Food & Drink

Haute ramen, hot chefs, hotter scenes: A guide to fall dining

Ra ra ramen

Warm up this fall with a steamy bowl of miso ramen from Ramen Lab.

Prepare to get bowled over this fall as the city’s ramen scene heats up with a number of new noodle joints.

In late September, acclaimed Japanese chef Shigetoshi Nakamura and Sun Noodle — the New Jersey company that supplies many of the city’s top ramen spots, including Ivan Ramen and Momofuku Noodle Bar — will open Ramen Lab (70 Kenmare St.) downtown. The noodle counter will serve Nakamura’s specialty, chicken shoyu, a traditional ramen with a clear broth and thin noodles, as well as four or five other unique ramens. “Our aim always is to educate the public,” says Sun Noodle’s Shawn Kim. “When [people] want to eat ramen, their first instinct is pork broth, but chicken shoyu really is the oldest style of ramen.”

Broth-tastic! Soup aficionados noodle around at Jin Ramen’s Harlem location. Next up, Upper West Side.Gabi Porter

In November, Harlem’s popular Jin Ramen is expanding to the Upper West Side (462 Amsterdam Ave.), and Hell’s Kitchen hot spot Totto Ramen, which uses Sun Noodles, is expanding in early September with a new location in Midtown East (below Hide-Chan Ramen at 248 E. 52nd St.). With about 50 seats, it will be Totto’s largest location yet, and will feature a standing bar so would-be slurpers don’t have to wait outside.

Further east, Per Se alum Joshua Smookler and his wife Heidy are opening Mu Ramen in Long Island City (1209 Jackson Ave.) in early October. Mu’s opening has been highly anticipated ever since the Smooklers held a series of pop-ups at a Queens bagel shop and in their own home last winter. Critics raved about their ramen, and soon their soup will be back on.

Chefs on the rise

Clockwise from top right: Amanda Cohen, Alex Stupak, Justin Smilie and George Mendes.Gabi Porter (4)

Some of the city’s hottest chefs are spreading their wings — and their tasty fare. Mexican king Alex Stupak is opening his third joint, Empellón al Pastor (132 St. Marks Place) this month.

“While this is the simplest, it’s turning out to be the most challenging,’’ says Stupak of the bar and tortilleria, dedicated to its namesake charred pork taco (it will also serve tacos guisados made with stewed meats or vegetables). “When you whittle it down to so few elements, they have to be perfect.”

Tapas from Tertulia.Gabi Porter

Fresh off his success with his tapas (left) at Tertulia and El Colmado, Seamus Mullen is opening El Colmado Butchery (53 Little West 12th St.) in October. It will sell meat and prepared food by day and operate as a tapas wine bar by night. “We will be brining, hanging, marinating and slow roasting heritage birds, lamb shoulder and suckling pig,’’ says Mullen.

In November, Amanda Cohen will upgrade her veggie mecca Dirt Candy, and move to a 54-seat space on the Lower East Side (86 Allen St.). “The [old] kitchen was so small, we haven’t been able to play around, but now we will have a lot more fun,” says Cohen.

In October, former Il Buco Alimentari chef Justin Smillie is bringing a rustic flair to Park Avenue with his new eatery, Upland (345 Park Ave. S.; 212-686-1006). It’ll feature California-inspired fare such as coffee-soaked lamb belly with okra and slow-roasted delicata squash with pear butter and Castelvetrano olives.

Meanwhile, in December, Michelin-starred Aldea chef George Mendes is opening his second spot — an Iberian-influenced, still unnamed project (835 Sixth Ave.). “It’s going to offer the food of my upbringing — soulful, traditional cooking based on the beer halls of Lisbon,’’ he explains. Get ready for charcuterie and classics like chicken marinated with piri piri pepper.

Market madness

Ed’s Lobster Bar will have an outpost at the forthcoming Gansevoort Market.Katie Foster

The grand market phenomenon that brought us Eataly, Gotham West and Chelsea Market is still going strong. The

Chef David Bouhadana is opening a new location of his popular Sushi Dojo in the new Gansevoort Market.Michael Sofronski

7,500-square-foot Gansevoort Market (52 Gansevoort St.; 212-981-8588) premieres later this month and will house more than 25 vendors, including Ed’s Lobster Bar, the Pig Guy, and, amazingly, an outpost of Sushi Dojo. There will even be a DJ on weekends.

Le District (255 Liberty St.; 212-981-8588) will bring a bit of France to lower Manhattan’s Brookfield Place, with a restaurant and cafe opening in November and a large market containing a boulangerie, fromagerie, charcuterie, boucherie, poissonnerie and wine bar to follow in March.

In October, the new Urbo (11 Times Square; 212-542-8950), a bi-level food center, complete with a coffee and retail shop, will unveil a high-end restaurant, Urbo Loft.

Eric Ripert’s alter ego

Enjoy elegant interiors at Aldo Sohm Wine Bar, an offshoot of Eric Ripert’s Le Bernardin.Brian Zak

The four-star sovereign of Manhattan seafood restaurants has spawned a sweet little princeling next door. Aldo Sohm Wine Bar (151 W. 51st St.; 212-554-1143), the first expansion of Le Bernardin, is open for lunch and dinner in the AXA Equitable Center arcade. Midtown vino-wrangling might never be the same.

Named for Le Bernardin’s celebrated head sommelier, the wine bar is the mother ship’s yin-yang alter-ego: walk-ins rather than reservations, and peanuts-priced compared with Le B’s $135 minimum pre-fixe dinner.

Charcuterie at Aldo Sohm Wine Bar.Brian Zak

And not a molecule of fish! What’s the big idea?

“If anyone’s in the mood for fish, there’s a restaurant called Le Bernardin that does a very good job,” chef/co-owner Eric Ripert laughs.

Blond wood and low-hung ceiling fixtures make an airy oasis. A gleaming oak bar doubles as a communal table, and there are cozy, upholstered sectional seats in the room’s center.

Of Sohm’s 200 bottle choices, more than half are priced under $100, with a few for all of $33. Of 19 by-the-glass choices, 12 are $20 or under. They flatter a nosher’s heaven of salads, charcuterie, mini-boudin blancs ($8.50 for six!), spicy lamb merguez ($6.75) and baked portobellos rich enough to mistake for beef.

(Open 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 4:30 to 11:30 p.m. weekdays; till midnight Friday and Saturday.)

Movers and shakers get cooking

Designer Ralph Lauren (inset) already has two culinary hits on his hands with the RL Grill in Chicago (above) and Ralph’s in Paris. In November, he’s opening the Polo Bar in Midtown East.
White Street will serve up market-driven fare, such as this braised short rib with mustard puree, grits and fresh horseradish.Gabi Porter
Domingo ZapataBrian Zak

What’s good food without a great scene?

Famed art dealer Larry Gagosian is getting into the restaurant biz with Kappo Masa, a Japanese restaurant he’s opening later this month adjacent to his namesake gallery with legendary Masa chef Masayoshi Takayama (976 Madison Ave.).

And if the impossible-to-score-a-res Ralph Lauren restaurant, Ralph’s, in Paris is any indication, Ralph Lauren’s much anticipated Fifth Avenue eatery, the Polo Bar (1 E. 55th St.), is bound to attract a bevy of beauties when it opens in November. It’s the designer’s first restaurant in NYC.

If that’s too far uptown, NYC artist (and rumored Lindsay Lohan paramour) Domingo Zapata has teamed with Gerber Group to open Studio (201 Park Ave. S.; 212-358-1560) in the W Hotel. “I want it to be like my basement,” muses Zapata. “I want it to be a very spontaneous place.” Meanwhile, the literary crowd will undoubtedly flock to market-driven White Street (221 West Broadway, 212-WHITE-ST), the Tribeca spot helmed by media honchos Dan Abrams and Dave Zinczenko (they’re also investors in the Lion), and Bondst vet, Christine Cole. “There’s a natural, high-profile Rolodex just given who Dan and Dave are,” says Cole. Highlights include the squid-ink spaghetti with crab meat and an Abrams-approved wine list.

More restaurants to fill up on

Uptown

The Lounge: Harlow owner Richie Notar reopens the legendary Lenox Lounge jazz club. (333 Lenox Ave.; November)

Lincoln Square Steak: Bruno Selimaj of Club A is opening a steakhouse in the former Loi space. (208 W. 70th St.; 212-875-8600; November)

Midtown

Palm Court: Geoffrey Zakarian reinvents an elegant room at the Plaza. (The Plaza Hotel, 768 Fifth Ave.; 212-546-5300; September)

Marta: A new pizza spot from Danny Meyer and Maialino toque Nick Anderer in the Martha Washington Hotel. (29 E. 29th St.; 212-651-3800; September)

The Little Beet Table: The popular healthy lunch spot expands with a sitdown restaurant. (333 Park Avenue South; October)

Cosme: Acclaimed experimental Mexican chef Enrique Olvera opens his first place in New York. (35 E. 21st St.; 212-913-9659; September)

State Grill and Bar: The Empire State Building finally gets an upscale dining room. (350 Fifth Ave.; October)

Park Avenue Autumn: The ultimate seasonal restaurant, which changes its name and décor four times a year, reopens in a new location. (360 Park Avenue South.; 212-951-7111; September)

Downtown

Dirty French: The Carbone team’s take on French cuisine will serve updates on Gallic classics. (Ludlow Hotel, 180 Ludlow St.; 212-254-3000; now open)

Bowery Meat Co.: A steakhouse with lightened-up sides from John McDonald, Josh Capon (Lure) and Peter Kane (Beauty & Essex). (9 E. First St.; 212-460-5255; September)

Via Carota: Buvette’s Jody Williams and I Sodi’s Rita Sodi are opening an all-day Italian eatery. (51 Grove St.; September)

Shuko: After a summer pop-up in the Hamptons, the original Neta duo, Nick Kim and Jimmy Lau, are opening an artistic sushi den. (47 E. 12th St.; October)

Alegre: Chef Aarón Sánchez is returning to the East Village to create a menu celebrating the cuisine of his mother, Zarela Martinez (146 Orchard St.; October)

Happy Ending: The popular LES bar reopens with the same name but new interiors, new owners and a Michelin-starred chef. (302 Broome St.; October)

High Line Restaurant: Another one from the Carbone team, this time with light Italian fare in a space designed by Renzo Piano. (820 Washington St.; 212-254-3000; October)

Birds & Bubbles: Fried chicken is the cuisine du jour, and City Grit’s Sarah Simmons is brining her bird for 48 hours and pairing it with Champagne. (100B Forsyth St.; December)

Little Park: Andrew Carmellini and Co.’s new spot in the Smyth Hotel is rumored to be a farm-to-table concept. (85 West Broadway; December)

Outer boroughs

Yellow Magnolia Café: A new, veggie-centric restauant at Brooklyn Botanic Garden will source ingredients from the garden’s grounds. (990 Washington Ave., Prospect Heights; 718-307-7137; October)

Arrogant Swine: Dig into Carolina-style smoked whole hog at Tyson Ho’s barbecue beer garden. (173 Morgan Ave., Bushwick; October)

El Cortez: Mexican barbecue from the guys behind popular fried chicken bar Commodore. (17 Ingraham St., Bushwick; October)

Ganso Yaki: Tadashi Ono is at it again with this izakaya. Atlantic Ave., Boerum Hill; 718-493-0900; October)