Headliner
For their latest project, Saint Julivert Fisherie, Alex Raij and her husband, Eder Montero, the chefs who own La Vara, El Quinto Pino and Txikito, zeroed in on seafood. “I always wanted to draw attention to fish,” Ms. Raij said. “I like cooking fish, and I also wanted to take it out of the Spanish vernacular.” So the menu they devised features global touches in dishes like raw scallops with shiso tacos, sea urchin with a sweet-corn chawanmushi custard, shellfish pozole, and a tuna casserole with curry leaf. But Spain is not ignored either, with Txikito-style octopus carpaccio and skate with sherry, chili and parsley. The long, narrow space, formerly their Texoá coffee bar, has been done in 1930s Modernist style. A central bar, lit by a complex hanging fixture by the local artist David Weeks, is its focus. “I was inspired by the Maison de Verre in Paris,” Ms. Raij said, referring to a landmark building on the Left Bank. “I didn’t want anything blue and nautical-looking.” Glass brick and hard-edged metal are also used. The restaurant seats about 40. (Opens Thursday)
264 Clinton Street (Verandah Place), Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, 347-984-3710, SaintJulivertBK.com.
Opening
Ristoro del Cinghiale
A new restaurant from Nicola Marzovilla, next to his long-running I Trulli, is an ode to the wild boar (cinghiale), Tuscan style. The space has a rustic farmhouse look with a wood-burning oven and an open kitchen. The chef, Ben Smallman, plans specialties like pappardelle with wild boar ragù, gnocchi with rabbit liver and sage, other game dishes and assorted cured meats.
122 East 27th Street, 646-610-9695.
Bluebird London
An open, welcoming entrance with a bar and tables introduces this London import’s space. Breakfast is served in the front area and at some tables just past it, giving way to all-day fare like coronation curried chicken salad, fish and chips, a Maine lobster roll and tuna poke. In the evening, the space is a wine bar. Another stretch of white marble bar is just past this area, at the curving entrance to the spacious main dining room overlooking Columbus Circle and Central Park. There are a total of 220 seats in the restaurant, with menus by the French chef Nicolas Houlbert, who worked in New York at Daniel Boulud’s restaurants. The main dining room offers tempura shrimp, oysters, steak tartare, grilled lobster, beef Wellington, a cheese soufflé and spiced chicken for two with bread sauce.
Time Warner Center, 10 Columbus Circle, Third Floor, (347) 682-2100, bluebirdlondon.nyc.
10 Corso Como
The design-driven store based in Milan, with branches in Shanghai; Seoul, South Korea; and Beijing, has opened in New York. In addition to clothing, accessories, books, art objects, cosmetics and a gallery, each of the stores also has a restaurant. In New York, it’s an upbeat, glittery affair with tabletops covered in Pollocky scrawls, comfortable leather banquettes and classically rendered Northern Italian food prepared by Jordan Frosolone and Danilo Galati.
1 Fulton Street (Front Street), Seaport District, 212-265-9500, 10corsocomo.nyc.
