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We can feel fall is around the corner when everyone starts planning an upstate trip to go apple picking, pulling out their turtlenecks from the back of the closet and setting a calendar reminder to order that pumpkin spice latte (don’t worry, we won’t shame you). For those of us who obsessively stay up-to-date on dining out offerings, autumn is about the plethora of restaurants slated to open throughout the season.
From a new Peruvian Nikkei restaurant by Llama Inn’s Erik Ramirez to an upcoming Thai diner by the Michelin-starred Uncle Boons team, this is our fall preview of the best new restaurant openings in NYC, the buzziest spots that should be on your radar for 2019 and beyond.
Here, our Food and Drink team, Bao Ong and Emma Orlow, are cutting through the noise, by breaking it down with the 21 hottest openings they’re excited to try this fall.
Thai Diner
Why we’re excited: Uncle Boons and its more casual to-go spot, Uncle Boons Sister, are two of our favorite Downtown restaurants. Now, husband-and-wife team Matt Danzer and Ann Redding are launching a Thai spin on the American diner in the former site of the short-lived The Sosta. While many new restaurants opening up are evoking diner nostalgia (see: MeMe's Diner, Gertie, Golden Diner) given their pedigree for excellent dishes, we have a feeling this one will be a stand out. Look out for those Thai disco fries.
Projected opening date: October 2019
Address: 186 Mott Street, New York, NY 10012
Dhamaka at Essex Market
Why we’re excited: We love Adda Indian Canteen in Long Island City for their goat curry and kheer (rice pudding). Now the team is bringing its regional Indian home cooking to Essex Market. The 60-seat restaurant, which includes a 10-seat bar, will serve lunch and dinner, with a possible breakfast menu to come.
Projected opening date: October 2019
Address: 88 Essex Street, New York, NY 10002
Peoples at The Market Line
Why we’re excited: Jeremiah Stone and Fabián von Hauske Valtierra already have one wine bar hit with Wildair. With Peoples, you can snack on small plates paired with natural wines by the glass and hit their shop next door to pick up your favorite bottle.
Projected opening date: Fall 2019
Address: 88 Essex Street, New York, NY 10002
Rangoon
Why we’re excited: Chef Myo Moe debuted Rangoon NoodleLab in 2015 with Burmese food pop-ups that quickly gained a following in Brooklyn and beyond. At her first permanent sit-down restaurant, Moe will serve dishes like mohinga (lemongrass fish stew) and laphet thoke (fermented tea-leaf salad). The space itself will have a few unusual design details like kinetic wall panels.
Projected opening date: Late summer / early fall 2019
Address: 500 Prospect Place, Brooklyn, New York 11237
Mina’s at MoMA PS1
Why we’re excited: Mina Stone was the chef for artist Urs Fischer’s studio and her catering gigs for the art world culminated in her book, Cooking for Artists. Fittingly, Stone will take over the M. Wells Dinette space in MoMA PS1. After checking out the museum's most recent exhibit, stop by for home-style Greek food hoping to separate itself from other museums' cafeteria options.
Projected opening date: Early fall 2019
Address: 22-25 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, NY 11101
Magdalene
Why we’re excited: Fusing Cajun, Tex-Mex and Lebanese flavors, artist Magdalene Sayeg (who formerly ran Brasil Cafe, a beloved Houston, Texas, institution) is set to open a Williamsburg venture alongside her son, Isaac Fergus and sibling, Ciara Dockery. The project is a homecoming for chef Nate Boley (Five Leaves), who originally worked at Brasil. The mezze-style menu will highlight dishes such as Lebanese chilaquiles with za'atar and mint or fried chicken with a falafel crust. In addition, there will be rose and orange blossom libations.
Projected opening date: October 2019
Address: 524 Lorimer Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211
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Marble Dessert Bar
Why we’re excited: A prix-fixe dessert bar menu with option for wine pairings and morning pastries is coming to the West Village. Pulling experience from the Shanghai outpost of East Village favorite ChikaLicious (which popularized the dessert-only fine dining format), chefs Eugenio Mauro Pompili and Maya Sittisuntorn are now going off on their own, leaving behind their posts as corporate chefs for this swanky and sweet spot.
Projected opening date: Early September 2019
Address: 27 Bedford Street, New York, NY 10014
Ernesto’s
Why we’re excited: For Chef Ryan Bartlow’s first restaurant (he’s cooked in kitchens from Frankie’s Spuntino to Frenchette), the Chicago native is turning to the Basque region of Spain. Expect a variety of pintxos perfect for pairing with the natural wines on the menu as well as larger meat and seafood dishes at this Lower East Side eatery.
Projected opening date: Late fall 2019
Address: 259 East Broadway, New York, NY 10002
Rule of Thirds
Why we’re excited: A/D/O a design-focused community center and experiential marketing tactic from MINI will replace its former cafe by Restaurant Norman (Claus Meyer’s spot) with bento boxes by day and an izakaya by night. The concept is a partnership between Sunday Hospitality of Sunday in Brooklyn (Todd Enany, Adam Landsman and Jaime Young), who have been running a pop-up in the cafe this summer, alongside with partners JT Vuong and George Padilla, who have also been popping up at A/D/O this summer with yakitori and tiki drinks, fittingly under the name YAKI TIKI.
Projected opening date: November 2019
Address: 29 Norman Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222
Canal Street Oysters
Why we’re excited: This 200-seat restaurant reminds us of the Grand Central Oyster Bar—but for 2019. In this airy space you can order of a seafood-centric menu full of raw bar favorites and cooked dishes to pair with craft beers and natural wines. The kitchen is helmed by Charlene Santiago (John Dory Oyster Bar, Reynard).
Projected opening date: Early September 2019
Address: 380 Canal Street, New York, NY 10013
Llama-San
Why we’re excited: Erik Ramirez’s lauded Peruvian spot, Llama Inn, could’ve stopped there and continued to be one of New York’s most exciting restaurants. But after revamping the menu at his Carmine St. Llamita, he’s also tackling opening Llama-San. Led by Ramirez and Chef de Cuisine Sergio Nakayoshi, the menu will focus on Peruvian Nikkei cuisine.
Projected opening date: September 5th, 2019
Address: 359 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY 10014
Que Chevere at The Market Line
Why we’re excited: This Puerto Rican pop-up—with some of the best potato salad we’ve ever had—will open its first permanent spot in The Market Line, the basement-level bazaar opening below Essex Market. Que Chevere, which translates to “how fantastic” in Spanish, is a partnership between owner Mike Petrovich and his daughter, Lillian Quinones, as culinary advisor. Que Chevere joins Peoples wine bar, Schaller & Weber and Veselka, among other new Market Line offerings.
Projected opening date: October 22nd 2019
Address: 88 Essex Street, New York, NY 10002
Ciao, Gloria
Why we’re excited: Renato Poliafito, founder of the beloved Red Hook bakery Baked, will open a new Italian cafe in Prospect Heights. Ginger Fisher Baldwin leads the pastry program at Ciao, Gloria with a menu featuring pistachio croissants, apricot crostatas, Sicilian sandwiches and more.
Projected opening date: End of September 2019
Address: 550 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238
232 Bleecker
Why we’re excited: The fast casual prepared food chain you might know as Dig Inn has pivoted to calling itself Dig, leaving behind the puns. Along with the new name, there’s a new branding strategy. Now, parent company Dig Food Group is set to open its first-ever, full-service restaurant with a vegetable-forward menu led by Suzanne Cupps (formerly of the Whitney Museum’s Untitled restaurant). 232 Bleecker's kitchen will also act as R&D for the company's other ventures and the group, reportedly, has larger plans to open more full-service concepts.
Projected opening date: Fall 2019
Address: 232 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10014
Silver Apricot
Why we’re excited: Chef Simone Tong has been cooking up creative Chinese dishes at Little Tong since 2017. But in this new space, Tong is toying with ideas ranging from tasting menus to a chef’s counter, where she’ll test out concepts, possibly including cheeses, charcuterie and breads, a departure from the type of the cuisine she's come to be known for.
Projected opening date: Fall 2019
Address: 20 Cornelia Street, New York, NY 10014
Sarashina Horii
Why we’re excited: There’s much fanfare surrounding this famed soba restaurant opening its first location outside of Japan. Yoshinori Horii, a ninth generation soba maker, had a temperature controlled room built for chefs to make the unique white soba featured in more than a dozen hot and cold dishes. Bring on the slurping!
Projected opening date: October 2019
Address: 45 East 20th Street, New York, NY 10003
Photograph: Courtesy of Sarashina Horii
Kindred
Why we’re excited: From the team behind Ruffian wine bar and Oh My Gato Hospitality is this full-service pasta restaurant with orange wines to boot from Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. The menu will be helmed by Chef and Partner Josh Ochoa, Chef de Cuisine Amy Mattulina (Maialino, Charlie Bird) and Charlotte Mirzoeff (Union Square Cafe, Marta) curating the drink selections.
Projected opening date: Late September/ Early October 2019
Address: 342 East Sixth Street, New York, NY 10003
Veggie Castle Mini
Why we’re excited: Veggie Castle II's vegan buffet and smoothie bar isn't a secret to its over 32,000 Instagram followers and hungry fans who make the trip to South Richmond Hill, Queens, for owner Viburt Bernard's Caribbean fare. Now Bernard will return to Brooklyn with a spot in the Flatlands neighborhood.
Projected opening date: Late September 2019
Address: 2085 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11234
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Once
Why we’re excited: Chef Ricardo Zarate is bringing his lauded Las Vegas restaurant Once to Carroll Gardens. In a mission similar to Llama-San, his project intends to familiarize New Yorkers with Peruvian Nikkei cuisine. It’s a mashup of Japanese and Peruvian flavors that results in distinctive dishes you won’t often find beyond Lima (the country’s capital). The bar also reportedly carries a large array of piscos for cocktails, too.
Projected opening date: October 2019
Address: 315 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231
8sia
Why we’re excited: From Malaysian curries to Shanghainese street food, 8sia will be a food hall focused on Asian street food. Yaso, the team behind the market, just opened Yaso Noodle in the West Village, but here you’ll also find a teas, sushi, waffles and other street food bites.
Projected opening date: September 2019
Address: 220 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017
Le Club
Why we’re excited: Joël Robuchon’s name conjures fine dining of the white table cloth variety. But Le Club, which is taking over the Le Grill space within L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, is more relaxed with its dining club, bar and lounge spaces. Executive Chef Christophe Bellanca is still serving up French-inspired dishes like foie gras crème brulée with green apple foam and a tarte flambeé flatbread with veal bacon and truffle.
Projected opening date: September 2019
Address: 85 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011
Got any more tips for us? Shoot us a line at food.ny@timeout.com.
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