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Jeffrey Chodorow may have struck out on bringing Manhattan to the Hamptons when Kobe Beach Club closed, but he brings a little bit of the East End to midtown with Ed’s Chowder House in the Empire Hotel space that used to house Center Cut. The Ed in question is Ed Brown, the sourcing stickler from Eighty One. He knows a little bit about seafood, having authored The Modern Seafood Cook, and having helped to update the fish section of the new Joy of Cooking. Here, he’ll put his expertise to work on “sea shack cuisine,” meaning, of course, chowders, lobster, and such. As with Eighty One, there’s also a section of the menu marked “Simply,” indicating fish that can be roasted, grilled, or steamed. For those who don’t want to commit to a whole porgy, there’s a “chowder bar” serving lobster rolls, steamers, and the like from 11:30 a.m. till midnight. And what new all-American restaurant would be complete without a raw bar? Chodorow’s designer, Jeffrey Beers, certainly took elegant liberties that make it hard to call this expansive space a fish shack. — Daniel Maurer