Where Turnip Cakes Meet Tater Tots

Figure Eight makes the culinary connection between North Carolina and China.

- MATTHEW SCHNEIER

The charm of Cornelia Street is its size—a side-pocket lane tucked away from stovepipe Sixth Avenue. The restaurants, narrow and deep, are hideaways, from the departed (Pó, Pearl Oyster Bar), to the enduring (Le Gigot), to relative newcomers, like Silver Apricot, the ambitious Chinese restaurant from chef Simone Tong.

This winter, Figure Eight— named for the lucky number in Chinese numerology and a barrier island off the coast of North Carolina—joined Silver Apricot next door. The restaurants share a managing partner, Emmeline Zhao, and, broadly speaking, a foundation in Chinese cooking. But where Silver Apricot is elegant, Figure Eight is brawny. It speaks with a southern accent (Zhao grew up between Shanghai and Chapel Hill) and raids the southern pantry for benne seeds, cornmeal, and red peas. You wouldn’t mistake Calvin Hwang, Figure Eight’s executive chef, for anything but a product of high-caliber kitchens— he has years of fine-dining experience, most recently at Saga and Crown Shy-but his cooking here feels geared more for fun than laurels.