The Citiblog

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Grandma’s Home
56 West 22^nd Street, NYC
Opening Early February

Grandma’s Home, in Flatiron, showcases the traditional homestyle cooking of Hangzhou, along with favorites from throughout China, in a modern setting. This opening is the first launch in the U.S. for Grandma’s Home, which has over 200 locations in 60 cities throughout China and is known for its signature long line that has become a part of the dining experience. The opening is headed up by U.S. Managing Partner Julia Zhu, the daughter of one of Grandma’s Home’s founders. Her inspiration to bring Grandma’s Home to the U.S. is to showcase the food she grew up eating that she can’t find in NYC and to offer an authentic modern Chinese dining experience. Menu highlights include Clay Pot Chicken with Green Tea, Hong Shao Rou, Soy Glazed Crispy Fish, and Longjing Green Tea Shrimp. Beverages will complement the dishes, including low ABV cocktails, wine, beer, and sake.

Only Love Strangers
175 East Houston Street, NYC
Opening Late February

Only Love Strangers, will be a reflective oasis in downtown NYC at the border of the East Village and Lower East Side serving Mediterranean inspired fare focusing on Spanish, Italian, and Greek influences and elegant cocktails. The design, led by Omar Aqeel, will transcend 1960’s/70’s surrealism in a two story space with sleek and monochromatic vibes utilizing different elements created by NYC artists throughout. An optimistic and hopeful space meant to be a spellbinding experience whether surrounded by loved ones or strangers with nightly live jazz performances. The new project comes from partners Amelie Kang, Simona Petrovska, Christian Castillo, Yishu He, and Irene Li from MáLà Project. After years of successful operation and growth together, they are launching a new hospitality group with this opening.

Soledad
Tentative Opening: January 2024
1825 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10128

Soledad comes from co-owners Julian Medina (Chef and Owner of El Fish Marisqueria, Coppelia, Toloache, and Tacuba) and Meghan Manzi – the same duo behind the three New York locations of La Chula and the summer debut of El Verano in Southampton. Their upcoming Manhattan venture is named after Chef Medina’s grandmother – Soledad Diaz – and will pay homage to her cooking and Mexican heritage. The menu is largely inspired by Soledad’s handwritten recipe book – an heirloom that dates back to the 1950s – but features chef’s personal interpretation of the dishes he ate while growing up in Mexico City. Like the food, Soledad’s design will embody contemporary Mexican culture, mirroring the colors and architecture found in Mexico City. The bar will be framed by arches, similar to those seen in traditional haciendas, and will take center stage, anchoring the space like an hacienda’s captivating central garden. The 1,700 square foot space will be washed with vibrant spring shades of pink and lavender, inspired by the Jacaranda flower, native to South America, evoking the feeling of being engulfed by nature.

Amarena
Tentative Opening: January 2024
151 East 82nd Street, New York, NY 10028

Amarena is Chef Julian Medina's love letter to Italy, inspired by his travels there earlier this year. Serving refined, upscale Italian fare, Amarena will be open for breakfast,lunch and dinner service seven days a week. For breakfast, guests can enjoy pastries and Italian coffees from Lavazza, either in house or to go. The lunch and dinner menus are being finalized, but will have strong Roman influences, including a variety of pastas, entrees, and pizzas. The 3600 square foot townhouse-style space, designed by Bruccolino Studios, has two floors and 60 seats total, including the bar on the main floor.

Seahorse | @seahorsenyc
201 Park Avenue South (@ East 17th) | 212.253.9119
Owner: Mercer Street Hospitality and W New York - Union Square
Designer: Rockwell Group

John McDonald, founder of Mercer Street Hospitality, opens a new restaurant in the flagship W New York - Union Square Hotel in the 1911 Beaux-Arts Guardian Life building. Seahorse is a 110-seat space that serves as a sibling concept to Lure Fishbar, delivering French-inspired seafood with an abundance of fresh produce from Union Square Greenmarket and a raw bar in a brasserie setting. Designed by Rockwell Group, the project is set to open this January, coinciding with a top-to-bottom revamp of the hotel that includes a rooftop bar and a second-floor living room bar & lounge.

Papa San | @papasan
The Spiral, 501 W 34th St, New York, NY 10001
Opening: Fall 2024
Designer: INC Architecture and Design

Partners Juan Correa and Erik Ramirez of acclaimed NYC restaurants Llama Inn and Llama San, as well as Llama Inn in Madrid and London, open their newest restaurant, Papa San, located on the ground floor of The Spiral, an unprecedented new 66-story building designed by Bjarke Ingels Group for Tishman Speyer. Papa San is a showcase for the next evolution of Ramirez and Correa’s groundbreaking blend of Peruvian cuisine and global flavors, with a cocktail program curated by the team behind Buenos Aires-based bar, Tres Monos (named one of the World's Best Bars).

abc kitchens
Empire Stores, 53-83 Water St, Brooklyn
Opening: Spring 2024
Owner: Jean-Georges Vongerichten

In spring 2024, Jean-Georges Vongerichten opens abc kitchens, his first-ever Brooklyn restaurant on the iconic Dumbo waterfront at Empire Stores. abc kitchens’ seasonally driven menu brings together the best of abc cocina’s global flavors, abcV’s innovative plant-based dishes and abc kitchen’s approach to Greenmarket fare. The industrial waterfront space features a commanding peninsula bar and a central glass enclosure that functions as a vintage flower shop by day and transforms into a whimsical dinner scene by night, available for private dining, where guests can dine amongst vintage decor and abundant blooms. The bright, farm-style design pays homage to the existing abc Flatiron locations, with distinctive Brooklyn-inspired touches throughout. abc kitchens opens next spring for lunch and dinner.


Kappo Sono
Opening: 2024
Chef: Chikara Sono
Design: Marta Carvalho

Kuma Hospitality Group - the partners behind the elegantly intimate l’abeille, l’abeille à côté, and Sushi Ichimura - will open a new kaiseki restaurant from celebrated chef Chikara Sono in 2024. Chef Sono, formerly of the Michelin-starred Kyo Ya, hails from the Japanese island of Hokkaido. He moved to New York in 1986, and since then, has introduced generations of New Yorkers and visitors to the experience of traditional kaiseki. His forthcoming partnership with Kuma Hospitality Group pairs his mastery of the style with Kuma’s dedication to forging lasting connections between chefs and guests.

Din Tai Fung | @dintaifungusa
1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019 (btwn W 50th + 51st)
Opening: 1st half of 2024
Designer: Rockwell Group

Din Tai Fung, the family-owned globally acclaimed culinary icon renowned for the art of Xiao Long Bao, will open its first East Coast outpost in Manhattan, NYC this winter. Long-time fans and newcomers alike will enjoy Din Tai Fung classics such as the Xiao Long Bao or soup dumpling, each folded precisely 18 times, ensuring the perfect marriage of delicate skin with a rich, savory filling, often referred to as achieving the “Golden Ratio.” Other guest favorites include the viral sensation Cucumber Salad and Spicy Wontons, featuring Din Tai Fung’s signature spicy sauce, and the hand-shaken Pear Lychee Martini, featuring Grey Goose La Poire Vodka and St-Germain. The Michelin-recognized restaurant brand, born in 1958 out of a Taipei cooking oil shop, will bring its authentic Chinese cuisine and signature hospitality to midtown Manhattan in a 26,400 square-foot space designed by Rockwell Group.

Guild Bar | @rwguild @lamercerieny
53 Howard Street
Opening: November, 2023
Owner: Robin Standefer + Stephen Alesch
Designer: Roman & Williams

The new, five-seat bar is intimate, inviting and sumptuously designed, tucked away in an alcove between RW Guild and La Mercerie, serving signature cocktails in exquisite, one-of-a-kind glassware handcrafted by RW Guild’s curated collection of global artists. It is the only place in the world where guests can enjoy a drink in many of these glasses, which range from glittering jewel-like kiriko lowballs to ethereal, impossibly thin coupes forged by a 200-year-old glassworks in Vienna.

Lola's
Tentative Opening: Feb/March 2024
Address: 2 West 28th Street, New York, NY

At Lola’s, Chef Suzanne Cupps (former Executive Chef of Untitled and 232 Bleecker) brings a new layer of personal introspection to her lauded, ingredient-forward cooking, drawing inspiration from her Filipino-American heritage, South Carolina upbringing, and storied life in professional kitchens. From vinegar-forward vegetables, to comforting fried or slow-cooked mains, her shareable plates will be more elevated and playful—fresh, memorable dishes that suit a wide range of cravings and occasions. Designed by Gradient Architecture (Estela, The Fat Radish), the 2,500 square foot space in NoMad marks Cupps first solo project and will feature an open kitchen and seat approximately 70 guests.

Yamada
Tentative Opening: Feb/March 2024
Address: 16 Elizabeth Street, New York, NY 10013

Kooth Hospitality is proud to welcome Yamada to its esteemed collection of restaurants this winter. Yamada is a chef's counter kaiseki restaurant helmed by Chef Isao Yamada, a trailblazer of New York City's earliest kaiseki dining experiences. Yamada will join the group's other establishments, Nakaji and Kono, in Chinatown's Canal Arcade – a passageway that connects Elizabeth and Bowery and is home to some of the most authentically Japanese gastronomic experiences in the city. Chef Yamada will host two nightly seatings at his intimate 12-seat counter, serving a seasonally-driven tasting menu that is rooted in traditional kaiseki customs, while incorporating some European touches – a unique style shaped by his decade-long tenure at Brushstroke in Manhattan, and his formative years cooking at renowned kaiseki restaurants across Japan. The 10-course menu will artfully progress through distinct cooking methods typical of kaiseki cuisine – like frying, grilling, steaming, and simmering – while harmoniously balancing the colors, textures, and flavors of the season; it ends with a customary tea ceremony, a nod to the origins of kaiseki in 16th century Japan. Expect antique and custom plateware crafted by esteemed Japanese ceramicists and a space that embodies "Japandi," a design style influenced by the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi (beauty in imperfection) and the Scandinavian practice of hygge (coziness and comfort).

Stay tuned for more 2024 openings!