Resy Hit List 0003: Shuko, Via Carota, Cafe Edison and More

By Ben Leventhal November 18, 2014

Welcome to the Hit List, a weekly rundown of bars and restaurants that gets you to the right table at the right time. So, if Kim Hastreiter asked us where to celebrate this week, here are some places we’d recommend.

1/SHUKO
2/VIA CAROTA
3/SPOTTED PIG
4/CAFE EDISON
5/BÂTARD
6/THE HARRISON
7/AUGUST

1/SHUKO
Because it’s go time. While its website still says coming soon, the East 12th Street small box is quietly open and taking reservations. This is Nick Kim and Jimmy Lau’s Act Two, a followup to Neta, which was fantastic during their reign. Here, as at Neta, a sushi bar takes up most of the room. It popped up in the Hamptons over the summer so we know what to expect: really effen good Japanese food. More specifically, for example, pressed Teppanyaki rice topped with salmon and bonito; the superb spicy seafood; and, obviously, sushi. 47 E 12th St, New York, NY 10003. Reservations are best gotten right now by calling (212) 228-6088.

2/VIA CAROTA
Because the only thing more perfectly rustic and authentically Italian than either a Jody Williams or a Rita Sodi restaurant would be a Williams-Sodi joint, which this is. From previews, we know the menu probably includes salt-baked branzino, spaghetti aglio e olio, baccala e porri, whole roasted pears in red wine and cinnamon and classic zabaglione. It quietly opened Monday night. 51 Grove St, New York, NY 10014. Walk-ins will fare well this week, though probably face waits come the weekend.

3/SPOTTED PIG
Because it’s soup season and holy god can April Bloomfield make soup. You mostly talk about her burger, which is cool and all, but lady’s got bowl game for days. Both the smoked haddock chowder with pancetta & house made crackers and the newer pumpkin soup are extraordinary. 314 W 11th St, New York, NY 10014. Drill known. Walk-in “only,” with waits that can exceed an hour. But, gah, it’s worth it.

4/CAFE EDISON
Because it also works into your soup season situation and it’s closing next month and you should go pay your respects to one of the last great lunch rooms in New York City. Get the matzo ball soup. 228 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036. Walks-ins, of course.

5/BÂTARD
Because it won an Eater Award last night for Best Restaurant, so people are talking a bit. But the twist is that its best look is probably as a bar. Like its frontman, John Winterman, Batard is the right mix of indie and uptown. If it’s 90-10 restaurant-bar today, maybe that becomes 50-50 someday. 239 W Broadway, New York, NY 10013. Reservations available on their website, though our recommendation is the bar.

6/THE HARRISON
Because there is a loose ‘all good things …’ theme to Q4 ’14 with the end of wd-50, Cafe Ed, and Mike Toscano. And here’s another that’s certainly ranks a final visit. Jimmy Bradley’s Tribeca institution is where Harold Dieterle, Joey Campanaro and Amanda Freitag all had tours in the kitchen before going on to build their own empires. 355 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013. Reservations available on Resy.

7/AUGUST
Because chef Josh Eden literally built this place, relocated from the West Village, with his own bare hands and that deserves your respect. You saw him there everyday for the last two months, even doing his own plumbing. It’s not opening tonight and probably not tomorrow night, but it’ll most likely be rolling by this weekend and when it does the roast chicken will be a sure thing. 791 Lexington Ave New York, NY 10065. Walks-ins starting on, probably, Friday. Ask us for a resy before you go and we may know a guy.

8/SURPRISE RESY PROTIP
Just a friendly reminder. Now that it’s probably winter for the duration, there is no better restaurant in NYC than Balthazar. Facts are facts. And, speaking of soup, their onion soup gratinée is best in show.

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