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The Manhattan Heatmap: Where to Eat Right Now

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134111232008_10_hasmaps%20%283%29%20%281%29.jpgMore often than not, tipsters, readers, friends and family of Eater have one question: Where should I eat right now? Restaurant obsessives want to know what's new, what's hot, which favorite chef just launched a sophomore effort, what Michael White is up to these days. And while the Eater 38 is a crucial resource covering old standbys and neighborhood essentials across the city, it is not a chronicle of the "it" places of the moment. Thus, we offer the Eater Heatmap, which will change continually to always highlight where the foodie crowds are flocking to at the moment.
Check out the map of Manhattan's 21 hottest restaurants below, and stay tuned for the Brooklyn and Queens maps later this week.



10/04/12: Added: Ichimura at Brushstroke, Salumeria Rosi Il Ristorante, Barraca, Pig and Khao, Calliope, The Leadbelly
11/20/12: Added: El Toro Blanco, Gaonnuri, L'Apicio, Bill's, The Butcher's Daughter, The Library
12/06/12: Added: Chez Sardine, Willow Road, Tribeca Canvas, Sen
01/03/13: Added: The Marrow, Salvation Taco, Hanjan, Mighty Quinn's, Louro, Le Philosophe
02/07/13: Added: The General, Circolo, Cole's Greenwich Village, American Flatbread Tribeca Hearth, Maysville, The Cleveland
03/07/13: Added: Pearl & Ash, Montmartre, Manzanilla, Clarkson, Feast
04/04/13: Added: Carbone, Alder, Kajitsu
05/02/13: Added: ABC Cocina, Uncle Boons, Lafayette, Little Prince
06/06/13: Added: Costata, Betony, Tanoshi Sushi, Harlem Shake, The Musket Room
07/11/13: Added: Charlie Bird, Estela, Sushi Dojo, The Butterfly
08/01/13: Added: Khe-Yo, Umami Burger, Quality Italian, Ippudo, Corvo Bianco, ZZ's Clam Bar

09/05/13: Added: Piora, Somtum Der, The East Pole, Han Dynasty, Sushi Nakazawa, Red Farm Steak, Flat Top
10/04/13: Added: Toro, Contra, The Cecil, American Cut, The Chester, Pagani, Hirohisa, Enduro.
11/07/13: Kingside, Red Farm UWS, El Quinto Pino El Comedor, Tao Downtown, Bisoturo, Villard Michel Richard.

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Eater maps are curated by editors and aim to reflect a diversity of neighborhoods, cuisines, and prices. Learn more about our editorial process.

Kingside

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Chef Marc Murphy and the Gerber Group just opened this stylish all-day New American restaurant in the Viceroy Hotel on 57th Street. The menu is full of American crowd-pleasers, but it also includes several Italian-influenced dishes like porchetta with escarole, calf's brains with capers and lemon, and squash gnudi with Parmesan cheese. The design titans at Roman + Williams created the dining room — it's a stunner.

RedFarm

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The Upper West Side location of Ed Schoenfeld and Joe Ng's wildly popular Chinese restaurant has about twice as many seats as the original, plus a big bar in the back. The menu features favorites from Hudson Street, plus a few new additions, like a vegetable pancake, shrimp and mango dumplings, and diced raw tuna with noodles. Currently, Red Farm UWS is only open for lunch, but dinner will launch later this month.

El Quinto Pino El Comedor

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Last month, Alex Raij and Eder Montero added a dining room to their Chelsea wine bar El Quinto Pino, where they are serving an expanded menu of Basque fare. New dishes include dirty rice with rabbit, flash-fried shell-on shrimp, and soft scrambled eggs with sea anemone. Favorites from the old menu are still available, and Raij and Montero plan to serve brunch and lunch soon.

TAO Downtown

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Just like the uptown restaurant, Tao Downtown has a menu from chef/partner Ralph Scamardella that includes dim sum, sushi, yakitori, and shareable small and large plates. But the real draw here is the design from David Rockwell’s group. The 22,000 square foot space beneath the Maritime Hotel has statues, pillows, fountains, giant vases, murals, arches, alcoves, and oh so much more. It’s splashy and fun, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Bisutoro

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Celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto and partners Patrick Fahey, Emmanuelle LaSalle Hill, and Tommy Hill recently turned the former Tribeca Canvas space into an Asian-influenced bistro with a mellow, lounge-like dining room. The menu includes things like short rib buns, uni carbonara, miso sea bass, a wagyu burger, and roasted chicken. Most of the entrees are priced in the high teens and low 20s.

Villard Michel Richard

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Although the space is opulent, and perhaps just a bit over-the-top, the menu at Michel Richard’s new all-day restaurant in the New York Palace Hotel is full of moderately-priced, accessible Brasserie fare. Entrée options include an ahi tuna burger ($27), mushroom risotto ($24), “Michel’s Fried Chicken” ($28), and roasted chicken ($26). Villard Michel Richard is an oddity, for sure, but the early word indicates that the kitchen is turning out very good food right now. Note: Six and nine-course tasting menus are served in Gallery Michel Richard, the elegant, fine dining counterpart next to the barroom.

Toro is the white-hot Chelsea restaurant from chef/restaurateurs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette. Just like the original Boston location, Toro NYC serves a mix of traditional and modern Spanish tapas made with market vegetables and luxury ingredients. The menu includes 62 dishes, total, broken down into six categories: pinchos, cold tapas, hot tapas, charcuterie, "tapas a la plancha," and "paellas y platos." The drinks list has several types of gin and tonics, sangrias, and sherry-based cocktails from bar man Matthew Durgin.

Contra is the new Lower East Side restaurant from chefs Fabian von Hauske (formerly of Faviken and Noma) and Jeremiah Stone (Isa). Stone and von Hauske are serving a five-course prix fixe of New American fare for $55. Back in August, Stone told Eater: "We're not trying to say we're the best chefs in the world. We just want to charge a fair amount so that we can do food that's interesting and that people like."

La Cenita

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The EMM Group recently teamed up with former La Esquina chef Akhtar Nawab to open this sprawling Mexican restaurant in the old Abe & Arthur's space. On the menu, you'll find snacks, shareable small plates, raw fish dishes, tacos, a shellfish stew, and a 21-day dry-aged sirloin steak. Small dishes and tacos are priced $10 to $22, and they make up the majority of the menu. Nawab's tacos look fancy, but tasty.

The Cecil

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The Cecil is the stylish new "Afro-Asian-American brasserie" from former Time Warner Chairman and CEO Richard Parsons. Alexander Smalls, who was once the chef and owner of Cafe Beulah, is running the kitchen at The Cecil along with chef de cuisine Joseph "JJ" Johnson. The menu has things like deviled eggs, oxtail dumplings, a salad of heirloom beets and Brussels sprouts, a wagyu rib burger, duck two ways, and fried guinea hen. Most entrees are priced in the mid-20s.

American Cut

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Earlier this fall, chef/restaurateur Marc Forgione and LDV Hospitality opened an outpost of their Atlantic City steakhouse American Cut on Greenwich Street in Tribeca. The menu has several cuts of wet-aged and dry-aged beef, including a monster 42-ounce dry-aged Tomahawk chop for two. American Cut also offers wagyu beef, veal, pork, and lamb, plus several types of fish and a Bell & Evans roasted chicken. Big spenders can order a seafood tower to start, and the menu has plenty of sides and sauces to go with those steaks and chops.

The Chester

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The Chester is the new all-day restaurant in the Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC. The menu, which was created by chef Sam Hazen, includes things like artichoke dip, flatbreads, a Maryland lump crab cake, a lobster Cobb salad, buttermilk fried chicken, and a "Chester burger" made with a Pat LaFrieda patty. The restaurant is being operated by Paige Hospitality Group, which also runs The Ainsworth and Southampton Social Club.

Uva restaurateur Massimo Lusardi just opened Pagani, a casual Italian restaurant in the Bleecker Street space that formerly housed the O. Pagani & Bros. music store. Lusardi enlisted Taavo Somer's design group Friends & Family to create the dining room — they kept many of the details from the old music store intact. The menu from Tabla and Babbo alum Mark Barrett includes things like a poached farm egg with oyster mushrooms, rigatoni with braised rabbit, slow roasted veal shoulder with potato puree, and seared scallops with fennel.

[Bess Adler]

Former Tenpenny chef Chris Cipollone returns to the New York scene with Piora, a small, slightly elegant restaurant on Hudson Street. His menu includes things like scallops with chanterelles, duck confit, barbecued octopus, English pea angolotti with truffles, and suckling pig with radish and apples. It's an eclectic menu, but there are a lot of crowd pleasers on there. So far, the early word is very strong.

The East Pole

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The East Pole is the new Upper East Side restaurant from the team behind Downtown hot spots The Fat Radish and The Leadbelly. Chef Nicholas Wilber's menu includes light dishes like fluke crudo, white gazpacho, and roasted heirloom carrots, as well as things like chicken Kiev and a bacon cheeseburger with duck fat fries. The airy space has two dining rooms, a bar, and an outdoor garden.

Han Dynasty

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Chef Han Chiang recently opened a branch of his wildly popular Philadelphia restaurant Han Dynasty on Third Avenue in the East Village. The menu includes things like Dan Dan noodles, beef tendons in chili oil, and dry pepper chicken wings, plus 14 protein-based entrees. The early word is very good, although some diners say that the spice levels are not as fiery as the menu suggests. This may change soon, though — the restaurant is still technically in its "soft opening" phase.

Sushi Nakazawa

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Sushi Nakazawa is the 10-seat omakase restaurant from former Jiro Ono-apprentice Daisuke Nakazawa. (In the film Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Daisuke was the chef that prepared the square omelet.) Right now, Sushi Nakazawa serves omakase tastings paired with sake, but Nakazawa plans to introduce an expanded menu later this month. The restaurant is now accepting reservations online, but they are already very hard to come by.

Back in July, Marc Forgione opened this Southeast Asian restaurant with his longtime right hand man Soulayphet Schwader (AKA "Chef Phet"). The menu includes things like crunchy coconut rice with sausage, bamboo grilled quail, duck laap, spare ribs, grilled chicken, and pork belly with quail egg. Most of the entrees on Chef Phet's menu are priced between $21 and $25. This is a really fun restaurant for date night.

Quality Italian

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Back in August, Michael and Alan Stillman opened an Italian spinoff of their Midtown hit, Quality Meats. This restaurant specializes in steak as well, but the menu also includes raw bar items, crudo, charcuterie, pastas, roasted fish dishes, and a shareable chicken parm the size of a hubcap. A first floor bar called The Standing Room serves sandwiches and snacks.

The West 51st Street branch of Ippudo serves the tonkotsu broth ramen and all the other favorites from the East Village location, but the menu here also includes some new dishes, like wontons stuffed with crab meat, sea urchin toast, and a gluten-free Shojin ramen. The space has a few less seats than the Downtown location, but this one's got an 11-seat ramen room, a lounge area, and a 20-foot ramen bar.

Kingside

Chef Marc Murphy and the Gerber Group just opened this stylish all-day New American restaurant in the Viceroy Hotel on 57th Street. The menu is full of American crowd-pleasers, but it also includes several Italian-influenced dishes like porchetta with escarole, calf's brains with capers and lemon, and squash gnudi with Parmesan cheese. The design titans at Roman + Williams created the dining room — it's a stunner.

RedFarm

The Upper West Side location of Ed Schoenfeld and Joe Ng's wildly popular Chinese restaurant has about twice as many seats as the original, plus a big bar in the back. The menu features favorites from Hudson Street, plus a few new additions, like a vegetable pancake, shrimp and mango dumplings, and diced raw tuna with noodles. Currently, Red Farm UWS is only open for lunch, but dinner will launch later this month.

El Quinto Pino El Comedor

Last month, Alex Raij and Eder Montero added a dining room to their Chelsea wine bar El Quinto Pino, where they are serving an expanded menu of Basque fare. New dishes include dirty rice with rabbit, flash-fried shell-on shrimp, and soft scrambled eggs with sea anemone. Favorites from the old menu are still available, and Raij and Montero plan to serve brunch and lunch soon.

TAO Downtown

Just like the uptown restaurant, Tao Downtown has a menu from chef/partner Ralph Scamardella that includes dim sum, sushi, yakitori, and shareable small and large plates. But the real draw here is the design from David Rockwell’s group. The 22,000 square foot space beneath the Maritime Hotel has statues, pillows, fountains, giant vases, murals, arches, alcoves, and oh so much more. It’s splashy and fun, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Bisutoro

Celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto and partners Patrick Fahey, Emmanuelle LaSalle Hill, and Tommy Hill recently turned the former Tribeca Canvas space into an Asian-influenced bistro with a mellow, lounge-like dining room. The menu includes things like short rib buns, uni carbonara, miso sea bass, a wagyu burger, and roasted chicken. Most of the entrees are priced in the high teens and low 20s.

Villard Michel Richard

Although the space is opulent, and perhaps just a bit over-the-top, the menu at Michel Richard’s new all-day restaurant in the New York Palace Hotel is full of moderately-priced, accessible Brasserie fare. Entrée options include an ahi tuna burger ($27), mushroom risotto ($24), “Michel’s Fried Chicken” ($28), and roasted chicken ($26). Villard Michel Richard is an oddity, for sure, but the early word indicates that the kitchen is turning out very good food right now. Note: Six and nine-course tasting menus are served in Gallery Michel Richard, the elegant, fine dining counterpart next to the barroom.

Toro

Toro is the white-hot Chelsea restaurant from chef/restaurateurs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette. Just like the original Boston location, Toro NYC serves a mix of traditional and modern Spanish tapas made with market vegetables and luxury ingredients. The menu includes 62 dishes, total, broken down into six categories: pinchos, cold tapas, hot tapas, charcuterie, "tapas a la plancha," and "paellas y platos." The drinks list has several types of gin and tonics, sangrias, and sherry-based cocktails from bar man Matthew Durgin.

Contra

Contra is the new Lower East Side restaurant from chefs Fabian von Hauske (formerly of Faviken and Noma) and Jeremiah Stone (Isa). Stone and von Hauske are serving a five-course prix fixe of New American fare for $55. Back in August, Stone told Eater: "We're not trying to say we're the best chefs in the world. We just want to charge a fair amount so that we can do food that's interesting and that people like."

La Cenita

The EMM Group recently teamed up with former La Esquina chef Akhtar Nawab to open this sprawling Mexican restaurant in the old Abe & Arthur's space. On the menu, you'll find snacks, shareable small plates, raw fish dishes, tacos, a shellfish stew, and a 21-day dry-aged sirloin steak. Small dishes and tacos are priced $10 to $22, and they make up the majority of the menu. Nawab's tacos look fancy, but tasty.

The Cecil

The Cecil is the stylish new "Afro-Asian-American brasserie" from former Time Warner Chairman and CEO Richard Parsons. Alexander Smalls, who was once the chef and owner of Cafe Beulah, is running the kitchen at The Cecil along with chef de cuisine Joseph "JJ" Johnson. The menu has things like deviled eggs, oxtail dumplings, a salad of heirloom beets and Brussels sprouts, a wagyu rib burger, duck two ways, and fried guinea hen. Most entrees are priced in the mid-20s.

American Cut

Earlier this fall, chef/restaurateur Marc Forgione and LDV Hospitality opened an outpost of their Atlantic City steakhouse American Cut on Greenwich Street in Tribeca. The menu has several cuts of wet-aged and dry-aged beef, including a monster 42-ounce dry-aged Tomahawk chop for two. American Cut also offers wagyu beef, veal, pork, and lamb, plus several types of fish and a Bell & Evans roasted chicken. Big spenders can order a seafood tower to start, and the menu has plenty of sides and sauces to go with those steaks and chops.

The Chester

The Chester is the new all-day restaurant in the Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC. The menu, which was created by chef Sam Hazen, includes things like artichoke dip, flatbreads, a Maryland lump crab cake, a lobster Cobb salad, buttermilk fried chicken, and a "Chester burger" made with a Pat LaFrieda patty. The restaurant is being operated by Paige Hospitality Group, which also runs The Ainsworth and Southampton Social Club.

Pagani

Uva restaurateur Massimo Lusardi just opened Pagani, a casual Italian restaurant in the Bleecker Street space that formerly housed the O. Pagani & Bros. music store. Lusardi enlisted Taavo Somer's design group Friends & Family to create the dining room — they kept many of the details from the old music store intact. The menu from Tabla and Babbo alum Mark Barrett includes things like a poached farm egg with oyster mushrooms, rigatoni with braised rabbit, slow roasted veal shoulder with potato puree, and seared scallops with fennel.

Enduro

[Bess Adler]

Piora

Former Tenpenny chef Chris Cipollone returns to the New York scene with Piora, a small, slightly elegant restaurant on Hudson Street. His menu includes things like scallops with chanterelles, duck confit, barbecued octopus, English pea angolotti with truffles, and suckling pig with radish and apples. It's an eclectic menu, but there are a lot of crowd pleasers on there. So far, the early word is very strong.

Related Maps

The East Pole

The East Pole is the new Upper East Side restaurant from the team behind Downtown hot spots The Fat Radish and The Leadbelly. Chef Nicholas Wilber's menu includes light dishes like fluke crudo, white gazpacho, and roasted heirloom carrots, as well as things like chicken Kiev and a bacon cheeseburger with duck fat fries. The airy space has two dining rooms, a bar, and an outdoor garden.

Han Dynasty

Chef Han Chiang recently opened a branch of his wildly popular Philadelphia restaurant Han Dynasty on Third Avenue in the East Village. The menu includes things like Dan Dan noodles, beef tendons in chili oil, and dry pepper chicken wings, plus 14 protein-based entrees. The early word is very good, although some diners say that the spice levels are not as fiery as the menu suggests. This may change soon, though — the restaurant is still technically in its "soft opening" phase.

Sushi Nakazawa

Sushi Nakazawa is the 10-seat omakase restaurant from former Jiro Ono-apprentice Daisuke Nakazawa. (In the film Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Daisuke was the chef that prepared the square omelet.) Right now, Sushi Nakazawa serves omakase tastings paired with sake, but Nakazawa plans to introduce an expanded menu later this month. The restaurant is now accepting reservations online, but they are already very hard to come by.

Khe-Yo

Back in July, Marc Forgione opened this Southeast Asian restaurant with his longtime right hand man Soulayphet Schwader (AKA "Chef Phet"). The menu includes things like crunchy coconut rice with sausage, bamboo grilled quail, duck laap, spare ribs, grilled chicken, and pork belly with quail egg. Most of the entrees on Chef Phet's menu are priced between $21 and $25. This is a really fun restaurant for date night.

Quality Italian

Back in August, Michael and Alan Stillman opened an Italian spinoff of their Midtown hit, Quality Meats. This restaurant specializes in steak as well, but the menu also includes raw bar items, crudo, charcuterie, pastas, roasted fish dishes, and a shareable chicken parm the size of a hubcap. A first floor bar called The Standing Room serves sandwiches and snacks.

Ippudo

The West 51st Street branch of Ippudo serves the tonkotsu broth ramen and all the other favorites from the East Village location, but the menu here also includes some new dishes, like wontons stuffed with crab meat, sea urchin toast, and a gluten-free Shojin ramen. The space has a few less seats than the Downtown location, but this one's got an 11-seat ramen room, a lounge area, and a 20-foot ramen bar.

Related Maps