The Best Restaurants Opening in New York City This October
Observer · · g5128581
New spots from celebrity chefs and fresh eateries serving wood-fired cuisine abound this month.
As if on cue, the temperature drops and, all of a sudden, New York’s latest restaurant openings are all about warmth: we’re talking wood-fired dishes and wood ovens as centerpieces, not to mention spaces that make you want to cozy up to your dining partner and linger a little. Norte , a new northern Mexican spot focused on live-fire cooking, and Straker’s, a hotly anticipated import from London with a focus on wood-fire grilling, are sure to be top date night contenders for exactly that reason.
There’s another good excuse to venture out from home to explore all of this month’s new tables: some of New York’s (and the world’s!) most in-demand chefs are flinging open doors on new concepts, and for some of them, the restaurants mark their first solo projects. Camari Mick of The Musket Room fame and Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park are just two of the major names striking out on their own this season.
But with such a glut of high-profile openings , it can be tricky to determine which spots deserve reservation alerts and which can wait until the buzz dies down. And that’s where we come in: we’ve been busy researching dozens of October openings to bring you the roundup of the absolute best of the month. Read on to discover which 10 tables should be on your wish list.
183 Christopher St., New York, NY 10014 West Village Camari Mick, executive pastry chef of The Musket Room and Raf’s, strikes out on her own with the opening of Calabash this month, an Afro-Caribbean bakery and brasserie. Swing by in the morning for fermented breads, breakfast sandwiches and entrées like cornbread pancakes with a salted maple sabayon, or opt for more of a white tablecloth experience during dinner hours on Fridays and Saturdays, when Mick will serve a five-course prix-fixe. Dishes on the evening menu will range from a red snapper with an étouffée-style gravy to crispy pork belly with tahdig jollof, along with an inventive non-alcoholic beverage program featuring fermented mocktails and adaptogenic sips.
435 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014 West Village Daniel Humm , of three-Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park, also launches his first standalone concept this October, with the more casual Humm on Hudson Street in the West Village. Featuring an à la carte menu of modern American cuisine, the dishes here are seasonal and take advantage of the wood-burning oven, with a special focus on produce, fish and poultry. Early standouts include charcoal-grilled branzino, roasted chicken for two with brioche and butter, plus a roving martini cart to add a bit of glamour. Of special note is the art here, which includes a suspended sculpture from Louise Bourgeois as well as a ceiling mural from Francesco Clemente .
205 Allen St., New York, NY 10002 Lower East Side Vitor Mendes , chef de cuisine of the beloved Theodora , launches his first solo restaurant project this month, the Amazon rainforest-inspired Iara . What that means in more practical terms? Ingredients indigenous to the Brazilian region of the Amazon, including açai, cassava, jambu (an Amazonian herb) and tucupi (a broth made from the fermented juice of cassava root). Share a starter of tapioca crisps with smoked trout mousse, then move on to comforting entrées like the moqueca, a fish stew of red snapper swirled with coconut milk and the aforementioned tucupi. And of course, don’t miss the brigadeiros, the rich chocolate bites that are rightfully one of Brazil’s most adored exports.
1 Bryant Park, New York, NY 10036 Midtown West Two out of the three concepts in restaurateur KwangHo Lee ’s eagerly anticipated Midtown project open this month: One Bryant Park , a 45-seat kaiseki restaurant, and Kumiko Room , Yoshihiko Kousaka’s Edomae-style sushi counter. The 10,000-square-foot space on the first floor of the Bank of America Tower will be home to all three restaurants (Kappo Sono plans to open next month), but each will have a distinct identity and menu. At the flagship One Bryant Park, culinary director Tadaaki Ishizaki and executive chef Shuji Furukawa will serve dishes like charcoal-grilled kinki fish with koshihikari rice, while Kumiko Room will focus on nigiri featuring meticulously sourced fish and ingredients.
373 Broome St., New York, NY 10013 Nolita Inspired by both the French and Italian influences of the Riviera, Le Petit Nissa is the new bar and restaurant project from owners Artur Boisset , Marissa Monforton and Antonin Brune , projected to open at the end of this month. Chef Flossie Gille also draws on the flavors of Provence, with dishes on the opening menu including traditional items such as a pissaladière, œufs mayonnaise and moules escabèche. Apéritifs command attention on the cocktail side of the menu, with pastis, vermouths, amaro and digestifs forming the backbone of the list.
476 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11249 Williamsburg Eyal Shani opens his latest restaurant inside the new Williamsburg Wharf , and it’s an ode to simple and seasonal dishes. Designed to exist somewhere between a diner and a shared-plates spot, Naked Tomato draws inspiration from both the Mediterranean cuisine of Tel Aviv and the beauty of single ingredients (hence, the name). You’ll find wackily named dishes here (a Shani trademark at this point) like Spicy Instruments That Will Swirl Your Soul, but the food itself steers away from gimmicks and toward simple preparations, like green beans with a lemon-garlic vinaigrette. For a more intimate experience, make sure to reserve a seat at the kitchen counter, which will feature its own dedicated menu.
39 W. 19th St., New York, NY 10011 Flatiron Squeezing in with an opening on October 29 is Norte, restaurateur Alberto Martínez ’s (Cuerno) ode to the cuisine of northern Mexico and its tradition of live-fire cooking. The menu spans a wide range of produce and proteins, from a raw bar section featuring tostadas, ceviches and aguachiles to a variety of tacos—spit-roasted pork and crispy beef cheek among them—to USDA Prime steaks like a rib eye with bone marrow and garlic-chili sauce. Sip a margarita alongside your mains, or peruse the wine list, which features over 40 Mexican labels from eight different states.
199 Prince St., New York, NY 10012 Soho Romy , which opened on September 29, is the latest from restaurateurs Cobi Levy and Will Makris , who have made a name for themselves with buzzy downtown spots like Zero Bond and Lola Taverna. Their newest concept, which takes over the former Little Prince space, is, broadly, coastal cuisine, though flavor influences come from all over the globe. With chef Lucrezia Stella at the burners, dishes include everything from a simple bucatini al pomodoro to an Australian wagyu steak finished with three types of butter (beef fat, miso and pomegranate agrodolce).
59 Grand St., New York, NY 10013 Soho One of the year’s most anticipated openings has been Straker’s, the first international location of chef Thomas Straker’s celebrated London steakhouse. Housed inside the iconic space that was once Lucky Strike, fire is the preferred cooking medium here, whether it’s dishes cooked over a wood fire or in a wood-fired oven. Early standouts include a wood-roasted grouper with salsa verde and the T-bone with beef sauce, but don’t miss appetizers like the flatbread with girolles, taleggio and basil. The restaurant also wins points for its design: not only is there artwork by Keith Haring and Damien Hirst , but there are also bathrooms clad entirely in floor-to-ceiling marble.
344 W. 46th St., New York, NY 10036 Hell’s Kitchen It’s an eternal question: where can one eat well and quickly in or near the Theater District? Happily, we have a new entry to the field in Sakasama , a new hand roll, temaki and sake bar on W. 46th Street. Chef Georgie Castillo (Atoboy) and his team hold court around a 20-seat sushi counter, where rolls are more inventive than your standard spicy tuna—try the uni, wagyu, caviar and eel, for starters. Grab a signature set (with prices starting at a reasonable $22), or curate your own by the piece: either way, you can sip an ice-cold Sapporo or Suntory alongside.