Opening
Massara
Striding through his restaurant’s beautifully paved dining room, Stefano Secchi marveled at the space. His lanky wingspan might reach wall to wall at Rezdôra, where he made his name, but not here where a bar and an open kitchen with a wood-fueled pizza oven frame the main floor tables. Upstairs there’s a larger dining room. He’s putting Campania, where he spent time in his youth, on the plate with seafood; stews; grilled meats, including goat; and pasta, both fresh and dried. “Food in 2024 has to be regional,” he said. The Neapolitan pizzettes depend on sourdough starter he’s nurtured for years, and Italian wines go no further north than Tuscany.
913 Broadway (21st Street), 646-212-0913, massara.nyc.
Eel Bar
There’s nothing cookie-cutter in the group of Brooklyn and Manhattan restaurants alongside Cervo’s, including Hart’s, Minnow and the Fly. Eel Bar, a 65-seater in the Lower East Side, is an excellent new addition, looking to the Basque Country and beyond for fried mussels on the half shell; piquillo peppers with crab, white asparagus with mayonnaise and bottarga; half chicken al ajillo; and a burger with Roquefort and anchovies. Aaron Crowder, the chef of Cervo’s, is running this kitchen. A dark wood bar area segues into a pair of small dining rooms upholstered in forest corduroy with a view of the open kitchen. (Opens Thursday)
252 Broome Street (Orchard Street), 646-850-0140, eelbarnyc.com.
L’Incontro by Rocco
The Italian chef, Rocco Sacramone, has moved his popular Astoria restaurant to Manhattan’s Upper East Side, tweaking the name. The menu is again filled with crowdpleasers from his broad Italian repertoire.
1572 Second Avenue (81st Street), 718-721-3532, lincontrobyrocco.com.
With high praise for their Taqueria Ramírez in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, listed on Pete Wells’s 2023 best restaurant list, Giovanni Cervantes, the chef, and his partner, Tania Apolinar, have switched focus from assorted tacos to carnitas. Their nose-to-tail mix of pork cuts is simmered in lard, dusted with salt and hugged by a golden taco. (Friday)
210 East Third Street (Avenue B), taqueriaramirezbk.com.
Midnight by Navarro’s
Christian Navarro, the former president of Wally’s, a wine shop and restaurant in Beverly Hills, Calif., is running this replacement for Hidden Leaf in Midnight Theater in Midtown West. The chef, Ryan Kluver, was the executive chef at Wally’s. Here, they have a wine bar open all day and a restaurant with a French and Californian approach.
Mastercard Midnight Theater, Manhattan West Plaza (33rd Street and 10th Avenue), 917-905-2782, midnightbynavarros.com.
