Finer Dining
A wave of exclusive and exquisitely conceived omakase restaurants are, for those who like their meals hushed and ceremonial, a welcome addition to the city’s dining scene. Omakase—which translates as “I’ll leave it up to you”—is a traditional Japanese dining style where the meal is tailored to each individual’s taste. Only 120 people a week can dine at
Yoshino and experience Tokyo chef Tadashi Yoshida’s exacting approach; Yakisaba sushi, a trademark of his, pairs charcoal-charred mackerel with pickled ginger and shiso. His efforts recently earned him a Michelin star and a four-star review in The New York Times.
Daniel Boulud enters the omakase game with
Jōji, which has a discreet speakeasy-like location below One Vanderbilt in Grand Central. The artistry of sushi master chef George Ruan and two other vets of Masa shines on dishes that look beyond traditional Japanese ingredients—like the karaage-style tilefish with caviar, shiso flower, and, surprisingly, white onion purée. Unlike the rest of the omakase cohort, it cultivates a less hushed atmosphere (you may even hear a rap soundtrack). And at
Noz 17 in Chelsea, Junichi Matsuzaki really plays with the form, creating an unconventional omakase that might even include a vegan mushroom nigiri.
Just as hard to reserve at, but significantly more lively, is glossy brasserie
Le Rock, the buzziest among the Rockefeller Center dining options from the team behind Frenchette; here you’ll find modern takes on leeks vinaigrette and escargots bourguignons. Meanwhile, upscale Italian
Al Coro pairs an elegant multicourse menu (including standout pastas like mascarpone and fontina-filled culurgiones topped with caviar) with live music in the former Del Posto space. Or slip into one of the crushed velvet booths at the newly opened
Torrisi in the Puck Building, where the menu recasts Italian food through a distinctly New York lens; you’ll find linguini in a pink Manhattan clam sauce, and chopped liver with Manischewitz. It was brought to life by the Major Food Group, who recently announced they will open a members-only, invite-only branch of ZZ’s Club with a private Carbone restaurant in
Hudson Yards.
Spirited Spots
The trend of caviar “bumps” is still going strong at
Temple Bar in NoHo and at Nubeluz, where a three-gram bump of Kaviari Ossetra is on the menu. Grandiose raw shellfish plates are the drink accompaniment of the moment at
Corner Bar, chef Ignacio Mattos’s latest restaurant at Nine Orchard in Chinatown, and
Holywater, the New Orleans-style bar in TriBeCa, where the Celebration platter feels like exactly that. The popular 26-seat bar
Overstory is located on the 64th floor of a landmark Art Deco building in the Financial District so you can sip your Earl Grey-infused In the Clouds cocktail while taking in the sweeping city views. Cocktail acolytes are converging on a three-story carriage house in Gramercy, transformed by former Angel’s Share bartender Takuma Watanabe into
Martiny’s, a Japanese den of drinking with meticulous craft cocktails and an extensive collection of rare Japanese whiskies (regular patrons will be able to buy and store their preferred bottles on site). If a martini and French fries enjoyed in a plush booth is your weekend ideal there is the
Nines, a dimly lit supper club in SoHo, or the newly refashioned
Monkey Bar in Midtown.
Cultured Clubs
In Midtown Manhattan a new arts scene has been brewing with the development of the
Shed, a multi-use cultural space hosting works from creators across various disciplines and backgrounds. Of particular note is the structure’s transformative architecture: Among other features, a movable outer shell creates a 17,000-square-foot covered pavilion on the adjoining plaza for large scale performances, installations or events. In past seasons, the Shed has brought talents such as Björk to the stage, offering visitors an acoustically superior concert experience. The much-anticipated opening this year of the Ronald O.
Perelman Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center will bring another venue for on-the-pulse programming in opera, film, theater, dance and music. Visual art havens abound in New York but if growing a collection of your own is the goal, set a course for downtown galleries like Perrotin, Fortnight Institute, Karma, Sargent’s Daughters and Gordon Robichaux (where Tabboo! is on the talent roster).
Shop Nouveau
Online shopping be damned, New York’s post-pandemic renaissance has come with a number of exciting store openings, the most iconic of which is Hermès. The French heritage brand already had a flagship in the city but decided to significantly up the ante:
The new flagship, which opened its doors in October on Madison Avenue, dwarfs its former store at a whopping 45,000 square feet and features special items, Kelly bags among them, made exclusively for this store. After gathering your orange boxes, head to SoHo where you’ll find new boutiques from Courrèges, Byredo, Mulberry, Jennifer Fisher, Givenchy, cult favorite vintage designer purveyor Desert Vintage, and Swedish label Toteme, where the interiors—including Josef Frank sofas and a Marc Newson table—were conjured by the founders (Elin Kling and Karl Lindman) with architecture studio Halleroed, and are as covetable as the minimalist styles on the racks.
