1 Dominick Opens Today, Makes Theatergoing Worthwhile -- Grub Street: New York Magazine's Food and Restaurant Blog

Forget the Jujubes. You have a better option.Photo: Melissa Hom

No one goes to the theater to eat (evidence of incessant candy-wrapper crinkling to the contrary). But today, on an obscure, seldom-traveled block in Hudson Square, in the shadow of the hulking Trump Soho, the newly renovated Here Arts Center has opened an adjacent café that exceeds theater-concession expectations to such an appealing degree, it stands to become a neighborhood destination even among non–ticket holders. That’s because 1 Dominick, named for its address off Sixth Avenue, is under the culinary jurisdiction of Jimmy Carbone, an East Village fixture who first gained a following at the quirky Mugsy’s Chow Chow, and now runs the cozy rathskeller Jimmy’s No. 43.

At the counter-service café, where colored-glass accordion doors open to reveal a handful of tables and a dining counter, Carbone skews Italian, serving bomboloni and frittata panini at breakfast, and then a lengthier list of small plates for lunch and dinner. Among them: a mint-dappled watermelon-and-ricotta salata salad; a platter of cured meats procured from top-notch American producers like Salumeria Biellese, Berkeley’s Fra’ Mani, and Iowa’s La Quercia; and the fried bologna tramezzino, an affectionate Americanization of the classic Italian mortadella sandwich. There’s fave e cicoria, the Puglian fava purée with sautéed dandelion greens, and a Ligurian-style flatbread stuffed with a mixture of crème fraîche, Greek yogurt, and ricotta. It’s wine-bar food, minus the wine (the license is forthcoming). For now, Brooklyn-roasted Gorilla coffee should suffice, and keep theatergoers alert till the curtain falls. —Rob Patronite and Robin Raisfeld

1 Dominick, 1 Dominick St., at Sixth Ave.; 212-647-0202, ext. 308