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Something Curated highlights six of the most exciting new and recently launched restaurants to try in New York this October, taking a closer look at the chefs and proprietors behind the promising food offerings.


Nami Nori || Taka Sakaeda, Jihan Lee & Lisa Limb

Seafood eatery Nami Nori specialises in temaki, hand rolls filled with fresh fish and vegetables. Founders Taka Sakaeda, Jihan Lee, and Lisa Limb have elected for a taco-inspired serving style, with the ingredients held in an open-top nori shell, rather than the traditional cone-folded hand roll. Sakaeda and Lee, who both worked at the sushi master Masa Takayama’s restaurants, are behind counters of the sleek wood dining room. Among the filling combos available are scallops in XO sauce with tobiko and lemon, tuna with fried shallots, and salmon and tomato with onion cream.

33 Carmine St, NY 10014


Qanoon || Tarek Daka

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2b_9BsnFXV/

Chef-founder Tarek Daka’s menu for his latest project, Qanoon, takes inspiration from the chef’s childhood on his family’s farm in Palestine, where his mother’s cooking was greatly influenced by the changing seasons’ harvest. Looking beyond popular street foods such as falafel and hummus, found on most Middle Eastern menus across NYC, Daka is keen to introduce diners to his favourite regional specialities, serving his version of the meals he ate growing up and the ones he enjoys making for family and friends today.  

180 9th Ave, NY 10011


Reverence || Russell Jackson

Chef Russell Jackson is behind new eatery Reverence in Harlem, a tasting menu concept. With a ban on technology, including camera phones, he is keen for guests to be truly present for the experience. With this new project, the Los Angeles-born chef celebrates the principles of West Coast farm-to-table cuisine. The menu is Jackson’s spin on California culinary history and is influenced by the diverse cultures of the state, including dishes such as black pea heirloom rice, quail egg empanadas, escargot with fermented uni-chile crema, and almond-honey cake with coffee syrup.

2592 Frederick Douglass Blvd, NY 10030


Rezdôra || Stefano Secchi

Inspired by the flavours of Northern Italy, Rezdôra comes from chef Stefano Secchi, who grew up cooking at his parents’ Italian chophouse, in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. Secchi later worked in Modena, at Osteria Francescana and Hosteria Giusti, where he honed his technique. Rezdôra, his debut as head chef, pays homage to this training by showcasing the cuisine of Emilia-Romagna, a region known for its affluence, legacy of anti-Fascism, cheese, spectacular cured meats, and balsamic vinegar.

27 E 20th St, NY 10003


Hutong New York || Fei Wang

Hutong, from the Hong Kong-based Aqua Restaurant Group, transforms the former site of Le Cirque into a sumptuous dining room for Northern Chinese-inspired cuisine. The 140-seat restaurant is draped in blue fabric and framed with lustrous, polished nickel, inspired by 1920s NYC and Shanghai Art Deco interiors. The menu is comprised of classics, like Peking duck and bee ribs, and new dishes inspired by the location, such as the Yu Xiang fried dumplings stuffed with spicy pork, salted fish and broad beans, as well as baked wagyu beef puffs.

731 Lexington Ave, NY 10022


Pastis || Keith McNally & Stephen Starr

Five years after Keith McNally closed his influential brasserie, Pastis returns in a new location with a revitalised look, courtesy McNally and the restaurateur Stephen Starr. Much of the menu is the same as it was, with favourites like French onion soup, three kinds of steak frites, escargot, salade niçoise, sweetbreads, and whole fish on offer, but this time, ingredients are being more thoughtfully sourced, and some lighter menu items such as steamed whole branzino and a bone-in skate wing with spinach now sit alongside the heavier classics.

52 Gansevoort St, NY 10014



Feature image via Nami Nori

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