In one of the most highly anticipated early debuts of the year, Charles Gabriel’s legendary fried chicken is back. The decades-old Harlem icon — which also opened a location on the Upper West Side in February — is known for its lesser-seen approach to frying chicken, crisping the bird in a giant skillet instead of vats of bubbling oil. The impressive, flavorful result has gained the restaurant legions of followers. Customers line up for Charles’ crunchy chicken, creamy mac and cheese, and lima beans that Eater critic Robert Sietsema says will convert even the staunchest lima bean doubter. Barbecued ribs, pulled pork, and smothered chicken are also on the menu.

Crowds of customers swarmed Italian import All’antico Vinaio from the minute it opened its doors near Times Square, and for good reason: The famed Florentine shop’s square, stuffed sandwiches are creamy, cheesy, meaty delights. Follow Eater critic Robert Sietsema’s recommendation and order the messy triumph known as la favolosa, featuring pungent Tuscan salami, spicy eggplant, and both pecorino and artichoke creams.

Chef Hillary Sterling is playing with fire at Ci Siamo, the latest debut from Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. Sterling launched the Italian restaurant, located inside Hudson Yards-adjacent development Manhattan West with pastas, wood-fired trout, and a blistered, caramelized onion torta that’s been turning heads. The dessert program, featuring gelati, sorbetti, and a chocolate amaro-filled bomboloni is overseen by lauded pastry chef Claudia Fleming.

El Quijote’s return has been four years in the making, ever since the Hotel Chelsea shut down the storied spot for renovations in 2018. The Spanish restaurant has now been polished and revamped by the hip team behind Sunday in Brooklyn and partner Charles Seich. Seafood is the highlight here, from lobster grilled on a plancha and slicked in butter and sherry, to the restaurant’s impressive paella, now studded with squid, cockles, mussels, blue prawns, and rabbit.

The first step in the next chapter at 85 10th Avenue — the former home of lauded-yet-troubled Italian destination Del Posto — has arrived. Executive chef Melissa Rodriguez is running the show at Mel’s, a weeknight hangout with wood-fired pizza, grilled steaks, and overflowing sundae cups. It’s the more casual counterpart to Rodriguez’s forthcoming fine dining restaurant Al Coro and cocktail bar Discolo, also in the same space.

The hotshots behind one of America’s best new restaurants of 2021 are not slowing down. In their latest debut, restaurateur Roni Mazumdar and chef Chintan Pandya are frying up crunchy, spicy fried chicken familiar in India and transplanting it to the East Village. The tiny shop is churning out fried chicken at three different spice levels, plus chicken sandwiches with scallion yogurt and mint chutney, and sides including crispy eggplant or potato pakoras, masala corn, and tomato rice. For vegetarians, the snack-sized vado pao — a spiced potato patty with mint and tamarind chutney on a buttered pao roll — is an equally spicy hit.

Middle Eastern, Danish, and New York influences have converged at Librae, a bakery and coffee shop that opened in May with espresso-glazed croissants and sourdough breads made with fermented Bahrani dates. Owner Dona Murad runs the shop with her husband Andre Gerschel, and her mother helps out with some of the baking, she says. Murad also runs a bakery and coffee roastery in Bahrain, and Gerschel has opened restaurants around the Middle East and U.K. “We’ve lived around the world and we wanted to bring that energy to this space,” Murad says.

A trio of Momofuku alums — Jeff Kim, Matthew Lee, and Victor Xia — started Nudibranch as a pop-up, a place where they could cook dishes that drew upon their collective experiences working at the David Chang restaurant group and other restaurants across town. Last month, they found a permanent home for their cooking in the East Village, where the $75 prix fixe menu leans heavily on traditional Asian ingredients in dishes like soba showered with shavings of bottarga; cauliflower paired with a Vietnamese dipping sauce and Chinese sausage; and fried frog legs topped with a medley of herbs like lemongrass and galangal.

Chef Mitsunobu Nagae, a Joël Robuchon veteran, has stepped out on his own at L’Abeille, a French fine dining spot that Nagae threads together with a few Japanese touches. The seasonal $185 tasting menu has included red miso-glazed squab and a pan-fried tile fish with fennel puree. (An a la carte menu is available at the bar and main dining room.) The refined, jewel-toned Tribeca space was built around the concept of “bistronomy,” where fine dining and bistro sensibilities meet.

The reliable team behind stylish downtown hits including Kimika and Wayla have added another restaurant to the fold: Wan Wan, a regional Thai restaurant that hones in on the food of the country’s famed island destination Phuket. Chef Tom Naumsuwan — who is also the executive chef at Wayla — oversees the menu at Wan Wan, which includes appetizers like nung gai tod, a tangle of crispy chicken skin tossed in garlic and sea salt, and hearty main dishes including sen pla, a bowl of fish noodles served with seared branzino.

Chef Victoria Blamey attracted plenty of headlines during high-profile tenures at storied pub Chumley’s and Manhattan fine dining institution Gotham Bar and Grill. Now, she’s stepping outside of any well-known restaurant’s shadow. Mena, named after Blamey’s great aunt, highlights the chef’s Chilean roots with a seafood and vegetable-heavy menu that’s threaded with hits from Blamey’s recent pop-up residences, including cholgas secas, featuring smoke-dried mussels coated with an onion glaze.