Opening
Clemente Bar
This highly anticipated bar and beyond, upstairs from Daniel Humm’s Eleven Madison Park, is a collaboration with the neo-expressionist artist Francesco Clemente. The artist aspired to have a drink named for him; Mr. Humm, who has many pals in the art world, responded with an entire cocktail lounge that Mr. Clemente decorated in situ. An abbreviated tasting menu ($225) at the counter is an option, as are vegan bar snacks like tempura fries and an agedashi tofu dog to accompany often elaborate drinks.
Miss Nellie’s
Billed as an American restaurant, this theater district addition is named for Nellie Bly, the intrepid journalist of the early 20th century who went around the world; the décor incorporates hot air balloons and artifacts from that era. The food is utterly now however, with a chopped salad, chicken Parmesan, burgers and a fried chicken sandwich. Drinks are themed with names like Traveling Light, with mezcal, passion fruit and ginger beer among other components. A complex of dining areas and two bars define the space.
Bodai
Chinese menus easily accommodate vegetarians. A new nine-course tasting menu ($99) goes beyond; vegetarian is the only option. It’s now served within Chef Guo, a Chinese tasting menu restaurant that opened two years ago where 19 courses, not vegetarian, cost $518. The executive chef, Guo Wenjun, plans to open Bodai, relying on Buddhist principles (Bodai is a state of enlightenment), elsewhere in Midtown, but that has been delayed. So for now he has added it to his existing 10-seat spot. First tea, then jewel-box bites to showcase five tastes followed by small courses, many mushroom-based; sweet-and-sour “riblets” of tofu skin and Asian pear are a highlight.
Monkey Thief
Asian flavors richly spangle the snacks and small plates at this Hell’s Kitchen spot from three partners, Avi Singh, Rishi Rajpal and David Muhs. Corn nuts with zaab seasonings, calamari with sweet chile sauce, baby bok choy with chile confit, lamb kebab with mint chutney, and Basque cheesecake seasoned with Thai tea can accompany wine or drinks mixed with fish sauce, coconut and sesame oil.
Hainan Jones
KF Seetoh, the Singaporean entrepreneur who created Urban Hawker in Midtown, has now brought his street food to the DeKalb Market Hall in Downtown Brooklyn. Hainan chicken curry, Hainanese chicken rice, Nyonya laksa, and tomato HP Sauce pork chop rice are on the menu.
Dōgon by Kwame Onwuachi
Named for the West African tribe of Mali, this restaurant marks Kwame Onwuachi’s return to Washington, D.C., where he made his name with Kith/Kin. He left four years ago and opened Tatiana in New York, drawing a rave review from The New York Times’s Pete Wells. His new restaurant’s shimmering metal chain accents suggest Tatiana. Martel Stone, the chef de cuisine and former executive chef at Kith/Kin, relies on the Afro-Caribbean playbook with dishes like piri piri salad, plantain hoe cake with crab, berbere-roasted chicken with jollof rice, and steamed branzino with coconut mussel curry, crispy okra and callaloo.
Branches
Dear Irving on Broadway
Joining the original on Irving Place and the rooftop bar on West 40th Street, this latest iteration in Yves Jadot’s group of cocktail lounges has décor that pays homage to the theater. The drinks list values the Gibson over the martini, and food has a New Yawk accent with a pastrami sandwich and a pretzel. It’s a fifth floor location with an outdoor terrace.
Chefs on the Move
Amelia Kirk, Robert Newcomb, Matthew Murphy
These three constitute the new kitchen lineup at Il Buco Alimentari in NoHo and Il Buco Mare in Amagansett, N.Y. Ms. Kirk, the executive chef, was at Cosme and 9 Orchard; Mr. Newcomb, the chef de cuisine, has worked with Ms. Kirk; and Mr. Murphy, the new head baker, was at the ovens at Tartine in San Francisco. He is responsible for the new breakfast service at Il Buco Alimentari, featuring a Neapolitan sfogliatelle and a complex fried egg sandwich laden with cheese, arugula, pepper spread and bacon.
Ajay Anand
Armed with experience cooking at Georges Blanc in France, and then as culinary director of the Pullman Hotel in New Delhi, Mr. Anand is now the executive chef of aRoqa, an eight-year old Indian restaurant in Chelsea. Small plates tapas-style distinguish the menu.
Closing
Blue Smoke Battery Park City
The cherry-wood and hickory fires were first lit in the Flatiron district, followed by the Battery Park City satellite in 2012. The original became a Covid victim in 2020, and now the downtown branch will slather its final rack with sauce on Dec. 21.
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The post Clemente Bar Opens Above Eleven Madison Park With an Artistic Flourish appeared first on New York Times.
