We’ve been covering various NYC restaurants, food, drinks, bars, etc. news intel over on our daily newsletter (please sign up if you haven’t already!), but we’re also making it easier for everyone to catch up by rounding ‘em up here every week (check
out September, August, July, and June).
October 23
A Brooklyn bar owner is now a comedic icon
By now, you’ve watched the video of Conan O’Brien seamlessly improving with a random commuter during an episode of the Internet show “Subway Takes” this week, when Debbie Shields found herself spontaneously improving with the tall comedian, making up a whole backstory where they had been married and have kids. It turns out, in real life, she also owns a bar in Bed-Stuy, Confessions Bar, which she opened in 2024.
London Thai Chinese pop-up comes to NYC
London Thai Chinese restaurant Speedboat Bar is coming to New York City for a multi-evening pop-up this week. It’s taking place at the Otter, Alex Stupak’s restaurant inside Soho hotel the Manner. The event is hosted as a partnership with JKS Restaurants (aka the company behind Ambassadors Clubhouse). Chef and founder Luke Farrell and the team will serve dishes like crispy pork in a black pepper curry; minced beef with holy basil; and chicken skins with Zaep seasoning. It runs from Thursday, October 22, through Saturday, October 24; tickets are $85 with timed seatings; book reservations on OpenTable.
Nomad barbecue joint is back with a new look
After a two-month temporary shutter, Hill Country Barbecue Market has reopened in Nomad with a spruced-up space and menu, the latter courtesy of new executive chef Greg Jamiolkowski and pitmaster consultant Matthew Van Orden (who had worked at Franklin Barbecue in Austin). Dishes include the Big Shorty, nam jim jaew-style smoked beef short ribs, and Cherry Bombs, with smoked pork belly bites glazed with a cherry gochujang. There are three new smokers created by Texas-based M&M BBQ Company; the rest of the space is updated with new art, a revamped Pit Room, and a new market with retail items from the Lone Star State.
MGK opens a Brooklyn coffee shop
Sometimes-rapper, sometimes-rock star, and maybe Dakota Johnson paramour MGK opened his coffee shop, 27 Club Coffee, in Brooklyn this week. This third location is at 47 Adelphi Street, near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Fort Greene, as of Sunday, October 18.
Diwali celebrations around New York City
Tamarind’s Diwali feast is a 15-course meal for $101 — the price reflects shagun, the Indian ethos of holiday offerings ending in an odd number. Dishes include pani puri; saucy paneer; lamb with mustard seeds; bitter gourd with green chile; dal; rice; and breads. There’s also a ladoo tiramisu, a take on the round South Asian sweet. It’s available from Friday, November 6, through Sunday, November 8, with a vegetarian option. Book reservations on OpenTable orResy.
Financial District restaurant Crown Shy’s executive chef Jassimran Singh and executive pastry chef Anushana Sharma are cooking up a two-night Diwali dinner. Expect naan, curries, and vegetables. Tickets are $125; book reservations on Resy for Friday, November 6, or Saturday, November 7, with seatings from 5 to 10 p.m.
Celebrity chef Vikas Khanna is throwing a Diwali dinner with whiskey distillery Macallan at his East Village restaurant Bungalow on Friday, November 6, for $500, with paired drinks; book on Resy.
Tribeca’s Houston Indian fine-dining import Musaafer is offering a box of Diwali sweets for the holiday, including pistachio barfi and hazelnut motichoor truffles. It’s for sale online for $45 through Sunday, November 8.
October 16
An NYC micro-bakery’s growing up
Boots Bread (nee Apt. 2 Bread) signed a lease for a bakery location after its successful Kickstarter campaign. Carla Finley and Megan Wang are opening in Crown Heights at 638 Nostrand Avenue, near Dean Street, in early 2027. Expect focaccia, milk breads, loaves, cinnamon rolls, and much more.
A notable wagyu chef is opening a NYC restaurant
Following locations in Singapore and Hong Kong, chef Satoru Tanaka’s Japanese wagyu restaurant will soon make its stateside debut in New York City. Tanaka New York will open in Tribeca at 428 Greenwich Street, between Vestry and Laight streets.
Double the Michelin-starred Korean noodles
West Village’s Michelin-starred Korean restaurant Jeju Noodle Bar isexpanding witha second location in Nolita at 204 Elizabeth Street, between Prince and Spring streets on Friday, October 16.
Soho House is opening inside the same Ned Nomad building
Looks like the international private members’ clubSoho House is opening itsthird location in Nomad in 2028, with bars and a lounge. The company is opening at the same address as its sibling club, the Ned Nomad;the New York Post reports that the brand’s Italian restaurant Cecconi’s and wine/cocktail bar Little Ned will remain.
RIP West Village mousse cakes
Alas, AnnTremet Cake — known for its pretty mousse cakes —closed its West Village bakery on Monday, October 12. However, co-owners Annabelle Li and Peixin Lim and the team will still make and sell catering cakes from their Long Island City production kitchen.
NYC French chef consults on bar menus
Alexia Duchêne, the co-owner and chef of West Village French restaurant Le Chêne, is joining Paris-based hospitality group Experimental as a consulting chef for its New York City brands. This includes Flatiron barExperimental Cocktail Club and wine bar La Compagnie inFlatiron andLittle Italy. Her menus go live on Sunday, November 8; the press release teases caramelized onion-grilled cheeses and roasted chicken. At the same time, Duchêne and her husband, Le Chêne co-owner Ronan Duchêne Le May, are working on opening a members-only club named Le Chêne Privé in West Village at 35 Bedford Street, between Carmine and Downing streets, per Caper.
Sweet pastry collaborations around the city
New York City pastry chef Caroline Schiff just published her second cookbook, Daily Dessert: Treats on Repeat, this week. To celebrate, she’s collaborating with bakeries around the city, which will be serving some of her recipes through Sunday, October 18. Fan Fan Doughnuts will have big chocolate cookies with toasted doughnut pieces; Thea is serving the pear fritter; the Good Batch has the sesame-butterscotch monkey moneybread; Breads Bakery is selling (and Goldbelly is shipping) the pistachio-halvah babka, among others. Next up? She’s opening her own savory and sweet restaurant, Monday Diner, in Bushwick in 2027.
Odes to Montreal restaurants
Brooklyn Heights bakery L’Appartement 4F will soon house a gallery exhibit of Montreal restaurants and bars by New York-based artist John Donohue, known for hisAll the Restaurants series. At the same time, the shop will sell financier au thé des bois, a wintergreen tea financier, developed with Restaurant Toque chef Normand Laprise in Montreal. It’s all happening from Friday, October 30, through Thursday, November 5.
October 9
Gupshup heads to Brooklyn
Indian restaurant Gupshup is opening a new location in Williamsburg, owner Jimmy Rizvi confirmed, at 34 N. Sixth Street (between Kent and Wythe avenues). It’s the restaurant’s second location, after opening in Gramercy in 2018. Since then, the restaurateur has opened places like East Village sensation Bungalow and Jersey City’sPunjab Meet House. Rizvi says it’s been nine years since the original, so “a lot of changes and upgrades in the new one, while keeping in mind the Brooklyn sentiment and the Williamsburg audience.” They’re shooting for an early summer opening. — Melissa McCart
Reservations open for the Motek flagship
The flagship Motek, with 275 seats, opened late last month, at 60 West 57th Street, with walk-in-only service. Now reservations are open as of Monday, October 5. The bi-level space formerly occupied by Rue 57 will be the flagship, with Williamsburg and Upper West Side spots on the way. Restaurateur Charlie Levy’s restaurant was born during the pandemic in downtown Miami, serving Levantine fare. In addition to the Manhattan locations, there are nearly 10 in South Florida. In December, Levy will premiere its more casual, Mediterranean street food restaurant, Yalla Motek, at 1147 Broadway (between 26th and 27th streets) in Nomad. There will be lots of bowls of rice, falafel, crispy eggplant, and hummus varieties, along with sandwiches like lamb shawarma. — Beth Landman
A fancy London club takes over a club icon
London’s Maison Estelle is taking over the space that had been the Limelight, at 656 Sixth Avenue, at West 20th Street. Most recently, the location was a Grimaldi’s-turned-Limelight pizzeria. In London, the exclusive Mayfair club is closed due to some drama, RPS reports. — MM
Roberta’s most famous pizza maker to open his own spot
Anthony Falco, one of Roberta Bushwick’s original pizza makers, is opening his own restaurant, Pizzeria the Pantheon Bar, at 276 Grand Street, near Roebling. — MM
A new collab for soft serve
Australian import Softville opened on Thursday, October 1, at 137 Orchard Street, from Australia’s Gelato Messina and NYC’s Studio Jeremyville. Softville sources fresh milk from Upstate NY for its soft serve in partnership with Ronnybrook Farm Dairy in the Hudson Valley. Some flavors will swap out seasonally. — MM
A SF import debuts in Flatiron
San Francisco import Bun Mee banh mi shop is opening Thursday, October 8, at 115 East 23rd Street, in Flatiron for the first location outside of California. — MM
Win tickets for New York City Wine & Food Festival
Sign up for the Eater New York Substack, where we’re giving away tickets for the October 15-18 New York Wine and Food Festival. — MM
October 2
Super-hot NYC hospitality group takes over shuttered legacy restaurant
Known for swiping up shuttered institutions (see: Lucy’s), Golden Age Hospitality called dibs on the longtime and recently closed Upper East Side steakhouse Donohue’s, as reported by Caper. — Nadia Chaudhury
Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken expands big time thanks to Wonder
The Blue Ribbon Restaurants brand is on an expansion tear. First up: Its Wonder partnership with Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken has allowed them to expand to 11 locations as of Wednesday, September 30, within the existing walls of each ghost kitchen. The new spots include neighborhoods like the Upper West Side, Park Slope, Downtown Brooklyn, Hoboken, Bay Ridge, Williamsburg, and Jackson Heights. In addition, while we here at Eater don’t celebrate national food or drink holidays, the brand is offering its namesake sake flight trio at Blue Ribbon Sushi (119 Sullivan Street, near Prince Street) for National Sake Day from Thursday, October 1 through Thursday, October 8. Could be fun to try. — MM
April Bloomfield puts her stamp on a Lower East Side hotel
FeedMe reports that April Bloomfield has been quietly revamping the food at Nine Orchard hotel’s Swan Room restaurant. Last year, the chef joined Texas-based McGuire Moorman Lambert (MML) Hospitality, a group that oversees hotels and restaurants across Texas, Colorado, California, and, now, New York. Later last year, Eater reported that MML was in the works of taking over the Lower East Side hotel’s dining and drinking programs. Eater reached out for more information, but was told there are no updates. — NC
A Brooklyn wine shop is on the move
Gowanus wine shop Black Cat is closing at its current location at 252 Fourth Avenue, between President and Carroll streets, sometime in October, but don’t worry: It’s moving just a block away to 282 Fourth Avenue, between Caroll and First streets, later this season. — NC
Where to drink ALL the New York cider this weekend
CiderFeast is back in Brooklyn, bringing together a bunch of New York-area cideries and orchards on Saturday, October 3, in Industry City. Founder Jimmy Carbone tells Eater that cider producer Ryan James Burk is debuting a new line of ciders under the name Occam Fine Cider. Expect drinks from places like Indian Ladder Farms, Eden Ciders, and Fishkill Farms, with bites from Achilles Heat, Jimmy’s No. 43, and others. Tickets are $45 for 1 p.m. entry, and two-person VIP tickets get early access and swag bags. It takes place until 4 p.m. at 635 Second Avenue, near 37th Street. — NC
Two-thirds of Boygenius have a fancy dinner out
During Phoebe Bridgers’s concert run at Barclays Center last week, she and friend/Boygenius bandmate Julien Baker stopped by fancy restaurant Eleven Madison Park, presumably for its vegan tasting menu. — NC
