New Tables, New Tastes This Autumn

The country might be suffering through an economic downturn, but New York’s restaurant operators do not seem to have noticed. The three months following Labor Day are traditionally the city’s busiest season for restaurant openings, and this year is no exception.Of course, a restaurant is not truly open until it serves its first meal, and the dates for the debuts of these eateries are extremely approximate. But the roster below includes the owners’ best guesses for when their doors will open.Ella (9 Ave. A, between First and Second streets, 212-777-2230) This cocktail bar and piano lounge is a venture by Darin Rubell and Josh and Jordan Boyd, who hope to evoke the Hollywood glamour of the 1920s. Staff will be dressed appropriately, cocktails will be $12, and doors are expected to open this week.Magnolia Bakery (Sixth Avenue at West 49th Street) “Sex and the City’s” favorite cupcake shop hopes to open its third location, this time near Rockefeller Center, before the autumnal equinox.La Otra (95 Ave. A at 6th Street) Tasting Room chef-owner Colin Alevras will be trying his hand at Cuban food here, at some point in September. Upstairs will be a late-night lounge called Nightcap.Mr. Jones (214 E. 14th St., between Second and Third avenues, 212-253-7670) The name is supposed to evoke a Steve McQueen-style wealthy bachelor of the 1960s or ’70s who is entertaining guests with then-trendy yakitori. The chef, Bryan Emperor, cut his teeth under Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Gray Kunz, but recently he has been out of town at a restaurant called Ten in Charlottesville, Va. The cocktails are by Shin Ikeda of Angel’s Share. It is expected to open some time in September.Pranna (79 Madison Ave. at 28th Street, 212-696-5700) Long Island restaurateurs Payal and Rajiv Sharma plan to open their first Manhattan restaurant this September, featuring the flavors of Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and India by chef Chai Trivedi. That will include Asian-inspired sliders, spring rolls, and wingsRock-n-Sake (138 W. 25th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-255-7255) Residents of Port Washington in Long Island might already be familiar with this restaurant by owners Joseph Ulloa and Richard Volpe, who plan to open a unit in Chelsea in September. The food is mostly sushi rolls by chef David Hoang; the signature dish is a “dragon roll” of snow crab, avocado, asparagus, and barbecued eel. Fourteen sakes will be available.Archipelago (333 Hudson St., between Vandam and Charlton streets, 212-243-3345) Scheduled to open in late September, this restaurant will feature the food of chef Hisanobu Osaka, formerly of Morimoto. That will include oil-poached red snapper with shiso mousse, garlic foam, and parsley emulsion; Japanese egg custard on sticky-rice risotto with green curry ravioli, and fluke with clam gelée and hot scallion oil.Corton (239 W. Broadway, between White and Beach streets, 212-219-2777) Named for a wine region in Burgundy, Corton is scheduled to open in late September by restaurateur Drew Nieporent in the space that once was Montrachet, which is also the name of another Burgundy wine region. The food will be modern French, and made by Paul Liebrandt, the 33-year-old Marco Pierre White disciple who first got a name for himself in New York at Atlas, and was most recently behind the stove at Gilt.Braeburn (117 Perry St., between Hudson and Greenwich streets, 212-255-0696) Brian Bistrong, formerly of the Harrison, is developing food that will feature vegetables from his own garden and other local, seasonal goodies. He plans an October opening.SHO Shaun Hergatt (40 Broad St. at Exchange Place) This 130-seat restaurant at the new Setai Wall Street hotel will feature modern French cuisine with Asian influences by Mr. Hergatt this October.Village Tart (86 Kenmare St. at Mulberry Street) The frozen yogurt craze will go high-tech this October at this West Village store, where frozen sweets will be made to order in super-fast Pacojets. This dessert bar will be literally that, as it also has a full liquor license.Dirt Candy (430 E. 9th St., between First Avenue and Avenue A) Amanda Cohen, formerly of Pure Food and Wine and Heirloom, is planning an October opening for this 18-seat vegetarian restaurant that will offer items such as carrot risotto with carrot dumplings and Parmesan curls, and cornflake tarts with popcorn whipped cream.Kefi (505 Columbus Ave., between 84th and 85th streets) Chef Michael Psilakis is relocating his rustic Greek restaurant to a larger space — with almost four times the seating — and plans to start service in September.Almond (12 E. 22nd St., between Park Avenue South and Broadway) This outpost by Bridgehampton restaurateur Eric Lemonides and chef Jason Weiner is slated to open in mid-to-late-October, serving “American bistro” food.Rouge Tomate (10 E. 60th St., between Madison and Fifth avenues, 646-861-0842) Chef Jeremy Bearman, whose résumé includes stints as executive chef of LarkCreekSteak in San Francisco as well as work at db Bistro Moderne, is working on a nutrition-focused menu for this restaurant, scheduled to open in late October.Among the signature dishes are cannelloni of roasted beet with beet leaves, sheep milk yogurt, satsuma, and pistachio; lightly cured Arctic char with smoked sea salt and Asian pear sorbet, and Moroccan spiced Hudson Valley duck with fregola, quince, and olives.Shang (190 Allen St. at Stanton Street, 212-460-5300) Toronto celebrity chef Susur Lee, a native of Hong Kong, will bring his own version of Chinese food to New York in his first stateside restaurant, at the Thompson Lower East Side hotel. It will have 124 seats and will probably open in the second half of October. The food will be “Global Chinese,” which is to say Chinese food as interpreted outside of China in places as far-ranging as India, France, Vietnam and, presumably, Canada. It will all be served family-style.The Oak Room (Fifth Avenue at Central Park South, 212-759-3000) French-Basque chef Joël Antunes grew up in Africa and learned about Thai food in Bangkok, where he was chef at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel’s French restaurant, shortly after Jean-Georges Vongerichten left that post. He was one of Atlanta’s hottest chefs before moving to New York to resurrect this classic dining room in the Plaza, scheduled to open in late October or early November.Aldea (31 W. 17th St., between Fifth and Sixth avenues) George Mendes, formerly of Tocqueville, strikes out on his own with this restaurant in November that will feature the cuisines of Portugal, Spain, and France.Bar Breton (254 Fifth Ave. at 28th Street, 212-213-4999) Chef Cyril Renaud of Fleur de Sel plans to open this brasserie in November, specializing in the dishes of his native Brittany, including shellfish and savory buckwheat crêpes.Biberon (765 Washington St., between Bethune and 12th streets, 212-242-3766) Wine, cocktails, Mediterranean salads, and a back deck will be featured here, along with décor by Turkish architect Bashar Sevin in consultation with feng shui expert Reika Gomez. It is aiming for a November opening.Bovindo (30 Irving Pl. at East 16th Street) Neapolitan food, including pizza, will be interpreted here by the owners of Irving Mill this November.Macao Trading Co. (311 Church St., between Walker and Lispenard streets, 212-431-8750) Portuguese, Chinese, African, and Indian influences will be brought to bear at this restaurant featuring the food of the little island colony near Hong Kong that once belonged to Portugal. The food is being developed by David Waltuck and Keith Harry of Chanterelle for a November opening.Table 8 (25 Cooper Sq., between 5th and 6th streets) Chef Govind Armstrong started with this concept in Los Angeles and then moved it to Miami. He plans to serve his food — focused on top-notch artisanal, local ingredients — in New York beginning in late November.Boqueria (171 Spring St., between Thompson Street and West Broadway, 212-343-4255) Yann de Rochefort and Seamus Mullen are planning a November opening for the second unit of their tapas hot spot. The new, larger space is being designed by Meyer Davis Studio, which has also done Bar Blanc, Vento, Mas, and the first BoqueriaSalumeria Rosi (283 Amsterdam Ave., between 73rd and 74th streets, 212-877-4800) Chef Cesare Casella is planning a late-October opening for this salumeria and enoteca.The dell’anima team of chef Gabriel Thompson and sommelier Joe Campanale are bringing on Bobby Werhane as a managing partner of a 125-seat Italian restaurant (228 W. 10th Street, between Hudson and Bleecker streets) they hope to open in the West Village near the end of autumn.

New Tables, New Tastes This Autumn

New Tables, New Tastes This Autumn

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