“Of all the alerts and inquiries I’ve received from restaurants — soliciting my preferences, my allergies, my aversions, my occasions — one recent text caught my attention,” writes chief restaurant critic @matthewschneier. “Zoli here,” it read. “We’re reaching out to inform you that Amant will be hosting a live noise-music show in the gallery abutting the restaurant.” The noise show on the night of Schneier’s reservation, featuring one of Sonic Youth co-foundrix Kim Gordon’s bands, might mean “a slightly different dining experience than is traditional,” the message warned, offering to rebook, if he wished, to “a night that better suits your needs.”
It’s the usual assumption that restaurants want to meet diners’ needs every night, writes Schneier. @zolirestaurant, which sits on the multimillion-dollar @amant.arts campus in East Williamsburg, a museum of the challenging and the pathbreaking, can afford not to. “The menu trusts that you can see your way out of your comfort zone for the g
