Fung Tu Shutters Tonight Ahead of Transition to ‘Nom Wah Tu’
Today is your last chance to dine at Fung Tu. The four-year-old Chinese-American eatery at 22 Orchard Street closes after service tonight. It will pivot to something different, yet altogether familiar.
As previously reported, co-founders Wilson Tang and Jonathan Wu will keep the space, and create another offshoot of the Nom Wah Tea Parlor. Nom Wah Tu, as it’s called, will be a casual restaurant intended to marry elements of the Chinatown classic with chef Wu’s more modmern tastes. Tang tells us that the restaurant reboot will carry a more welcoming aesthetic, accessible to neighborhood diners vis-a-vis lower price points.
It’ll be a quick turnaround, too, and should open sometime next month.
Tang is doubling down on his family-owned Nom Wah, expanding in a big way. The new branded outpost is the fourth in the city’s stable, behind Nom Wah Nolita and Nom Wah Kuai. (There is also a restaurant in Philadelphia.)
Fung Tu first opened at 22 Orchard Street in November 2013. Its arrival netted an array of positivity from food critics across the press. However, the business experienced significant difficulties in late-2015 as Scarr’s Pizza got up and running in the south store. The basement gas lines were allegedly interrupted, and kitchen staff was forced to cook without proper hookup for two months (i.e. their “no gas menu”).
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