Parcelle Chef Ron Yan Opens Chinese Restaurant Tolo at Old Ming's Caffe Space on Canal St.
And for the news everyone's been waiting for… Will they keep the iconic Ming's Caffe sign?
Yet another change in rapidly transforming Dimes Square (that is to say, Little Fuzhou) sees the vacant storefront left behind by Ming's Caffe taken over by Tolo, a nice Chinese sit-down restaurant that pairs well with the rest of the new businesses that have sprung up and down Division and Canal St just east of the Manhattan Bridge.
The new restaurant is the project of Ron(ald) Yan, a Hong Konger with a decade of experience in New York City, most relevantly as wine bar Parcelle's head chef since their opening in 2022. Tolo is opening just a few doors down from Parcelle at 28 Canal Street, and just a couple feet away from Essex St.
The place will offer an elevated dining experience, with experimental Chinese small and large plates complemented by a massive 300 wine selection brought to you by, you guessed it, Parcelle.
I'll save you the pain of reading my inarticulate take on the food and atmosphere by providing you a description from their website: "Tolo’s menu features a range of dishes from raw seafood to noodles and Typhoon Shelter style chicken amidst vintage furniture and the backdrop of the open kitchen."
The reasons for Ming's Caffe's disappearance is for most a mystery, but one enlightened Yelp reviewer had some insight. Ben, the owner, could not afford a rent raise demanded by the landlord, and decided against renewing the lease. In the same Yelp comment, the writer claimed Ben is searching for a new location.
Ming's Caffe, a relatively cheap Hong Kong-style diner popular with the diverse demographics that have come to define the neighborhood recently, had been there since at least 2009, according to Google Maps.
In a neighborhood characterized by sharp social stratification wrought by hyper-fast gentrification and an aging incumbent Chinese population, Ming's Caffe was well regarded for being a third place where one was as likely to encounter a working class Fuzhounese construction worker as a Nolita dirtbag.
Now for the news everyone's actually been waiting for… Will they keep the iconic Ming's Caffe sign?
It's been trendy recently to keep the original sign from the previous business or paint an understated logo or name straight on the building. Some businesses forego any sign or indicator whatsoever. Unfortunately, I have no updates on this point. Sorry.