Taberna 97 Opens in the East Village, Williamsburg Hotel Soft-Opens — and More Intel

— More than two years after Yaffa Cafe closed on St. Mark’s Place, Taberna 97 has opened. The Portuguese restaurant co-owned by Eric Baker of St. Dymphnas, also on St. Mark’s, offers a menu of petiscos like little necks in garlic and white wine or Portuguese sausage and mains like grilled octopus and salt cod.

— Complimentary continental breakfast begins this morning during the soft-opening of The Williamsburg Hotel, with Harvey — the restaurant helmed by chef Adam Leonti — scheduled to open in February. The breakfast includes fresh-milled baked goods from the hotel’s Brooklyn Bread Lab — formerly in Bushwick, now in-house. Additionally, a selection of bread and pastries will be available for purchase on site.

— “Plenty of delectable and comforting things” will suffice for 2017, says New York critic Adam Platt, from French bistro classics and Indian fare, to regional Chinese, beefsteak, and “furtive sushi feasts.” Le Coq Rico, King, Chumley’s, Indian Accent, MaLa Project and Akashi make the list.

— The Danish pursuit of hygge is “ ... a national manifesto, nay, an obsession expressed in the constant pursuit of homespun pleasures involving candlelight, fires, fuzzy knitted socks, porridge, coffee, cake and other people.” Claus Meyer of The Great Northern Food Hall is a hygge connoisseur, having hosted a Holiday Hygge Program,(pronounced HOO-ga), with knitting workshops and talks on mulled wine, making vinegar and bread. At his Chelsea townhouse, Meyer holds a hygge marathon with his family, which involves streaming a fire video on the TV, drinking glogg, and snacking on dough balls made with lemon peel, cardamom,and apples, sauteed in butter, followed by a meal of beef tartare, bread, and porridge with rye, barley, and black lentils, among other things. “Porridge,” Mr. Meyer asserted crisply, “is even more compliant with the idea. Comfort food. Comfort food and hygge must be coinciding.” His hyggelig classes like bread baking resume next month at Meyers Bageri Commissary in Long Island City.

Grand Central

— Speaking of Denmark, Rene Redzepi of Noma in Copenhagen and founder of the MAD Symposium namechecks Superiority Burger in an interview. “I mean, what is fine dining supposed to be?” he asks. “. . . I don’t see any difference between what Superiority Burger is doing and what we are doing. I know when [Brooks Headley] goes to work, he thinks the same way I do. He goes to the market and finds ingredients and he wants to create dishes that are fresh and delicious. There’s no difference.”

— Damon Wise, who, two years ago, left Lafayette and packed his bags for Charleston, S.C., has returned to New York to run the kitchens at Maison Premiere and younger sibling, Sauvage.

— In the spirit of hygge, consider how to make the croque-monsieur: