Right: Owan chicken soup with bamboo, daikon, broccoli and kinome leaf at Kono Opposite, clockwise from top left: the bar at Le Rock restaurant in Rockefeller Center; fluke is the star of the menu at Saga restaurant; inside designer Mara Hoffman’s SoHo flagship; a Terrace Suite at the Martin Brudnizki-designed Fifth Avenue Hotel PHOTO BEN HON EAT Crew, a hospitality group Alex Pincus helms with his brother Miles, has become known for its seasonal floating restaurants like Grand Banks and Pilot, moored in the East and Hudson Rivers. Their newest restaurant, Holywater (crewny.com), is land-based and open yearround. “We needed somewhere to get a drink in the winter,” says Alex. Hidden in a basement in Tribeca, the place has a distinctive maritime feel; filled with rickety sailing trinkets, lifebuoys and artworks of boats that reflect the brothers’ love of sailing. With excellent cocktails (like the Vesper Martini, a mix of vermouth and local gin and vodka), it’s the perfect watering hole. But while some might come for the drinks, many stay for the surf and turf, like oysters, lobster frites and the burger on toasted challah. Another new surf-and-turf spot that opened in recent months is Carne Mare (carnemare.com), a seaside chophouse from chef and restaurateur Andrew Carmellini (of Tribeca’s hugely popular taverna Locanda Verde). Located in the revitalised South Street Seaport on the East River in a water-facing space lined with smooth leather booths and Art Deco lamps, the restaurant serves superb cuts of steak and salt-baked fish. A few minutes inland, Saga (saga-nyc.com) and Overstory (overstory-nyc.com) opened in late 2021 from chef and native New Yorker James Kent. “The goal was to bring New York City back to life by opening [the spaces],” says Kent. On the 63rd floor of 70 Pine, an Art Deco building in the Financial District – which is also home to Kent’s acclaimed Crown Shy restaurant – diners don’t just come for the sublime tasting menu but the view. The dining room, filled with green marble tables and hand-lacquered chairs, has staggering views of the city. One floor up, is the sister bar Overstory, a plush oval-shaped room that looks like a chic drinking hole in Tokyo. Order the Gyokuro Martini, which has a dash of Brooklyn-made sake. Slightly further north, on the edge of Chinatown, comes Kono (yakitorikono.com), from yakitori chef Atsushi Kono, who opened the restaurant after working in New York and Japan. Kono features a kappo-style yakitori omakase, enjoyed around a bar inside an inky space. Midtown has also been having its moment, and those who thought the area was dead may be surprised to hear it’s going through one of the biggest revivals in Things have cycles, and it was a good moment to come out with something new — Chef Ignacio Mattos town, mainly around Rockefeller Center. There’s been an influx of shops and restaurants from some of the city’s most-loved chefs, including Ignacio Mattos (of Estela, estelanyc.com). “Things have cycles, and it was a good moment to come out with something new,” says Mattos, who opened Lodi (lodinyc.com) across from the Rock Center in late 2021. The Italian-inspired aperitivo restaurant has a gleaming gold and mirrored space. Throughout the day, tourists and locals shuffle in, seeking a slice of decadent hazelnut ricotta cake, an Aperol Spritz or focaccia to go. Other exciting openings CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 21
