Forging ahead in Tribeca!
Iron Chef Marc Forgione is a busy man this season. He recently opened Khe-Yo, a buzzy new Laotian restaurant, with chef Soulayphet Schwader (157 Duane St.; 212-587-1089). And later this month, the mohawked chef will continue his Tribeca takeover with the opening of American Cut, a chophouse serving pastrami-spice-crusted strip steak and a shrimp cocktail that the chef promises won’t be your typical, forgettable starter (363 Greenwich St.; 212-226-4736).
“Everything [will be] done with a real chef’s hand, not a steakhouse hand,” says Forgione of American Cut’s ingredient-driven menu.
Harlem Renaissance
Harlem is the city’s most stirring new dining frontier — not because there are any truly great restaurants yet, but because there are suddenly so many good, enjoyable ones.
Thriving modern-American, African-American and French spots are popping up, from Maison Harlem (341 St. Nicholas Ave.; 212-222-9224) to new Barawine (200 Lenox Ave.; 646-756-4154) and Boulevard Bistro (239 Lenox Ave.; 212-678-6200). Many are owned by Harlem residents who make a special effort to hire from the neighborhood.
There’s also a wealth of sidewalk seating that’s especially fun along Harlem’s gracious boulevards. Coming soon: an al fresco cafe at Senegalese bistro Les Ambassades (341 Lenox Ave.; 212-866-9700), which is doubling in size.
There’s also big money coming in. Former Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons is launching The Cecil (210 W. 118th St.; 212-866-1262), an “Afro-Asian-American” brasserie, later this month. More notably, next month Parsons will unveil Minton’s, a grand revival of long-closed jazz venue Minton’s Playhouse (206 W. 118th St.; 212-243-2222).
Spitfire cooking
Rotisserie — whole-roasting meat and vegetables over a spit to give them a succulent inside and crispy outside — may be one of the most primitive forms of cooking, but right now, it’s also one of the trendiest.
“It appeals in a very simple way to the senses,’’ maintains Georgette Farkas, a former cook, then head of communications for Daniel Boulud, who plans to open Rotisserie Georgette uptown next month (14 E. 60th St.; 212-390-8060). “There is something sexy about seeing food cooked over open flames.’’
At the Writing Room (1703 Second Ave.), a modern American restaurant opening next month in the old Elaine’s space on the Upper East Side, chef Lucas Billheimer has installed a vertical rotisserie to cook savory fall dishes such as pig infused with pineapple and served with pan-roasted root vegetables and chanterelle mushrooms.
Meanwhile, Dovetail chef John Fraser is taking the spitfire technique to the Standard East Village, where he’s opening a restaurant in November that will specialize in rotisserie vegetables (25 Cooper Square; 212-475-5700).
“[The rotisserie method] can yield wonderful flavors,’’ says Fraser. “Slow and low cooking is both difficult and rewarding.’’
Delicious New York debuts
Technically this isn’t Michel Richard’s first opening in New York, but it might as well be. In the 1970s, the French chef had a brief but unsuccessful Big Apple run with Chateau France before going on to make a name for himself in Los Angeles and Washington, DC. Now, decades later, he’s bringing his whimsical, California-infused French fare to Midtown’s New York Palace hotel.
He just opened a beautiful bakery, Pomme Palais (30 E. 51st St.; 212-303-7755), and in October, he’ll debut a fine-dining restaurant, Villard Michel Richard, around the corner (455 Madison Ave.; 212-891-8100). I’m “a little bit” nervous, admits the jovial chef when asked about his return to NYC. But, he says, “It’s going to be fun. I believe a restaurant should be food and fun.”
Been dreaming of visiting Jiro Ono’s raw fish temple in Tokyo ever since you watched “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”? Now’s your chance to get the next best thing. Jiro disciple Daisuke Nakazawa, who worked with the master for 11 years, just opened Sushi Nakazawa in the West Village (23 Commerce St., 212-924-2212).
“You won’t find miso soup, you won’t find teriyaki; you sit down at the sushi bar just like you were in Tokyo,” says restaurant partner and sommelier Maurizio De Rosa of the $150 omakase experience. But, in a break from tradition, the restaurant is offering sake and wine pairings.
And Ken Oringer, the James Beard award-winning chef who’s big in Boston, is bringing a branch of Toro, his modern tapas joint, to Chelsea in October (85 10th Ave.).
New Asian libations
This fall, two of the city’s trendiest Asian eateries are opening bars, where patrons can drink their way through the notoriously long waits for a table.
The Pok Pok crew has just opened
Whiskey Soda Lounge (115 Columbia St.; 718-797-4120) down the street from its popular Red Hook Thai restaurant. The welcoming, wood-paneled pub features drinks such as a tamarind whiskey sour ($12) and a menu of Thai drinking snacks that includes deep-fried anchovies with sriracha ($3) and Pok Pok’s famous Vietnamese fish sauce wings ($15). (“We can’t seem to escape those,” concedes Pok Pok director of operations Matthew Adams.)
Meanwhile, Decoy, a cocktail den and Peking duck parlor, is set to debut later this month beneath popular West Village Chinese spot RedFarm (529 Hudson St.). Owner Ed Schoenfeld says he’s brought over a special oven from China to do the birds right. “We’re going to be cooking ducks fresh to order,” he enthuses.
The Decoy space is currently home to RedFarm Steak, a pop-up restaurant that’s running while the upstairs eatery undergoes renovations expected to be complete by month’s end.
Stay and eat — well
The relationship between celebrated chefs and hotels has long been a mutually beneficial hookup, but this fall, it’s really a season of love for top toques and hot hotels.
“If a hotel doesn’t have a good restaurant, it’s missing an amenity,’’ declares Shaun Hergatt, who is helming the kitchen at just-opened Juni in the
Chandler, a boutique hotel (12 E. 31st St.; 212-995-8599) in Flatiron. For his creative, produce-heavy dishes, Hergatt will be sourcing ingredients from near (locally foraged micro arugula) and far (Frog Hollow peaches flown in from California). “We are focused on what is ripest at this moment,’’ he explains.
Meanwhile, Paul Liebrandt is set to bring even more buzz to Williamsburg’s King and Grove hotel when he opens Little Elm, an eight-seat chef’s counter within his new spot, The Elm, later this year (160 N. 12th St., Brooklyn; 718-218-7500).
In October, Marc Murphy (Landmarc, Ditch Plains) will debut American bistro
Kingside within Midtown’s soon-to-open Viceroy Hotel (120 W. 57th St.), and by year’s end, Geoffrey Zakarian (Lambs Club, the National) will be overseeing all restaurants at the Plaza (768 Fifth Ave.; 212-759-3000).
Upper West Side heats up
It’s all happening on the Upper West Side this fall — at long last.
Later this month, RedFarm will finally open its doors here, bringing chef Joe Ng’s dumplings to the Upper West Side (2170 Broadway; 212-724-9700). “It’s going to be our signature style of finely crafted, delicious, inauthentic Chinese food,” promises owner Ed Schoenfeld.
And Kefi, Michael Psilakis’ beloved neighborhood tavern that closed in February due to a watermain breakage, will reopen in October (505 Columbus Ave.; 212-873-0200).
“Everything is different,” enthuses Psilakis, who has rethought the upstairs bar and given the downstairs dining area a whole new look, with a palette of warm earth tones. The menu will remain much the same, but Psilakis is adding nightly specials of authentic Greek fare, like moussaka.
Other fall openings include Tessa, an elegant, neighborhood Mediterranean restaurant with southern French influences by Alsace-born chef Cedric Tovar (Amsterdam Avenue at 76th Street) coming in November; and Isola on Columbus, Sicilian-born restaurateur Sebastiano Cappitta’s revival of his old neighborhood staple, closed in 1996 (994 Columbus Ave.), set to open later this month.
BEST OF THE REST
UPTOWN
East Pole: Fat Radish owners Ben Towill and Phil Winser bring homey fare to the Upper East Side (133 E. 65th St.; 212-249-2222; now open).
Le Bilqoquet: Philippe Delgrange reopens his sceney French fusion spot at a new address (20 E. 60th St.; September).
Manhattan Cricket Club: A cocktail bar inspired by Australia’s cricket clubhouses (226 W. 79th St.; late September).
Ristorante Morini: Michael White’s runaway Italian empire expands to the Upper East Side (1167 Madison Ave.; late November).
MIDTOWN
Gotham West Market: Hell’s Kitchen gets an embarrassment of foodie riches in one mega-complex (600 11th Ave.; late October).
Ye Olde Lounge: Former P.J. Clarke’s bartender Doug Quinn opens his own place (218 E. 53rd St.; 212-355-6607; early November).
Brooklyn Fare Manhattan: The more casual Manhattan offshoot of Kings County’s temple to haute cuisine (431 W. 37th St.; late November).
Bo’s: The guys behind Montauk’s South Edison bring New Orleans food to the city (6 W. 24th St.; late September).
Tao Downtown: The pan-Asian mega-club opens a 22,000-square-foot outpost in the Maritime Hotel (363 W. 16th St.; 212-888-2724; fall).
DOWNTOWN
La Centita: Clubby Mexican in the old Abe & Arthur’s space (409 W. 14th St.; 646-289-3930; mid-September).
Bar Bolonat: Taim and Balaboosta’s Einat Admony goes more upscale with her modern Israeli cuisine (611 Hudson St.; mid-November).
Ivan Ram: Ramen maestro and New York native Ivan Orkin brings his Tokyo noodle joints to the Lower East Side (25 Clinton St.; November).
Telepan Local: Chef Bill Telepan takes his seasonal, locavore cuisine to Tribeca (329 Greenwich St.; November).
OUTER BOROUGHS
Marco’s: Beloved Brooklyn pizzeria Franny’s has moved down the street, making room for this trattoria offshoot in the old space. (295 Flatbush Ave., Prospect Heights; 718-230-0427; mid-September).
The River Cafe: After being ravaged by Hurricane Sandy, Dumbo’s fine-dining institution will fully reopen (1 Water St., Dumbo; late September).
Saul at the Brooklyn Museum: The Michelin-starred, farm-to-table restaurant moves from Cobble Hill to the museum (200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights; mid-October).
M.Wells Steakhouse: Montreal expats Hugue Dufour and wife Sarah Obraitis will open a beefy boite with a charred iceberg-wedge salad dressed with powdered ketchup and other eccentric offerings (43-15 Crescent St., Long Island City; late December).