While Enrique Olvera closed Atla in May, he didn’t give up the space: In its place, on Tuesday, November 10, the chef behind Cosme and Mexico City’s Pujol opens Bar Cosme at 11 Great Jones Street, at Lafayette Street. The new restaurant puts cocktails
and dinner at the center of the former all-day spot, with drinks from a veteran of Eleven Madison Park and Clemente Bar, and a kitchen built around fresh-pressed tortillas.
The comal — the griddle used for cooking tortillas — is central to Bar Cosme. Mexico City architecture studio Taller ADG redesigned the space with stainless steel, walnut, and black granite, including a sculptural central bar. The 40 seats are arranged around the open kitchen and comal, with floor-to-ceiling windows looking onto the corner.
The menu is organized by seafood and crudo, like oysters with jicama, lime, and charred habanero peppers; meats with dishes like lamb belly seasoned with chintextle, a Oaxacan chile paste; vegetables and sides such as a roasted onion in salsa macha; and sweets like a guava tart. Every order arrives with fresh-pressed tortillas and salsas. In addition to a la carte, there’s a prix fixe for $135, which includes seafood, meat, a side, and dessert.
Agave spirits anchor the bar, alongside a selection of bourbons. The cocktail menu is divided between “de la casa,” which are variations on familiar cocktails, and “de la barra,” original drinks from the team. The Lestat combines mezcal, corn liqueur, passion fruit, and elote salt, while the Genevieve takes a savory approach to a martini with Mexican gin, blanco tequila, and mole blanco. There’s also a sparkling highball with plantain and shiso. A 50-bottle wine list includes Mexican and natural wines.
The drinks were developed by Sebastian Tollius and Jorsand Diaz. Tollius spent seven years at Eleven Madison Park and helped launch its upstairs Clemente Bar in 2024. Jorsand Diaz, who started as a Cosme bartender, is now the beverage director for the restaurant’s parent group, Casamata.
Olvera opened Cosme in Flatiron in 2014 with Daniela Soto-Innes leading the kitchen, establishing a New York destination for contemporary Mexican cooking. In 2017, Cosme debuted on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list at No. 40, joining Olvera’s Pujol in the top 50. That same year, the pair opened Atla, a more casual restaurant where diners could stop in for breakfast, aguachiles, or a lobster burrito. She left the group in 2020.
The shift to Bar Cosme follows nearly nine years of Atla, since it opened in 2017. It became a neighborhood fixture and a comparatively less expensive introduction to Olvera’s cooking than Cosme, earning two stars from then-New York Times critic Pete Wells. Former Eater critic Ryan Sutton was a regular, too: “I’ve probably been back to Atla more than any other restaurant I’ve reviewed in the past year,” he wrote in 2018.
Bar Cosme will be open nightly from 5 p.m. to midnight, with reservations through Resy for seatings from 5 to 9 p.m. Limited seating is held for walk-ins.
