Umami Burger
432 Sixth Ave., nr. 10th St., 212-677-8626
After years of anticipation, this week Los Angeles–based Umami Burger is opening its first New York location. This outpost is the only one peddling the Duck Burger, which Umami owner Adam Fleischman told Platt “will blow your mind.” The Sixth Avenue sit-down restaurant, which opens at 11 a.m. daily, will have a selection of Umami’s greatest hits, plus exclusive items like French-dip burgers. There’s a full bar too.
Quality Italian
57 W. 57th St., entrance on Sixth Ave.; 212-390-1111
Why open a sprawling midtown steakhouse when you could open a sprawling midtown Italian restaurant that specializes in hefty cuts of USDA prime? That is the thinking behind Michael Stillman’s Quality Italian, a block away from the restaurateur’s Quality Meats. While Stillman is not the first to capitalize on the trencherman-pleasing appeal of this best-of-both-worlds combo, he may be the only one to offer creamed spinach carbonara and agnolotti filled with dry-aged porterhouse. Also on chef Scott Tacinelli’s menu: baked clams, shellfish platters, Piedmontese steak tartare, and American prosciutto (a.k.a. country ham).
Piora
430 Hudson St., nr. Morton St.; 212-960-3801
In the West Village space briefly occupied by the Goodwin there is now Piora, an American restaurant inspired in part by the Italian and Korean heritages of its owners,chef Christopher Cipollone and Simon Kim. At the bar, which has been christened “the Foyer,” the focus is on Champagne-based drinks, sours, and cocktails made with hand-carved ice. Cipollone avails himself of ingredients both local and imported in dishes like monkey bread with whipped lardo and roasted-seaweed butter; market tomatoes with burrata, basil, and sesame; and ocean trout with cauliflower, pear, and the spicy Calabrian sausage spread called nduja.
Nourish Kitchen + Table
95 Greenwich Ave., nr. W. 12th St.; 212-242-6115
Wary of the unappetizing connotations of the phrase health food, Marissa Lippert refrains from using it to describe the offerings at her new West Village takeout shop and café; the registered dietitian knows she’ll make much more headway emphasizing “beautiful, fresh food that just happens to be healthy.” She and her chef, Tomas Curi, late of Corsino, deploy this stealth tactic in a menu inspired as much by the farmers’ market as by the cuisines of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, as well as by takeout trendsetters like London’s Ottolenghi and Forage in Los Angeles.
MaisonO
98 Kenmare St., nr. Centre St., 212-274-9898
Partners Lou Ceruzzi, Matt Abramcyk, and Serge Becker have opened MaisonO at 98 Kenmare Street with former Masturi and Hiro chef Tadashi Ono at the helm. Ono visited a number of izakayas and and yakitori restaurants in Japan last summer, and he also has a book on Japanese “soul” food coming out this fall. At MaisonO, a long list of yakitori is central to the menu, and hot dishes like fried squid with yuzu mayo and miso-braised short ribs seem to reflect Ono’s recent excursions: These are all things, after all, you might want to order to accompany a few mugs of very cold beer.
The Elm
160 North 12th St., btw. Bedford and Berry, 718-218-1088
Paul Liebrandt aims to make his new restaurant in the King & Grove Williamsburg hotel accessible: Entrées are priced in the low-to-mid-$20 range, and the four larger family-style dishes cost about $50. The “modern French” menu, which is divided into raw, sea, land, and share, includes foie gras with spiced strawberry gelée and Thai long pepper; duck with pickled cherry, hazelnut, and “toasted honey jus”; and Swiss-chard agnolotti with lobster, corn, and shishito pepper.