is by Paris native Richard Farnabe, who has won multiple Michelin stars and famously created the most expensive savory soufflé at Petrossian. “Maison Nur is the kind of place that guests can visit several times a week and discover dishes they cannot enjoy elsewhere,” Farnabe says. “It starts with superb ingredients—wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef, organic eggs, pure cane sugar.” Khan is thrilled to partner with Farnabe on the food. “We have given Richard full creative freedom to express his vision and cook from his heart.”
Farnabe’s dishes are decadent and delicious: a mushroom mille feuille with artichokes and foie gras, stuffed morels with vin jaune, roasted duck breast with crispy layers of potato and rhubarb and a Colorado rack of lamb with maitake mushrooms and bone marrow bordelaise. For the less adventurous, there is a perfect steak au poivre and dover sole with smoked asparagus, pea leaves and ramps emulsion. The chocolate bombe is a popular desert but the seven herbes cake, both sweet and savory, is the hidden star.
The bar starts to fill up with more off-duty models and the people that love them (and buy them drinks). Maison Nur’s cocktails are by Charlotte Voisey, who has worked with Khan before and was named Wine Enthusiast’s Mixologist of the Year. “The cocktail program is an homage to delicious, elegant cocktails that seamlessly enhance a great night out—delightful on their own and nicely complement chef Farnabe’s culinary offerings,” Voisey explains. Voisey’s cocktails are perfectly named for a Nur Khan establishment from “Beautiful People” (rose wine, passionfruit, fresh lime and tamarind) to “Last Days of Disco” (pisco, lemongrass, fresh lemon).
Downstairs from Maison Nur is The Studio—a nightclub/lounge with a stellar sound system and cozy dance floor. Like the mysterious, moody member’s club vibe of the restaurant, The Studio has that same insider-y feel. With a separate entrance and a young, late-night crowd, it’s yet one more jewel in Khan’s nightlife king’s crown.
