Team Smile to Do Takeout That’s Beautiful, Delicious, and As Good As

The Smile’s Matt Kliegman, Carlos Quirarte, and chef Melia Marden — a.k.a. the coolest kids in the food biz — have discovered another atmospheric location from which to ply their healthy, tasty brand of “Manhattan-Mediterranean” cooking. This one’s on Howard Street in the former (and apparently misnamed) Chinese snack shop known as Lucky Bakery. Unlike the Smile proper, the emphasis is on takeout. “I’ve always felt that takeaway food in L.A. and London was way ahead of New York,” says Kliegman, and now he aims to put a stop to it. How will he do it? With delicata-squash salads, seared fennel with orange and parsley, rosemary-rubbed rotisserie chicken, and much more from Marden’s daily changing menu. Plus, Smile to Go has something London and L.A. do not: former M. Wells pastry chef Brenna White, who’s in charge of kale tarts, cinnamon buns, Cheddar-apple biscuits, and honey pies. Check out the grub in our slideshow, then go get some when the shop opens later this week.

Smile, 22 Howard St., nr. Crosby St.; no phone