Fatty ’Cue

March 13
The charming and barbecue-obsessed people of Grub Street dropped a Leap Day bombshell a couple of weeks ago that Zak Pelaccio would be opening a barbecue joint with Robbie Richter, the former pitmaster of Hill Country, a barbecue restaurant in Manhattan that has adoring fans.
Zak has his fans, too, of course, particularly for Fatty Crab, his mostly Malaysian restaurant in the Meatpacking District. But he has been picking up some local detractors, too, for all the consulting work he has been taking on.
I was poking my nose around one of those projects — a vaguely mused-about venture, perhaps called The Windsor and also maybe involving experiential pastry chef Will Goldfarb, Japanophile Josh DeChellis, and Robert Truitt, a former pastry chef at Will’s former restaurant, Room 4 Dessert.
The vague musings seem credible. A blog called The Life Vicarious noticed a listing in The James Beard Foundation’s event calendar that promised to introduce us to “the Windsor, the cozy yet elegant collaboration they [the chefs above] hope will become a hangout for chefs and food lovers alike.”
But the principals are mum. I called Josh, who said he’d keep me posted once there was something to keep me posted about. I e-mailed Will. He e-mailed back:
rumours abound
thats all they are
its a concept that we are working on

Zak heard I was snooping and he e-mailed me this (boldface added by me for your convenience):

I'd like you to know...and feel free to spread the gospel...that i will not be involved as consulting chef in any more projects for quite a while and I will only be focusing on fatty related projects: Fatty Crab and a new concept: fatty 'cue (bbq with a southeast asian palate, with a particlar focus on thai and malay flavors).

The address will be 91 South 6th St. in Williamsburg, and Zak hopes to open it by late spring or early summer.
Oh, he's also opening another Fatty Crab, on Broadway near 77th street, in June (2170 Broadway).