New Restaurant And Bar Openings: From Italian Seafood In Little Italy To A "Next Level" Sports Bar
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<em><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/michellerick/5911095493/sizes/z/in/photostream/">Michelle Rick's Flickr</a></em><br/><br/><strong>Crudo Vineria Con Cucina:</strong> Real New Yorkers know that when it comes to Italian food, most (but not all!) of the places in Little Italy are overpriced tourist traps churning out subpar Italian-American simulacra. Crudo Vineria Con Cucina (or just Crudo for short) wants to change that impression, with a prime piece of real estate on the corner of Mulberry and Broome, in the space formerly occupied by Umbertoâs Clam House. Owner Marcello Assante, a Naples native, has his little open air restaurant focusing on modern interpretations of the seaside dishes of coastal Southern Italy, specifically the Salento province within the Puglia region. <br/><br/>Seafood's the specialty here, and during a recent media preview, a special dish of lobster ravioli came out cooked to perfection, not too rich with a luscious tender filling. Also surprisingly memorable was the Caesar Salad, which wasn't overdressed like so many of its kind, and came with big and exceptionally tasty anchovies, as well as croutons encrusted with black sesame. Crudo's signature dishes, most in the $20 range, include a Tartara di Pesce Spada (Swordfish tartar with orange zest, black olives, served over red seedless Ruby grape carpaccio), and a Linguine Fave e frutti di mare (Handmade linguini pasta sautéed with fava beans and mixed seafood). There is a 100-bottle wine list emphasizing wines from Southern Italy, and with all the doors flung open wide, it's an ideal spot to unwind at dusk with a bottle or two and make fun of the tourists. <br/><br/><em>178 Mulberry Street (corner of Broome), (646) 559-0640 </em>
<strong>Qi: </strong>Pastry maestro extraordinaire Pichet Ong is expanding beyond just sweets at his latest venture, a futuristic Thai palace on a gritty stretch just outside of Times Square. <a href="http://www.qirestaurant.com/">Qi Bangkok Eatery</a> promises diners a chic oasis from the tourist-clogged area, with an all-white decor, heavy on the marble and leather, featuring plenty of mirrors and sparkly chandelier things. <br/><br/>The menu has traditional Bangkok-style eats served with a touch of class, like bite-sized portions of spicy pork sausage with chili relish and a curl of crispy pork skin ($4), oversized charcoal-grilled tiger prawns with thick chu chee curry cream sauce, chili and kaffir lime leaves ($24) and green curry pork ribs with a spicy soup flavored with jackfruit, lemongrass and tomato ($18). And of course, Ong goes all out on dessert, whipping up matcha-flavored butter cake with burnt honey and grapefruit Campari sorbet ($6.50) and flourless chocolate cake with green tea ice cream ($7.50). It's the perfect place to take your Midwestern aunt who wants to see a hip New York joint. â <em>Jamie Feldmar</em><br/><br/><em>675 8th Ave, 212-247-8991 </em>
<strong>PizzArte: </strong>This pizza restaurant plus art gallery with the most self-explanatory name in the world is bringing to midtown what New Yorkers can't seem to get enough of: the Neapolitan pie. And in an effort to one-up all other pizzerias in authenticity, PizzArte is importing most of Naples, Italy as well. The owners, the wood-fired pizza oven, the pizza ingredients, the pizzaioli themselves, and art from neopolitani Luciano Scateni, Giuseppe Falconi, Francesco Manes, and Lello Esposito are crossing the ocean to the city's one remaining Naples-style pizza desert in Midtown West. <br/><br/>The <a href="http://images.nymag.com/images/2/daily/2011/07/05_pizzarte-menu.pdf">menu</a> revolves around ten pie varietiesâfrom a Margherita to the zucchini blossom, speck, and burrata house specialtyâand 3 calzoni. There are also a few pasta dishes, polpettini, fried calamari, mussels, and the delectable fried pizza dough balls montanara, just in case. As for the gallery, the artwork will be constantly changing since most of it is for sale or will rotate out every 4-6 months. â<em>Elyssa Goldberg </em><br/><br/><em>69 West 55th Street, (212) 247-3936</em>
<em><a href="http://pardonmeforasking.blogspot.com/2011/06/shelskys-smoked-fish-now-open-on-smith.html">Courtesy Pardon Me For Asking</a></em><br/><br/><strong>Shelsky's Smoked Fish:</strong> In the old days, if you lived in Carroll Gardens and wanted some first rate Jewish-deli catering for your party, you'd probably have to schlep to Russ and Daughters in Manhattan. Wallsé alum Peter Shelsky recognized that this was a great social issue in our city, and so he recently opened <a href="http://shelskys.com/menu.html">Shelsky's</a>, a throwback Jewish Delicatessen in the neighborhood that includes all the requisite freshness and variety.<br/><br/> Delicatessen staples like Kossar's Bialys, Guss' Pickles and Dr. Brown sodas are all here, but it's the smoked fish, which mostly comes from local sources, that's the real draw, and the joint's <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shelskys-Smoked-Fish/204064146291192?sk=wall">Facebook page</a> offers daily updates on new arrivals in that department. If you're just dropping by for a quick meal, there are also all sorts of lunch combinations, including the Dr. Goldstein Special. Deemed "heart-stopping" by <a href="http://newyork.timeout.com/restaurants-bars/1639243/restaurant-and-bar-openings-july-7-13"><em>Time Out New York </em></a>, it consists of chopped liver and apple horseradish sauce between two schmaltz-fried potato latkes. â<em>Rachel Pincus</em><br/><br/><em>251 Smith Street, (917) 566-0371</em>
<strong>Pour George: </strong>Two parts upscale and one part man cave, the "rustic and masculine" bar-combo-eatery <a href="http://www.pourgeorge.com/">Pour George</a> opens in the West Village with a nudge from owner George Garrity and Josh Eden, chef at Shorty's.32. Striving to "take sports bar fare to the next level," they want to do what few New York establishments have before: bridge the chasm between places that have good food and places where men can, ya know, be men, drink beer and watch sports and stuff. <br/><br/>With a dash of "well-executed, farm-fresh cuisine," photographs of "some memorable sports moments," nine flat screens, and a couple of chalk boards, the intended vibe is clubby-casual. The menu, available for dinner and late-night patrons, gives Irish pub chow a facelift with gruyere, tomato, and house-made barbecue chips, korean style chicken wings, and cod fritters with garlic cream and spicy tartar sauce. Traditionalists will, of course, find burgers to accompany a plentiful drink selection: over 50 whiskeys, 40 craft beers, wine, classic cocktails (e.g., gimlets, negronis, manhattans), and "house specialties" like the Whiskey Smash (bourbon, lemon juice, syrup, fig jam, bitters) and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6TUhx2wX0M">Snoop Dogg's</a> <a href="http://gothamist.com/2007/04/07/sippin_on_gin_a_1.php">drink of choice</a>, Gin & Juice. â<em>Elyssa Goldberg </em><br/><br/><em>35 West 8th Street, (212) 253-2999</em>