Chef Russell Jackson was a pioneer of San Francisco’s supper club scene, and now, he’s brought his talents to Harlem, where he’s created Reverence as an ode to his childhood in California. The $98 five-course meal touches on the state’s multicultural cuisines, from French and Japanese to Korean and Latin American. Dishes could include escargot with fermented uni-chili crema and a quail egg empanada, plus an almond honey cake with coffee syrup to finish. Jackson’s known as “the dissident chef”; diners must make reservations in advance and cannot take photos or have their phones out, a rule for people to be present during the meal.

Midtown gained an elegant new Chinese restaurant this year with Hutong, a Hong Kong-based restaurant that’s transformed the expansive former Le Cirque space with Art Deco sensibilities. The restaurant — which may be better suited to a quieter, fancier night out — has been attracting attention for its daylong dim sum service, where chef Fei Wang dishes out inventive dumplings like a jet-black mochi dumpling filled with pork. Other dishes to watch for include the you shui chicken, roast Peking duck, and the dessert, where artful sculptures have classic Chinese flavors. For a more casual stop-in, there’s also an 83-seat lounge and bar. 

More than 20-year-old Midtown Italian seafood restaurant Esca underwent a revamp following a fire, and now owner Victor Rallo and longtime executive chef Dave Pasternack have reopened it with a patio, a farmhouse dining room, a fresh wine list, and some new menu items. There’s more charcuterie, additional meat options such as a pork Milanese, and vintage wines from Rallo’s personal collection. Stand-bys such as sea urchin pasta are still available, as is a robust list of crudos. And after a brief dinner-only period, it’s now also reopen for lunch.

One of the most important restaurants this century is back in action, still with the same signature Keith McNally golden lighting but with the addition of Stephen Starr on the team. The new Pastis — which helped turn the Meatpacking District into a celebrity-packed dining destination — is also more spacious, but it maintains a familiar menu of French brasserie fare, including charred steaks, fries, onion soups, and a special of the day. Waits at dinner have been wild, but getting a seat at the bar, where the full menu is served, is a little easier. It’s also open for breakfast and lunch, when primetime reservations are far easier to come by.

Italian restaurants open a lot in New York, but Rezdôra — from chef Stefano Secchi, an alum of three-Michelin-starred Osteria Francescana — offers a selection of specialties from the country that are lesser found in New York. Pastas and vegetable dishes come from Emilia-Romagna, and a $90-per-person pasta tasting, an a la carte menu, and cocktails are available. Early stand-outs include a gnocco fritto (fritters with charcuterie on top) and both a beef ragu and a duck ragu pasta. Though Secchi has a fine dining background, this Flatiron restaurant is supposed to be fairly casual. Go for one of the Italian wines.

Nikkei cuisine — a mash-up of Peruvian and Japanese ingredients and techniques — gets another stage at Llama San, the latest restaurant from the hit team behind Llama Inn and Llamita. Here, chef Erik Ramirez pays homage to his bi-cultural upbringing through dishes such as a ceviche with ponzu sauce. Other items include pork tonkatsu with green udon noodles and pickled cucumbers and a creamy Peruvian chicken stew known as ají de gallina that’s wrapped in sushi rice and toasted sesame seeds, then sealed in banana leaves and charred with open fire. The 65-seat space is outfitted in light wood tones and tons of plants. The drink menu is particularly strong, so be sure to order a cocktail or some natural wine.

The latest offering from famed nightlife group Tao is the French-Mediterranean Cathédrale in the new Moxy East Village, with soaring ceilings and multiple rooms meant to evoke a cathedral. Executive chef Jason Hall is serving up dishes inspired by Nice, Provence, and St. Tropez, such as snapper made with a Provencal sauce, rotisserie chicken chasseur-style, roasted calamari, and chickpea crepes, to the 300 seats. There’s also a patio area with a retractable roof and a lot of greenery, plus a large black marble bar.

Three seasoned Masa vets have added a more laidback sushi restaurant to the West Village serving varied versions of temaki, or hand rolls stuffed with fresh fish and vegetables. Options at Nami Nori include tuna poke and crispy shallots; chile sea bass, daikon, mint, and chogochujang; and salmon, tomato, onion cream, and chives. What makes it particularly singular is that owners Taka Sakaeda, Jihan Lee, and Lisa Limb serve the temaki in taco format — the ingredients are held in a nori shell that’s open on top, acting as the taco’s “tortilla.” Sake, beer, wine, and Japanese teas and sodas round out the menu.

Canal Street at the Tribeca and Soho border has long been weak as a dining destination, but the area recently gained a big seafood and natural wine hangout from some very seasoned restaurateurs. Canal Street Oysters, from Broome Street Hospitality of East Pole on the UES, is a 200-seater with a menu focused on sustainably sourced seafood. Chef Charlene Santiago (Reynard, the John Dory Oyster Bar) translates that into an oyster selection, cold dishes like a Spanish mackerel tartare with jalapeño and squid, hot ones such as squid ink paella, and shellfish towers. Cocktails include a sherry spritz or a spiced black tea cocktail with mint and peaches, but the wine list is the thing to check out. Lee Campbell, a natural wine game changer who used to run the program at Andrew Tarlow’s restaurants, was in charge of the list here.