This month saw only one opening, a couple of closings and a couple of moves, with much of the activity centered around Asian spots. As usual, the fall will bring some anticipated openings.
Open
Omakase Room by Maaser
321 Bleecker Street between
Christopher and Grove Streets
A new omakase spot has opened on Bleecker Street where French nautical-inspired clothing store St. James used to be. Omakase Room by Maaser offers the Edomae style of sushi which includes charcoal grilling and smoking, as well as konbu jime which is fish that is salted and cured in konbu seaweed. There are two menus available, a 12 piece $75 menu and a 17 piece $115 menu. According to the website, the chefs, Chunyu Chen and Peter Lin, source their fish from Tokyo’s Sakasyu fish market, and the fish is flown in three times a week.
Closed/Closing
One of my favorite omakase spots is closing: Neta (61 West 8th Street between 6th Avenue and Macdougal Street), which opened about 7 years ago will be shutting its doors in early September. It opened with two sushi chefs from Masa (who then went on to open their own restaurant, Shuko). Even after those chefs left, the food continued to be delicious and innovative, and I am sorry to see it go. An email sent to all patrons promises “We’ll be in touch very soon with news about what’s coming next!” Over on Greenwich Avenue, noodle and dim sum spot Niu Noodle House (15 Greenwich Avenue between Christopher and West 10th Streets) is closing.
Coming Soon
Two WestView readers alerted us that Café Kitsuné – Paris will be coming to 550 Hudson where Le Pain Quotidien used to be. Maison Kitsuné is a French clothing brand with a fox logo (Kitsuné is the Japanese word for fox, and in Japan they are often portrayed as magical creatures) and extremely high prices (think $150 t-shirts). They have a store at 248 Lafayette Street, but this new store will feature, in addition to the clothing, a café, and a selection of tableware and accessories. This is the first Café Kitsuné in the United States – the others are in Paris, Tokyo and Seoul. Chef Simone Tong opened Little Tong Noodle Shop in the East Village years ago where she serves mixian rice noodles from Yunnan Province in China. This fall she will open Silver Apricot at 20 Cornelia Street in the space that housed Home Restaurant for many years. Unlike Little Tong Noodle Shop, the food here will not be traditional Chinese food. Rather, she will experiment with her own flavor of Chinese American food (including homemade cheese, bread and charcuterie). The restaurant made the nationwide list of “The Biggest Fall Restaurant Openings of 2019” in Food & Wine magazine. Simone Tong was quoted in a recent issue of Edible Manhattan: “From Silver Apricot, we will share with New Yorkers and visitors alike what it means to us to be Chinese-American today. We will bring to life the Chinese-American identity and culture by building on time-honored techniques, driven by local products available to us in the Tri-State area.” Vivi Bubble Tea is coming to the long-empty Potatopia space (378 6th Avenue between Waverly Place and 8th Street) which is strange because a Vivi Bubble Tea recently closed nearby on 8th Street near 6th Avenue (that space is now a tattoo parlor).
Moving/Other
The Li-Lac Chocolate flagship is moving this fall from its current location at 40 8th Avenue (at Jane Street) to 75 Greenwich Avenue (at 11th Street) where the Roasting Plant used to be. One of my favorite pastry shops has moved south and east: Bosie Tea Parlor which had a small shop and tea parlor for nine years at 10 Morton Street (between Bleecker Street and 7th Avenue South) has moved to a much larger location at 506 LaGuardia Place (between Bleecker and Houston Streets). I enjoyed Bosie’s delicious afternoon teas and delicate French pastries, particularly the Paris Brest. The new spot has Jeanne Jordan as executive chef (she was chef de cuisine at Mas Farmhouse) and an expanded menu of French food. There is also a full bar. There was a sign on the door of the Gourmet Garage space (117 7th Avenue South between West 4th Street and West 10th Street) asking for neighbors to attend a meeting at Pieces Bar to discuss plans for the space to become Pieces Playhouse. Pieces Bar has performances showcasing drag talent.
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Photo by Darielle Smolian.