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The trendiest restaurants in New York City are sourcing good ingredients and turning up the spice.
In the storied former Grill Room of the Four Seasons, the Major Food Group (Santina, Dirty French, Parm, et al.) installed chef Mario Carbone and stayed true to the legacy while also buffing it a bit for a new modern age.
Website: thegrillnewyork.com
Address: 99 E. 52nd St.
Phone number: 212-375-9001
Number of seats: 120
Entrée price range: $29-$67
Popular dishes: Triple lamb chop with curried flavors and mint jelly; prime ribeye; pasta à la presse
What others say: “The Grill is confident, theatrical, retro, unsentimental, sharp and New Yorky. Like other projects from Major Food Group, it is packed with ideas and historical allusions. Unpacking it all is a lot of fun if you can afford it; preposterous expense is one reality of the old restaurant that the new tenants preserved.” — Pete Wells, The New York Times
The dining room
Triple lamb chop
This self-described “Japanese-ish pleasure pit” is the third new restaurant by the Major Food Group in the Seagram Building (after The Grill and The Pool, both in the former Four Seasons), with a lineup featuring chef Tasuku Murakami and design by architect Peter Marino.
Website: thelobsterclub.com
Address: 98 E.53rd St.
Phone number: 212-375-9001
Number of seats: 120
Entrée price range: $40-$50
Popular dishes: Lobster avocado salad; crispy Vietnamese Snapper; cumin and Szechuan pepper rubbed tomahawk ribeye
What others say: “The team was able to lure Murakami away from the Michelin-starred Sushi Azabu. Although sushi will be a centerpiece of Murakami’s menu — sourcing fish from Tokyo’s Tsukiji market — he’ll also feature classic dishes like tempura, gyoza, yakitori, and teppanyaki.” — Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report
The interior
Lobster avocado salad
At this destination for pizza lovers in a city that offers plenty of other ports of call, Gino Sorbillo, a pizza-making star in Naples, Italy, is gaining admirers with pies conceived in a handcrafted oven in an open kitchen.
Website: sorbillonyc.com
Address: 334 Bowery
Phone number: 646-476-8049
Number of seats: 73
Entrée price range: $12-$35
Popular dishes: Campania-Antica Margherita pizza with organic flour, San Marzano tomatoes, Terre Francescane Organic extra virgin olive oil, fresh mozzarella and basil; Lazio-Vecchio Roma pizza with guanciale, Pecorino Gran Cru, fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes and Terre Francescane Organic EVOO; Genovese: paccheri pasta with onions and meat ragù
What others say: “I've been waiting all year for this place to open and it did not disappoint! I almost don’t want to write this review out of fear people will catch on and blow it up, but I gotta give ’em credit!” — comment on Yelp
A pizza
A tabletop with pizzas
In the Flatiron District, chef Jared Sippel oversees a refined and sophisticated paean to hearty pastas and mains that serve as stars of the show.
Website: italiennenyc.com
Address: 19 W. 24th St.
Phone number: 212-600-5139
Number of seats: 104
Entrée price range: $23-$45
Popular dishes: Ravioli doppio with funghi trifolati, corn and potato; cassoulet for two with duck confit, pork sausage, braised bacon and tarbais beans; Scottish ocean trout with Burgundy snails, green curry, celery root and Moroccan spice
What others say: “Sippel was supposed to open the Manhattan outpost of Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, but when that project was delayed, he came up with the idea of mingling Southern French technique with the earthy goodness of Northern Italian cooking. It’s a concept that’s fraught with all kinds of peril, but in the taverna menu, particularly, you can taste elements of these two worlds in almost every bite.” — Adam Platt, New York
Ravioli doppio
Macaroncello
Aidan O’Neal and Jake Leiber, two alums of the fêted Cafe Altro Paradiso, have built a loyal following at this French-Canadian-inflected bistro in the increasingly sophisticated Brooklyn neighborhood of Greenpoint.
Website: chezmatantenyc.com
Address: 90 Calyer St.
Phone number: 718-389-3606
Number of seats: 50
Entrée price range: $17-$24
Popular dishes: Caesar salad; steak tartare and potato chips; kedgeree curried rice with poached cod and celery salad
What others say: “If you were a fan of Greenpoint in the days when it was a bucolic Brooklyn backwater — before entire streets became paved with trendsetting boutiques and noisy cocktail bars — Chez Ma Tante (“My Aunt’s House”) may be your serene place.” — Robert Sietsema, Eater New York
Pork shoulder with lentils
Escarole
Pancakes
