Opening
Papa San
Nikkei, the fusion of Japanese and Peruvian cuisines that is a hallmark of Peru, again inspires Juan Correa and Erik Ramirez of Llama San, who also own Llama Inn. Looking to the Japanese izakaya for style, they’re serving ceviches, makis, tiraditos, zensai, robata grill items and donburi. There’s also a chicken tour de force, with the entire bird deconstructed from beak to tail with yakitori style gizzards, heart, wings, crisp skin, chicken sausage and broth. Their Nikkei also crosses paths with other cuisines in cacio e pepe udon, unagi pizza and yuzu Béarnaise. Neon accents add color to the generously windowed industrial space with a stretch of open kitchen and a mezzanine bar. Consultants from Tres Monos, a notable Buenos Aires bar, helped shape the cocktail menu.
Le Petit Village
This plant-filled, brick-walled taste of France on a notable West Village triangle is a collaboration between the New York Jets star C.J. Mosley and his business partner, Brandon Wassel, with Mathias Van Leyden and Mino Habib, the owners of Loulou Petit Bistro & Speakeasy in Chelsea. Expect escargots, onion soup, salade lyonnaise and steak au poivre. The executive chef Mehjabin Ahmed, a veteran of Eleven Madison Park and Le Coucou in New York and Bistro Paul Bert in Paris, is in charge. For drinks, Jeremy Le Blanche can suggest a mix bourbon, ratafia, salted caramel Campari, meringue and dehydrated roses in your cocktail glass. (Opens Thursday)
GUI Steakhouse
The chef Sungchul Shim has opened his ode to steaks and more with an epic menu on an Eighth Avenue block dense with tourist traffic. It’s discreetly situated on the second floor above Bar 92 serving burgers (beef, shrimp) with drinks. The 120-seat main dining room, subdued and with an open kitchen, turns out steakhouse fare (prime and Wagyu, choice of sauces), seafood, uncommon items like clam chowder pie and Sichuan-spiced mala gambas, and, as a filling finish, the option for Asian rice or noodle dishes. Luis Robles, the chef de cuisine, has been at Mr. Shim’s side for several years. (Saturday)
Jō
This week’s addition to the city’s fertile list of omakase options has been installed on a bustling crosstown street. All of eight seats are available for a seating at 5:30 p.m. every night except Sunday for the many courses ($300) created by the chef Hiroki Abe. After the omakase session, around 9 p.m., an à la carte kappo-style menu will be available. The owner, Shuichiro Kobori, had a hand in the dark interior with Japanese wood accents.
The Orchid Show: Mexican Modernism
Mexican Modernism, based on the work of architect Luis Barragán, is the theme for this year’s Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. It’s also what is shaping the food at the various dining locations around the garden during the show, and also for the special Orchid Nights when there will be a dinner menu at the Hudson Garden Grill from 7 to 10 p.m. On the various menus will be dishes like shrimp in green mole, red mole cemitas and churros. Orchid Nights will be Saturdays, continuing this Saturday until the show closes April 27.
Closing
Barboncino
The Crown Heights pizzeria, a neighborhood fixture for more than a decade and notable as the city’s first pizzeria to have a unionized staff, is closing at the end of the month. In an Instagram post, the restaurant wrote “because of rising economic strains, diminished sales, and other industry-wide challenges, it is with great sadness that Barboncino must put out the oven-fire, and close the doors.”
Chefs on the Move
Vincenzo Garofalo
This chef has been newly named executive chef at the Pierre NY. He graduated from culinary school in Naples and worked in Italy before moving to New York in 2013, where his career eventually took him to the kitchen of Le Cirque where he was chef de cuisine. He also had his own restaurant, Senso Unico, in Sunnyside, Queens. He became the banquet chef at the Pierre NY in 2023 and is now at the top rung of the kitchen ladder.
On the Menu
Pot au Feu
The weather is perfect for the classic French assortment of meats and vegetables simmered and served in broth. Last week at his flagship restaurant, Daniel Boulud served an extravagant version to honor what would have been the 99th birthday of the celebrity chef Paul Bocuse. The lunch was attended by dozens of chefs with the participation of Jérome Bocuse, the chef’s son. Mr. Boulud called it Pot au Feu Royal and served three iterations: with poultry, with veal and pork, and with beef. But pot au feu doesn’t have to be so elaborate. The 11 versions worth trying before winter’s grip loosens include a 45-minute Pierre Franey express number, all at cooking.nytimes.com.
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The post The Llama San Team Expands Nikkei Cooking at Papa San appeared first on New York Times.
