Headliner
elNico
You couldn’t tell by looking at the Penny Williamsburg’s sturdy, Brutalist-adjacent building that its rooftop restaurant is rife with vibrant colors and flavors. Tables in a warmly decorated indoor space spill onto the terrace with 11th-floor views of the skyline. The restaurant’s approach is mostly Mexican, touching down elsewhere in Latin America, with the chef Fernanda Serrano, who was at NoMad, London, in charge. Served family-style are octopus pibil, whole black bass and carne asada. She breaks boundaries with a tlayuda topped with tzatziki and sumac, a pink mole with tahini and beets, a sikil Pak seasoned with dukkah, and a clam tostada with ’nduja, calamansi and jasmine. Ms. Serrano, who is Mexican, worked at such top-flight places as El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, and Osteria Francescana, in Modena, Italy. Overseeing drinks is Leo Robitschek, an Eleven Madison Park alumnus who is a partner at the Sydell Group, which owns this hotel, as well as other NoMad and Freehand hotels. Cristhian Rodriguez, a native of Peru, will work with him on libations, mostly agave-based.
Penny Williamsburg, 288 North Eighth Street (Havemeyer Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 929-594-2020, penny-hotel.com.
Opening
The Good Good
The latest from Lesly Bernard, who has built and operated restaurants around the city for years, is this Harlem bistro. His partners are Juliet and Justine Masters, who own the Edge Harlem, a casual spot with touches of the Caribbean. For their new restaurant, they have tapped the chef Denzell Washington, named for the actor by his father, who is a fan, but with a varied spelling. Mr. Washington previously worked at the Edge. Here, he is also bringing the Caribbean to the table with jerk mushrooms, roasted yams with honey and peri peri, codfish fritters, coconut fish sandwich, and sautéed shrimp with a pineapple-coconut soubise. The 50-seat room has white brick walls and colorful fabrics.
1694 Park Avenue (119th Street), thegoodgoodnyc.com.
Torch & Crown Union Square
Now through November, the stately pavilion at the north side of Union Square Park will be run by Torch & Crown Brewing Company of SoHo, offering beers like their hazy Almost Famous I.P.A. and the refreshing Share House ale. There’s sheltered and outdoor seating, and the ingredients for small bites are provisioned from the Greenmarket. The brewery also plans to open a seasonal location offering beer and pizza on weekends, starting Memorial Day weekend, at Best Pizza & Dive Bar on the Napeague stretch of Route 27 east of Amagansett, N.Y. (Opens Thursday)
Union Square Pavilion, 20 Union Square West (17th Street), torchandcrown.com.
Angel’s Share
Having closed a little over a year ago, this venerable cocktail lounge, known for its craft cocktails, plans to reopen in the West Village next month. Last summer, it hosted a pop-up at the Hotel Eventi near Herald Square, and now has a pop-up planned for Saturday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Poster House, which is showing “Made in Japan: 20th Century Poster Art.” Three cocktails will be served; tickets are $44.52 at posterhouse.org.
Poster House, 119 West 23rd Street, posterhouse.org.
