Looking Ahead
La Boca
The Francis Mallmann restaurant in the new Faena hotel, both opening this summer, will be named for the neighborhood in Buenos Aires where he has a home. He has described his home cooking as “not intended to impress but to remember,” an approach that he hopes to replicate in Manhattan. They’re already taking reservations for Aug. 3 onward starting this week for the restaurant.
Faena New York, 500A West 18th Street, sevenrooms.com
Closing
Pig & Khao, Piggyback
The original Pig & Khao, the chef Leah Cohen’s, praiseworthy interpretation of Southeast Asia, and its sister restaurant, Piggyback, are closing; June 22 is the date for final round of mee noodles at both. A notice on Instagram explained that the Lower East Side location that opened in 2012 required extensive construction work, and the Midtown restaurant suffered from “ongoing economic challenges.”. The new Upper West Side Pig & Khao remains open.
Pig & Khao 68 Clinton Street (Rivington Street), 212-920-4485, pigandkhao.com; Piggyback by Pig & Khao, 140 West 30th Street, 212-239-0570, piggybacknyc.com.
Porter House Bar and Grill
After 19 years at the helm, the executive chef, Michael Lomanaco, announced that the restaurant in the Deutsche Bank Center will close after Labor Day. He did not give a reason or explain his next move, nor has Related, the company that runs retail in the building, revealed what might replace it.
10 Columbus Circle, 212-823-9500, porterhousenyc.com.
Teranga Cafe
The uptown African restaurant by the chef Pierre Thiam will close on Sunday. It anchored a spot in the Africa Center since 2019, with fast-casual fare, often in bowls with combinations of ingredients including the ancient grain, fonio and jollof rice. Teranga Midtown in the Hugh food hall remains open.
1280 Fifth Avenue (109th Street), 332-910-8138, itsteranga.com.
Chefs on the Move
Victoria Blamey
The Chilean-born chef who was last at the esteemed Blanca in Brooklyn, now closed, has become the culinary director for Il Buco Alimentari and Il Buco al Mare, as announced last week on Grubstreet, working with the executive chef Amelia Kirk. She will not be in any of the kitchens day-to-day, but will oversee menus, catering and other aspects of the enterprise, including the bakery and commissary kitchen in East Hampton. Roger Martinez continues as the chef of Il Buco on Bond Street.
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