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[title]China Latina Chinese and Latin cuisines collide at this brightly colored 90-seat restaurant from the team behind Crema. Pair fusion plates like huitlacoche-tofu spring rolls and mole poblano lo mein with lychee martinis and pisco brandy muddled with lemongrass. Grab a seat in the outdoor café or on the rooftop bar, which affords stunning views of lower Manhattan. 127 W 28th St between Sixth and Seventh Aves (646-397-9881)
Croissanteria Croissants are baked fresh throughout the day at this 15-seat East Village shop; you can get yours filled with chocolate, swirled with cinnamon, or stuffed with prosciutto and wedges of milky mozzarella. Get a cup of joe or espresso—made with Brooklyn Roasting Company beans—and take a load off on one of the 20-foot-long vintage church pews that line the walls. 68 Ave A at 5th St (212-466-2860)
El Toro Blanco Lure Fishbar's John McDonald and Josh Capon offer grill-driven Mexican fare in the West Village. Look out for savory seafood plates like baha tacos topped with slaw, avocado and radish as well as meatier dishes, like the charbroiled bone-in rib eye steak for two. Sip one of the 100-plus tequilas, or a margarita cocktail variation in the 90-seat room, paneled with walnut wood. 257 Sixth Ave between Bleecker and W Houston Sts (212-645-0193)
Jeepney In 2011, Pinoys Nicole Ponseca and Enzo Lim and Dominican Miguel Trinidad introduced New York to the cuisine of the Philippines at their East Village restaurant, Maharlika. With their new, more casual 70-seat eatery, they're inviting diners home for supper, replicating the raucous family meals the owners recall from their youth. Consulting chef Daniel Parilla (Café Boulud, Minetta Tavern) has stocked the opening menu with large platters meant for group sharing, the flavors a mishmash of Spanish, Malaysian and Chinese influences. Look for grilled inasal na chicken wings, marinated in citrus, spices, and Sprite; or the king mackerel, injected with a soy-based, garlicky adobo marinade, cooked slowly on the bone, and topped with a vinegary sweet sauce and shad roe. Cool off your palate with a milky avocado shake, garnished with toasted coconut, or a beer cocktail like the Cubao X, which supplements a pint of suds with Tang, almond syrup and black-walnut bitters. Styled in the ragtag fashion of the Philippines' "jeepneys"—stripped-down WWII jeeps reconfigured as brightly colored taxis—the 70-seat restaurant is kitted out with galvanized steel and hand-painted signs that replicate faded advertisements. 201 First Ave between 12th and 13th Sts (212-533-4121)
Piccola Cucina Enoteca A 30-seat wine bar from the owners of Piccola Cucina pours 20 vinos by the glass and offers Sicilian small plates, as well as homemade pastas. The regions of Southern Italy—Campania, Sardinia—dominate the wine list, but grapes from Tuscany and Piedmont make appearences too. Slide into one of the leather banquettes and dig into Sicilian small plates, like beef carpaccio with homemade lemon sauce or arancino rice balls with ragù centers. 184 Prince St between Sullivan and Thompson Sts (212-625-3200)