Headliner
Wayan
It runs in the family. Cedric Vongerichten, 37, the son of the chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, has opened a restaurant blending Asia and France, just as his father did. When it comes to Asia, the younger Mr. Vongerichten looks not to Thailand, but to Indonesia, the home country of his wife, Ochi Vongerichten, a partner in the venture. This is his first independent move; he is still the executive chef at the West Village restaurant Perry St., owned by his father’s company. So the name, Wayan, meaning “first-born” in Bali, is fitting. The front of the restaurant has a marble bar, whitewashed brick walls and a few tables. In a passageway to the main dining room in the rear is a shelf with a display of spices used in Indonesian cooking, like long pepper and turmeric root. There’s greenery throughout for a tropical feel, and the design, by Rockwell Group, includes custom Indonesian decorations. Mr. Vongerichten describes the food, most of it served family-style, as coming from a mixture of cultures, using French techniques to interpret Indonesian classics. There’s avocado and a peanut relish instead of spicy peanut sauce on his gado gado, and a rustic cabbage and egg dish; he is using less of the funky shrimp paste that is ubiquitous in Indonesia. Satays, small plates and bright, fruit-forward cocktails are on the menu, but no rijsttafel. (Opens Monday)
20 Spring Street (Mott Street), 917-261-4388, wayan-nyc.com.
Opening
Teranga
The chef Pierre Thiam, a native of Senegal, is opening a casual restaurant featuring African food in the Africa Center, a new cultural center in Harlem that evolved from the Museum for African Art in Long Island City, Queens. Mr. Thiam’s restaurant, whose name means hospitality in Wolof, is filled with elements of African style, the centerpiece of which is a colorful Senegalese fishing boat that he had shipped from Dakar. The menu focuses on bowls, and features several bases with toppings, sauces and side dishes that evoke the cooking of Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal and even Morocco. “Our bowls are larger, for sharing, and I hope people will eat with their hands because the food tastes better,” he said. The bases include fonio, a fine-textured African grain, and couscous made from cassava flour; toppings are chicken, a black-eyed pea and sweet potato stew, and not-so-African salmon. “Using salmon with African seasonings shows the versatility of our ingredients,” he said. Mr. Thiam imports many of his ingredients from West Africa. (Saturday)
1280 Fifth Avenue (110th Street), 212-444-9795, itsteranga.com, theafricacenter.org.
Tartinery
There are three Tartinery locations around town, but the newest one, in the center of the lower-level dining concourse in Grand Central Terminal, has some new features, notably tablecloths, a first not only for these restaurants but also for the terminal’s food hall. “The M.T.A. came to us because they were looking to change the experience in this area, make it more upscale,” said Nicolas Dutko, the Parisian who founded Tartinery, which features French-style open-face sandwiches served on china and glass, not paper or plastic. In Grand Central, it’s a semi-open enclave, somewhat Art Deco in style with a typical Tartinery menu of sandwiches (tartines), soups and salads, as well as a full bar serving a drink based on the French 75 called the Track 75.
Dining Concourse, Grand Central Terminal, 85 East 42nd Street (Vanderbilt Avenue), (347) 642-7090, tartinery.com.
The Meatpackers
Eric Cerato’s meatpacking district restaurant encore, with the French chef Jean Imbert creating the food, was hardly around for one act, much less an encore. It closed after scarcely a month in early January. Mr. Cerato has redecorated it as a brasserie-style American restaurant with the seasoned chef Richard Farnabe in the kitchen.
1 Little West 12th Street (Ninth Avenue), 929-341-4890, themeatpackersnyc.com.
Krok
Serious Northeastern Thai Isan-style street food has moved in where Andy Ricker’s Pok Pok NY, also Thai, once spiced things up. The chef, Krit Ploysomboon, and Jeerathinan Ranthom, his wife, who were at Land Thai Kitchen on the Upper West Side, have opened the restaurant with other partners.
117 Columbia Street (Kane Street), Columbia Street Waterfront District, Brooklyn, 718-858-8898, k-r-o-k.com.
Jersey Social
Rajesh Bhardwaj, who owns Junoon, a highly regarded Indian restaurant in Manhattan, has teamed up with Arun Nanda, who owned Brewshot, a coffee house in Jersey City, and wanted something else in the space. They have opened this place, featuring comfort food like short-rib sloppy Joe sliders, falafel bites, mac and cheese, candied bacon and chorizo corn-dog lollipops. Adin Langille, who was at Fabrick in Manhattan, is executive chef. Hemant Pathak, a mixologist from Junoon, is dealing with the drinks.
837 Jersey Avenue (18th Street), Jersey City, 201-222-7447, jerseysocialnj.com.
Hunky Dory
The notion of sustainability and minimal waste will drive this restaurant’s approach to casual dining. Cocktails, especially those with only a few ingredients, are a specialty of the managing partner and owner, Claire Sprouse, who was at ABV and Sunday in Brooklyn. The chef, Kirstyn Brewer, will prepare small and large plates with dishes as diverse as silver-dollar pancakes and a pork schnitzel. (Thursday)
747 Franklin Avenue (Sterling Place), Crown Heights, Brooklyn, hunkydorybk.com.
Closing
The John Dory Oyster Bar
Feb. 23 will be the last day for one of the few remaining restaurants in April Bloomfield’s portfolio. The John Dory, in the Ace Hotel New York, will be replaced by a Milk Bar, part of Christina Tosi’s popular dessert chain.
1196 Broadway (29th Street), 212-792-9000, thejohndory.com.
On the Move
John Fraser
Continuing its dining upgrade, the Metropolitan Museum now has a marquee chef, John Fraser, on board. Mr. Fraser, who owns the Loyal in the West Village and Nix in Greenwich Village, has devised five signature dishes for the museum’s dining room. Mr. Fraser’s contribution is what he calls “a forest mushroom exhibit,” all mushroom dishes, presented as a way, he said, to “treat an ingredient like a museum exhibit.” The Met has also redone its Balcony Bar in the Great Hall to feature a menu of amaro drinks.
Jon Neidich
Mr. Neidich and his Golden Age Hospitality group will be the new operators of Reynard, in the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They will also be partners in the hotel, handling the other food and beverage responsibilities. This group replaces Andrew Tarlow, who left late last year.
Matt Aita
Mr. Aita, who was at Rouge Tomate, has become the executive chef at the Little Beet Table, a gluten-free restaurant in NoMad.
Norberto Piattoni
The executive chef at Metta, a South American restaurant with a wood-fired hearth in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, will be moving on. His last day will be Feb. 19; that’s when Greg Otero, who worked at Uchu on the Lower East Side and Glasserie in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, will take over. He will place less emphasis on Argentina and more on Japan, with charcoal cookery.
Jean-Georges Vongerichten
Mr. Vongerichten is now the consulting chef at Keswick Hall, a country inn in Keswick, Va., outside Charlottesville, that has undergone a multimillion-dollar renovation but will not be unveiled until the spring of 2020. He will oversee the main restaurant.
Stephan Bogardus
Mr. Bogardus, who was the executive chef at the North Fork Table & Inn in Southold, N.Y., is now the chef at the Halyard in Greenport, N.Y.
Looking Ahead
Avena UES
With their new Greenwich Village restaurant, Avena Downtown, up and running, Roberto and Giselle Deiaco, who also own Avena on East 57th Street, will open another location, the former Bistro Chat Noir, on the Upper East Side later this year.
22 East 60th Street.
Hudson Yards
The grand opening of the food components for this instant neighborhood collection of shiny new towers just north of Chelsea is scheduled for March 15.
In the central seven-story retail building, called the Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards and anchored by a Neiman Marcus store, there will be Thomas Keller’s TAK Room, a continental restaurant; Michael Lomonaco’s Hudson Yards Grill; Estiatorio Milos, with a double-header, a formal Greek seafood restaurant on the sixth floor and a wine bar on five; and Belcampo, the outpost of a California restaurant and butcher. David Chang will open Kawi, an easygoing place with Eunjo Park in the kitchen, and Peach Mart, a quick-service and takeaway spot. From London, the building will have the globally focused Wild Ink, from the Rhubarb group; D&D London, the owners of Bluebird in the Time Warner Center, will open Queensyard, for all-day dining with a casual kitchen, a dining room, a cafe and wine and cocktail bars. A market, Citarella Hudson Yards, will also open.
Outside the shops building will be Mercado Little Spain, a major Spanish food hall from the chefs José Andrés and Ferran and Albert Adrià, with three restaurants, Leña, Mar and Spanish Diner, and 15 kiosks for tapas and Spanish products. Scattered throughout the complex will be a dozen other places with familiar names, like Li-Lac Chocolates, William Greenberg Desserts, Dylan’s Candy Bar, Sweetgreen, Shake Shack, several coffee specialists, and Maison Kayser. In April, Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group will open Cedric’s at the Shed, an all-day casual restaurant for drinks and dining in the Shed, an arts center at the southern edge of the complex.
