Opening
Bourbon Steak New York
The chef and global restaurateur Michael Mina, first known for Aqua in San Francisco, is now making his New York debut in this grand, bronzed space overlooking Central Park, after scouting dozens of New York locations. The New York cut of his Bourbon Steak brand includes trolleys serving raw bar items, foie gras, steak tartare and salt-baked fish. “There are dishes you want in a steak house but other things, too,” he said. The wine list pays attention to New York, which is unusual for steak houses. The executive chef is Bryan Ogden, whose father, Bradley Ogden, is a notable California chef of Mr. Mina’s generation.
JW Marriott Essex House New York, 160 Central Park South (Seventh Avenue), 212-484-5120, bourbonsteaknyc.com.
Cafe Mado
The chef Nico Russell and Redwood Hospitality named this all-day replacement for Oxalis after Marie-Louise Point, known as Mado, who ran La Pyramide near Lyon, France. She was to hospitality as her husband, the influential French chef Fernand Point, was to food, so the cafe will strive for welcome. “The pandemic brought us closer to the community,” Mr. Russell said. Coffee, pastries and egg sandwiches are followed by sandwiches, salads and some mains until 8 p.m., with most baked goods from the group’s Laurel Bakery in the Columbia Street Waterfront District. (Opens Saturday)
791 Washington Avenue (Lincoln Place), Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, 408-858-0626, cafemadonyc.com.
Strange Delight
The reveal of the name and a few pop-ups last fall fueled the buzz for this Crescent City-inspired spot, showcasing oysters and cocktails at an oyster bar with an open kitchen and a skylit dining room. Raw oysters (including locals), oysters Rockefellered and Casamento’s-style charbroiled, shrimp rémoulade and a fried shrimp loaf, are the work of the chef and partner Ham El-Waylly. (Mr. El-Waylly is a contributor to New York Times Cooking.) Anoop Pillarisetti, a Louisiana native, and Michael Tuiach are also partners. (Friday)
63 Lafayette Avenue (Fulton Street), Fort Greene, Brooklyn, strangedelight.nyc.
Sungold
Sheathed in exposed brick and equipped with a wood-fired oven, this new all-day hotel restaurant offers some uncommon menu choices. The executive chef, Michael King, chars cabbage for a Caesar salad and reconfigures lasagna as coperta (meaning blanket) with sheets of pasta, pork ragù doused with amaro, hazelnut gremolata and a drift of piave. Pizzas and a 22-ounce rib-eye spend time in the wood oven, and the food is also served in the lobby bar and outdoors. (Saturday)
Arlo Williamsburg, 96 Wythe Avenue (North 10th Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-362-8100, sungoldbk.com.
Carne by Allora
There are one-note Italian restaurants for cicchetti, antipasti, pizza, pasta and gelati. This one stars secondi, the main course, with blockbusters like bistecca alla Fiorentina, osso buco Milanese and a Neapolitan braciole, without ignoring the rest of the meal. The executive chef, Pietro Aletto, is also an owner of Grand Street Pizza. The airy, high-ceilinged dining room seats 64.
Renaissance New York Chelsea Hotel, 112 West 25th Street, 212-206-1522, ext. 6, alloraristorantenyc.com.
