Opening
Esse Taco
Tacos as street food — if your street is Park Avenue — is Enrique Olvera’s approach at his new Brooklyn spot, his first for the borough; he owns it with Santiago Pérez, the chief executive of Casamata hospitality group. Mr. Olvera, the chef and restaurateur known for Pujol in Mexico City and Cosme and Atla in Manhattan, here offers tortillas made on the premises with heirloom corn stuffed with juicy rib-eye, pork loin and grilled chicken in slices, not chopped up, and smoked oyster mushrooms. Included are salsas and a mix of onions, scallions and cilantro. The standing-only setting has stainless-steel barrels as tables, and the kitchen is open to view. (Opens Thursday)
219 Bedford Avenue (North Fifth Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 347-763-0057, essetaco.com.
Sammy’s Roumanian Steakhouse
This New York original, closed since 2021 because of Covid, has been revived at a new address to again beckon devotees of a boisterous room, pitchers of schmaltz and charred skirt steaks (“Roumanian tenderloin”) that drape off the plate. The in-house tummler, Dani Luv, will again entertain. The New York Times restaurant critic Mimi Sheraton gave it two stars in 1978, but did not live to judge the 2.0. It’s open Fridays and Saturdays in May, and will go full time in June.
112 Stanton Street (Ludlow Street), 646-410-2427, instagram.com/famous_sammys.
Mission Chinese
Danny Bowien has taken up residence in Cha Kee, a Chinatown restaurant, with much of his original Mission Chinese menu from 2010 in San Francisco, and a few new items. “I’m just so excited to be back in the kitchen,” he said in an email. The pop-up is Wednesdays through Sundays, starting at 5 p.m., until the fall. Expect the hits: Chongqing chicken wings, kung pao pastrami and mapo tofu.
Cha Kee, 43 Mott Street (Bayard Street), 212-577-2888, chakeenyc.com.
Ladurée Hudson Yards
The 160-year-old Parisian pastry shop and restaurant group, best known for its filled macarons, has expanded its New York footprint with a cafe in Hudson Yards. Lattes in flavors like rose and lychee, elegant finger pastries and inventive cookies are newcomers to the roster in a verdant, softly toned setting. (Saturday)
20 Hudson Yards, laduree.us.
The Bronze Owl
A long list of mostly Italian snacks like cheeses, cured meats, toasts, meatballs, gnocchi fritti and grilled pizzas accompany the drinks, also leaning Italian, at this cocktail destination from David Rabin, Franklin Becker and Stephen Loffredo. It shares space in the historic Martinique hotel with the Press Club Grill. The name pays homage to owl sculptures in nearby Greeley Square Park; more owls, marking the location of the old New York Herald building, can be found in Herald Square. (Friday)
52 West 33rd Street, thebronzeowl.com
