NYC Restaurant News: Nami Nori Branches Out With a Williamsburg Space - The New York Times

Updates for Atlantic Grill near Lincoln Center, a third location for Anassa Tavern, and more restaurant news.

Headliner

Nami Nori

Two years ago, the chefs Taka Sakaeda and Jihan Lee, with their partner, the operations director Lisa Limb, established a branch of this restaurant in the West Village, an elegantly spare, pale space specializing in temaki, the open hand rolls. It now has a sibling in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The airy new restaurant, which offers sheltered outdoor seating adjacent to McCarren Park, takes its cue from the original, with similar décor and two temaki counters for the two chefs. But there are some notable differences and new specialties for this location: Spice-fueled cauliflower temaki, and one called Phancy Philly, combining cream cheese, smoked salmon, caviar and chives (lacking only a pinch of everything spice), are a couple of them. Sashimi with topneck clams and cilantro gremolata, crisp rice chips for dipping into a salmon mixture, and nori chips for attacking a mushroom dip also join the lineup of items like calamari with yuzu soy, Asari clam soup with miso and butter, and spicy crab temaki. Some of the beers and sakes come from Brooklyn producers. (Opens Thursday)

236 North 12th Street (Driggs Avenue), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, naminori.nyc.

Opening

Atlantic Grill

The Lincoln Center area is buzzing again. As the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet and other arts institutions awaken from Covid hibernation, there are more restaurants in business. Monte Carlo Hospitality Group, new owners for this seafood restaurant, have revised its configuration. They've reduced its size; it no longer runs through the block and can be entered only from West 65th Street. The dining room has been redecorated in vibrant tones of red, blue and green, with drapery and chandeliers. The chef and partner, Antonio Salvatore, features a catch of the day, a particular fish that can be ordered in raw preparations like crudo or sashimi, and cooked various ways.

50 West 65th Street, 212-362-7800, atlanticgrill.com.

Anassa Taverna

With the original in Astoria, Queens, and an outpost on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, this Greek establishment has now added a third location, in the space that housed Danny Meyer's North End Grill in Battery Park City. Here, the owners, Nick Tsoulos and Nick Pashalis, have added Peter Poulakakos and his business partner, Paul Lamas, both of whom already have extensive restaurant holdings in the downtown area. Both the new partners are of Greek heritage, and this is their first Greek restaurant. The extensive menu compiles Greek dining's greatest hits, with fish by the pound, some raw bar specialties, a tower of crackling eggplant and zucchini chips, shrimp saganaki, typical spreads, fish in parchment and lamb chops. Natural wood finishes, hanging plants and photos of female Greek celebrities (including Jackie Onassis) define the interior; there's outdoor seating for 80.

104 North End Avenue (Murray Street), 646-968-1025, anassataverna.com.

LMNO

The restaurateur and impresario Serge Becker (of La Esquina and Miss Lily's, among others) said he and the Philadelphia-based restaurateur Stephen Starr had been talking about a joint venture for some time. It's finally happening, after more than a year's delay, in Philadelphia under the Starr Restaurant umbrella. They've come up with a multifaceted establishment combining restaurant, bar, bookstore, art gallery and a music room that's a nod to Mr. Starr's early career as a concert promoter. They want it to be a showcase for artists. The name, Mr. Becker said, "means nothing" but added that it's a section of the alphabet easily stumbled over and that Mr. Starr had often considered it for a restaurant. Baja California is the inspiration for the chef Francisco Ramirez's food, some of which is sizzled on a live-fire grill. Tacos and several large-format dishes like a whole fish and lamb shanks are menu highlights. There are multiple dining sections, including an outdoor area wreathed in greenery. (Wednesday)

1739-1749 North Front Street, Philadelphia, 215-770-7001, lmnophilly.com.

Daniel

Daniel Boulud has a habit of redoing his flagship restaurant every dozen years or so. The East 65th Street dining room was supposed to unveil a new look in 2020, but the pandemic interfered. The restaurant weathered the virus with the help of sheltered streetside cabanas — "The sidewalk saved me," Mr. Boulud said — and the closing made it easier to update the kitchen. The cabanas are now gone, and regulars may notice that, inside, the few steps leading to the dining room and the balustrade around it are, too. Tihany Designs, who did the previous renovation, in 2008, raised the floor. The room is somewhat more modern, done in grayish blue, and showcases mural-like paintings of foliage and abstract designs by Alex Katz. "I wanted a New York artist," Mr. Boulud said. Fixtures by Lalique, Mr. Boulud's new partner for the décor and some of the glassware, light the refreshed bar and lounge. Eddy Leroux, a chef who has worked with Mr. Boulud for more than 20 years, is now the executive chef, replacing Jean-François Bruel, who is now a corporate chef. The menu resumes its four-course prix fixe format ($181) with a seven-course tasting menu ($275) as an option.

60 East 65th Street, 212-288-0033, danielnyc.com.

Día de los Muertos

From Tuesday to Nov. 2, more than 30 of Richard Sandoval Hospitality's establishments, in eight states and Washington, D.C., and in Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Serbia, will honor the Mexican holiday. Each restaurant will offer special menus, drinks, décor and music, brightly themed around the marigold, a flower that signifies the Day of the Dead. Patrón tequila is a sponsor.

richardsandoval.com/ddlm2021.

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