By Amy Rosner and Caroline Grogan By Amy Rosner and Caroline Grogan | July 19, 2021 | Food & Drink,
New York City is back, baby, and so are everyone’s favorite restaurants along with some newcomers that have already made a splash in the restaurant world. Here is a roundup of the best of the best restaurants to visit, all with stunning decor and inspired dishes.
Studio 151/ichi-go-ichi
If someone said speakeasies should only be for bars, it’s safe to say they haven’t been to Studio 151/ichi-go-ichi. This chic restaurant serving cocktails and a stripped-down menu of sushi and hand rolls is located above Nublu Club, a hotspot for live jazz music. Choose from a variety of sushi including Japanese barracuda and a toro uni caviar roll or let the chef choose for you and indulge in their $80 omakase menu while relaxing in the lounge-like dining room with vinyl records spinning as the backdrop to your meal.
151 Loisaida Ave / Website
See also: Gotham Guide: New Tastes From Nice Day, Brookyln Kolache, Old John's & More
The Musket Room
Michelin-starred NoLita restaurant The Musket Room is a celebrated neighborhood restaurant with a beautiful and rustic garden for dining al fresco as well as a warm, intimate dining room with a long bar that is perfect for happy hour drinks. The menu defies categorization, featuring a unique array of dishes drawing on the culinary team’s heritages and world travels. During the summer, Pastry Chef Camari Mick, formerly of Le Bernardin, is serving up new housemade ice cream sandwiches with rotating flavours from the takeout window. The inspired offerings include an oishi berry sandwiched between pistachio macaroons as well as a chocolate chip cookie sandwich with miso ice cream. On July 31st, The Musket Room will host acclaimed magician and mentalist Mark Clearwater, where his dazzling performance will be paired with a four-course meal and a bespoke cocktail. Tickets are available here.
265 Elizabeth St. / Website
Planta Queen
Who ever said vegan food had to be boring? With locations across the US and in Canada, all-vegan, high-end restaurant chain Planta has opened their first location in NYC’s Flatiron. Planta Queen brings an Asian spin to the flavorful, vegetable-based cuisine that Chef David Lee has become known for, with dishes like a spicy “tuna” roll made with watermelon, a beet-based avocado lime tartare and and a number of fried rice and noodle plates. Though their food is meant to be ordered family style and casually shared amongst diners, walking into Planta Queen feels more like entering a swanky lounge than a typical restaurant. The large space opens up with floor-to-ceiling windows, a downstairs level dubbed the “Dragon’s Den,” and a 14-seat bar where you can sip cocktails with whimsical names like “Mez-cal Me Maybe” and “Been There Thai’d That.” Stop by for dinner on Monday for $27 unlimited maki rolls, Wednesday for half-priced wine or Friday for $20 specialty dumpling platters.
15 W 27th St. / Website
Le Pavillon
Le Pavillon is a classy French restaurant from Chefs Daniel Boulud, Michael Balboni and William Nacev that opened in Midtown in May of 2021. The 11,000-square-foot restaurant is a multi-story, glassed-in space with a garden full of greenery that turns the dining room into a garden oasis. Boulud, who grew up on a farm outside of Lyon, France, sticks to his vegetarian cooking roots with a menu that emphasizes farm and sea fare, with less of a focus on meat and poultry dishes. The three course, prix-fixe dinner menu (for $125) features dishes including Oysters “Vanderbilt,” an oyster chowder with a hazelnut-parsley crust, a coy nod to the nearby Grand Central Oyster Bar. While the name Le Pavillon pays homage to the restaurant of the same name that debuted at the World Fair in 1939 and spurred an interest in French restaurants around the country, Boulud has chosen the name to pay homage to France and New York City while carving out a menu that is entirely his own.
One Vanderbilt Ave / Website
Cote Steakhouse
Cote, a Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse, fuses owner Simon Kim’s home country’s love for cooking with beef with his appreciation for the American steakhouse. What is born of the two is a wholly unique dining experience underscored by the dark and moody lighting that envelops you from the second you walk inside. The buzzy restaurant is great for group dinners, and first-timers should try the “Butcher's Feast,” an aptly named multi-course where diners should work up an appetite before their reservation. where you will be served four cuts of beef, an outstanding egg souffle and an array of side dishes that deserve as much attention as the steaks themselves. Each cut of beef is first presented to the table raw so that diners can admire the marbling before it is cooked, portioned and served right at the table. After dinner, head downstairs to Undercote, the restaurant’s jungle-themed basement bar situated next to the underground, glowing red meat locker, for cocktails and a one-of-a-kind Champagne list.
16 W 22nd St. / Website
Au Za’atar
If you happen to pass by 12th and Avenue A while strolling through the East Village around dinner time, you’ll likely see the line for Au-Za’atar stretching around the block. An evening dinner at the restaurant dishing up Lebanese and Middle Eastern fare is, however, well worth the wait. With an extensive wine list and a menu designed for sharing, this restaurant is perfect for any occasion from a brunch with friends to an intimate date night. While all of the food is to die for, the real standout is their shawarma, a Levantine Arab dish consisting of thinly sliced meat stacked in a cone-like shape roasted on a slow-turning vertical rotisserie and served surrounded by seasoned fries with sliced tomatoes and red onions. The shawarma is cooked in small batches throughout the day, and it is perfect for three to four people along with one or two appetizers.
188 Ave A / Website
Dame
Popular West Village seafood spot Dame is a classic example of a New York success story. Chef Ed Szymanski and Patricia Howard first opened the seafood joint as a pop-up during the summer of 2020 with the expectation that they would sell fish and chips to downtown New Yorkers for just a few weeks. Instead, the couple soon began going through 100 pounds of fish every week. The overwhelming response to their crispy, battered hake allowed the couple to open up a permanent location on MacDougal Street, serving their English-style fish and chips in addition to other seafood offerings including tuna tartare and bottarga on toast, raw scallops with sungold tomatoes and berries and a warm lobster tart with morels and snap peas.
87 MacDougal St. / Website
BBF
If you’re a fan of Michelin-Starred Chef Chikara Sono, you’re in luck! Sono, considered one of New York’s finest chefs and the godfather of NYC’s kaiseki movement, is opening BBF in Manhattan’s Lower East Side on July 28th. Rooted in the restaurant group’s philosophy of “discovering the taste of life with good food and good company,” the 54-seat restaurant serves comforting, flavorful fare prepared by master culinary artisans. Sono intentionally created a menu that guests can savor with all five senses, which perfectly blends together contemporary and traditional Japanese touchpoints. Menu highlights include Satsuma Potato Tempura, Abalone Croquettes with truffle sauce and kale chips, Shrimp Mousse Spring Roll with daikon french fries, and Grilled Mugret Duck with umami salt.
177 Ludlow St./Website
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