The 10 Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings of the Summer

Big, splashy restaurants dominate the summer’s openings, starting with the first Grant Achatz project in NYC set to debut in the Mandarin Oriental, to the EMP Summer House with hard-to-score reservations out east. Read on for openings we’re excited about between now and around Labor Day.

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The Aviary

The Operators: Nick Kokonas and Grant Achatz

The Details: When Chicago’s most famous cocktail bar the Aviary and the Office open on the 35th floor of the Mandarin Oriental this summer, restaurateur Nick Kokonas and chef Grant Achatz will serve breakfast and lunch drinks, particularly ones that don’t showcase alcohol, as well as a robust evening cocktail selection akin to the drinks that made the Aviary world-famous. Expect a small bites menu like those in Chicago like wagyu with smoked paprika, pumpkin seed, and yogurt, and a potato dish with custard, malt vinegar chips, and chive.

Projected Opening: Late summer

Mandarin Oriental, 80 Columbus Circle, Manhattan

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B at Home from David Bouley

The Operator: David Bouley

The Details: B at Home will open July at the earliest, a wine bar with food in the Flatiron District next door to where David Bouley recently relocated his test kitchen. Although it’s been widely reported that he’s preparing to open a smaller version of his flagship at 17 Harrison Street, it’ll be at least a year before that debut, says a source. As he told the Times last year, the new restaurant will have 20 to 25 seats compared to the 120 seats at its Duane Street home, and it will only be open five days a week. Stay tuned for details.

Projected Opening: Mid summer

31 East 21st Street, Manhattan

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DeKalb Market Hall

The Operator: Anna Castellani

The Details: With Katz’s Deli’s first outpost outside of the Lower East Side, Gus’ Pickles, Bunker, and Steve’s Key Lime, the draw here will be some of the city’s more interesting food hall vendors. Also in the mix you’ll find Smorgasburg regular Kotti Berliner Doner Kebab, Fulton Landing Seafood, Hard Times Sundae, Wilma Jean’s fried chicken from the Carroll Garden restaurant, and Bushwick kebab spot BK Jani.

Projected Opening: Mid June

445 Albee Square West, Brooklyn

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EMP Summer House

The Operators: Will Guidara, Daniel Humm, and the Eleven Madison Park crew

The Details: EMP heads to the Hamptons with indoor and outdoor seating with a seafood-focused menu and, under a big tent out back, lobster rolls, burgers, salads, and grilled fish. Diners can reserve large-format meals (including Humm’s take on a fried chicken dinner and a lobster boil) They’ll also offer bar service and games like cornhole on the beach. The catch, as you may recall, is that you’ll need an Amex to pay credit card and to hold reservations.

Projected Opening: Late June

341 Pantiago Road, East Hampton

Liz Barclay/Eater

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Jose Andres’ to-be-named restaurant

The Operators: José Andrés, French designer Philippe Starck, and Sam Nazarian, CEO of sbe hospitality.

The Details: Part of a $109 million financing with Fortress Investment Group for SLS New York, the 190-room luxury hotel will house an “(unnamed) Bazaar restaurant,” his spokesperson says. Whether it will feature a menu of beef sui mai, caviar cones, and Japanese tacos remains to be seen. There are also plans for a basement bar called SBar and a rooftop lounge, which Andres will likely oversee, but not run. And yes, Jose will be opening a Spanish food hall with the Adria brothers in Hudson Yards in 2018.

Projected Opening: Late summer

Inside the SLS New York, 444 Park Avenue South

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Martina

The Operator: Danny Meyer

The Details: A little Marta, if you will, with 13 tables and a sidewalk cafe that will open just before or shortly after Labor Day, serving pizza in the ground level of a 12-floor building between 10th and 11th streets. It’ll serve beer and wine during proposed hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday through Wednesday and until 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. Whether Martina will strive to create a Roman-slash-New York-style pizza like what’s served at Marta, or a straight-up Roman style remains to be seen, but we’ll keep you posted.

Projected Opening: September

198 East 11th Street, Manhattan

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Pasta Flyer

The Operator: Mark Ladner

The Details: A former maestro of fine dining, Del Posto’s Mark Ladner promises the customers at Pasta Flyer will not spend more than $10 a dish. Diners will be able to choose between three kinds of pastas (including gluten-free), three sauces (tomato marinara, basil pesto, and meat ragu), with the latter two costing $1 more. For between 50 cents and a dollar, there’s pork sausage meatballs, garlic bread crumbs, or whipped ricotta cheese. Sides include garlic dots — below — spicy broccoli rabe, fried cauliflower, and a salad with braised lentil dressing and pecorino cheese.

Projected Opening: Any day now

510 Sixth Avenue, Manhattan

Beth Galton for Pasta Flyer

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The Pool

The Operators: Jeff Zalaznick, Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi

The Details: The follow-up to The Grill, the biggest restaurant opening of the year in the space that had been The Four Seasons. The Pool will be a Japanese-inspired seafood restaurant where Rich Torrisi runs the kitchen.

Projected Opening: July

99 E. 52nd Street, Manhattan

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Smorgasburg SoHo

The Operators: Eric Denby and Jonathan Butler

The Details: Eric Demby and Jonathan Butler will bring their outdoor eating extravaganza of viral novelty foods, carefully curated bites, and long lines to what they consider the Manhattan debut. The 22,000 square-feet location will allow for an indoor and outdoor market for a year-long Smorgasburg open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with an emphasis on lunch and happy hour.

Projected Opening: August

76 Varick Street, Manhattan

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Tetsu

The Operator: Masa Takayama

The Details: A restaurant that’s been in the works since 2012 finally seems ready to open. It started back in April with the go-go happy hour with sample dishes from the upcoming Tetsu at Bar Masa, like banana bone marrow, a rice bowl with pork, a duck foie gras slider, and a lamb slider. Then on the pre-opening press on Late Night with Seth Meyers, as Takayama put together a tuna guacamole appetizer and noodles made out of fish, he dropped a bomb — the Michelin three-star sushi chef will feature four types of burgers on the menu: beef, duck, chicken, and lamb.

Projected Opening: Late June

78 Leonard Street, Manhattan

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