New & Noteworthy (week of Feb. 17)

This week, I wanted to add a shout-out to Golden Diner for the recent review from Grub Street.  Sam Yoo’s east Chinatown/Two Bridges restaurant was on my list when it opened March, and again when dinner service began.  I finally made it there for lunch last week. I sat at the counter and was able to observe the chef in action — quietly making and plating dishes, asking if the bread was getting toasted, and calling for more plates.  The place was full of regulars and the bright clean space has fun (and funky) music filling the air. Highly recommended! 

Speaking of diners, this week’s addition to the New & Noteworthy list is Thai Diner, the new restaurant from Uncle Boons team Ann Redding and Matt Danzer.  The menu features Thai-influenced American diner classics like Thai tea babka french toast served with condensed milk butter and stuffed cabbage with green curry, as well as traditional Thai dishes like phat tai and marinated pork jowl. Fear not diner fans, a ‘classic burger’ is also on the menu!

According to Eater, Thai Diner opens its doors on Tuesday, February 18 and will be open for breakfast and lunch on Tuesdays through Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays, the entire menu will be available all day from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

232 Bleeker Opened mid-December

• Dig’s Finer Dining Debut Serves a Knockout Roast Chicken
• More New Restaurants Are Roasting Oysters, And They Are G-O-O-D
• Inside Suzanne Cupps New Vegetable-Focused, Wood-Fired Restaurant

Da Toscano Opened early-February

• Seasoned Regional Italian Cooking Vets Return to NYC With Da Toscano
• Da Toscano Opens, From the Former Chef of Perla
• Michael Toscano’s Da Toscano Opens Next Week in Former Perla Space

Ernesto’s Opened early-January

• Ernesto’s Is a Modern Tribute to the Food of Spain
• Fine Dining Vet Brings Basque Cuisine to Two Bridges

Kochi Opened early-November

• Daily Dish Kochi review: Observations from My First Visit 
• Former Neta Chef Opens an Elegant Korean Skewer Restaurant Tonight
• Kochi Arrives With a Focus on Korean Royal Cuisine
• High Dining Chef Opens Hell’s Kitchen Tasting Menu Spot

Lekka Burger Opened mid-November

• Dirt Candy Chef’s New Veggie Burger Spot Is the Cutting Edge of Junk Food
• Veggie God Amanda Cohen Enters the Plant-Based Burger Wars

Nami Nori Opened early-October 

• Masa Vets Are Opening a Playful Sushi Hand Roll Restaurant in the West Village
• The Owners of a New Sushi Spot Want to ‘Bring Back the Dynamite Roll’
• Temaki Hand Rolls With a Twist in the West Village
• Nami Nori, a West Village Restaurant by the Former Masa Chefs, Does Not Do Fusion

Piggyback NYC Opened mid-January

• Pig and Khao Chef Unveils Her Latest in Chelsea
• A Seasoned Team’s Irreverent New Pan-Asian Restaurant Opens Tonight Near Penn Station
• The Chef of Pig & Khao Brings Hainan Duck and Curry Puffs to Midtown

Sampotei Opened late-January

• It’s Mabo Tofu Ramen Time at Sanpoutei
• Sanpoutei Gyoza & Ramen debuts this evening on 2nd Avenue
• Off the Menu – Openings 

Thai Diner Opened mid-February

• Inside Thai Diner, the Highly Anticipated New Restaurant From the Hit Uncle Boons Team
• The Per Se vets behind Thai stunner (and Michelin-starred restaurant) Uncle Boons has followed-up with this more casual, diner-like restaurant with a playful Thai-American menu

Verōnika Opened early-January

• Stephen Starr’s Latest Is a Grand European-Style Brasserie in a Sleek New Museum
• Restaurant Verōnika at Fotografiska Museum opens from Stephen Starr
• Roman and Williams imbues an impressionistic glow on Verōnika at Fotografiska

This weekly list is not comprehensive of every new place but a short alphabetized list of new places that I think are notable.  Restaurants that have been open for more than four months will not be included.