Hakata TonTon at Cha Kee
Having closed the Midtown location of his hot pot spot, the chef Koji Hagihara needed a new location. Like a hermit crab he was welcomed by Baron Chan and Ophelia Wu into their Hong Kong style diner to do dinners of hot pots, soup dumplings and okonomiyaki. Cha Kee continues to do its usual menu for breakfast, lunch and tea.
43 Mott Street (Pell Street), 212-577-2888, chakeenyc.com.
Buba Bureka
With this new shop, Gadi Peleg, a founder of Breads Bakery, has a laser-focus on a single item: the bureka, a triangular pastry turnover made with savory and sweet fillings that’s popular throughout the Middle East. Potato with caramelized onions, corn with butter and salt, multiple cheeses or spinach-artichoke are some of the options. Mr. Peleg’s partners are the chef Ben Siman-Tov and Fritz Oleshansky, who worked at Breads Bakery. The burekas are sold with tahini, pickles and a jammy egg, $16. (Thursday)
193 Bleecker Street (MacDougal Street), 212-951-0817, bubabureka.com.
Branches
The Gyro Project
Greek street food, notably gyro meat piled into a pita with tomatoes, onions, sauces and topped with French fries, is the centerpiece of this growing chain. It started in Fort Lee, N.J., then opened in Newark, and now is set to take on Manhattan, first on the Upper West Side and by summer in Kips Bay. Greek appetizers, bowls, salads, and more elaborate whole rotisserie chickens, along with desserts, will be on the menu. There will be seating for 25. For the Manhattan restaurants, George Tenedios, who also has the Fresh&Co chain and the Mexican restaurant Nizuc, is in partnership with the Kyma restaurants. (Monday)
2062 Broadway (71st Street), thegyroproject.com.
Closing
Marlow & Sons
A neighborhood restaurant at the forefront of Williamsburg’s new wave some 20 years ago, is closing on Sunday. Its juxtaposition, a couple of blocks from the old guard Peter Luger Steak House, underscored its innovative importance. In a post on Instagram, Andrew Tarlow, the owner, attributed its demise to a “significant increase in our rent.” The restaurant took an uncommonly elastic approach, shifting the menu (The New York Times noted in 2006 how the menu “expanded, matured and improved”) in response to demand and to the talents of the various chefs in charge. Mr. Tarlow is returning the space to the landlord. He confirmed that Diner and the butcher shop, Marlow & Daughters, remain open.
81 Broadway (Berry Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-384-1441, @marlowandsons.
Sushi Ichimura
Like Masayoshi Takayama of Masa, Eiji Ichimura is another Japanese chef who has been at the forefront of New York’s high-end sushi counter culture for decades. He’s 71 and is closing the restaurant in mid-August. He started with a spot in Midtown but first attracted attention at David Bouley’s Brushstroke, and since 2023 at his latest TriBeCa location, backed by Kuma Hospitality, the owners of l’Abeille nearby.
412 Greenwich Street (Laight Street), 212-542-3896, sushiichimura.nyc.
