Now Open on Resy: Les Trois Chevaux, Joomak Banjum, Maison Premiere, and More

Hot Openings

Editor’s note: As of Sept. 13, 2023, Les Trois Chevaux has rebranded into a new concept, Le B.

Leave it to Angie Mar to take old-school French dining in the vein of Lutèce, and make it distinctively hers. With Les Trois Chevaux, the chef-owner of Beatrice Inn fame is letting her creativity run wild in a beautifully designed space that lives and breathes downtown New York. Expect crystal chandeliers, a carving station where roasted pheasant is served, and a collection of vintage Yves Saint Laurent jackets, should your party need one. Needless to say: Dress to impress.

Editor’s note: As of March 23, 2024, Joomak Banjum has rebranded into a new concept, Beut.

Right off the heels of a wildly successful pop-up, the dream team behind Joomak Banjum (a motley crew of fine dining alums from The Modern and Electric Lemon) has put down roots in K-Town. On the menu? A Korean-Chinese tasting menu you’re not going to want to miss, where the likes of Peking duck and a new take on jajangmyeon (with sourdough noodles, clams, and Parmesan) collide, deliciously.

After working together at Brooklyn Fare and Bar Uchū, friends and former high school classmates chef Samuel Clonts and restaurateur Raymond Trinh decided to venture out on their own. The result is Sixty Three Clinton, where a whimsical tasting menu is ruled by the seasons and pulls from their personal histories. Think a breakfast taco with an ajitama ramen egg, salsa verde, and smoked trout roe — a wink to their Southwest upbringing and years of Japanese cooking.

Ayesha Nurdjaja has bottled lightning twice. Shukette, the sequel to Shuka, brings forth a bold Levantine menu that’s bent on charcoal-grilled meats and housemade breads. Throw in an open kitchen and the same electric vibes you can expect from the group behind Cookshop, Rosie’s, and Vic’s, and bookmark Chelsea’s next Mediterranean hot spot.

Contento pushes the envelope of what restaurant hospitality should be: accessible to all. From the bar to the bathroom, the entire space was designed to be space for everyone, part of the vision of beverage director Yannick Benjamin. So, come for the Peruvian-inspired plates and incredible wine list (this is a sommelier-led venture after all), and stay for the incredible staff and care on display.

A new restaurant grounds Ian Schrager’s Public hotel. Say hello to Popular, a Peruvian cantina and pisco bar led by star chefs Diego Muñoz and John Fraser, which depicts Peru’s rich and multicultural food scene to stellar effect. That means ceviche of many sorts, no fewer than 21 piscos, and live Latin music and dancing every night after 10 p.m.

With a disco ball in the bathroom and a dining room that reads like a fun and casual spot (despite the caviar-lined seafood towers), Nat’s on Bank is the labor of love of Natalie Freihon, previously of the cherished and shuttered Fat Radish, where seafaring New York classics take center stage.

Take a space so uniquely designed that Scorsese shot “The Irishman” there, coffee so good it seduced a whole neighborhood, and an ex-Mission Chinese chef freshly in charge of the menu, and what do you get? You get Porcelain, Ridgewood’s once Vienna-inspired coffeeshop that promises to be so much more. Chef Kate Telfeyan’s cooking has transformed the menu with influences from Korea, Taiwan, and Sichuan. Think a glorious nori fried pork chop, black pepper prawns with Korean rice cakes, and hot and sour potatoes.

Note: Reservations for Porcelain are available beginning July 17.

And just like that, Buddha Bar, the quintessential ’90s restaurant, is back in the city that never sleeps, and in the heart of Tribeca, no less. The vibe is as sleek as ever, with shareable bites that draw from the cuisines of Japan, China, Korea, India, and Thailand.

Back Open

Absinthe drinkers and oyster happy hour seekers, right this way: Maison Premiere and its horseshoe-shaped bar are back and better than ever. Lean on the seafood at this NOLA-inspired drinking den where a platter of briny bivalves are required eating, and if you can’t claim one of the bar stools to watch the bartending theatrics, a seat in the garden is your next best move.

As one of the city’s — and the nation’s — quintessential restaurants, Gramercy Tavern remains a crown jewel of New York dining, a landmark that brings together that singular hospitality with chef Michael Anthony’s outstanding seasonal cuisine. And now, yes, the dining room is back for a full Gramercy experience.

Is this a sustainable fishmonger hiding a stellar counter restaurant, or the other way around? However you see it, Greenpoint Fish & Lobster Co. is an industry favorite that remains one of the best places in town for oysters on the half-shell slurped with a glass or two of sparkling wine.

A Bed-Stuy standby for wood-fired pizzas of the Neapolitan kind, Saraghina has established itself as a destination for all sorts of Italian cravings far and wide. Besides the aforementioned pizzas (thin, crisp, complex), Saraghina knows its way around plump ravioli, saucy polpette, and everything in between. Pro tip: This is one restaurant that’s meant for group dining, especially if you can swing a table in the back garden.

A seat at the wooden and emerald green-tiled bar is where you’ll want to be at this intimate little nook in the East Village. Mister Paradise is a cherished cocktail bar where a lineup of cheekily dubbed drinks (like Dinner at Cote, Party Lobster, and Cougar Magnum — all of which are delicious) boast ingredients ranging from popcorn to garlic, and even fermented habanero. Simply put: They’re special, and so is the burger.

Tables with a View

You’re going to want to put Merchants River House on your Hit List for alfresco dining: nestled along the Battery Park City esplanade, the elegant bistro offers American classics with a side of Hudson River and Statue of Liberty sights you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Come for the view, stay for the mac ‘n’ cheese waffle cones.

Approach the Walker Hotel in Tribeca, turn onto Cortland Alley, find the nondescript entrance and elevator, and then up, up, up you go: you’re there. Happy Be is a rooftop gem that’s as refined and posh as the hotel it crowns, where sweeping views of lower Manhattan, an art crowd, and shiso-infused vodka drinks mix and mingle seamlessly.

There’s no better place to people-watch than at Café Kitsuné. The brand with one foot in Paris and the other in Tokyo has set up shop in the West Village, moonlighting as a coffee shop by day and an ambitious Parisian-inspired natural wine bar by night.

Group Dining

Those who know come to this little sushi haven during lunch for their incredible and well-priced specials, where boxed maki and seasonal nigiri shine. But Bondi, inspired by the sandy beaches off of Sydney’s coast, doesn’t disappoint at dinner either, where an omakase shows off sustainably-sourced catches.

A biergarten in Koreatown? You read that right — Maiden Korea is an ephemeral outdoor garden, where the food comes from restaurants nearby (get skewers from Kushi Kushi Yaki or Korean finger food from Gopchang Story), and the drinks lean heavily into soju and cans of makkuli (aka makgeolli) “beer,” a twist on Korea’s oldest alcoholic drink.

Consider this your fast-casual canteen to all things noodles. Asian-inspired and vegetarian-focused, LowerEAST serves up cauliflower tempura, pad Thai, and wonton noodle soup to delicious effect in one colorful, eye-popping spot.