Bell + Gray

Ten months after opening in January, the Talde crew is flipping its Jersey City–set Italian-market concept Carrino Provisions for a Thistle Hill Tavern–esque gastropub, helmed by Dale Talde. In keeping with Talde’s playful fusion style, the menu boasts plates like kale taco bowls, Buffalo-sauced rapini and spare ribs fired with Dr. Pepper. The team taps into the 19th-century space’s history as a phone-switching hub—the restaurant gets its name from phone pioneer Alexander Graham Bell and unlucky competitor Elisha Gray, who contested Bell’s claim that he was the inventor. Drinks vet and partner John Bush serves a rye-charged Liquid Transmitter, named after a key device in the first telephone, and a tequila-and-OJ The Watson, nodding to Bell’s assistant. The dining room, designed by HGTV’s Anthony Carrino and John Colaneri, is outfitted with trimmings both rustic (exposed wood rafters, white subway tiles) and industrial (metal piping, Edison bulbs), while an outdoor patio pops with neon-bright chairs.