Enrique Olvera Heads to Brooklyn With Esse Taco

Contents

1 Opening
2 On the Menu
- 2.1 White Asparagus

Off the Menu

Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse returns after an extended Covid closure, Mission Chinese pops up at Cha Kee and more restaurant news.

Opening

Esse Taco

Tacos as street food — if your street is Park Avenue — is Enrique Olvera’s approach at his new Brooklyn spot, his first for the borough; he owns it with Santiago Pérez, the chief executive of Casamata hospitality group. Mr. Olvera, the chef and restaurateur known for Pujol in Mexico City and Cosme and Atla in Manhattan, here offers tortillas made on the premises with heirloom corn stuffed with juicy rib-eye, pork loin and grilled chicken in slices, not chopped up, and smoked oyster mushrooms. Included are salsas and a mix of onions, scallions and cilantro. The standing-only setting has stainless-steel barrels as tables, and the kitchen is open to view. (Opens Thursday)

219 Bedford Avenue (North Fifth Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 347-763-0057, essetaco.com.

Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse

This New York original, closed since 2021 because of Covid, has been revived at a new address to again beckon devotees of a boisterous room, pitchers of schmaltz and charred skirt steaks (“Roumanian tenderloin”) that drape off the plate. The in-house tummler, Dani Luv, will again entertain. The New York Times restaurant critic Mimi Sheraton gave it two stars in 1978, but did not live to judge the 2.0. It’s open Fridays and Saturdays in May, and will go full time in June.

112 Stanton Street (Ludlow Street), 646-410-2427, instagram.com/famous_sammys.

Mission Chinese

Danny Bowien has taken up residence in Cha Kee, a Chinatown restaurant, with much of his original Mission Chinese menu from 2010 in San Francisco, and a few new items. “I’m just so excited to be back in the kitchen,” he said in an email. The pop-up is Wednesdays through Sundays, starting at 5 p.m., until the fall. Expect the hits: Chongqing chicken wings, kung pao pastrami and mapo tofu.

Cha Kee, 43 Mott Street (Bayard Street), 212-577-2888, chakeenyc.com.

Ladurée Hudson Yards

The 160-year-old Parisian pastry shop and restaurant group, best known for its filled macarons, has expanded its New York footprint with a cafe in Hudson Yards. Lattes in flavors like rose and lychee, elegant finger pastries and inventive cookies are newcomers to the roster in a verdant, softly toned setting. (Saturday)

20 Hudson Yards, laduree.us.

The Bronze Owl

A long list of mostly Italian snacks like cheeses, cured meats, toasts, meatballs, gnocchi fritti and grilled pizzas accompany the drinks, also leaning Italian, at this cocktail destination from David Rabin, Franklin Becker and Stephen Loffredo. It shares space in the historic Martinique hotel with the Press Club Grill. The name pays homage to owl sculptures in nearby Greeley Square Park; more owls, marking the location of the old New York Herald building, can be found in Herald Square. (Friday)

52 West 33rd Street, thebronzeowl.com

Café D’Anvers by Chef Johan Halsberghe

French and Belgian specialties like chicken vol-au-vent and carbonnade flamande are served in this bistro, named for the city of Antwerp, Belgium, from the chef Johan Halsberghe. For now, the menu is limited; they’re waiting for the gas to be turned on. The chef is known for his chocolate mousse.

Daphne’s

The partners Gary Fishkop and the chef Paul Cacici, with their chef de cuisine, Jamie Tao, put a creative spin on Italian classics like vodka sauce with green tomatoes and a swordfish Milanese. The 50-seat room is about dining, with napery.

299 Halsey Street (Throop Avenue), Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, 347-365-8680, daphnesbrooklyn.com.

Whoopsie Daisy

The wine and spirits personalities Ivy Mix, Piper Kristensen and Conor McKee are opening this wine and cocktail bar near their Fiasco! Wine and Spirits store, which will sell some bottles offered at the bar. An emphasis on sustainability means no citrus garnishes that might be for looks, but not consumption. Small bites are served. (Wednesday)

225 Rogers Avenue (Union Street), Crown Heights, Brooklyn, 347-365-4193, whoopsiedaisybk.com.

The Butcher’s Daughter

An expanded installation is opening next to the original address of this plant-based cafe, restaurant and juice bar. It now features a stone pizza oven, a full cocktail area and sidewalk seating. (Wednesday)

19 Kenmare Street (Elizabeth Street), 212-219-3434, thebutchersdaughter.com.

Luke’s Lobster at Rockefeller Center

The ninth New York outlet for this sustainable, Maine-based crustacean specialist is a new eat-in and takeout option at Rockefeller Center. (Wednesday)

Rink Level, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, lukeslobster.com.

Bar Madonna

Catarina Guimarães’s Studio Guia has a hand in the design of this bar with an Italian outlook for drinks and small plates.

367 Metropolitan Avenue (Havemeyer Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, no phone, barmadonna.com.

Oak & Vine

The dining scene on the Gold Coast of Nassau County keeps ramping up. It can’t be the “Great Gatsby” factor, since Jay Gatsby was famously uninterested in food. This new American addition has a seasonal menu of steaks, seafood, salads and pastas, with family-style Sunday roast chicken. (Thursday)

75 Cedar Swamp Road (Third Street), Glen Cove, N.Y., 516-200-9520, oakandvineny.com.

On the Menu

White Asparagus

It’s asparagus time — notably white this spring. Fat ivory spears come with sauce or garnish, often egg as at Faun, in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, or called mimosa at Essential by Christophe, in Manhattan. In her lovely new cookbook, “Niçoise,” Rosa Jackson writes: “the sprinkling of grated or sieved hard boiled egg, whose yolk recalls the bright yellow mimosas that bloom all along the French Riviera.” You’ll find white asparagus at many Manhattan restaurants, including Koloman, Sempre Oggi, Café Chelsea, Wallsé and Ernesto’s. At the Grand Tier, Aquavit and Café d’Anvers, they’re soup, and Cafe Katja serves an entire menu of them.

Florence Fabricant is a food and wine writer. She writes the weekly Front Burner and Off the Menu columns, as well as the Pairings column, which appears alongside the monthly wine reviews. She has also written 12 cookbooks. More about Florence Fabricant

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