NYC’s 15 Most Anticipated Restaurant Openings of Fall 2019

New York has long been a city that’s sought out what’s new and different in the dining scene, and this fall, that impetus thankfully means that lesser seen cuisines and innovative players are shining.

There’s an American-style diner with a Thai edge, from the award-winning Uncle Boons team. There’s the rare new Burmese restaurant, setting up shop in Crown Heights for chicken coconut noodles after years of nomadic life as a pop-up. The Adda team, fresh off of a year of accolades, is diving into showcasing even more Indian dishes at a new restaurant on the Lower East Side, and a popular Bushwick vegan restaurateur is using her platform to create a restaurant that combines food and performance.

Of course, classics still play a strong role, too. Old hats are getting fresh faces: Gage and Tollner, a landmarked space that opened as a restaurant more than a century ago, will reopen as a chophouse with new owners, while NYC’s oldest French bistro Le Veau d’Or will get a pump-up from the Frenchette guys.

And as is typical of New York, there’s lots of new Italian restaurants in the works — but from some of the most acclaimed chefs in the entire country, let alone New York. Legend Alfred Portale, who ran Gotham Bar & Grill to much acclaim for 34 years, is one of them, opening his own restaurant for the first time this fall.

Below, see the fall’s most anticipated restaurant openings, listed by expected opening date.

F & F Pizzeria

Key players: Frank Castronovo, Frank Falcinelli, Chad Robertson, Chris Bianco
Target open: Late September

This new slice shop comes from well-established Brooklyn restaurateurs Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli, together known as the Franks — with some help from two of the biggest bread and pizza bakers in the country: Chad Robertson of beloved California bakery Tartine and Chris Bianco of the popular Pizza Bianco in Arizona, who are taking a non-financial consulting role in the new spot. The pizzas here will be made from grain that’s freshly milled every two weeks and natural sourdough leaven, a bid to create a more sustainable and healthy pie. Slice shops are certainly having their moment, and this addition is likely to be just as promising for the neighborhood. The Franks, after all, already run neighborhood hits like Frankies 457 Spuntino and a next-door wine bar. 459 Court St., between Luquer Street and Fourth Place, Carroll Gardens

Rangoon

Key players: Myo Moe
Target open: September

Burmese food is still fairly difficult to find in New York, but even if it were everywhere, chef Myo Moe would have stood out with her pop-up Rangoon NoodleLab, a weekly exploration of noodles from her birthplace of Myanmar. She’s now settling down with a permanent operation in Crown Heights, offering dishes like the ohn-no khao swe, a noodle soup with a chicken and coconut base that critic Robert Sietsema enjoyed on his visits to the pop-up. Even with simple hot plate set-ups, Moe’s won critics over with her surprising selection of stir-fries and noodles — making her transition into a bigger kitchen particularly promising. 500 Prospect Place, near Classon Avenue, Crown Heights

Paul Crispin Quitoriano/Eater

Kindred

Key players: Josh Ochoa, Amy Mattulina, Alexis Percival, Patrick Cournot, Charlotte Mirzoeff, Moshe Schulman
Target open: Early October

East Village natural wine bar Ruffian has flown a bit under the radar, but it’s known as a drinking destination among NYC’s wine elite. So it’s exciting that the team is tackling a new spot, equally as dedicated to high-quality drinking, this time from Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy, with a particular focus on orange wines. Alongside the wine will be small plates, pasta, and some large-format dishes, such as whole hen, inspired by the same region and created by Ruffian chef Josh Ochoa and former Maialino and Charlie Bird chef Amy Mattulina. Natural wine bars with thoughtful fare have been proliferating around NYC, but there’s definitely room for more. 342 East Sixth St., between First and Second avenues, East Village

Portale [Official Photo]

Portale

Key players: Alfred Portale
Target open: October

Gotham Bar & Grill is one of NYC’s most acclaimed American restaurants, holding a Michelin star for 13 years, winning multiple James Beard awards, and receiving several three-star reviews from the Times. Now, the man who has led it there, Alfred Portale, has left to open a more casual venture of his own. Called Portale, it will have 130 seats and serve contemporary Italian fare such as bread made with flour milled in house, pasta and polenta, and grilled meats and fish. It could be just another Italian restaurant in NYC, but what makes this one have serious potential is Portale himself, who’s a luminary in the field both for his own point of view and for his work training chefs such as Craft’s Tom Colicchio and Oceana’s Bill Telepan. 126 West 18th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, Chelsea

Silver Apricot

Key players: Simone Tong
Target open: October

Chef Simone Tong made a name for herself with her East Village rice noodle parlor Little Tong, but her upcoming Silver Apricot sounds a bit more personal: Tong wrote in an essay that the slightly upscale restaurant will explore Chinese-American identity and “show, rather than tell ... what it means to us to be Chinese-American today.” She’ll use her training at places like Wd~50 to make housemade cheeses, charcuterie, and breads out of local products, while employing traditional Chinese cooking techniques. There may be a tasting menu, and there will definitely be an outdoor garden. 20 Cornelia St., between Bleecker and West Fourth streets, West Village

Gary He/Eater

Dhamaka

Key players: Roni Mazumdar, Chintan Pandya
Target open: October

Roni Mazumdar and chef Chintan Pandya have already made a serious mark on NYC’s restaurant scene for running two of the city’s best new Indian restaurants at Adda and Rahi. Their third, Dhamaka inside Essex Crossing, will channel Adda in that it will focus on casual regional fare such as Mumbai street snack pav bhaji or a lesser known curry. More ubiquitous dishes like chicken tikka masala will not be on the menu, and lunch and dinner will stay under $25 per dish in the colorful 60-seat space. Elsewhere in the massive Lower East Side complex that houses restaurants, apartments, a movie theater, and office space, the Wildair team will open a wine bar with some food, and beloved D.C. beer bar Grand Delancey will showcase a wide-ranging offering of beers. 88 Essex St., at Delancey Street, Lower East Side

First Sunday

Key players: Francesca Chaney
Target open: October

First Sunday is Eater Young Gun (‘19) Francesca Chaney’s follow-up restaurant to her successful vegan cafe in Bushwick, and it’s an ambitious one. The chef is expanding beyond the tight fast-casual space she’s in right now to open an “experimental” dining destination that combines music, art, and food under one roof. It’ll be the kind of place where diners choose their meals beforehand so that there are no distractions the day of. Dinner will last two hours, and once seated, everyone will be served at once. First Sunday will focus on meat-free cuisine, though the theatrics will be just as important as the food — Chaney wants the restaurant to serve as a platform for emerging artists, especially people of color. 324 Grand Street, between Ludlow and Orchard streets, Lower East Side

Wolf

Key players: Ethan Stowell
Target open: October 24

Besides the major news that Nordstrom is finally (!!!) opening a New York City store, for the purposes of Eater NY, Wolf is the part to watch. It’s the first NYC restaurant for award-winning chef Ethan Stowell, who now has restaurants around the world, and it’s based off his Seattle restaurant How to Cook a Wolf, which features simple Italian small plates. At Wolf, Italian will similarly remain the focus, and some dishes — like polenta fritters with ricotta, sage, and chestnut honey — will repeat here. But it won’t be a total replica, nor will it be straight-up Italian: Pacific Northwest flavors and product will come into play, too. 225 West 57th St., third floor, near Columbus Circle

Alex Muccilli [Official]

Thai Diner

Key players: Ann Redding and Matt Danzer
Target open: October

The duo behind Thai stunner (and Michelin-starred restaurant) Uncle Boons is expanding with a more casual, diner-like restaurant with a playful Thai-American menu. Chef-owners Ann Redding and Matt Danzer have a knack for creating spaces with eclectic personal touches that feel genuine, and their Nolita restaurant Uncle Boons consistently attracts lines of diners for both impressive Thai food and a fun vibe. Their new Thai-American diner promises to have a menu that’s just as fun: One of the dishes is called Thai disco fries, with curry standing in for gravy. 186 Mott Street, at Kenmare Street, Nolita

Ella

Key players: Manoella Buffara, Michael Satsky, Brian Gefter
Target open: November

Brazilian chef Manoella Buffara is heading to New York City for the first time with her new upscale restaurant Ella — which is supposed to act as a sister restaurant to her critically acclaimed tasting menu restaurant Manu in Curitiba, Brazil. Though Ella won’t follow the tasting menu format, it’s a lesser seen upscale entrant to the local Brazilian food scene. The menu will be molded by the chef’s commitment to sustainability, with Brazilian cooking techniques meshing with locally sourced, organic ingredients, and plates meant for sharing. Buffara, who brings experience from world-renowned restaurants like Copenhagen’s Noma and Chicago’s Alinea, teamed up with nightlife impresarios Michael Satsky and Brian Gefter for the new restaurant. 436 West 15th Street, between Ninth and Tenth avenues, Chelsea

Saigon Social

Key players: Helen Nguyen, Andy Tong, Khai Vu
Target open: November

Those in the know on New York’s Vietnamese scene are already eating up the soft shell crab garlic noodles of chef Helen Nguyen. The dish, featuring egg noodles and beer-battered soft shell crab, is one of the best sellers at her pop-up Saigon Social, which most recently has been at LES bar Boys Don’t Cry. Now, the Daniel alum is putting down roots in the neighborhood in the former Mission Cantina space with a casual 50- to 60-seat restaurant. Expect ubiquitous Vietnamese dishes with her touch, such as a version of bo luc lac (shaking beef) made with 45-day dry-aged ribeye, as well as original creations like a pot pie made with Vietnamese beef stew. In a town where Vietnamese cuisine is getting more due, Saigon Social’s already getting all the right buzz. 172 Orchard St., at Stanton Street, Lower East Side

Gage and Tollner

Key players: Sohui Kim, Ben Schneider, St. John Frizell
Target open: November/December

The space alone at Gage and Tollner will be worth visiting when it reopens this fall. The landmarked dining room opened more than 125 years ago, and since closing in 2004, the Downtown Brooklyn space with mirrored panels and a mahogany bar has gone through a series of somewhat depressing iterations (T.G.I. Friday’s, Arby’s, discount store) that haven’t fully highlighted its historic status. But seasoned restaurateurs Sohui Kim, Ben Schneider, and St. John Frizell are aiming to change that. Their iteration will go hard on old-time New York, reviving it as an oyster and chophouse with classics like a Caesar salad and a ribeye. Newer elements like an expanded bar and an upstairs tiki cocktail lounge called the Sunken Harbor Club have been added. And though many have struggled to make a fine dining restaurant work on crowded commercial Fulton Street, this team is encouraging. The partners are behind the Good Fork and Fort Defiance, both of which have become go-to’s in Red Hook. 372 Fulton St., between Red Hook Lane and Smith Street, Downtown Brooklyn

Ernesto’s

Key players: Ryan Bartlow
Target open: December

Ryan Bartlow hasn’t been a huge name in the past, but he’s a respected chef who’s been around for a while, most recently as the executive chef of Quality Eats — the modern steakhouse that became a low-key favorite for people in the restaurant industry. He’s going out on his own for the first time at Ernesto’s and highlighting Basque cooking, a passion he developed while working at three-Michelin-starred San Sebastian restaurant Akelarre in his early 20s. Traditional dishes like clams and rice will be served in the 50-seat dining room, as will invented items like chicken croquetas with caviar. It’s in a sleepy area of the Lower East Side, and in hopes of being a place for the area’s residents, Ernesto’s will eventually also house a coffee shop and bar with pastries and pintxos (small snacks). 259 East Broadway, at Montgomery Street, Lower East Side

Caitlin and Michael Toscano [Official]

Da Toscano

Key players: Michael Toscano, Caitlin Toscano
Target open: December

When Michael Toscano worked in New York, he was one of the hottest acts in town. He was opening chef at Gabriel Stulman’s Perla, which subsequently got two stars in the Times and a spot on the Eater 38, and he quickly landed on the James Beard long list for rising star chefs. Caitlin Toscano, meanwhile, racked up experience at restaurants like Per Se and Del Posto while here. They left for Charleston, opening a respected Italian restaurant there, but this year, the couple is back — incidentally opening in Perla’s first space in Greenwich Village. Da Toscano will serve regional Italian cuisine with a focus on dishes cooked in a wood-burning oven, plus chilled seafood and lots and lots of pasta. 24 Minetta Lane, between Macdougal Street and Sixth Avenue

Le Veau d’Or

Key players: Riad Nasr, Lee Hanson, Jorge Riera
Target open: Late December

The city’s oldest French bistro is unexpectedly finding a new life via the guys responsible for recently making the genre exciting again. Award-winning Frenchette chefs Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr have bought the Upper East Side relic and are renovating it with a new floor and a refreshed menu focused on seasonality. Hanson and Nasr want to preserve the 82-year-old restaurant’s identity, and thus will keep menu classics like frog’s legs and snails. But they’re known for subverting expectations and not following rules, so expect some surprises — especially when it comes to the wine list, which will be chosen by natural wine star Jorge Riera. 129 East 60th St., between Park and Lexington avenues, Upper East Side

Louise Palmberg/Eater

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Dhamaka

119 Delancey Street, Manhattan, NY 10002 (212) 204-8616 Visit Website

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Silver Apricot

20 Cornelia Street, Manhattan, NY 10014 Visit Website

Franks Umberto

210 Court St., Brooklyn, NY 11201

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Saigon Social

172 Orchard Street, Manhattan, NY 10002 (646) 609-3202 Visit Website

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Portale

126 West 18th Street, Manhattan, NY 10011 (917) 781-0255 Visit Website

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Gage & Tollner

372 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201 (347) 689-3677 Visit Website

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Rangoon Noodle Lab Pop Up

1080 Wyckoff Ave, Ridgewood, NY 11385

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Ella Brasileira

436 West 15th St., New York, NY 10011

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Le Veau d'Or

129 East 60th Street, Manhattan, NY 10022 (212) 838-8133

Ernesto's

259 East Broadway, Manhattan, NY 10002 (646) 692-8300 Visit Website

Kindred

7537 Maple Street, , LA 70118 (504) 841-9538 Visit Website