headliner
Amarena
Despite the unexpected circumstances, Chef Julien Medina is an optimist when it comes to the business of owning a restaurant. Last year alone, he opened three stores and is looking to add a total of 12 more, with varying levels of service and pricing. His newest location, which opens later this week, will be his first without roots in his native Mexico or Cuba, like his Cuban diner Coppelia. It’s Italian. “My culinary background is French and my restaurant is Mexican, but I have Italian food in my heart,” he said. “I’m ready to create my own interpretation.” Named after the Italian sour cherry, his ode to Italy focuses on Roman cuisine and the cuisine of the coastal region. It moved into the Upper East Side townhouse space occupied by the Simone family until last year. But unlike its garden-level predecessor, his 60-seat restaurant occupies his two floors, with the addition of a bar downstairs in an almost summery atmosphere of light tones with accents of greenery. Masu. Upstairs there are more luxurious rooms made of ruby pallets. The same menu is served in both areas. His frequent partner Louis Skibar is co-owner. Firstly, the restaurant serves dinner with various supplements such as arancini. Grilled clams with salsa verde. bucatini carbonara with duck guanciale and duck egg; Sunday gravy and beef cheek pappardelle. And suckling pig agrodolce. Breakfast and lunch are scheduled soon, including traditional Italian pastries such as panini and sfogliatelle. The wine list is all Italian.
(Open Thursdays) 151 East 82nd Street, 212-837-1841, amarennyc.com.
opening
demo
Chef Quang Nguyen and wine director Jacob Nass have a destructive attitude towards the newcomer. They both work at Wildair, collaborating with Ian Henderson Chernow, who co-owns Greenberg’s Bagel Shop in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Named after the nearby Father Demo Square, this restaurant claims to be French and Mediterranean, but it still breaks the rules. Nguyen gives the beef tongue the tonnato treatment, grills the crab in Café de Paris butter normally reserved for steak, and tosses the lobster with a trendy au poivre sauce. Nass’ wine selection is often natural and quirky for what he calls a rebellious producer. The décor inside the 40-seat restaurant is also defiant, evoking the days of punk rock and the legendary Max’s Kansas City, especially the jazzy rear dining room, which is open in the evening. During the day, the cafe sells coffee and cookies. Then there’s Bagels, a branch of Greenberg’s that occupies a nearby storefront.
34 Carmine Street (Bleecker Street), instagram.com/demo.nyc.
38th class
Relaxing the basic rules of typical Japanese cuisine is the mission of chef Alexander Lee, partner of Southeast Asian restaurant Nemesis in the Flatiron District and Antidote in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He brings a touch of luxury to the tables, with vintage accents and golden touches, and an open kitchen in the intimate space. Ingredients for the small plates include Hokkaido scallops with sea urchin, oysters grilled in sea urchin butter, steamed snow crab in chawanmushi, two types of wagyu beef tartare, and truffle duxelles and foie gras. Entrees include pan-roasted Heritage Chicken with Oyster Mushrooms and Wagyu Zabuton (Denver Cut) Steak. Among the wines are nine stills and two sparklings under $60.
55 West 38th Street, 929-292-0691, classon38th.com.
jolie’s atelier
Angelina Jolie has opened a Noho fashion and art workshop with a cafe area (no reservations required) run by Eat Offbeat, a Chelsea Market-based organization that employs refugees. This space was once the studio and home of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
57 Great Jones Street (Bowery), atelierjolie.com.