As summer fades, restaurants are not like the New York Philharmonic, BAM or Atlantic Theater Company, announcing a new seasonal lineup starting in the fall. Getting the gas turned on and the new chairs delivered can stretch the timeline by months, so the sensible move is to open when everything is ready, at any time, turning reliable fall (or winter, or spring) predictions into a game of chance.
Consider John McDonald’s grand seafood brasserie, Seahorse, at Union Square. A year ago it was slated to open in late fall, 2024, but its debut will be next week. The glacial opening of Gabriel Kreuther’s second act, Saverne, at Hudson Yards, is another example, as was Confidant in Industry City, which opened last spring, four months behind schedule. You get the picture. Still, providing the dining demographic with tables and trends to anticipate remains in demand, even if it means waiting a year to book a reservation.
What restaurant are you most excited about?
FLORENCE FABRICANT Not just one; but the reboot of Babbo by Stephen Starr with Mark Ladner at the helm, especially considering the history of the location, is right up there, vying with Gabriel Kreuther’s Saverne, a new expression of the Alsatian master’s talent deploying live fire, at the edge of the second wind that is energizing Hudson Yards. And Daniel Boulud’s glossy new Brasserie Boulud — incorporating elements of Boulud Sud, Bar Boulud and Épicerie Boulud in one grand space — is desperately needed at Lincoln Center. Opening early October (Babbo), November (Saverne) and December (Brasserie Boulud)
LUKE FORTNEY Which came first: the $78 chicken or the $62 egg? Jokes aside, I’ve heard more talk about rotisserie chickens this year than any other dish and soon, they’ll be the talk of the town in Greenpoint when Hugo Hivernat, an owner of Fulgurances Laundromat, opens his new wine bar Gigi’s. It’s on the same block as his restaurant in a landmark building — one reason it’s been “coming soon” for two years — with a rotisserie oven that can handle 28 birds at once. And I hope you’re thirsty. Last year, Mr. Hivernat and his partners shuttered the location of Fulgurances in Paris and had the 5,000 bottles of wine in their cellar shipped here. Opening November or December
FABRICANT And John McDonald’s Seahorse in the renovated W New York at Union Square will be worth a visit because there are plenty of steak houses but never enough seafood restaurants (this one billed as a seafood brasserie) and McDonald’s track record as a restaurateur gets high marks. Opening Sept. 24.
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