Latest & Greatest: Best New Openings
From a gluten-free Japanese bakery to two new wine bars that couldn’t be more different and that we love equally.
Trying to keep up with all of the latest restaurant and bar openings in Manhattan is enough to make you lose your mind and never your apartment. Well, we’re here to make life easier for you. Consider the below your guide to all the new downtown spots that are actually worth checking out—from a gluten-free Japanese bakery in the West Village to two new wine bars that couldn’t be more different and that we love equally.
In February, the team behind popular hand rolls joint Nami Nori opened this Japanese tea house and gluten-free bakery (pictured above), right next door on Carmine Street. Inside the pretty-as-a-Postcard spot, you’ll find equally as photogenic treats, like fruit sandos (sandwiches), raspberry mochi donuts, and sesame miso chocolate chip cookies. Savory-seekers should order an egg or chicken katsu sando. Beverage-wise, there’s a variety of Japan-grown teas, like matcha and hojicha. Plus, fun, yummy add-ons like Okinawan brown sugar boba. If you’re looking for something especially unique to post on Instagram, go for the electric green-tinted Melon Cream Soda. The kissaten (old-school Japanese coffee shop/tea house) classic tastes like a to-die-for melon-flavored ice cream float.
31 Carmine St
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This beyond-buzzy West Village wine bar may have just opened in February, but it has a timeless, old-school New York charm. Helmed by Wildair alums, Chef Quang “Q” Nguyen and beverage director Jacob Nass, the moodily lit space is outfitted with marble countertops and plush leather seating. The wine menu is full of unique offerings. Even more eye-catching is Chef Q’s dinner menu. The Crab Casino with Ritz crackers, Arroz a la Plancha, and Lobster au Poivre are all tasty winners, and the banana pudding with brown butter, coconut, and toasted almonds is a heavenly must-order that will keep you coming back. We highly suggest stopping by in the morning when the front of the restaurant converts into a sunny cafe and grocery filled with a selection of provisions like tinned fish, olive oils, and fresh flowers.
34 Carmine St
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This vibey speakeasy-style Korean cocktail lounge is hidden in the back of Cafe Joah on Avenue A in Alphabet City. Sink into a retro leather couch or perch at the bar under the twinkling lights of a spinning maneki-neko (lucky cat) disco ball while DJs spin old-school hip-hop, R&B, and funk. Killer cocktails include an espresso martini made with eucalyptus, gin, bourbon, and rum cream, and “The 9 Tailed Fox,” made with makgeolli (a milky rice wine), apple soju, and coconut rum. Hungry? The food menu at this hip hidden gem consists of small but mightily delicious Korean plates, like arancini kimchi rice balls topped with caviar and sweet and spicy gochujang (fermented red pepper paste) chicken wings.
212 Avenue A
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Ernie’s Wine Bar is a new, lovely little Spanish wine bar tucked away on the Lower East Side from the team behind the Basque-inspired restaurant Ernesto’s. This makes sense considering its name and location (they’re next-door neighbors). Open only Wednesday through Friday, the casual, brick-walled haunt is the perfect spot to relax with plates of tapas, like crispy fries served with spicy Bravas sauce and creamy risotto made with Idiazabal cheese. Then, wash everything down with a glass or two of natural wine.
10 Montgomery St
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Everyone’s still talking about Figure Eight, a new-ish restaurant on Cornelia Street whose head-turning menu “celebrates the culture and culinary richness of the lower Atlantic coast through a Chinese-American lens.” Think: shrimp cocktail with Chinese horseradish; turnip tots with lap cheong mayo and shrimp ketchup; bok choy and starfruit salad; soy-poached chicken with collard greens. Then there’s the beyond-towering seafood tower, featuring everything from lemon brown butter lobster tail and stone crab claws to jalapeño pickled mussels and Shanghainese smoked fish salad. In other words, Figure Eight is a ten out of ten.
18 Cornelia St
WORDS Alex Catarinella
PHOTOGRAPHY postcardbakery.co