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[title]Azasu The Yopparai team doles out yakisoba (pan fried noodles), Japanese white-bread sandwiches and 20 kinds of sake at this comfort-food izakaya. 49 Clinton St between Rivington and Stanton Sts (212-777-7069)
Bacchanal Peter Poulakakos is one busy dude—in between juggling the Dead Rabbit, Harry’s Cafe and Steak, and his impending French marketplace, Le District below Hudson Eats, the restaurant mogul and his Bathtub Gin cohort Dave Oz are cranking out this Bowery eatery inside the Sohotel. The duo enlisted Veritas chef Scott Bryan to oversee the Mediterranean-slanted menu, which features hand-carved jamón ibérico, Swiss chard-and-ricotta agnolotti and tarragon-licked roasted chicken with mascarpone polenta. To salute the restaurant’s wine-worshiping namesake, Ivan Mitankin (Vintry Wine & Whiskey) mans a massive 450-bottle vino list focused on coastal Europe, while Saxon + Parole barman Naren Young serves cocktails like a mai tai made with almond-fat-washed mescal. 146 Bowery at Broome St (646-355-1840)
Blenheim Running a farm-to-table restaurant is heaps easier when you have 150 acres of farmland at your disposal. At Blenheim, Morten Sohlberg and Min Ye’s 45-seat West Village operation—outfitted with glass barn doors and copper-sided tables—ingredients are trucked in directly from the resto’s eponymous Catskills farmstead. Nature’s whims dictate what chef Justin Hilbert (Gwynnett St., wd~50) turns out on his daily rustic five-course tasting menu: fiddlehead ferns with goat’s-milk butter and roasted lemons; pig’s head with fermented rice and radishes; and wood pigeon with boiled peanuts and soured berries. Jonathan Russell, of Savoy and Mas (farmhouse), taps into the farm feel behind the bar, using the acres’ herbs and tree sap in cocktails like the rye-and-egg-white Maple Harvest, while the wine list highlights biodynamic varietals. 283 W 12th St at 4th St (212- 243-7073)
Chapter One At this Greenwich Village tavern, chef Warren Baird (Esca) gives American pub fare a contemporary twist, serving oyster stew with saffron potato and pork belly with chorizo-apple pudding. 33 Greenwich Ave between Charles and W 10th Sts (212-842-9146)
Cochinita Dos The popular Clinton Hill taqueria heads to Chinatown, armed with menu staples like fish tacos, chorizo burritos and tortilla soup. 49 Canal St between Ludlow and Orchard Sts (212-226-8226)
Delaware and Hudson Patti Jackson (Alto) looks to her native Pennsylvania for inspiration at this throwback restaurant, offering chickweed pie, funnel cake and scrapple. 135 North 5th St between Bedford Ave and Berry St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718-218-8191)
Mokbar Korean soup meets Japanese noodles at this Chelsea Market slurp shop, where steaming ramen bowls (pork, miso, tofu) come spiked with artisanal kimchi. 75 Ninth Ave between 15th and 16th Sts (646-964-5963)
Russ & Daughters Cafe The heralded lox emporium—a Lower East Side staple since 1914—serves old-world standbys like borscht, smoked-fish platters, caviar and knishes at its nearby full-service restaurant. 127 Orchard St between Delancey and Rivington Sts (212-475-4881)
Sonny’s Soda Shoppe Taste la dolce vita at the Mondrian Soho’s rooftop with Italian sips (Negronis, affogatos), pizza by the slice and 360 views of Gotham. 150 Lafayette St between Grand and Howard Sts (212-389-0000)