Opening
Fedora
The Village, West and Greenwich, are neighborhoods that hang onto historic restaurants. They may close, but then someone rides to the rescue. Dante, Waverly Inn, Minetta Tavern, Figaro and, with an encore, Fedora. Gabriel Stulman revived it for 10 years, until 2020. Now the partners from St. Jardim nearby, Andrew Dete and Christa Alexander, with Basile Al Mileik, St. Jardim’s wine director, have stepped in. They’ve refreshed the cozy interior, and are reopening it with a European-inspired menu by Monty Forrest from Le Rock, who’s offering asparagus tempura, pierogi with alliums and peas, tilefish in bourride, and black bass Provençal. The wine list leans French. The original sign still tips its hat to Fedora Dorato, the owner from 1952 until 2010.
239 West Fourth Street (West 10th Street), 917-740-5273, fedoranewyork.com.
DubuHaus
Sharing the sprawl of 28,000 square feet with Howoo, a Korean barbecue spot, and soon to be joined by Musaek, all by Urimat Hospitality Group, DubuHaus specializes in tofu (dubu in Korean). It’s turned into soft tofu stews, dumplings, bibimbap and braised dishes, some forcefully spiced, though tofu doesn’t figure in every preparation. The setting is minimalist, designed to replicate a hanok, the traditional Korean home. (Opens Thursday)
6 East 32nd Street, 917-509-5967, dubuhaus.com.
Maison Passerelle
Leafy, as in flooring, upholstery and other decorative elements, describes the new Printemps New York store and its dining options, most of which opened a couple of weeks ago. Now the pièce de résistance, the fine-dining component, is ready. Like the others, it’s the work of Gregory Gourdet, the store’s culinary director, who is including flavors from former French colonies in West and North Africa, the Caribbean and Asia for his menu. Salt cod fritters, grilled white asparagus with Creole cream, roast chicken with Moroccan condiments and, for dessert, coconut chiboust with makrut lime cover the territory, all rendered with French techniques. Even the inevitable New York strip speaks Creole with a Haitian coffee rub. (Thursday)
Printemps New York, One Wall Street (Broadway at Exchange Place), 212-217-2291, maisonpasserellenyc.com.
Banh Anh Em
Banh Vietnamese Shop House on the Upper West Side, with seats still a challenge to score after five years, now has a downtown sibling (anh em means brotherhood or sisterhood). What distinguishes John Nguyen and the chef Nhu Ton’s latest effort is that the bread for the banh mi, a Vietnamese take on a French baguette, is baked in-house. The noodles for pho are also homemade. The space is larger.
99 Third Avenue (13th Street), banhanhem.com.
Little Fino
Taking their cue from Italy, breakfast items like cornetti and a spinach frittata, followed by all-day snacks, small bites and sandwiches like a roasted artichoke, polenta tots, prosciutto and a chicken muffuletta, are served at this cafe and bar. It’s headed by Anthony Ricco, a chef in Andrew Carmellini’s NoHo Hospitality Group, and has been added to the ground floor of the William Vale in Brooklyn.
The William Vale hotel, 111 North 12th Street (Wythe Avenue), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-581-5900, littlefinonyc.com.
Async
Reversing standard procedure, this new bar is in the back, not the front, of the dining room at YongChuan on the Lower East Side. The owner, Tony Li, tapped Droveen Zhang, the head bartender at Epic Bar in Shanghai, to come up with drinks that reflect various Chinese regions. The Spicy Madame suggests Hunan, and the Silk Road Negroni, made with red date brandy, represents Xinjiang. Alongside there are Peking duck tacos, Ma La prawns and seaweed popcorn chicken.
YongChuan, 90 Clinton Street (Delancey Street), 646-609-6324, yongchuannyc.com/bar.
Akoya
For the first time, the chef and restaurateur Charlie Palmer has added a Japanese restaurant to his portfolio. It’s in the St. Cloud Rooftop at Times Square in the Knickerbocker Hotel, where Mr. Palmer already has a coffee shop, steak house and a bar. The sushi chef Taishi Yamaguchi, who worked at EN Japanese Brasserie, is featuring temaki hand rolls, made to order with fillings like grilled oysters, Australian Wagyu and Okinawan sweet potato, and imported Japanese rice from the Rice Factory in Westchester County. Small plates like spicy cucumbers with shredded kombu are also served at a 13-seat sushi bar and tables. (Monday)
Knickerbocker Hotel, 6 Times Square (42nd Street and Broadway), 212-204-5787, theknickerbocker.com.
Closed
Kancil
The restaurateur Salil Mehta’s Upper West Side collaboration with the Malaysian chef Simpson Wong has closed after a five-month run. Mr. Mehta cited the cost of doing business as the reason.
Chefs on the Move
Zhaojin Dai
Maison Sun, the Chinese restaurant that moved into the original Chef’s Table space in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, has brought in Mr. Dai, formerly at Jungsik and Restaurant Yuu, to be the new executive chef. His seven-course tasting ($185) includes a scallion bun, shumai, branzino grilled over charcoal, and dry-aged squab with chestnut purée.
Brittney Stikxz Williams
Miss Lily’s in the East Village, already well-schooled in Island cooking, has added Ms. Williams as culinary director; she has brought along Janae Haynes as pastry chef. They’re polishing the classics with dishes like a Blue Mountain Coffee-rubbed T-bone pork chop, Haitian fried snapper with stew peas and pikliz aioli, and coconut passion fruit tart.
On the Menu
Tacombi y La Once Mil
Collaborating with Cesar de la Parra, the chef at La Once Mil in Mexico City, the Tacombi chain is introducing tacos, crispy quesadillas and overstuffed burritos enclosing rib-eye steak supplied by the marquee butcher Pat LaFrieda. The items will be dressed with Mr. de la Parra’s charred salsa. These specials, $15 to $17, will be served from Friday through May 18 at all Tacombi locations; tacombi.com.
Thai Craft Beer
A Thai beer with that larb? Singha, Chang and Leo, big commercial labels, are usually the only options. But for a month (until May 15), several Thai craft beers will be served at some New York Thai restaurants. There’s the refreshing Sandport Samakkee Lager; assertive Pheebok Sawasdee IPA; and slightly sweet Yodbeer Bearnana Wit made with dried banana to reinforce witbier style’s usual fruitiness. They’re all $12 and served at Zabb PuTawn, Elephant District, Hungry Thirsty, the Am-Thai Bistros and Kru. Starting in November they will have wider distribution and also be sold retail. The beers are brewed under license in California. It’s an initiative by Group B USA, a branch of Group B, a craft beer distributor in Thailand.
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Florence Fabricant is a food and wine writer. She writes the weekly Front Burner and Off the Menu columns, as well as the Pairings column, which appears alongside the monthly wine reviews. She has also written 12 cookbooks.
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