The much-anticipated Talde Jersey City, the Hudson County offshoot of "Top Chef" star Dale Talde's eponymous Asian fusion eatery in Brooklyn, opens tonight.

Yes, it's several months behind schedule, but the way Talde tells it, it might not have happened at all.

The project, announced in October 2013, is a partnership between Talde and his Brooklyn-based restaurant partners David Massoni and John Bush and "Kitchen Cousins" stars Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri and Anthony's father, Alfonso, who owns the stately building at 8 Erie Street. It was built in the late 1800s as a telephone switching station and later housed the Jersey City Police Department.

The Carrinos and Colaneri turned the upper floors into rental lofts and saved the downstairs space for restaurants. At the urging of his HGTV producers, the younger Carrino had dined at Talde in Brooklyn and thought it would be a good fit for the Jersey City space, so the next day, one of Carrino's colleagues who handles real estate came by, was equally impressed, and gave Talde his card.

"I saw Jersey City, I was going to chuck it," Talde admits. Instead, he tucked it into his pocket, and a day later, while talking about an unrelated matter with Massoni, he stuck his hand in the pocket and came out with the card. He handed it over to Massoni with the vaguest of explanations.

Massoni and Bush took it form there; they met with the Carrinos and saw the potential. Their final plan called for an outpost of Talde on one side of the building, an Italian market and osteria on the other, and an 80-seat banquet room in the basement. Talde, Massoni and Bush also handle the food program for the Italian market and eatery, called Carrino Provisions, which opened last week. (Talde Jersey City's soft opening this week means it won't be running at full capacity immediately, so tables may be hard to come by.)

The Talde Jersey City menu is similar to the Brooklyn original (Korean fried chicken with spicy kimchee yogurt, beef short rib with tamarind glaze), but the vastly larger kitchen in Jersey City allow Talde to expand his dim sum offerings. He's particularly excited about a series of bao (steamed and stuffed Chinese buns) inspired by favorite fast food offerings, including Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich and the McDonald's McRib, made with slow-roasted boneless spare ribs.

Talde is industrial chic with touches of Asian kitsch; Carrino Provisions carries over the industrial look with I-beams repurposed for the espresso bar and the building's original metal-encased windows separating the Osteria from the market. The building also includes a courtyard that will be open for dining in more pleasant weather.

As for all the talk that Jersey City is the new Brooklyn, drawing chefs across the Hudson for cheaper rents and larger spaces, Talde just shrugs. "Jersey City is Jersey City. It's awesome and shouldn't be compared to anything else. It stands on its own two feet with its chest out."

Vicki Hyman may be reached at vhyman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @vickihy. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.