Openings, coming attractions, and closings
Get ready for the return of Union Square comfort food restaurant Chat ’N Chew, which has signage up at 10 East 16th Street and is looking ready to burst open. Over on the Upper West Side, two new restaurants opened — Italian restaurant Mama’s Too at 2750 Broadway and Burrito Mariachi at 146 West 72nd Street — while Thai restaurant Sookk at 2686 Broadway has closed.
A peek at Pete Wells’ dining preferences
After earlier this week naming his favorite dishes of the year, now Times critic Pete Wells wraps up 2017 with a top 10 list of his picks for the year’s best new restaurants. Just like at Eater NY, luxe throwback chophouse The Grill lands the number one spot, followed in succession by Guan Fu Sichuan, Empellon Midtown, King, and more, all the way down to Ugly Baby. Here’s the full list.
Speedy Romeo chef dives into the world of Mexican food
Hitting Greenpoint in early 2018 is Oxomoco, a Mexican restaurant from Speedy Romeo chef Justin Bazdarich. The food will revolve around the two wood-burning ovens in the space at 128 Greenpoint Avenue, which mean a menu centered around tacos filled with wood fire-cooked meats, and other dishes such as a half-duck dish with a confit leg, a tamale made with the confit fat, and a grilled breast.
Cuozzo rips into The Aviary for not getting him tipsy
Post critic Steve Cuozzo has passed his judgment on The Aviary — that molecular gastronomy-inspired cocktail spot from the Alinea team in the Mandarin Oriental — and he ain’t impressed. “But for all of the hype that the fancy lounge has enjoyed, its astronomically priced, smoke-spewing cocktails don’t deliver a buzz,” he writes. Basically, he’s upset because he didn’t get drunk. Cuozzo joins a new club of critics not taking to the high-brow hotel lounge, with Eater’s Ryan Sutton giving the bar one star last week.
Twelve days of buche at Daniel Boulud restaurants
Buche de Noel fans can geek out at all Daniel Boulud restaurants for the next 12 days, as they are spotlighting the Yule log-shaped sponge cake at all locations through December 24. The pastry chefs at each restaurant have created their own versions of the Christmastime treat, with versions such as dark chocolate buche at Bar Boulud, chestnut buche at Cafe Boulud, and Manjari chocolate buche at db Bistro Moderne.
Telling the story of immigration through food
New York’s Tenement Museum has launched an extensive online exhibit called Your Story, Our Story that explores immigrant stories, including entire sections devoted to food and cooking. To help launch the project, staff members at iconic appetizing store Russ & Daughters shared their personal immigration stories. Here’s where Russ & Daughters gets its smoked whitefish: