Despite what you may hear, fine dining is still going strong—although it does seem to be morphing into something more approachable. Exhibit A: an upcoming bar from the Eleven Madison Park team, with a la carte snacks and a Fruit Gushers-inspired martini. Sixty Three Clinton is also getting a more laid-back sibling, and the people behind Atomix are bringing the West Village a tasting menu that clocks in under $100. Read about all that, plus a few ’70s-inspired spots and a new branch of the Claud family tree, below. And keep an eye on our openings guide, updated weekly, for the latest news.
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No rating: This is a restaurant we want to re-visit before rating, or it’s a coffee shop, bar, or dessert shop. We only rate spots where you can eat a full meal.
THE SPOTS
Opening: September
The space that housed Great Jones Cafe in Noho for 35 years (and briefly became Jolene) is now turning into Elvis. A Parisian-style wine bar from the francophile hospitality group that brought you Le Dive and Deux Chats, the place will pay homage to the original tenant with a psychedelic orange interior, featuring a 17-foot rack of sparkling glasses. As is custom nowadays, the wine will be natural, and the plates will be small. When it’s warm out, a sidewalk cafe will provide some people watching.
Opening: September
Last year, the folks behind Wildair and the owner of Moby’s opened The Tusk Bar at The Evelyn in Nomad. Now, they’re launching Brass in the same hotel. It’ll be an NYC take on a classic French brasserie, with hand-painted frescoes and a piano that nods to Tin Pan Alley.
Zimmi's
Opening: September
Octopus and tomato pies—also known as tielle sétoise—are coming to the West Village, along with more Southern French dishes like soupe au pistou and the anchovy flatbread pissaladière. Zimmi's is from the former director of wine and beverage for Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group and a chef who previously worked at Lodi and Flora Bar. There's going to be an extensive list of French and Italian wines, which you can enjoy in a ’50s Thonet armchair salvaged from a Pennsylvania Country Club.
Opening: September
Zimmi’s is doing Southern French, but Third Falcon is going north. The Fort Greene restaurant, from a chef who worked at EMP, Crown Shy, and Oxalis, will have a menu inspired by Northern France, with an emphasis on seafood and dairy. Think hay-smoked shellfish and côte de veau with armagnac, cream, and apples.
A New American wine bar in the West Village. Surely that must have been on your 2024 restaurant bingo card. Cora is from the people who brought you Figure Eight, one of the more inventive dining options in the West Village, and it’ll have over 20 wines by the glass, with an extensive list of American wines by the bottle.
Bananas
Opening: September
Shrimp wonton étouffee sounds promising. You can get some, once Bananas opens in the East Village. The minimalist Asian-American restaurant, from a few folks who worked at Shmoné and Blue Ribbon, will also be serving things like a miso caesar, alongside sake flights and shochu-based co*cktails.
Opening: September
Aside from a few Florida locations, Salt & Straw has mostly stuck to the West Coast. (You’ll find it in our guide to the best ice cream in LA.) But now, the Portland-based company is opening two NYC outposts, in the West Village and on the Upper West Side. (They’ll also be at EEEEEATSCON NYC.) Stay tuned for fresh waffle cones and scoops of Salted, Malted, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
Opening: September
A former sous-chef from Atomix is partnering with that same restaurant group, which also runs Naro and Atoboy, on a new tasting menu spot in Greenwich Village. The menu will reference Australian, Korean, and Scandinavian cuisine, with items like tuna with smoked trout roe and anise hyssop granita, topped with warm tomatoes. At $95, it’ll be about $300 less than Atomix.
Monkey Thief
Opening: September
Sama Street has been serving some of Greenpoint’s most inventive co*cktails since it opened in 2019. We’re talking Thai rum with pandan, mint, and coconut. Soon, they'll have a sister spot in Hell’s Kitchen, with Asian-inspired drinks, bites, and neon lighting meant to evoke the nightlife scene in cities like Hanoi, Bangkok and Delhi.
Gus and Marty's
Opening: September
Greek, from a Brooklyn perspective. That’s the sort of food they’ll be serving at Gus and Marty’s, a new Williamsburg restaurant from the team behind reliable brunch spot Egg Shop. You’ll be able to pair your food with natural wine from the Mediterranean, in a room that channels Greek taverns from the 1970s.
Opening: September
The ceilings are 16 feet high, the aquarium is 12 feet long, and the food is modern Fujianese. From a co-founder of Málà Project and a chef who worked at Tim Ho Wan, Nin Hao is an upcoming restaurant in Prospect Heights where you’ll find taro pork rice balls, mountain jelly salad, and other items like mapo tofu and cumin lamb chops. It’ll be walk-in-only from September 12 to 25, with reservations starting on the 27th.
Kellogg's Diner
Opening: Early Fall
What seems like decades ago, there was a meme of Adam Driver saying "good soup" ping-ponging around the internet. It was from the show Girls, and the words were spoken at Kellogg’s Diner. Open since 1928, the Williamsburg establishment recently changed hands, and it sounds like the food will be more impressive this time around. A chef who worked at Roberta’s and Empellon Cocina will be doing Tex-Mex, Southern, and classic diner dishes 24 hours a day.
Opening: October
The Twenty Two, a London hotel and members-only club, is opening a branch in Union Square this September. Membership fees start at $1,200, but the ground-floor restaurant, from the team behind Raf’s and The Musket Room, will be open to the public. In a spacious room with a fireplace reclaimed from a European chateau, the all-day spot will serve Levantine food like lamb tartare, grilled octopus, and spaghetti with crab and saffron.
Opening: October
Apparently, Michael White missed Midtown. The former owner of Marea—a longtime destination for fusilli with octopus and bone marrow—is opening another spot in the neighborhood, a few blocks from Rockefeller Center. It’ll be doing seasonal modern Italian in a space with six interconnected rooms with over 150 seats. Lots of amari will be present, as will French and Italian wine.
Pitt's
Opening: October
The chef behind Agi's Counter, one of our favorite daytime spots and home of one very fine tuna melt, is taking over the former Fort Defiance space in Red Hook. Open Wednesday through Sunday to start, the place will have fried veal sweetbreads, olive mortadella with fried saltines, and the lemon-lime, saltine-crust dessert known as Atlantic Beach Pie. Also, free bread service.
Cactus Wren
Opening: October
Sixty Three Clinton, one of the more affordable tasting menu spots in NYC, is getting a sequel on the Lower East Side. Unlike its sibling, Cactus Wren will be a la carte, although there will be caviar—served with flour tortillas—in addition to dishes like a trout roe tartlet and aged comté and honey pizza. The name is a nod to the state bird of Arizona (small, brownish), where both of the owners are from.
Clemente Bar
Opening: October
Eleven Madison Park. Maybe you’ve heard of it. The fine dining institution is expanding with a more relaxed sibling in the same Flatiron building, on the floor above. Clemente Bar will be similarly plant-based, with a four-course prix fixe, a selection of a la carte bar snacks, and co*cktails from the beverage director of EMP.
Heroes
Opening: October
Incredibly, not a sandwich shop. Heroes is an upcoming Soho restaurant from the people behind Tokyo Record Bar, with a name that references personal heroes like Julia Child and Sonia Sotomayor. The futuristic restaurant with lavender highlights will be whole animal-focused, serving crab beignets and turbot with chili butter, alongside wine from small producers. On the top floor, you’ll find a co*cktail bar called Pearl Box, with wood paneling and red interiors channeling Playboy After Dark.
Opening: Late October/Early November
If you often find yourself near Rockefeller Center, here’s some good news: The team behind Golden Diner is bringing an old-school Korean-style pub to 48th Street. Drinks will be the focus, with options that range from Asian craft beers to a bingsu milk punch—but the food isn’t an afterthought. Get ready for dumplings with melted truffle pecorino and a crispy bacon kimchi pancake served with ranch.
Opening: Late October/Early November
In the basem*nt of the same building as Golden Hof, the same folks are launching NY Kimchi. A revamp of the chef’s parents’ restaurant of the same name, it’ll be a Korean-inspired steakhouse, doing Oysters Rockefeller with kimchi-sesame butter, a Seoul seafood tower, and hanger steak basted with brown doenjang butter.
La Tête d'Or
Opening: November
Daniel Boulud is keeping busy. After opening Le Gratin in 2022 and relaunching Café Boulud at the end of 2023 (let's maybe not talk about the Chobster at Maison Barnes), the chef behind Midtown fine dining staple Daniel will be tackling steak in the bottom of a Flatiron highrise. French-inspired steakhouse La Tête d’Or will have a wood-burning oven, an open kitchen, and a space inspired by classic brasseries.
Smithereens
Opening: Late Fall/Early Winter
The Claud family tree is growing a new branch. This fall, the former chef de cuisine of that overachieving wine bar is opening a seafood-centric East Village restaurant inspired by New England. It’ll have blackened cedar tables, cork floors, and a wine program from a Momof*cku Ko alum.
