The Franks Unveil RES, a Chef Artist Residency in NYC

On the first day of the second annual Mésamerica Festival in Mexico City, New York City restaurateurs Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli unveiled the details of their mysterious new project, RES. While rumors and liquor license applications had previously revealed that this was some sort of a chef collaborative project destined for Red Hook, Brooklyn, the guys behind Frankies Spuntino explained today that what they are setting up is "an artist residency for chefs" to visit from all over the world.

A slideshow of the Franks with internationally renowned chefs such as René Redzepi played in the background as Falcinelli explained that the two were inspired by the community created at chef gatherings such as Mésamerica and MAD camp. The idea with RES, he said, is to create a stress-free space for chefs visiting New York from elsewhere in the US and abroad to showcase their talents: "At the space, we can host collaborative dinners, one-off events, and installations, and the chefs can stay at the facility while they present their work, free of charge. It's a place where a chef can present their work exactly how they want it to be, while exploring the city, meeting colleagues, and working on their repertoire."

The new facility has a hot kitchen, a cold kitchen, and an "outdoor fire kitchen," while the dining area is set in a garden with a large lodging tent. Castronovo says that RES should open "in a few short weeks," but expect it to evolve through the years. And look, RES already has a website with an excerpt from this speech. Here it is:

Res is an artist residency for chefs, a non-commercial environment where chefs from around the world can present their work — their very best work — to the audience of New York without being rushed or stressed. RES is located on the the historic Brooklyn waterfront, basically looking the statue of liberty right in the eye and right across the river from Manhattan. All too often, chefs who travel for collaborative dinners and other events are rushed, short on money, or unable to fully showcase their talents. At Res, we hope to change that.

There, we can host collaborative dinners, one-off events, or installations, and the chefs can stay at Res while they present their work, free of charge. It's a place where a chef can present their work exactly how they want it to be, while exploring the city, meeting colleagues, and working on their repertoire. At Res we have a cold kitchen, hot kitchen, and an outdoor fire kitchen. The dining area is a big beautiful garden with a large Canadian lodging tent.RES is meant to be a creative space without the constraints of a running restaurants day to day operations to interfere with the quality and integrity of the Resident Chefs best work.

RES is set to open in a few short weeks, but it's designed as a work-in-progress that will change as the months and years go by. We know one thing though: we want to contribute to our community of chefs, to our peers, and continue to make the world a bit smaller for those who love this profession.

· All Frankies Spuntino Coverage on Eater [-E-]
· All Mésamerica Coverage on Eater [-E-]