Headliner
The Tusk Bar
For some time now, Nick Hatsatouris, a restaurateur with places in East Hampton, N.Y., and West Hollywood, Calif., has had his eye on New York. He’s taken over the dining areas in the historic Evelyn Hotel, in NoMad, which had been run by the chef Jonathan Benno and closed in 2021. “It’s a beautiful building in a thriving neighborhood so I saw it as a good opportunity,” he said. First up is the bar area, now called the Tusk Bar, which Mr. Hatsatouris said is a reference to the walrus and oysters in Lewis Carroll’s “The Walrus and the Carpenter.” Oysters figure importantly on the menu, as does other seafood like king crab, which is piled into a club sandwich. The area is now done in earth tones with touches of gold and other colors; the open kitchen is no more. The chefs Jeremiah Stone and Fabián von Hauske Valtierra, of Wildair downtown, are the menu consultants. The chef de cuisine is Vincent Edwards. Next month the high-ceilinged dining room a few steps up from the bar will become Brass, an American take on a brasserie, and the Ninepin Café will be installed, for casual all-day dining, near the hotel entrance.
The Tusk Bar, 7 East 27th Street, 212-971-9746, thetuskbar.com.
Opening
Cantiere Hambirreria
While New York chefs are busy smashing burgers flat, the Italians are piling thick burgers high at this new import from Milan and Lecce. The signature Pisa Tower is built with five burgers interspersed with mortadella and condiments, ready to topple and share. The Pizzicato is flamed. There are 20 burger options, along with an array of craft beers as the name suggests. The setting is no-nonsense industrial.
41 Kenmare Street (Mott Street), 914-906-9282, cantierehambirreria.it.
Sea Bar
Based in Great Neck, N.Y., this seafood-focused restaurant has opened with its menu of Mediterranean fare on Staten Island. The chef and owner is Gregory Zapantis, who pays attention to the Greece of his heritage with spanakopita, zucchini chips and dips like tzatziki. Lobster figures importantly in many dishes.
2636 Hylan Boulevard (Beach Avenue), New Dorp, Staten Island, 718-734-2249, seabar.life. e
Che
Fresh produce is front and center at this new all-day cafe owned by Adam Keita with Grace Ward in the kitchen, both from Daughter, in Crown Heights. A few other partners are involved. For now there will be breakfast and an all-day menu with hummus toast, a scrambled egg sandwich with arugula and pimento cheese, and millet porridge. Once dinner starts on Jan. 3, the menu will showcase vegetables in spelt Tatin with whipped ricotta and black olive vinaigrette, red cabbage rolls stuffed with tamarind rice, celeriac steak with apple rémoulade, and marinated lima beans with shaved Parmesan and harissa walnuts in a radicchio leaf show the creative turn that vegetables take here. Breakfast, including hummus toast, is also served. Wines and cocktails will be available in January, in a space that’s spare and intimate.
302 Malcolm X Boulevard, (McDonough Street), Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, 347-221-0216, instagram.com/che_brooklyn.
