We have no reservations about all the exciting new dining options this fall — but we hope you’ll make some!
Seafood in the Meatpacking District
Chef Hung Huynh, who took the “Top Chef” trophy in 2007, is hoping to reel in New Yorkers with Catch, his new American seafood spot opening Sept. 19 in a tri-level brick-and-glass Meatpacking space (21 Ninth Ave.; 212-392-5978).
“The pressure’s a little higher,” Huynh admits. “New Yorkers are tough and very knowledgeable about flavors . . . so we’re taking flavors from all over the world — the Mediterranean, Asia, Europe, South America.”
MORE OPENINGS FOR YOUR FALL MENU
Huynh, prepping for more than a year with the team behind hot spots Tenjune and Abe & Arthur’s, says he’s eager to bring seafood to the neighborhood (“I always liked to work the fish station,” he notes). His menu will highlight signature dishes such as seared scallops with tamarind brown butter and the white chocolate cauliflower purée he perfected on the show.
His quickfire knife skills will be on display with chef’s tables and two open kitchens — one with a raw bar, sushi bar and seafood tapas station on the second floor, and a sprawling open kitchen on the third floor for larger-dish meals. Meanwhile, expect things to heat up on the rooftop, which will house a year-round glassed-in lounge. Adding to the modern feel, each level will be connected by floating copper stairs and massive glass panes surrounding a central piece of timber.
While Huynh’s never cooked in an open kitchen before, he hasn’t lost a bit of his signature spunk. “It’s not nerve-wracking — I’m excited.”
The Financial District Meets TriBeCa
The southern tip of Manhattan has long suffered the dreaded DAD label — Dead After Dark. But a rush of new residents and pedigreed restaurants is keeping this ’hood wide awake long after the office lights of the Financial District and its surroundings dim. Someday, this area may rival neighboring TriBeCa as a dining destination. For now, here’s what’s new in both spots.
Chef Floyd Cardoz isn’t launching his North End Grill in Battery Park City (104 North End Ave.) until December, but says, “I’m already getting e-mails from people who live in the area, asking when we’re going to be open.”
Cardoz, a winner on Bravo’s “Top Chef Master” and previously kitchen chief at Tabla, will join Danny Meyer’s downtown dominion, next to outposts of Blue Smoke Battery Park City (255 Vesey St.; opening December) and BPC’s very own Shake Shack, which opened last spring in the same complex.
“It’s been an underserved area for 30 years,” says Cardoz, whose new venue boasts refined grilling techniques adopted from South America, seasonal seafood seared in an open kitchen and a bar stocked with scotches. “Being downtown is a huge opportunity, and we all believe the people will come.”
Acclaimed Portland, Ore., chef Matthew Lightner recently moved downtown to ready Atera, in TriBeCa (77 Worth St.; 212-226-1444), his first NYC restaurant.
A Food & Wine best new chef winner, Lightner will show off his famous food-
foraging skills starting in October, presenting “progressive American dining” centered on locally grown wild roots, vegetables, berries and seafood.
But don’t fret. Lightner won’t be Dumpster-diving for downtown leftovers. “The kind of foraging we do is in the wild — more of these secluded, serene environments” in the Catskills and other upstate farms, he explains. “People think, ‘Where in New York is there to forage? It’s a concrete island.’ But we lose track that there’s bountiful land all around us.”
Other new spots coming this fall include Pane Panelle, a kiosk in the back of Stuzzicheria offering Sicilian sandwiches, pints of meatballs and more, packed to go (305½ Church St.; 212-219-2357; Sept. 7); The Fulton, serving American classics with a twist in an “old New York” bistro setting (121 Fulton St.; mid-September); and a second branch of Francois Payard’s popular patisserie, FPB Battery Park City (210 Murray St.; late September).
New Late-Night Bites by the Numbers
This fall, raise a glass to great eats and educational libations. Count the bottles of Eastern European vodkas at Veselka Bowery (9 E. First St.; 212-387-7000), offspring of the beloved East Village Ukrainian soul-food joint. The new spot, opening in early October, will boast a full bar focused on small-producer vodkas from Poland, Ukraine and Russia, and an expanded menu. “It will be different and creative,” promises owner Tom Birchard.
Keep counting to Bar ‘21’ — overtaking the ground-floor lounge at famed the ‘21’ Club (21 W. 52nd St.; 212-582-7200) this September. But please, no math with a mouthful of mini-burgers.
Then brush up on your history at vintage speakeasy the Vault at Pfaff’s, where you can party like it’s 1855. The glitterati are sure to flock here for upscale cocktails and gourmet late-night bites (643 Broadway; 212-253-5421).
Refresh your German geography as der barkeeper at Landbrot pours premium German beers, along with fresh pretzels and pastries. Two locations open mid-September (137 Seventh Ave. South; 212-255-7300; and 185 Orchard St.; 212-260-2900).
Next, check out the Greenwich Village Country Club, a “rock ’n’ roll meets preppy” nostalgic playground inside Bowlmor Lanes, sporting NYC’s first indoor mini-golf course, complete with nibbles from chef David Burke (110 University Place; 212-255-8188; Oct. 15).
Grab an anatomy lesson from the Spotted Pig’s Nate Smith at Allswell, where you can munch on late-night burgers or dissect whole- or half-pig meals until the wee hours (124 Bedford Ave., Williamsburg; 347-799-2743; October).
Finally, earn extra credit with vino lessons from master sommelier Laura Maniec at Corkbuzz Wine Studio in Union Square (13 E. 13th St.; opens mid-October). Then form a study group at the new Terroir Murray Hill, featuring wild wines and savory delights from chef Marco Canora (439 Third Ave.; September), or at Jaunty’s wine bar next to Vinegar Hill House, also offering evening shellfish platters (70 Hudson Ave., Brooklyn; October).
Deep-pocketed decadence hits the Dream Downtown
The doctor is in — and he’s prescribing high cuisine. Likely the world’s only neurologist with a Michelin star, chef Miguel Sánchez Romera will translate the “neurogastronomy” he practiced at L’Esguard in Barcelona (frequently compared to Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli) to Romera New York in late September. Romera has explained his avant-garde cooking strategy as playing tricks on eaters’ brains, using sights, smells and temperatures to trigger feelings of fullness.
“Essentially I haven’t changed anything,” Romera says of his nutrition-focused cooking style, which features Cassavia (a yucca-based, fat-free paste he invented that takes on any taste or shape), vibrantly flavored waters, mini-vegetables and an array of curious dishes noted for being shockingly light yet satisfying. “I’ve added some accents, dashes and commas to complete the New York and American gustatory sentence,” he adds.
A taste of his cerebral concoctions comes with a hefty price tag — dinner is only offered in the form of a $245 12-course tasting menu, served under specialized tableside lighting, amid interior hanging gardens in the Dream Downtown Hotel (355 W. 16th St.; 212-929-5800).
But Romera tells The Post his concept is “necessary” for a city that considers itself a world capital of fine food. “[It] goes beyond the expectations of dining, using cuisine as a platform to express culture, art, nature, science and emotions.”
The prodigious Romera left Argentina for Spain when he was 26. There, between hospital shifts, he succumbed to his need not only to cook, but to create singular, stunning meals that challenge preconceived notions of dinner. (In reality, his ingredient lists are often lengthy, nutritious and astonishing in their wild pairings . . . seaweed cream and pansies make friends in his dishes.)
While he won’t be practicing neurology in NYC, Romera says he’s certain to use neuroscientific techniques to expand his unique approach to gastronomy later this fall.
“You cannot imagine how excited I am to cook [for] New York,” he assures.
Dr. Romera, you can’t image how excited New York is to try it.
Peruvian star chef sets his sights on Madison Square Park
Peru’s renowned chef Gastón Acurio has amassed a trail of 29 restaurants, launching in the Andes, crisscrossing through 12 countries and finally winding into Madison Square Park early next month (11 Madison Ave.; 212-612-3388). La Mar Cebicheria Peruana is the latest triumph in Acurio’s mission to spread high-end Peruvian specialties — ceviches, anticuchos, tiraditos — across the world.
“We are serving traditional Peruvian cuisine with a modern twist,” explains executive chef Victoriano Lopez, who’s worked beside Acurio for the past 17 years. “We make sure each location has a unique menu and its own personality.”
He wagers the biggest new hits at La Mar NYC will include cebiche nikkei (a Japanese-Peruvian hybrid of yellow-fin tuna marinated in lime juice, peppers and ginger); a variety of causas (seasoned potato dumplings, often mashed with lime, onion, avocado and various proteins); and el lomo saltado (stir-fried sirloin strips with fried potato wedges). “The rest you’ll have to come and try,” he teases.
The restaurant’s bilevel space (previously Danny Meyer’s Tabla) will show off La Mar’s signature splash of bright colors and decorative installations made of corn — but with a slightly more restrained palette, a nod to New York’s clean and contemporary point of view.
Still, Lopez, who began work in Lima as a street vendor at age 18, says the heart of his cooking won’t change. “From the street cart to La Mar New York and beyond, it will always be Victoriano,” he says. “All to make the New Yorkers very happy.”