Opening
Blue Blossom
You’ll find typical blue and white porcelain on the tables, as tiles and in a mosaic on the walls, at the latest spot from the executive chef Wang Lin Qun and his wife, the dim sum chef Fang Fang. They own and run the esteemed CheLi in the East Village, where Shanghai and the Song dynasty are the focus. Now their inspiration is broader, touching down all over China. Modern takes on tradition include cheese Xiao Long Bao, and a mingling of fish maw, abalone, sea cucumber and beef tendon in a seafood bisque fragrant with saffron. It’s also one few Chinese restaurants in New York serving potatoes: shredded and sautéed as prepared in Beijing, and mashed with pork sauce. The dining room, seating 200, includes a mezzanine.
Le Basque
Having opened vegan kosher sushi, Italian and Middle-Eastern restaurants, the chef Guy Vaknin has now turned his attention to where Spain and France meet in the Basque region. The vegan menu lists “faux gras” made with smoked lentils, and wood ear mushrooms stand in for escargots. But exactly what represents the seafood in a paella, the beef in the Bourguignon or the dairy in the Basque cheesecake? Though presumably all plant-based, sometimes it isn’t revealed. The setting is elegant. (Friday)
Armani/Ristorante
Soaring windows, silvery blue upholstery and marine marbled flooring striped with gold define the new dining room in the Madison Avenue flagship of the Giorgio Armani store, with a bar, lounge and mezzanine. Pasta filled with guinea fowl, pine nuts and truffles; lobster with grapefruit and savory sabayon; and risotto with morels and porcini are some new dishes that await on prix fixe lunch menus ($70 to $110) and à la carte at dinner; there are also tasting lineups at $120 and $180. Dishes like luncheon spaghetti with tomatoes, and a wild strawberry meringue dessert, are the 90-year old designer’s favorites. Start with an icy Antarctic martini with a drop of olive oil. (Monday)
Aitana
Nibbles in the bar and lounge like duck and foie gras empanadas, or yucca fries dusted with aged Parmigiano-Reggiano, might be enough to keep you from trying what the dining room in the new fourth floor hotel restaurant has to offer. More substantial dining includes Ecuadorean potato soup with blue crab, and plantain-crusted red snapper. Though the cooking is billed as a mix of Latin and Mediterranean, the Latin side of the equation has more muscle.
Lightscape Lodge, Lightscape Bar
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s annual holiday “Lightscape” display has been switched on. To accompany it, the garden’s restaurant and trailside kiosks have unveiled some new treats. Snowman profiteroles, tableside s’mores and an old-fashioned with a torched marshmallow skewer are a few of them.
Branches
Lox at the Jewish Museum
Bagels and lox, the iconic expression of New York Jewish food, are back on the menu at the Jewish Museum. The new venue, an uptown edition of the restaurant at the Museum of Jewish Heritage at the Battery, replaces the Russ & Daughters cafe which closed because of the pandemic. It’s on the lower level; museum admission is not required but it’s only open Sunday, Monday and Thursday. The kosher menu lists smoked and cured fish, sandwiches, salads, soups, blintzes, herring, challah French toast and bakery items. There’s also a full bar.
Arthur & Sons
Joe Isidori is dishing more plates of meatballs and chicken Parm at this Murray Hill outpost of his old-school red sauce Italian, the third iteration.
Ciccio Cin Cin
The Tuscan Ciccio Bar & Alimentari in SoHo has added a West Village edition, this time dressing its Florentine fare with touches of Asia. The chef Giacomo Romano takes care of Italy, while his wife and partner, Sam Leung, looks to Asia. Dumplings come filled with wild boar, and the pepe in the cacio e pepe originates in Sichuan.
Looking Ahead
Mirazur x Eleven Madison Park
Adding to his accolades, in September, the chef Daniel Humm of Eleven Madison Park was named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Food Education. Back in 2022, Mauro Colagreco of the restaurant Mirazur, on the French Riviera, was also named a Goodwill Ambassador for biodiversity. Their restaurants each have three Michelin stars, and their United Nations titles obligate them to promote UNESCO’S efforts to preserve and promote food culture and biodiversity. They’re not required to cook together, but that’s what they’ll be doing in January, at Eleven Madison Park. Two eight-course vegan dinners are planned, Jan. 8 and 9, $475 plus tax, or six courses in the lounge, $345 plus tax; as of now, tables are available for 9 p.m. or later.
Closed
Bar Vinazo
After just a year and a half, this Spanish wine and tapas bar on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, from Joe Campanale and Ilyssa Satter has bid adios.
Shopping
Sabatino
Just in time for luxurious holiday dining and gift-giving, this Italian truffle company has opened a retail market, its first, in Grand Central Terminal. Fresh truffles, truffle oils and condiments, kits for truffled pasta and risotto, and truffle tools are sold.
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