New York, Well Fed

Despite escalating food and labor costs, spiking rents, and pesky trends like customers deciding to drink less, the city that never stops eating never stops opening restaurants. There are big names and little neighborhood spots, glossy foreign imports, tasting menus and light bites. It’s clearly the year of the brasserie. But Indian, Thai, Japanese, British and Argentinian are having a moment.

Brasserie Boulud from Michelin star chef Daniel Boulud is the most anticipated opening. It was over a year ago that he closed his poplar trio of restaurants  Bar Boulud, Boulud Sud, and Épicerie Boulud, near Lincon Center with the intention of combining them into a giant 10,000 square foot brasserie. The space designed by the Rockwell Group is anchored by an imposing oval bar with theatrical lighting.

“A brasserie is not a café, not a bistro, not a bouchon. In France, it’s the grand restaurant of everyday life—lively, generous, open from morning to late with seasonal classics, great seafood and dishes that reflect both regional tradition and the spirit of grande cuisine,” Boulud explains. Cristina D’Angelo is executive chef. She was the chef at Boulud Sud and has been cooking at Boulud’s Le Gratin during the construction of the new space. The menu features seafood, charcuterie, and many classics such as steak frites and blanquette de veau. Some favorites from the closed venues are sure to survive.

Calling all steak frites fans. More brasserie news.

Catch Hospitality is on a roll. Landry’s billionaire Tilman Fertitta (Ambassador to Italy) and partners just opened a new French brasserie Café Charmant in the West Village. This follows on the heels of their hot spots Or’esh, the Eight-Six, and Corner Store. Chef Jake Tyler Brodsky, an Eleven Madison Park alum, will orchestrate the menu including French classics like steak frites and salade Nicoise. The Rockwell Group designed.

George McNally, 23-year-old son of legendary restaurateur Keith McNally (Balthazar, Pastis) is opening Faux, another French brasserie in TriBeCa. Chef Kristina Ramos, an alum of Eleven Madison Park and Oxalis will lead the kitchen. McNally draws on his experience growing up at the feet of the master and later tending bar at Balthazar.

Celebrated chef Michael Lomonaco brings his steak expertise from 20 years at his recently shuttered Porter House Bar and Grill to the menu at Brasserie Cognac Amèricain overlooking Bryant Park. The elegant two-level restaurant spans 12,000 square feet and is anchored by a horseshoe shaped bar on the ground level. A “boucherie” section of the menu goes beyond simple steak frites with hanger steak to offer five other special dry-aged cuts with a choice of Bearnaise, Bordelaise, or peppercorn sauce. There are French classics such as escargot, beef bourguignon, and duck a la orange and, of course, a burger. This branch of Cognac is a collaboration between Lomonaco and Serafina Restaurant Group’s Fabio Granato and Victor Assaf.

It’s sort of like a museum restaurant: Marcel, the new French restaurant by the design studio Roman and Williams in Sotheby’s has taken over the former Whitney museum space on the Upper East Side. Diners are surrounded by art work which they can order from Sotheby’s as well as items from Roman and Williams. Oysters, beef tartare, oeufs mayonnaise and a substantial dessert menu with baba au rhum,  madeleines, and  mille-feuille will feed the chic diners.

Steak arrives with Indian sauces at Elder, a contemporary British-Indian chophouse in Hudson Yards from chef Sujan Sarkar. Sauces such as Varuval pepper sauce, red pepper Makhani, and horseradish raita accompany not only steaks but also lamb chops and Berkshire pork rib chops. Sarkar grew up in India and  spent his formative years cooking in London and he melds the two cultures at Elder. The restaurant is named for the elderflower, an ingredient prominent in both Indian and British cuisine. 

The cuisine of North India’s Punjab region shines on the menu at  the opulent Ambassadors Clubhouse in NoMad. Papads and chaat are followed by Tandoor and kebabs, then by Biryani and pilau. If the names of the dishes need explanation for any diners, there are helpful italic subtitles. Punjab Murgh Changezi is tandoori chicken, heirloom tomato, cashew, and brown onion masala. Shahi Patiala Masala Lamb Chops is Colorado lamb rack, pickled mango ginger and onion salad. The décor of Ambassadors, owned by London’s JKS Restaurants, reflects the heritage of the partners who spent their childhood summers in the homes of their grandfather, an Indian ambassador whose postings took the family from Delhi to Amsterdam, Nairobi, Ireland and Dalhousie.

Molecular gastronomy meets modern Indian cuisine at Farzi in TriBeCa. This is the U.S. flagship of the global Farzi Café brand. Chef Gaurav Chawla is recognized as a pioneer of modern Indian cuisine. Signature dishes include Spiced Heirloom Tomato Chaat, featuring compressed watermelon, whipped feta and chilled tomato rasam broth and Fire Torched Avocado Tacos with gluten free blue corn tortillas, fire grilled avocado, roasted tomatillo salsa and house made chutneys. 

Cody Pruitt and Jacob Cohen closed Chateau Royale in Greenwich Village and turned it into a more affordable neighborhood restaurant called Floradora. The redesigned space features warm wood interiors, Tiffany style lighting, vintage photos, and rich lacquered finishes over two levels. Chef Vanessa Velez remains in the new kitchen. The food leans Italian: mozzarella sticks, oxtail lasagna, and veal Milanese with Caesar aioli, mustard greens, and cucumber. There are also pigs in a blanket and pork ribs. 

Graciela brings Argentine live-fire cooking, empanadas, and dulce de leche to the West Village. This is renowned Buenos Aires restaurateur Pablo Rivero’s first U.S. venture in partnership with Adam and Alex Saper, the brothers behind the expansion of Eataly in the United States. Graciela is named after his mother. A custom built Argentine parrilla and Spanish Josper oven span 10 feet of live fire cooking surface. Quebracho Blanco charcoal is imported from Argentina. Steak is as important as it is in Argentina and is served with both fresh and aged chimichurri but other meats and vegetables also get well deserved attention. “People may come for the steak, but we want them to leave talking about the vegetables,” says partner Adam Saper. They might also leave talking about the flan served with dulce de leche and whipped cream.

Oriana, a more ambitious project from chef Andy Quinn and sommelier Cedric Nicaise behind popular neighborhood spot Noortwyck, is bringing its version of fire and smoke to Nolita. Chanterelles are served on Brooklyn Granary grits and the Oriana Waldorf has pine nuts, medjool dates, and blue cheese. There’s hangar steak, smoked chicken with red eye gravy, and wood-fired salmon with smoked butter sauce. An attention-getting side is a coal-baked potato with bone marrow.

Top Chef semi-finalist Lana Lagomarsini opened Creola, an intimate 12-seat supper club style spot with a tasting menu celebrating the black diaspora on the Upper East Side. The restaurant is named after her grandmother who taught her to cook. The menu features potlikker consommé, oxtail pate en croute, and chickpea panisse with collard green aioli. And then there’s red velvet crème brulee. “Need I say more?” she writes on the menu.

Also coming later this fall is KwangHo Lee’s One Bryant Park, a 10,000 square foot Japanese fine dining destination at the base of the Bank of America building. It will also include Kumiko room, an omakase restaurant dedicated to Edomae sushi, and Kappa Sono.

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