Opening
La Piazza
With the original moored a short walk from the Piazza San Marco, this Venetian restaurant’s first outpost beyond the lagoon has merit. The New York edition is a trifle more polished — no brick walls, but gilded touches on two levels — but has the same “modernized” menu as in Venice, ranging as far afield as Puglia. Squid ink spaghetti, fresh spaghetti with seafood, and paccheri with lobster offer a taste of the home port. The upper-level dining room has a wood-fired pizza oven and walls hung with carnival masks. The brothers Juljan and Ledjo Musabelliu, who own other places in Venice, will add a branch on Mykonos this summer. (Opens Thursday)
20 East 49th Street, 212-419-9828, lapiazza.com.
Zoi Mediterranean
A Mediterranean menu that looks to Turkey defines this latest restaurant in the building that once housed Life Magazine, reconfigured as a hotel. It is the work of the executive chef Çetin Güneri and head chef Kaan Sen, who include a selection of mezze, slow-cooked short rib tandir, braised lamb shank begendi, lamb chops and butter-poached lobster tails on the menu. Turkish pide flatbreads come plain or with sausage and cheese, and breakfast is also served. Of course you can expect baklava for dessert. The setting is luxurious, with onyx walls and, in the underground Ten11 Lounge for inventive cocktails and small plates, a glowing backlit onyx bar.
Life Hotel, 19 West 31st Street, 347-677-2035, zoinomad.com.
6 Restaurant
Central to the new partnership between the restaurant investor Kirk Love, the executive chef Nico Bouter, and the beverage director Eric Torres, is a six-seat tasting table for eight courses ($165) adjacent to an open kitchen. The owners, having determined that six is the ideal head count for a dinner party, selected a name that reflects the number. Another 28 seats are available in the warmly decorated room for à la carte dining from a menu that combines American, South American, European and Asian influences.
481 Court Street (Nelson Street), Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, 718-766-1112, 6restaurant.com.
Pinky Swear
You may think you just want some dinner, but a gang of artists, designers and others won’t let it go at that. Art and artifacts, creative lighting, pops of color and more pound the senses throughout five different areas in this space. The food, created by the culinary director Will Horowitz, pounds the palate with the likes of Boursin cheese doughnuts with crabmeat and sweet potato, aged swordfish belly lardo with olive oil and yuzu, kelp-marinated carrots, and beef brisket cheeseburger with Cheez Whiz. (Thursday)
171 Chrystie Street (Rivington Street), pinkyswearnyc.com.
Birdee
The impact of the chef James Kent continues with this bakery in the repurposed Domino Sugar complex that was in the planning stages when he died last year at 45. The pastry chef Renata Ameni, a partner at Birdee is in charge, working with Justin Osorio, the culinary director. Ms. Ameni’s treats reveal her Brazilian heritage with pão de queijo and brigadeiros, and she also offers pains au chocolat, olive oil cake, garlic knot pretzels, Russian honey cake and strawberry-pistachio kataifi ice cream. The cafe menu includes sandwiches, like a chicken Caesar. The industrial space is softened with polished wood, upholstery and green flooring.
316 Kent Avenue (South Third Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, birdee.nyc.
I’m Donut? Times Square
To the Japanese pastry chef Ryouta Hirako, the perfect doughnut, or nama, is a cloudlike mound, as weightless as a passenger in space and textured with a drift of sugar, no central aperture, in plain, chocolate and matcha. These also come with creamy fillings like matcha and caramel-espresso. With more than a dozen shops in Tokyo, his first international outpost just landed in New York. Vegan doughnuts in traditional shapes with sweet icing, are another option. And if you’re tempted by a BLT sandwiched in a glazed doughnut, your wait is over.
154 West 45th Street, imdonut.nyc.
Branches
Oyamel
This Mexican restaurant replaces what was the Spanish Diner, anchoring the ground floor space that is home to the market Mercado Little Spain in Hudson Yards by the José Andrés Group. It more-or-less replicates the Oyamel that opened in Washington, D.C., in 2004. The setting is less utilitarian than the diner was, now aglow with vibrant lighting and adorned with butterflies, the monarchs that veneer the trees in Michoacán. Tacos, antojitos, empanadas and a ceviche bar are some components. Family-style “Mexican Fiestas,” platters of chicken in mole poblano and lamb barbacoa for sharing, are new on the all-day menu here. Drinks interpret Mexican classics.
10 Hudson Yards (30th Street), 646-495-1242, oyamel.com.
Looking Ahead
New Absolute Bagel
The sudden closing of Absolute Bagels last December was cataclysmic; howls of dismay could be heard throughout the Upper West Side. The owner, Samak Thongkrieng, gave no reason, but West Side Rag reported it was because of a Health Department inspection. Faster than you can say “schmear,” new owners signed a lease and a sign is up. Rafe Evans of Walker, Malloy & Co., one of the brokers, said they would not to speak to the press. Using strong language, he said the place was a mess and that it would take months to reopen. The other broker, Elad Dror of PD Properties, could not be reached for comment.
2788 Broadway (107th Street).
“Chefs Table: Legends”
Each episode in Netflix’s new documentary in its 10-year old “Chef’s Table” series can be viewed in the time it takes to roast a chicken. They showcase Jamie Oliver, José Andrés, Thomas Keller and Alice Waters, chefs who have had a major impact on the profession and beyond. As his disaster relief teams work, Mr. Andrés says, “chefs can feed the world.” Mr. Keller’s rise to what the show calls “the most important American chef in history,” included setbacks and triumphs; Ms. Waters dubs her approach “farm to table;” and despite ups and downs Mr. Oliver’s career, like that of Ms. Waters, leads children to good food.
Netflix, April 28, netflix.com/chefstablelegends.
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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.
The post La Piazza Brings Venice to Midtown, No Gondola Required appeared first on New York Times.
