Bond 45 Opens In Times Square

BOND 45
Opens in Times Square January 2005
SHELDON FIREMAN
Brings One-of-a-Kind Hospitality, Cuisine to the Theater District



New York, NY - Sheldon "Shelly" Fireman and the Fireman Hospitality Group kick off 2005 with their newest restaurant, Bond 45, a unique Italian restaurant in the Times Square Theater District, opening January 21. Located at 154 West 45 Street (between Sixth and Seventh Avenues), the site of the famous Bond clothing store (two pairs of pants with every suit), the new restaurant features the regional Italian cuisine prepared by Chef Brando de Oliviera, formerly the Executive Chef of Fiorello's and Aureole. Paolo Del Gatto, formerly of Fireman's Trattoria Dell'Arte, is Managing Director.

Once established, the restaurant will be open from breakfast until past midnight seven days a week. Bond 45 offers diners a unique experience in food and decor. Designed by Shelly Fireman with the help of Broadway scenic designer John Lee Beatty, the restaurant, which will seat approximately 250 guests, is decorated with Italian marble and tiles, and includes some of the building's original mosaic floors and some 1940s artwork that was discovered in the building's basement. There is a Prohibition-era bar from Chicago and an open kitchen at the front. Fireman says, "The feeling of Bond 45 will bring you a sense of a time you may have never experienced but have nostalgia for. We want you to feel wanted and cared for, and make your meal a wonderful experience." Beatty adds, "When I heard that Shelly was creating an elegant, old-style restaurant in the Theater District, I knew it would become a Broadway institution, and I wanted to be a part of it."

Chef de Oliviera cooks food that reflects the sensual hominess that defines Italian cooking. Among the menu's features:

- A mozzarelleria that includes freshly made mozzarella as well fiori di latte, bocconcini di Bufala, stracciatelle and scamorza
- A cured-meat bar with prosciutto, cacciatorini, coteccino, zampone, speck and other sausages, both imported and made fresh at the restaurant
- An oyster bar with fresh East and West Coast varieties
- An antipasto bar
- A roast meat bar
- A wine bar and bar Americano

The menu also includes unique dishes such as an open-faced meatball lasagna, testaroli, tordelli with wild boar ragu, Festa di Polenta (polenta with braised beef, fresh sausage and porcini mushrooms, served in the traditional manner on a wooden board), and other Italian specialties. The kitchen boasts an Italian bread oven, named "Pantondo" by Fireman, the only one in the United States, imported from Italy at a cost of $100,000. The Pantondo allows the kitchen to create a flaky, paper-thin, cheese-stuffed foccacia, a dish from Liguria.

Bond 45 features an open kitchen so that the preparation of the food is part of the theater. The kitchen, visible from the street, will stop traffic, with the most beautiful food on display, located by the mantre d' stand, where appetizers can be offered to waiting guests.

Shelly Fireman, founder and CEO of the Fireman Hospitality Group, said, "We're obsessive about HOSPITALITY - our aim is not simply to please our guests, but to make them so happy that, when they leave, they say to themselves, 'I can't wait to come back.'" His other restaurants include Brooklyn Diner USA, Cafi Fiorello, Redeye Grill, Shelly's New York Steak and Stone Crab Bar, and Trattoria Dell'Arte.