Headliner
Nami Nori
The chefs Taka Sakaeda and Jihan Lee, who both worked at the sushi master Masa Takayama’s restaurants, are behind separate counters in this new restaurant’s elegant pale-wood dining room. (The operations director, Lisa Limb, also worked at Mr. Takayama’s restaurants.) But unlike at Masa, the specialties here are temaki hand rolls. And the temaki are not cylindrical or cone-shaped. They’re open, with a crisp sheet of nori seaweed wrapping the filling like a taco. “They’re not traditional, but we’re also doing simpler classics for the purists,” Mr. Sakaeda said. Among the signature combinations are sea scallops in XO sauce with tobiko and lemon, salmon and tomato with onion cream, and tuna poke-style with crisp shallots. The classics include spicy tuna, and yellowtail with scallions. There are also some vegan selections. Starters include nori chips with a yogurt dip, and a cucumber tataki with wasabi. Temaki desserts incorporate ice cream and fruit. There’s a sleek bar, a few tables up front, and a semi-secluded table for six in the rear. The whole space seats 40. (Opens Wednesday)
33 Carmine Street (Bleecker Street), 646-998-4588, naminori.nyc.
Opening
Lola Taverna
Cobi Levy, the restaurateur who owns Little Prince, is opening this airy Greek spot with Will Makris and Thanasis Panourgias. The chef, Dionysis Liakopoulos, has worked at Noma in Copenhagen, Aska in New York and Kuzina in Athens. He will take his inspiration from the Greek islands: There’s a Greek salad and a lobster pasta with ouzo essence. A risotto will incorporate Greek rice, smoked graviera cheese and flash-fried squid. The décor is off-white and beige, with a thatched ceiling and handmade pottery. Olive trees in pots decorate the sidewalk seating area. (Monday)
210 Avenue of the Americas (Prince Street), 212-994-9821, lolataverna.com.
The Cannibal
This meat and beer restaurant, which closed in March after nine years, will reappear for a brief pop-up. The owner, Christian Pappanicholas, is bringing its carnivorous menu to Chefs Club New York, along with beer from Torch & Crown, a brewery and restaurant coming to Manhattan next year. (Wednesday through next Tuesday, closed Sunday)
Chefs Club New York, 275 Mulberry Street (Houston Street), 212-941-1100, chefsclub.com.
F&F Pizzeria
Frank Falcinelli and Frank Castronovo, a.k.a. the Franks, have finally opened their much-anticipated Carroll Gardens pizzeria, tucked into the space between Frankies 457 Spuntino and Franks Wine Bar. The Franks are working with Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery in California, and Chris Bianco of Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix: “Their contribution is purely creative,” Mr. Castronovo said in an email. “They’re meticulously guiding us every step of the way as friends, with no financial setup. They just want us to represent their style for the first time on the East Coast.” The pizzeria is a no-frills slice joint with paper plates.
459 Court Street (Luquer Street), Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, no phone, frankiesspuntino.com.
Pasta Franco
Mathieu Palombino has opened a small, straightforward trattoria next door to Motorino, his pizzeria on the Upper West Side. The menu is concise, yet hits the right buttons. Starters include a salad, mozzarella and prosciutto, and meatballs. There are a number of pastas, like spaghetti cacio e pepe; honeynut squash gnocchi; pappardelle Bolognese; and tagliolini in brodo. Braised beef, a burger and roast chicken are among the mains.
508 Columbus Avenue (84th Street), 917-261-2529, pastafranco.com.
Ciao, Gloria
Renato Poliafito, a founder of Baked, a home-style American bakery in Red Hook, Brooklyn (with an offshoot in Tokyo), is now into rainbow cookies (though he calls them tri-colored Neapolitan bars). They’re just one of the specialties inspired by his Sicilian heritage at this new all-day cafe and bakeshop. Ginger Fisher Baldwin, who was also at Baked, is in the kitchen, which is putting out croissants lined with pistachio, among other flavors; bomboloni; apricot crostata; cantucci cookies; sandwiches of prosciutto and fig; and a frittata with greens. Mr. Poliafito severed his ties with Baked two years ago.
550 Vanderbilt Avenue (Pacific Street), Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, 716-666-2426, ciaogloria.com.
Evil Twin Brewing New York City
Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso started Evil Twin Brewing in his native Denmark and moved to New York in 2012. All the while, he was brewing in other people’s establishments. Now, with his wife, Maria Jarnit-Bjergso, he is opening this dedicated brewery and soaring greenhouse taproom with a courtyard beer garden. A rotating list of beers will be served and sold from a retail shop. Food amounts to packaged snacks and assorted food vendors. (Wednesday)
1616 George Street (Wyckoff Avenue), Ridgewood, Queens, 718-366-1850, eviltwin.nyc.
8SIA
Street food fills this two-story pan-Asian food hall. It features five stalls: Yaso Noodle Bar with noodles and dumplings; Rice-on! with sushi rolls and bowls; Curry42 with Malaysian-style bowls; Bee Patterns with Hong Kong-style egg bubble waffles with gelato; and Debutea with an array of hot and cold drinks.
220 East 42nd Street, 917-261-6970, eat8sia.com.
Daymoves
The Four Horsemen, the Brooklyn restaurant in which James Murphy of the band LCD Soundsystem is a partner, has opened a satellite cafe, an all-day affair for coffee, pastries and a selection of savory dishes.
295 Grand Street (Havemeyer Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, no phone, daymovesbk.com.
Daily Provisions
The Upper West Side branch of Danny Meyer’s cafe and take-away near Union Square is set to open. Breads, breakfast items, sandwiches, salads and more substantial daily specials will be on the menu, along with the signature crullers, including a caramel apple flavor at this location. The expansion is made possible because Jessamyn Waldman Rodriguez, the founder of Hot Bread Kitchen, has joined Union Square Hospitality Group as managing director of Daily Provisions. Another location will open soon at 29 Bedford Street (Downing Street) in the West Village. (Wednesday)
375 Amsterdam Avenue (78th Street), 646-747-8612, dailyprovisionsnyc.com.
Porcelain
The Old World décor, including Thonet-style chairs and stools, at this all-day spot suggests a Viennese cafe. The menu’s savory and sweet strudels, pork schnitzel and sausage plate reinforce the theme.
880 Woodward Avenue (Catalpa Avenue), Ridgewood, Queens, 347-464-5267, nyporcelain.com.
Mighty Oak Roasters
Wood-roasted coffee is on offer at this new shop. A Rube Goldberg-like metal assembly fills part of the ceiling. Many preparations of coffee are sold, as are beans by the bag, pastries and snacks.
28-01 24th Avenue (28th Street), Astoria, Queens, 718-777-9663, mightyoakroasters.com.
Helen’s
This new subterranean Chinese extravaganza, with every decorative cliché in the book, is more lounge than restaurant, serving pan-Asian cocktails and small plates of beef pot stickers, spring rolls and pork buns. The company has more than 160 locations in China and Hong Kong.
22½ Ninth Avenue (13th Street), 646-998-4136, helensnewyork.com.
Ruby’s
What was Danny Meyer’s pizzeria Martina is now a location of an Australian cafe with branches in NoLIta and Murray Hill. It serves salads, bowls, pastas, assorted burgers and breakfast items all day. (Thursday)
198 East 11th Street, 646-998-4265, rubyscafe.com.
Sirenetta
Maybe there’s too much pizza on the Upper West Side. One pizzeria is changing its focus: Pizzeria Sirenetta is now a more general Italian restaurant with rustic fare like octopus a la plancha with salsa verde, roasted eggplant with pine nuts, rigatoni alla Bolognese, fettuccine cacio e pepe, roasted branzino with braised artichokes and a lamb burger with yogurt sauce. Five of the pizzas remain on the menu.
568 Amsterdam Avenue (88th Street), 212-799-7401, pizzeriasirenetta.com.
Dons Bogam Green Bar & Korean Kitchen
This new restaurant from the Dons Bogam group of Korean restaurants will showcase Korean cooking, without emphasizing barbecue.
3 West 36th Street, 212-630-9973, donsbogam.com.
Looking Ahead
John Fraser
This busy chef (with the Loyal, Nix and restaurants in the Times Square Edition and the Metropolitan Museum of Art) has just added another arrow to his quiver. He will be working with EQ Office, which owns and is renovating 1740 Broadway (55th Street), a classic Midtown office tower, to create a high-end public restaurant, a cafe and food services for tenants, including in-house catering. It will all open in 2020.
La Chula NY
Can’t get enough tacos? For one night only (this Monday), the chef and restaurateur, Julian Medina, is offering a taco omakase at his Harlem taqueria: six courses with tequila cocktails alongside. Expect black cod with barbecued Chinese eggplant, a duck taco with quince purée, steak with tomato salsa from the chef’s garden, and a “bagel” taco with everything seasoning and pastrami folded into the tortilla. It’s $65, plus $35 for drinks. (Monday only)
137 East 116th Street, 646-590-3975, lachulanyc.com.
Chefs on the Move
Mason Lindahl
A former executive chef at Monkey Bar and El Rey, Mr. Lindahl is now the executive chef at Diner in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, replacing Robert Valle.
