Opening
Borgo
A pair of spacious dining rooms, a working fireplace and a garden lured Andrew Tarlow, known for his Brooklyn restaurants, a bakery and other ventures, to settle his first Manhattan restaurant in what had been I Trulli. Its interior is lighter now, with paler wood finishes for a rustic but urban look. Mr. Tarlow and the executive chef, Jordan Frosolone, have created a menu for this trattoria that stretches the boundaries of Italy’s boot somewhat. They dress the chicory salad with Cabot Cheddar, and sneak sunchokes into the mushroom ravioli. But there are still chicken liver crostini, marinated artichokes with buffalo mozzarella, wood oven chicken with Marsala and fennel sausage with Umbrian lentils.
Gus and Marty’s
Everything egg, as in Egg Shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and NoLIta, has spun off an everything Greek place. Sarah Schneider and Demetri Makoulis, the owners of both spots, have named this one after their fathers. A front bar area leads past the open kitchen to the dining room done in limestone and wood with blue accents. The menu is what you’ll find in most Greek spots but is enlivened with olive oil from the Makoulis farm near Athens, and uncommon notes, like mizuna in a salad, crispy anchovies, and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms in a small gyro. (Friday)
Ishq
Slow-cooked goat meat on the bone with gravy and fried onions, or, to pre-order for a party of four, a whole baby goat leg with roti, lentils and other sides, are two of the specialties at this Indian restaurant. There are dishes of pulled venison with flaky parotta; paneer luang latta, a layered dish stuffed with nuts and Indian cheese; and fresh morels done Himalayan style with tomato and onion. The chef and co-owner, Vamshi Adi, is also the chef and an owner of Gazab on the Lower East Side where vegetables dominate.
202 Avenue A (13th Street), 646-559-4747, ishq.nyc.
Cora
This Lilliputian wine bar with barely 20 seats indoors (and as many in the garden) has replaced Silver Apricot. The same owners, Emmeline Zhao, Joseph Bliffen and Janice Sung, also the team behind Figure Eight next door, feature wines from North America. Their food keeps to the region with tilefish crudo, crispy rice with little neck clams and sour corn, trout Milanese, and local cheese with grilled grapes.
Alessa
A pair of domed golden pizza ovens are stationed near the entrance to this glittering 450-seat, two-story behemoth in what is now called the Penn District. Securing a table should not be a challenge. The Italian menu offers familiar fare.
‘Food and Country’
For more than a decade, documentaries exposing flaws in our food systems have appeared on big and small screens. The latest, from Greenwich Entertainment and produced by a group that includes Ruth Reichl, who narrates the film on camera, takes its lens to small farmers, producers and chefs. It describes how they struggle to stay afloat and innovate as they compete with big money’s tightwad approach.
Branches
Malka
The Israeli chef Eyal Shani has opened a Brooklyn outpost of his kosher restaurant with locations on the Upper West Side and in Tel Aviv. And another one is coming to West Palm Beach at the end of the year. The restaurant’s signature is the Queen Malka schnitzel, a chicken schnitzel stuffed with mashed potatoes. Brooklyn-only additions include za’atar burekas and tomato-farro risotto.
Bar Sprezzatura
A taste of coastal Italy, in the glass and on the plate, has landed on the 15th and 16th floors of the Kimpton Hotel Theta, near Times Square. It’s an outpost of a place with the same name in San Francisco. Expect gnocchi alla sorrentina with lobster, and ravioli caprese, for example, in a colorful room with mosaic tile tables.
Looking Ahead
Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao Soup Dumpling Festival
It takes dexterity and determination to enjoy soup dumplings at a street fair, but you can give it your best at the event organized by the restaurant Nan Xiang, a chain with locations in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and, soon, Westbury, N.Y. Sets of soup dumplings and a few other dishes will be sold, $4.99 to 19.99.
Crevette
A second seafood restaurant, but with a different focus than their original, Dame, will come next year from Ed Szymanski and Patricia Howard, who also own Lord’s nearby. They’ll be ditching fish and chips and kedgeree in favor of a more European approach, notably the south of France and the Spanish and Ligurian coasts, in a more refined setting.
Arthur Dehaine
The French chef-charcutier, who works for Daniel Boulud’s Dinex Group, will demonstrate how to prepare charcuterie — foie gras, duck and chicken pithivier, and wild mushroom porchetta at De Gustibus Cooking School by Miele. These will be served on a menu that includes wine and dessert.
Chefs on the Move
Luis ‘Lucho’ Cornejo
A native of Peru, Mr. Cornejo worked for the Peru-based Acurio Restaurants in Barcelona before moving on to Llama Inn in Madrid. He’s now in New York as the executive chef of Llama Inn in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, working with the chef and co-owner, Erik Ramirez.
Shopping
Matzoh Ball Ramen Kit
Matzo balls in the ramen bowl doesn’t take chutzpah, just the togetherness of the couple — she Japanese, he Jewish — who own Shalom Japan, the fusion restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It’s a signature that’s now sold to serve at home. Pouches of rich, golden chicken broth with vegetables, shreds of chicken and a tender matzo ball to heat up, and fresh ramen noodles to add, are in the kit designed to provide two servings. As a first course, there’s enough for four portions if you split the matzo ball, $30 for pickup at the restaurant.
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