Open Restaurant, Recharge, Repeat

Spend the weekend with Franklin Becker, chef/partner at Point Seven, Press Club Grill, Oliva, and Manhattanville Market in New York City

Franklin Becker and Daniel Boulud Photo courtesy of FOUND NY

This week our friends at FOUND NY — a twice-weekly newsletter for people with good taste in and around New York City — spoke with Franklin Becker, chef/partner at Point Seven, Press Club Grill, Oliva, and Manhattanville Market about his weekend plans. Turns out, Becker loves to unwind with dinner, followed by karaoke when he’s not opening a new restaurant.

FOUND NY: It’s Friday afternoon, how are you rolling into the weekend?

Franklin Becker: Friday nights tend to be the night we unwind by grabbing a bite at one of our restaurants, and then head out to sing some karaoke.

Since our job is never done — we’ve just opened our new restaurant Point Seven in Midtown’s MetLife Building with my business partner Stephen Loffredo — and we work seven days a week either from home or at the restaurants, we like to use Saturdays as a way to reconnect. Although my wife and I work together, we’re consumed by the restaurants. So we typically plan on sleeping in on Saturday mornings (8 a.m.) and then I go and get a beard trim and haircut, and then we meet up for a manicure and pedicure followed by a massage. We then head back home, grab our dog, and take him for a walk to the doggie park.

After work, we typically go out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants: Portale by Alfred Portale, Le Pavillion by Daniel Boulud, Koloman by Markus Glocker, or Lure Fishbar by Preston Clark.

FNY: How about a little leisure or culture?

FB: On Sundays, we like to go out for brunch, take long walks with the dog to Soho and then sit by the water down at the Seaport, and grab a bite at The Fulton or the Tin Building by Jean Georges. We love the views down there and enjoy just being with one another. At night, we watch football and order takeout.

FNY: Any weekend getaways?

FB: We plan to get out of Dodge and hit the spa at the Mayflower Inn up in Litchfield County real soon, for a little R&R. Massages are something we try to do every week. We’re also planning a trip to the Bahamas. We got married during the pandemic and went to Rosewood at Baha Mar, so we want to revisit it — it was an amazing place to vacation.  

FNY: What was your last great vacation?

FB: The last vacation was a puddle jumper to London, to join the celebration of Stephen and Amanda’s engagement. We had a great meal at Bob Bob Ricard, and stayed at Ham Yard in Soho, from the same hotel group that runs the Crosby Street Hotel here in NYC. London during Christmas time is a magical place to be.