When you last left Joe Flamm—a little more than a year ago—the broad-shouldered chef had successfully shepherded his new restaurant through its first few months of opening…
Top Chef
There can be little question of the buoyant spirit Erick Williams has imbued his restaurant (and the wider community) with, but the nature of Virtue’s execution—and its ability to successfully extend that hospitality more broadly—stand ripe for analysis.
Hype is anathema to a cynic such as you. Yet some places fulfill–dare you say, surpass–expectations from the very start. Some places not only please, but they promise. They stand as a bastion of dynamic cookery and gracious service that is sure to elevate the expression of those arts across the entire city. They beg you not merely to check them once off of your bucket list, but affirm the splendor of those rare restaurants that embody a living organism.