Off the Menu
Soso’s offers New York-style tavern fare, Masa Madre bakes Latin American treats and more restaurant news.
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Opening
Time and Tide
Jamal James Kent and his executive chef, Danny Garcia, set the details of this restaurant before Mr. Kent died last spring: The menu would take a steakhouse approach for seafood done simply. Think sauces and sides, with some fish dry-aged like meat. “It’s for flavor,” Mr. Garcia said, explaining the fish. “The fat under the skin penetrates the flesh.” An example is the halibut that fills a majestic pithivier. Kent Hospitality’s Harrison Ginsberg oversees drinks and Renata Ameni handles pastry, including Baby Birdee, a retail bakery connected to the space opening later. The generous dining room, book-ended by a bar and a raw bar counter, is fitted with woodland green corduroy banquettes and a wall of concrete blocks backlit in shifting tones as if by the artist James Turrell. (Opens Wednesday)
48 East 26th Street, 212-257-7677, timeandtide.nyc.
Soso’s
South SoHo Bar is being absorbed into this New York style tavern next door. It’s also from Tuxedo Hospitality and showcases classic cocktails alongside food like oysters, steak tartare, several salads, roast chicken and an unlisted burger. The look is retro. The executive chef, Paul Donnelly, who also cooks at Chinese Tuxedo and the Tyger from the same owners, is assisted by the head chef Luka Coyne from Australia. (Thursday)
191 Centre Street (Canal Street), sosos.nyc.
Masa Madre
The bagel may be a New York icon, but the croissant is gaining fast. Any new bakery had best fine-tune the flake and burnish of its French breakfast pastry. At this one, just opened in Queens by the restaurateur Jose Luis Flores, an excellent croissant, plain or almond, tempts; Mexican conchas and churros, Colombian pan de bono, and tender, sesame-strewn Guatemalan sourdough torta also reign. Starting this week the bakery will begin turning out pan de muerto for Day of the Dead, theirs a tender sugar-dusted pull-apart hillock subtly decorated with a cross.
47-55 46th Street (48th Avenue), Woodside, Queens, 347-527-2145, masasunnyside.com.
Twin Tails
A survey of Southeast Asia, a first for the Quality Branded group, is opposite the company’s Bad Roman at the Columbus Circle mall. Craig Koketsu, the chef and partner in charge, covers mainly Thailand and Vietnam. There’s Ho Chi Minh City with Cholon duck; North Vietnamese banh cuon rice rolls; Issan laab meatballs; and pad kra pao, a Thai stir-fry with egg. Crispy garlic shrimp nod to Lotus of Siam, in Las Vegas. The room is dark green with mirrored walls. “We’re not authentic or fusion,” said Michael Stillman, the company’s chief executive. “But we’re trying to convey the food of the region in a high-end setting.” (Wednesday)
Third Floor, 10 Columbus Circle, 212-970-8828, twintailsnyc.com..
Tabe Tomo
Six months ago, a fire upstairs from this ramen spot specializing in tsukemen-style noodles forced it to close. It has reopened with its broth back to simmering 60 hours or more before being served alongside four varieties of the “dry” ramen for dipping. Other ramen options include Jiro-style with thicker noodles, alongside donburi rice bowls, karaage chicken, tempura, takoyaki and other small plates.
131 Avenue A (St. Marks Place), 646-850-6414, tabetomonyc.com.
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