(Bloomberg) -- New York’s insider summer restaurant season—when locals decamp to the Hamptons, the Catskills and the Greek isles and the city’s hottest places have open seats—is winding down. That signals the search for new spots opening this Fall.
A couple of New York’s best-known chefs are launching new concepts. One is the unstoppable French restaurateur Daniel Boulud. Already this year, he introduced his revamped Upper East Side enclave, Café Boulud, the adjoining French spot Maison Barnes and Cuisine Boulud, which caters to the city’s power lunch scene. Next up is La Tête d’Or, a French-accented steakhouse with a beef-focused omakase counter at One Madison Avenue.
Meanwhile, Empellón’s star chef, Alex Stupak, will spearhead the casual seafood menus at the luxe restaurant and bar concepts, the Otter and Sloane’s, in the sleek Manner hotel, slated to open in Soho in September.
But what’s most notable this season are the small indie concepts coming from talented chefs who helped run top kitchens around town. Nicholas Tamburo worked with Josh Pinsky at Momofuku Ko and the hit East Village wine bar Claud. Now he’s opening his own East Village restaurant, Smithereens, an intimate New England seafood spot.
Two Ignanio Mattos protégées—Estela veteran Sam Lawrence and Cafe Altro Paradiso alum Zack Zeidman—are leading new concepts, both with French-Basque menus. Lawrence’s Bridges is coming to Chinatown, while Zeidman will man the kitchen at the Sushi Noz team’s hotly-anticipated Upper East Side bistro, Chef Fifi.
Also making news: Notable Brooklyn restaurateur Andrew Tarlow is opening his first Manhattan spot. The Italian trattoria Borgo makes its debut next month in the Nomad neighborhood; when cold weather hits, seats near the fireplace should be a hot commodity.
These are just a few of the exciting places to book this Fall; more news about this season’s expanding restaurant scene follows.
Sushi by Scratch, Flatiron
Seven years after debuting in Los Angeles, husband-and-wife team Phillip Frankland Lee and Margarita Kallas-Lee are opening the first New York outlet of their Westernized omakase sushi concept, a dimly lit, 10-seat counter, on Broadway and 21st Street. There’s a devout following for bites like hamachi brushed with sweet corn pudding and the umami-laced roasted bone marrow series: First, the unctuous filling is served with soy and wasabi root; the bone becomes a vessel to fry freshwater eel. The $225, 17-course menu will be an exact replica of their offerings at other locations, with fish flown in twice a week from Tokyo’s Toyosu Fish Market. The drinks program highlights Japanese cocktails, whisky, beers and sakes. Projected Opening: Sept. 6
Cafe Commerce, Upper East Side
Almost a decade after beloved chef Harold Moore closed Commerce downtown—taking his indulgent coconut cake, layered with cream cheese frosting, with him—the approachable American neighborhood joint is reopening on Lexington near 70th Street. The team is even bringing back Commerce’s gold-leaf-accented 19-foot-tall mural of Saint Sebastian, which will hang above the bar, and fan-favorite cocktails like the Agave Stinger with tequila, lime and burnt honey syrup. For his menu, the chef is resurrecting his steak Diane, large-format foie gras, bread-stuffed roast chicken and other signatures, along with new plates such as short rib and Parmesan ravioli in red wine sauce. The place will have a casual, cozy bistro aesthetic, seating just 44 in the dining room and 14 at the bar. Projected Opening: Sept. 10
Malka Dumbo, Dumbo, Brooklyn
Eyal Shani, the Tel Aviv chef behind the global pita-oriented street food chain Miznon, has built a mini Israeli dining empire since touching down in Manhattan six years ago. This fall, the chef is expanding his seasonal-leaning Israeli restaurant Malka, with its signature chicken schnitzel stuffed with mashed potatoes, to a third location on Adams Street in Dumbo. Expect a casual, neighborhood-friendly spot with a simple wooden interior and a few Brooklyn-oriented dishes. Burekas, the stuffed pastries, are filled with scallion and za’atar; desert tomato farro risotto is topped with dill. The drinks menu will feature a handful of French and Israeli wines and a rotating menu of cocktails. Pro tip: Don’t miss the creamy tahini-accented espresso martini. Projected Opening: Mid-September
Bridges, Chinatown
Longtime Estela executive chef Sam Lawrence and co-owners Nicolas Mouchel and Josephine Stuart are channeling Parisian bistro energy for their 60-plus-seat French-Basque restaurant on Chatham Square. The rectangular 2,300-square-foot space has glass block walls, chrome accents and cherry wood and black leather banquettes for a futuristic art deco look. Lawrence’s menu offers Comté tarts with hazelnut and porcini, plus larger dishes such as roast duck with persimmons and spiced squash. Up front there’s a 12-stool bar, where the bartender will pour unfussy classic and seasonal cocktails alongside wines from Old World and up-and-coming regions.Projected Opening: Sept. 25
Borgo, Nomad
It’s been a while since Brooklyn’s pioneering farm-to-table restaurateur Andrew Tarlow launched a project. Now, a decade after the inception of Achilles Heel, he’s opening his first Manhattan project, the trattoria Borgo, on East 27th Street. Tarlow calls it the “restaurant of my dreams,” with a working fireplace, gently arched ceilings, a spacious welcoming bar, a lush back garden and two dining rooms that together seat 140. A wood-burning oven anchors the open kitchen; Jordan Frosolone will use it to cook meats and fish. He’ll also serve vegetable-focused contorni and antipasti and fettuccine with guinea hen ragu. Along with tableside martini service and a digestivi cart stocked with amaris, beverage director Lee Campbell plans to offer a low-intervention European wine list.Projected Opening: Late September
Acru, Greenwich Village
In tasting menu news, former Atomix sous chef Daniel Garwood will serve five-course dinners on MacDougal Street this fall. The earth-toned 47-seat restaurant is the first non-Korean concept from Na:Eun Hospitality Group (Atomix, Atoboy). Garwood says he’s taking inspiration from his native Australia; his grilled-sausage-stuffed bread tart with pickled onions is a take on the sausage sizzle, the popular sandwich from an Aussie hardware chain. He’ll use his “Seamite,” a Vegemite-style spread made from seaweed, to marinate grilled lamb saddle. Acru’s 11-seat bar will pour French and American wines and serve cocktails, including a gin-based Bees Knees with grilled lemon. Accompanying snacks will include house potato chips layered with a mussel emulsion, caviar and vinegar powder. Projected Opening: Late September
Time and Tide, Flatiron
Fresh off a Top Chef Season 21 win, Danny Garcia will open this modern fish house on Park Avenue South under the auspices of late chef James Kent’s Kent Hospitality Group. On offer: shellfish platters and large format seafood dishes like shiso-accented fluke Milanese. The 110-seat restaurant—which will also have a raw bar and a cocktail bar—is inspired by Kent’s Long Island beach house, with terracotta-tiled floors and a lighting system that slowly dims over the course of the evening to mimic the sun setting over the bay. Overstory’s acclaimed bar director, Harrison Ginsberg, will spearhead the maritime-themed drinks.
A sliver of the 7,000-square-foot space will be home to European-American bakery Baby Birdee, featuring executive pastry chef Renata Amen’s viennoiserie, layer cakes and focaccia. Projected Opening: October
Kebabwala, East Village
The Unapologetic Foods team—Roni Mazumdar and executive chef Chintan Pandya—has built an attention-getting empire of bold, regional Indian restaurants across the city, including Dhamaka and Semma. Mazumdar describes his next project as “a shot in the arm of a Delhi night market, with kebabs, bread and the whole nine yards.” The minute space, at the corner of Second Avenue and 4th Street, has just 10 seats inside and 10 outside; it’s designed to be more of a takeout joint. Pandya’s working menu includes Seekh Kebab (chicken or beef), Boti Kebab (lamb skewers) and Chicken Tikka. Bison, sometimes served in place of beef in India, may make an appearance, too.Projected Opening: Early October
Cactus Wren, Lower East Side
This dark-wood-paneled, 42-seat spot, from 63 Clinton chef Sam Clonts and partner Raymond Trinh, will be set on the prime corner space at Rivington and Ludlow. Cactus Wren will be a casual wine-centered hangout, with an à la carte menu. While the wine list will highlight back vintages from small producers in classic growing regions worldwide, bites will include trout roe tartlet, scallop aguachile and even an aged Comté and honey pizza. Clonts made golden ossetra caviar hand rolls a marquee dish at Uchu and 63 Clinton; here the same caviar might top flour tortillas with white Marcona almond salsa.Projected Opening: Early October
Heroes and Pearl Box, Soho
Ariel Arce (Tokyo Record Bar, Niche Niche) has taken over three floors of a carriage house on West Broadway near Broome for her dual-concept restaurant and bar. The design comes from the team that did hip homeware store Coming Soon. On the ground floor, the 45-seat Heroes has a futuristic-modern look, drawn in lavender and burnt sienna tones and dark wood furniture. Partner/chef Aaron Lirette’s menu prioritizes nose-to-tail cooking and dishes like oxtail beignets and a dry-aged dairy cow rib-eye; partner/beverage director Kenneth Crum has selected a wine list of established and up-and-coming small producers. At the third floor Pearl Box, where the aesthetic channels the 1970s Playboy After Dark era with a hot red interior and vintage bar, there’s caviar service, bourbon milk punch and indulgent snacks such as sherried chanterelles with grilled bread and black truffle and charred corn. In between, on level two, is a private dining room.Projected Opening: Early October
Chez Fifi, Upper East Side
The newest project from Sushi Noz co-owners Josh and David Foulquier has nothing to do with elite Japanese fish. Chez Fifi will be an elegant-casual 42-seat French-ish bistro named after their late mother. The restaurant is set on two floors of a four-story townhouse decorated with dark, rich tones, mahogany paneling and burgundy leather banquettes. Chef Zack Zeidman will oversee the seasonal French-Basque menu with selections such as grilled turbot, côte de boeuf, brandade croquetas and Txangurro a la Donostiarra, aka clam rice. One thing Chez Fifi will have in common with Sushi Noz is a deep, high-powered French wine list. The second floor will be home to a plush lounge, Salon de Fifi à L’Etage, overseen by bartender Yumi Nemoto, serving French cocktails and drinks made with vintage spirits, including 1950’s armagnacs and eau de vies.Projected Opening: Mid-October
Cafe Zaffri, Union Square
On the ground floor of the nine-story former home of heiress and philanthropist Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt, Cafe Zaffri is a 2,100-square-foot, all-day restaurant that will anchor the forthcoming hotel and member’s only club, the Twenty Two. The multiroom cafe was designed by the Post Company in partnership with Child Studio, with plenty of ivory, amber and burgundy accents, wood-paneled walls, Persian rugs and a green marble bar for drinks like a Saffron Sour. The female-led team from the Musket Room and Raf’s runs the dining room; the menu is inspired by executive chef Mary Attea’s Lebanese heritage. During the day, she’ll serve a green herb-flecked shakshuka and grilled prawns with arak and tarragon; at 5 p.m.; dinner kicks in with lamb tartare and grilled octopus with harissa.Projected Opening: Mid-October
Yamada, Chinatown
Pioneering New York kaiseki chef Isao Yamada—who helmed Kaiseki Room by Yamada and worked alongside the late chef David Bouley at Brushstroke—is back with this 12-seat counter spot. The collaboration with Kooth Hospitality is set inside the Canal Arcade close to the group’s two other restaurants, Nakaji and Kono. The chef promises his famed foie gras dashi chawanmushi with steamed awabi (abalone) will be on his opening 10-course, seasonal menu; so will his also renowned freshly whisked matcha. The design of the snug 1,200-square-foot space is “Japandi,” the now ubiquitous blend of Japanese simplicity and Scandinavian functionality.Projected Opening: Late October
Gui Steakhouse and Bar 92, Times Square
Surf and turf is the focus at the forthcoming Asian-accented steakhouse from chef Sungchul Shim of the modern Korean Michelin-starred Mari and Kochi. The 130-seat restaurant will have a vast selection of beef, from dry aged porterhouse to thick-cut wagyu galbi, and seafood that’s raw or cooked on a custom, binchotan-fueled Jospher grill. Alongside will be kimchi paella made with house-cured bacon, Caledonian blue prawns poached with Sichuan peppercorns and other dishes. Desserts, including baked Alaska flambéed tableside, will come from Le Bernardin alum Thomas Racquel. Downstairs, at the mother-of-pearl-accented Bar 92, Shim is working on a dry aged wagyu burger with optional truffle brie cheese topping. There will be an abundance of sool and traditional Korean alcoholic drinks like soju and makgeolli (a cloudy, beerlike drink made from fermented rice), as well as low-intervention wines from Burgundy, Champagne and other regions. Projected Opening: Late October
Smithereens, East Village
Chef Nicholas Tamburo is taking over a cozy, subterranean space on East 9th Street for a raw and cooked seafood-rich menu that will pay tribute to his New England roots. He promises Anadama bread, the mildly sweet, golden-hued cornmeal loaf, with butter, and a riff on New England clam chowder, along with grilled skate wing wrapped in pork fat. Former Momofuku Ko beverage director Nikita Malhotra is spearheading the wine list, with a focus on whites from Germany and other coastal regions. The 48-seat restaurant, with a bar, dining counter and dining room, was designed by Ian Chapin of Edsel to craft a dark, tavernesque space with a cork floor and blackened-cedar tables.Projected Opening: Early November
Star Chef Spots
The Otter and Sloane’s, Soho
Toward the end of September, Mexican maestro Alex Stupak will open a simple, all-day seafood restaurant, the Otter, at the posh Manner hotel on Thompson Street. Within the luxe marble and bronze-accented space, he’ll serve raw bar items, a lobster roll and a swordfish steak au poivre. At the neighboring Sloane’s cocktail lounge, Stupak’s small plate menu complements the selection of martinis and sours with a shrimp cocktail and cottage fries with ranch dip and caviar.
La Tête d’Or, Flatiron
In November the legendary Daniel Boulud will open his first New York steakhouse, serving French-accented dishes on the ground floor of the renovated luxury office tower One Madison Avenue in the Flatiron. He plans to source beef from ranches in the Midwest and Japan and grill the steaks over a wood-fueled hearth. In addition to vast and various dining spaces, David Rockwell has designed an omakase counter for a steak tasting menu.
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