Bites of the BIG Apple

When there’s a fall chill in the air, a food lover’s fancy turns to big city dining 

The most anticipated opening was five years in the making. Le Veau d’Or, a venerable Upper East Side French establishment, was rejuvenated by the Frenchette duo Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr.

The tables are covered with red checkered cloths as they were when the restaurant opened in 1937. The look was intended to be more casual than the fancy French places of that day. And a casual look is fine with the current owners too. The $125 prix fixe menu may not seem casual but it’s a bargain compared to many of the tasting menus around town.

Diners can expect French classics: pâté en croûte, escargots, frogs legs persillade, even tripes à la mode. And ile flottante for dessert! If you wish you were in Paris, this may be just the ticket.

Or if you wish you were in Italy, there’s Massara (913 Broadway) from the Michelin starred pasta whisperers at Rezdora, where the menu celebrates Emilia Romagna. Massara focuses on Campania “from the fresh seafood sourced on the Amalfi coast, to iconic pizza from Naples,” says Chef Stefano Secchi. This team won’t overlook pasta but mains such as a whole heritage goat braised, roasted, and grilled demands attention as does Langostino with Sorrento lemon zabaglione. A catch of the day is sourced from Dock to Dish, a sustainable seafood supplier in Montauk.

Speaking of Italian, Roberta’s of pizza fame in Bushwick has now opened in the Penn District right by Penn Station. Very unassuming looking but it’s turning out its signature pizzas from a wood burning oven. 

Sempre Oggi (always today) from the Chef Driven Group took over the space formerly occupied by Cesca on the Upper West Side. Chef Phillip Basone’s menu is seasonal coastal Italian. Orecchiette is tossed with braised dandelion greens; Strozzapriti with white rabbit ragu. The porchetta is reminiscent of Rome. The bar’s ceiling is covered with custom ceramic tiles that evoke the seaside.

You can also be whisked away to the Amalfi coast by chef Harold Dieterle’s Il Totano in the West Village. The mood is set by large swaths of diaphanous blue and white wallpaper. 

Dry aged fish, displayed in a temperature and humidity-controlled chamber, is a central component of Il Totano’s menu. “Dry aging fish improves its flavor and texture while also increasing shelf-life. The final product also has a wonderfully crisp skin,” says Dieterle.

Fresh seafood is the focus at some other spots. Despite the sad, untimely death of Chef James Kent (Crown Shy) in June, the Kent Group is still on track to open Time and Tide, a “fish house” (like a steakhouse) in October at 360 Park Avenue South.

Top Chef winner Danny Garcia will oversee the savory kitchen. Renata Ameni, executive pastry chef of Kent, will oversee the pastry.

Time and Tide was conceived as an homage to Kent’s grandmother and a nod to Grand Central Oyster Bar, where his grandmother, Sue, went on her first date with jazz great, Charles Mingus.  They married and she oversaw his legacy until she died in 2022.

Alex Stupak, known for his magic with Mexican food, will embrace seafood at The Otter in the chic Manner Hotel in SoHo. Expect a raw bar, lobster rolls, and swordfish steak au poivre. At an adjacent Sloane’s Cocktail Lounge, he will serve small plates.

Steak takes center stage at Michael Mina’s Bourbon Steak in the JW Marriott hotel facing Central Park. But trolly carts bearing seafood, foie gras, and desserts practically shout ‘look at me!’ The seafood trolly is a deconstructed seafood including Mina’s famous tuna tartare which he invented in 1991 at Aqua as a riff on beef tartare and is now ubiquitous on menus everywhere. All tables receive complimentary duck fat fries.

The restaurant was two and a half years in the making. But it was 35 years in Mina’s mind from the time he left Charlie Palmer’s Aureole in New York before he started on the road to acclaim at Aqua in San Francisco. Now 30 global restaurants later, Mina is back. His executive chef is Bryan Ogden, son of the celebrated San Francisco chef Bradley Ogden. The glamorous love letter to steak houses was designed by AvroKo with a nod to the Art Deco heritage of the location.

Design reigns at the Warren Street Hotel, the latest from the Firmdale group. British designer/hotelier Kit Kemp combines a cacophony of colors — buttercup yellow, lime green, cerulean blue — and patterns from stripes to florals into a harmonious whole. The ambience makes you feel creative but comfortable at the same time. Some TriBeCa creatives have adopted the chic bar for a meeting space fueled with an olive Martini and a charcuterie platter. 

Cesar Ramirez, who helmed the three Michelin star Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare for a decade, has opened his own namesake restaurant in SoHo. Ramirez made his bones working for the late David Bouley and it shows in his refined dishes combining French techniques and Japanese influences. The 13-course tasting menu starts at $365. Yes, there’s his famous uni toast. For these high rolling diners, the dishes can be accompanied by a glass of bubbly from the roaming Champagne cart.

Marian’s chef/owner Christian Rowan opened Perle, an intimate 12-seat wine bar next door in the West Village. An impressive wine list is accompanied by a raw bar, scallop crudo with yuzu kosho, pickled strawberry and rhubarb, and seafood toasts.

For those desiring more exotic fare, the on-fire Unapologetic (Dhamaka) team opened Kebabwala, a fast-casual Indian kebab house inspired by the street grills of India in the East Village. Later in the fall, they are bringing Adda Indian Canteen from Long Island City to the East Village. 

This also seems to be a year for revivals of old favorites. A reimagined Boathouse in Central Park gives new life to a landmark New York institution from 1954. The menu is modern Continental: prime rib, oysters Rockefeller, and Parker House rolls. 

Nine years after Commerce, the beloved West Village spot closed, it is reborn uptown, as Cafe Commerce (964 Lexington Ave). “This isn’t just a move; it’s an evolution of everything you loved about Commerce,” says Chef Harold Moore. 

Jeremiah Stone and Fabian von Hauske Valtierra transformed their ten-year-old tasting menu restaurant Contra into Bar Contra (138 Orchard Street). It features experimental cocktails crafted by Dave Arnold (Existing Conditions and Booker and Dax). 

Later this fall Clemente Bar will open upstairs at Daniel Humm’s elegant Eleven Madison Park. “Adventurous” cocktails and small bites will be served under murals by the Italian contemporary artist Francesco Clemente. 

In November, Daniel Boulud plans to add a New York steak house complete with an omakase counter for a steak tasting menu, to his global restaurant empire. La Tete d’Or, designed by David Rockwell, will be located in the new marquee tower at One Madison Avenue. 

Beverly Stephen writes about design, food, travel, and lifestyle. She is co-owner of Flavor Forays, a culinary travel company.