New on Resy: Legacy Records, Simon & The Whale, dell’anima, and More

Located in Greenpoint, Annicka is a restaurant for everyone; a neighborhood staple with a welcoming energy and an ambitious yet approachable menu (think charred sweet potatoes with black tahini and kale alongside house-made sausages with white kimchi, creme fraiche, and potato chips). Here, seasonal ingredients and local products shine: the restaurant serves only New York-made beer, cider, wine, and spirits as part of a statewide initiative to support innovative local breweries and producers.

Located on a quiet block in SoHo, this minimally-designed Japanese restaurant is unassuming, and yet the kappo-style cuisine of its chef, William Shen, is nothing to overlook. In “Where to Eat in 2018,” New York Magazine critic Adam Platt called it “the place to go for an inventive, slightly more upmarket taste of modern Japan.” At lunch, choose from a range of rice bowls; for dinner, a la carte and omakase offerings are available, though, given chef’s artful preparations, it’s best to take advantage of the latter.

Bar Moga is a 1920s-era Japanese cocktail bar, specializing in shochu and Japanese whiskey-based libations and Yoshoku comfort food by chef Takanori Akiyama. The menu’s signature is omurice — a mound of chicken rice with a soft omelette and demi-glace sauce draped on top — a dish as visually pleasing as it is delicious.

Located just behind the New York Public Library, and equipped with a view overlooking the park, Bryant Park Grill is lovingly modeled after Parisian sidewalk cafés. Crowd-pleasing favorites line the menu, like a classic Caesar salad, wild mushroom ravioli, and steak frites. In warm-weather months, the ivy-covered restaurant is especially idyllic thanks to its rooftop dining.

A North Williamsburg mainstay, Cafe Colette is bright, warm, and beloved for its brunch. Menu specialties include warm chocolate toast, egg-centric fare, and a crispy chicken sandwich, as well as handmade pasta, come dinnertime. As for the wine list? It’s approachable and au naturel.

Casa Pública blends traditional Mexican home-style cooking with dishes found in the country’s mercados (think queso fundido with poblano rajas and sea scallop tostadas), topped off with a variety of refreshing cocktails, Mexican wines, and micheladas. The cantina vibe is laid-back, though the elevated menu takes things up a notch.

Boasting a sweeping view of Central Park, this cocktail lounge, wine bar, and restaurant from chef Michael Lomonaco invites diners to enjoy Mediterranean-inspired small plates alongside an extensive wine list. Specialties include Sicilian olives, spicy harissa, and tapenade, as well as lamb chops roasted in Berber spice and served with a tomato salad.

This ever-reliable, perennial date night restaurant has been buzzing since 2007, and it still delivers. With a name that means “of the soul” in Italian, dell’anima’s menu hones in on “hearty, eloquent dishes of thoughtful simplicity”— think charred octopus with rice beans, chorizo, and chicories, house-made tortellini con brodo, and branzino with confit potatoes, Cerignola olives, citrus, and Aleppo pepper. As it has always been, the wine list is forward-thinking: focused on small production, high-quality selections with an emphasis on traditional and natural winemaking.

The West Village’s latest drinking den, decked out in navy velvet banquettes and rotating artwork from ACA Galleries, comes from two Locanda Verde alums — Jess Goldfarb and Camilo Viafara. The focus is on cocktails (seasonal, draft, house-bottled, ‘due your own’ old fashioneds), but there’s also a full dinner menu featuring oysters, hot crab dip, a dry-aged burger, and caviar (with champs, if you’re so inclined), plus late-night bites. And don’t overlook the selection of wine, or beer, for that matter.

Devotees of chef Kevin Adey’s Michelin-starred Italian restaurant, Faro, will delight at his latest concept: General Deb’s. Located in Bushwick, the no-reservations Sichuan restaurant (affectionately named for Adey’s wife and partner, Debbie) boasts a wide breadth of noodle dishes — think various kinds of mian — in addition to cumin beef, tiger salad, and other spicy fare. Waitlist only. 

Alums from Le Bernardin and its respective wine bar, Aldo Sohm, are behind this pescatarian (and gluten-free) restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. Vegetable-forward dishes featuring locally sourced, sustainable Atlantic seafood are inspired by the upbringing of chef Diego Garcia, in coastal Mexico and Napa, California. The all-natural wine list has been curated by sommelier and partner Phil Johnson (the pair also worked together at natural wine mecca, Contra).

Editor’s note: As of Feb. 14, 2025, Gran Eléctrica has rebranded into a new concept, Hildur.

The market-driven Mexican cuisine at Gran Eléctrica incorporates dishes from a variety of regions. There are snacks (botanas), tacos, and larger plates (like chile relleno and al pastor), in addition to vibrant tequila- and mezcal-based cocktails, including an array of margaritas and an Oaxacan Old-Fashioned.

Tucked into a small space in the East Village, Kura is an intimate omakase spot serving impeccable seafood to a 12-seat, wraparound sushi bar. Masterful head chef, Norihiro Ishizuka, has become an attraction unto himself; New York Times critic Ligaya Mishan called him the Tony Bennett of sushi chefs, “a crooner working the crowd with a genial smile and a generous hand.”

The original La Contenta has been a Mexican staple on the LES for some time, and it’s now opened its second location, in Greenwich Village. A traditional menu of guacamole, taquitos, and mole is served until late-night and is optimally complemented by a wide assortment of agave spirits, including tequila, mezcal, bacanora, raicilla, and pulque.

From the dream team known as Delicious Hospitality (chef Ryan Hardy and sommeliers Robert Bohr and Grant Reynolds) of downtown favorites Charlie Bird and Pasquale Jones, comes the highly anticipated Legacy Records. The handsome Hudson Yards locale is outfitted with a front café for breakfast and lunch, a marble wine bar, and a spacious dining room. Hardy’s menu, which is inspired by Italy’s northern coasts, ranges from crudo to pasta to a gorgeous honey-lacquered duck for two. Rounding out the offerings, craft cocktails are conceived by Jeff Bell of P.D.T.

A new location of Quality Eats — the approachable steakhouse focused on lesser-known cuts — has landed in NoMad. With a design sensibility that’s of-the-moment (airy and modern, with pink and gold accents), half a dozen steaks priced under $30, negronis and mules on tap, and a long list of craft beers, it’s a welcome addition to the trendy neighborhood.

Conceived by childhood friends and Hawaii-born duo Natalie Graham and Tanner Fahl, SakaMai is a playful izakaya serving share plates like “egg on egg on egg” (sea urchin, sturgeon caviar, scrambled egg); sizzling Wagyu beef steak with sweet onion soy, jalapeño sauce, and ponzu; and a chef’s selection of sashimi. The impressive sake program features specialty and aged bottles, and pairings are available upon request.

Prolific restaurateur Gabriel Stulman — who is widely known for his particular brand of cozy-cool restaurants in the West Village — is now operating several establishments in NoMad’s Freehand Hotel, and Simon & The Whale is the centerpiece. Designed by Roman & Williams and awash in warm woods, the restaurant offers an eclectic menu that draws inspiration from the American coasts. So far, highlights include black bass crudo with shiso, puffed rice, and coconut milk; spaghetti acqua pazza with Castelvetrano olives, cherry tomatoes, and clams; and pork collar Milanese with aioli, apricot mostarda, and arugula.

A sibling of Simon & The Whale, Studio offers a casual, all-day vibe — reminiscent of a dream living room, with scene-enhancing furniture and art (trademarks of Happy Cooking Hospitality). The menu, which is rooted in Moroccan cuisine, includes inventive baked goods à la Zoe Kanan, like the simit bagel and dulce de leche babka, as well as Moroccan-inspired veggies, sandwiches, and more. Thanks to its welcoming atmosphere, Studio is the place to socialize or take breakfast (and lunch) meetings.

Now operating as the tasting room for Kings County Distillery (New York City’s first and largest craft distillery since Prohibition), The Gatehouses were the original formal entrance to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, located in historic castle-like buildings and painstakingly restored to their 19th-century grandeur. They’re one of the only bars in the world to make cocktails comprised exclusively of house-made spirits — from Manhattans and Sazeracs — to experimental drinks like moonshine punch and the KDC daiquiri.

Designed with surfing in mind, this popular West Village restaurant and watering hole has a front bar resembling a wave, a back bar featuring cutout surfboards in walnut, and a dusty pink velvet banquette to reference the pink sand beaches of the Bahamas. Cocktails are colorful and heavy on fruit, while the food menu offers health-minded fare, like scallop crudo and carrots three ways.