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This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to New York
Remember the spate of Covid-19 restaurant closures? Well, those days are long gone, and New York’s top tables are more plentiful — and more difficult to book — than ever before. From new neighbourhood gems in Brooklyn to a reimagined French dining institution on the Upper East Side (and virtually everything in between), the city’s diverse culinary energy is palpable. And while the statistics aren’t favourable for new restaurants (approximately one in three will close in the first year after opening), these establishments are sure to be longer-term winners.
Le Veau d’Or
129 East 60th Street, New York, NY 10022
Old-school fine French cuisine has been given a new life by chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson of Frenchette and Le Rock fame. Bringing the winning mix that they started at Balthazar back in the 1990s (perfect steak frites and île flottante), the original institution that was opened in 1937 has been left largely intact with its low-ceilinged, cherry red banquettes-and-checkered tablecloth swagger. The menu — heavy on organ meats, duck and escargots — isn’t for the faint of heart (or the health-obsessed), but it is for those who crave a sense of occasion, a perfectly executed pâté en croute with natural wine pairings and a vibrant atmosphere that is finally bringing the downtown crowd to the Upper East Side. Three-course prix-fixe menu, $125. lvdnyc.com; Directions
Coqodaq
12 East 22nd Street, New York, NY 10010
The ultimate haute fried-chicken restaurant from award-winning restaurateur Simon Kim and the team behind Michelin-starred Cote Korean Steakhouse, Coqodaq has been a runaway success since opening in January thanks to its vibrant scene, sustainability focus and perfectly crispy soy-sauce, garlic-glaze chicken. Vegetables are celebrated here too, with chilled pickled sides adding zesty flavour and crunchy texture. The opulent Flatiron District location, designed, by the Rockwell Group has Korean-American as well as Art Nouveau design touches, with deep-green leather banquettes, walnut finishes and bronze fixtures all enticing hungry guests to linger in 8,000 sq ft of luxury. Mains, $28–$38. coqodaq.com; Directions
SEA
151 West 30th Street, New York, NY 10001
Chef Jungsik Yim — of the eponymous Korean fine-dining restaurant Jungsik, in Tribeca — has turned his talents to SEA, a modern, casual south-east Asian restaurant near Koreatown that is inspired by many different regions, countries, techniques and ingredients. The 80-seat, low-lit space by Kimoy Studios features wooden banquettes and an intimate bar area for walk-ins and is the ideal backdrop for chefs Yim and Jun Hee Park’s inventive, delicious takes on traditional dishes such as crispy pork, informed by Singaporean and Vietnamese preparations of fried pork belly. Other savoury highlights include dry tom-yum noodles (a Korean/Thai mash-up), delicate Vietnamese prawn rolls made with spring-roll papers imported from Ho Chi Minh City and crab fried rice, which fuses crab omelette with Indonesian nasi goreng. The cocktail list is impressive too, with signature the Dirty “Cha Yen” (Thai iced tea meets a strong Old-Fashioned) and the Baby Banana Martini served well into the night. Mains, $34–$54. ny-sea.com; Directions
Borgo
124 East 27th Street, New York, NY 10016
From chef Andrew Tarlow (Marlow & Sons, Achilles Heel, Diner), who is widely credited with putting “New Brooklyn” on the foodie map, comes Borgo, a trattoria in NoMad with a welcoming great hearth at its centre. The menu includes vegetable-driven starters and contorni, antipasti (Sicilian garlic dip with Italian almonds), house-made pasta (ancient-grain spaghetti with Calabrian anchovies and chiles) and meat (fennel pollen-infused pork ribs), fish and seafood roasted in the wood-burning oven. The wine list is extensive and, much like those found at his other restaurants, highlights low-intervention wines from Europe’s most sustainable and noted producers. Tableside martinis and a cocktail cart stocked with an assortment of amari add to the festive vibe. This kind of epicurean brilliance takes a village and Borgo has enlisted its own: Jordan Frosolone will head the kitchen; Tarlow’s eldest son, Elijah (formerly of his family’s restaurants Diner and Roman’s), will serve as sous-chef; and Kate Huling — Tarlow’s wife and business partner in Marlow Goods and Shop Collective — has designed the uniforms. Mains, $30–$60. borgonyc.com; Directions
Cafe Mado
791 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238
Prospect Heights has a new player in Cafe Mado, an all-day dining establishment that starts with freshly baked goods from its sibling establishment, Laurel Bakery, in Brooklyn Heights, and transitions into tartines and small plates for lunch. Housed in the former Michelin-starred Oxalis space, it is serving exactly what the neighbourhood needs: a hub for fresh French-, Italian- and California-inflected cuisine served in a bright and bustling space. Light and inventive salads including pea shoots with sugar snaps, and bamboo and littleneck clams pair perfectly with mains such as pici with pesto Genovese and Smoke In Chimneys trout garnished with sungold tomatoes. Crispy baguettes and butter, sides of harissa, craft cocktails and a decadent chocolate sponge with vanilla and raspberry pudding all make for a perfectly casual night. Mains, $25–$32. cafemadonyc.com; Directions
Cafe Zaffri
16 East 16th Street, New York, NY 10003
From the acclaimed team behind New York hotspots Raf’s and The Musket Room comes Cafe Zaffri, a restaurant fusing Mediterranean and Levant-style cuisines. Situated on the ground floor of The Twenty Two New York hotel (a new sibling property to The Twenty Two London) in Union Square, it will be helmed by executive chef Mary Attea, who brings her Lebanese heritage to the kitchen through such dishes as shakshuka, labneh, meze and more.
Set in a former women’s home built by heiress Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt in 1891, Cafe Zaffri — aka “Zaf’s” — promises farm-fresh cuisine (much of it from neighbouring Union Square Green Market) in an old-world setting by London-based Child Studio and local design firm Post Company. Luxurious velvets, custom rattan furniture and marble elements, as well as a stunning garden atrium all add to the theatrical scene — one where a “skewer service” with Lebanese rice, lamb tartare and spaghetti with crab and saffron are all served in jolly family style. Mains, $28–$65. thetwentytwo.com/newyork; Directions
Manuela
130 Prince Street, New York, NY 10012
From hospitality group Artfarm (which is also behind The Audley Public House and Mount St Restaurant in London and The Fife Arms in Braemar) comes the art-centric Manuela in historic SoHo. The first east-coast project for the group, so named for gallerist and partner Manuela Wirth, this seasonally driven restaurant is a celebration of Tri-State and New England producers. Half the menu is dedicated to plant-focused dishes such as turnips with royal corona beans and grilled brassicas served alongside spiced monkfish skewers with lovage and guindilla peppers. The open kitchen with its wood-fired oven adds to the overall energy in the see-and-be-seen room.
Given the restaurant’s ties to Hauser & Wirth, art takes centre stage with specially commissioned artworks by Mika Rottenberg (whose bar is a playful construction of discarded plastic and invasive vines), Rashid Johnson (a bespoke seven-metre dining table that seats 24), Mary Heilmann (colourful tabletops), as well as Lorna Simpson, Pat Steir and Uman (murals), among others. The work of artists who have lived in or been inspired by Soho decorates the vibrant walls, with Louise Bourgeois’ “Spider” paired with pieces by George Condo, Nicholas Party and Cindy Sherman. Designed by Russell Sage Studios (The Fife Arms, Fish Shop Ballater), the buzzing space is full of eco-friendly materials that are vintage, recycled or unused scraps. The result is a perfectly lit, convivial setting that is sure to be downtown’s top table this season. Mains, $25–$127. manuela-nyc.com; Directions
What’s your favourite new restaurant in New York? Tell us in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter
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