There’s a new spot at the intersection of Ludlow and Rivington streets from the team behind Sixty Three Clinton. Samuel Clonts and Raymond Trinh just opened Cactus Wren at 98 Rivington St. It’s a wine bar with food they describe as, “indulgent yet unpretentious, with creative takes on classic dishes.”
Sixty Three Clinton features a seven-course tasting menu, so by definition, it’s a fairly formal evening (by Lower East Side standards, anyway). Cactus Wren, on the other hand, is more casual. In case you didn’t get the point, the website bills the new venture in big capital letters, “The Lower East Side’s Favorite Neighborhood Restaurant.”
It’s the type of place you could go in for a glass of wine and a snack, or have a full meal. The menu features a lobster pot pie, a pizza with chicken liver mousse and onions, raw bar items, “caviar service” with something called seven layer dip and a smoked eel tart. You can see more details here.
During the past several years, the partners have established Lower East Side roots. They worked together at Uchu on Eldridge Street before opening Sixty Three Clinton in 2021. Trinh told Resy, “We knew we wanted our second concept to be on the L.E.S. because we live here… It’s our favorite neighborhood. It’s great to be able to walk to work, but more so to grow in the community, grow with all the neighbors that have taken care of us for the last few years. It’s important to keep building where our homes are.”
There was most recently a Serafina at this location. But we fondly remember the popular wine bar, intoteca, which hung in there for over a decade at 98 Rivington. It was a great place to watch the Lower East Side world go by. Hoping Cactus Wren will recapture some of that magic.
