Modern art

Elastika, Design District

RESTAURANTS • First Person

On a sunny, hot weekday last week, I rolled up to the host stand at Elastika, the Design District newcomer in the re-emerging Moore Building. No reservation? No problem. Would I like to sit at the bar or a table? I chose the table — a luxury for the solo diner — then found myself in a plush corner booth in the back, the perfect vantage to survey one of the best looking rooms in town. 

An island of semicircular booths and banquette-lined tables anchor the center of the space. But the visual draw is upwards, towards the sunlight streaming in from a four-story-high skylight, and a Zaha Hadid sculpture (“Elastika”) stretching its way across the open atrium between floors. It’s a dazzling sight, offset with playful art and decor slightly less maximalist than current local trends dictate. 

It’s also a perfect place for a late lunch. Chef Joe Anthony arrives with serious pedigree, having served as culinary director at Manhattan fine-dining fixture Gabriel Kreuther from 2015 until last fall. While those rarefied skills are evident at Elastika, they’re also discreet: Anthony has produced a simpler, lighter menu than that resume might suggest, befitting the South Florida native’s return home. 

For starters, I opted for a florally adorned, aged kingfish crudo (a generous eight slices’ worth), alongside a lunch-only pizza of the day. That afternoon, it was a fennel and chorizo flatbread, thin and delicious, topped with Calabrian chili oil. For my main, artfully arranged, grilled head-on Florida sun shrimp materialized floating on snap pea puree — this is bright, Florida-centric cooking at its finest. Dinner is a little heavier: The shrimp course is subbed out for spice-seared diver scallops, and a porcelet ribeye replaces lunchtime’s herb-roasted Green Circle chicken. 

As Anthony and his new restaurant settle in, change continues on the surrounding atrium floors. The Moore Building, dating to the 1920s, is undergoing an ambitious renovation that includes a private club and a hotel, both slated to open this fall. Once it’s all fully operational, a quiet lunch may not be as easy to come by. The din will no doubt be fun when it arrives, but do enjoy Elastika’s early days as it builds. –Lockhart Steele

→ Elastika (Design District) • 191 NE 40th St • Mon-Thurs, 12-3p & 5-10p, Fri-Sat 12-3p & 5-11p • Reserve.