NYC's Best New Restaurants and Bars of 2015 (So Far)

Neighborhood: Koreatown Address and phone: 1 E 32nd St (212-966-9839) Website: baekjeongnyc.com

What, exactly, separates Baekjeong from the endless Korean BBQ options dotting 32nd Street? What inspires the Chef Illuminati to visit in throngs, swapping trade secrets through a fog of meaty smoke? Maybe it's the trump-card, black-tar-heroin quality of the meats, including prime rib eye and pork belly. Or the beautiful, flawless banchan—small dishes such as kimchi, pickles, and gochujang—that explode across the table. Or the fact that every single side-offering—from dumplings, to a ceremonial "lunch box" of rice that's shaken vigorously tableside—is euphorically tasty. Or even just the atmosphere: an orgy of loud, head-ringing K-Pop, indulgent meat-eating, and unscrupulous Korean boozing. Whatever Baekjeong's dark magic is, it's working. You'll find few better places to celebrate meat sweats and crew love in 2015.—Foster Kamer

Order this: Beef combo, pork combo, the "lunch box," fried dumplings

Neighborhood: Meatpacking District Address and phone: Whitney Museum, 99 Gansevoort St (212-570-3670) Website: untitledatthewhitney.com

Between his James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in 2015 and First We Feast Nacho Battle honors last year, Michael Anthony has been on a hell of a run of late. Most recently, he bolstered to his already unimpeachable pedigree with the opening of Untitled at the new Whitney. Housed in an immaculate glass box with a view of the Highline, the restaurant has a serenity that's rare in downtown, let alone in the midst of Meatpacking's stillettos-on-cobbled-stone clamor. That quietude seems to extend to the kitchen, where Anthony's trademarks—Greenmarket ingredients; a Japanese sense of seasonality; and clean, nuanced flavors—all shine through in gorgeously plated dishes (fluke kissed with sorrel, lobster toast with preserved lemon) that truly seem to channel the creative energy of the museum collection. In Anthony's hands, even something as pedestrian-sounding as a chicken salad becomes captivating, with both rotisserie-roasted poultry and karaage-style fried chicken mingling with crunchy kale and radicchio. In an age of restaurant excess, restraint feels more seductive than ever.—Chris Schonberger

Order this: Lobster and preserved lemon toast; fluke, radish, sorrel, lime; pork sausage, potato, honey mustard; roasted and fried chicken salad; strawberry ricotta pound cake; triple chocolate chunk cookie with milk

Neighborhood: West Village Address and phone: 121 W 10th St (212-744-7539) Website: slowlyshirley.com The era of the casual cocktail bar is upon us, with more places than ever for Old Fashioned snobs and RBV-swilling bros to peacefully commingle. Happiest Hour—from Jon Neidich (ACME, Tijuana Picnic) and cocktail wizard Jim Kearns (NoMad, Pegu Club)—is a poster child for the movement, with a Floridian beach resort theme, well-mixed cocktails, and a glorious, humanity-uniting double cheeseburger that is everything an In-N-Out knockoff should be. But for those who balk at the ideas of lines and bouncers for a place that serves kale salad, the real draw here is the quieter Slowly Shirley, a subterranean lounge accessed via a staircase next to the main bar. Down in the dark, Art Deco-style basement you can get a single-patty version of that same glorious burger, but you'll also find top-tier bartenders whipping up more fanciful drinks like the magenta-hued Beets Me (mezcal, malted aquavit, rhubarb liqueur, amaro, roasted beet shrub, grapefruit bitters) and the Cleopatra, which melds Avuá Prata cachaça with fragrant bison grass vodka, pandan extract, banana cordial, and lime. Lesson learned: Escaping the hoi polloi should never have to mean skipping the burger.—Alia Akkam

Order this: Cheeseburger, Beets Me, Cleopatra

Neighborhood: East Village Address and phone: 430 E 9th St (212-256-1192) Website: superiorityburger.com

Pastry wizard and fine-dining vet Brooks Headley has basically accomplished the cold fusion of foodstuffs at his new East Village takeout joint: a delicious burger that isn't. The most remarkable thing about his vegetarian Superiority Burger isn't that it looks and feels like a real burger (it does), or that the patty tastes like a real burger (it doesn't—in many cases, it tastes better), but rather the way this meatless, savory bomb of joy makes you feel (great). We're not even talking about the morality of meat—instead of a bloat-inducing, swollen-wristed burger hangover, Headley's signature sandwich delivers a holistic body-and-soul satisfaction that doesn't require any sacrifice of flavor. After finishing the patty, you can't help feeling like you've cheated—physics, the universe, "umami," and the entire idea of what it means to eat something cheap and delicious.—Foster Kamer 

*Note: As of now, the shop is dinner only and closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but we're told the hours will be expanding soon.

Order this: Superiority Burger, Sloppy Joe, soft serve, whatever the side dish du jour is

Neighborhood: Carroll Gardens Address and phone: 221 Smith St (347-987-3260) Website: leyendabk.com

While studying art at Bennington College, Ivy Mix traveled to Guatemala and worked at the bar Café No Sé. Unbeknownst to her, the sojourn would plant the seeds for her professional aspirations in NYC. A few months ago, the longtime Clover Club drink-slinger and co-founder of the all-female bartending competition Speed Rack opened Leyenda, an ode to Latin spirits, with her mentor, the cocktail doyenne Julie Reiner. The brick-lined Brooklyn spot is heavy on tequila and rum, of course, but there is also plenty of cachaça—which finds its way into the nutmeg and passion fruit-spiked Maiden Name—as well as pisco, the star of the yerba mate-infused Buena Onda. With its open windows, Leyenda is a place you don’t want to leave—and don’t have to any time soon: Sue Torres of dearly departed Sueños consulted on a menu that includes addictive plates of bean-and-queso pupusas, and roast pork with mashed green plantains. The grub will give you the fortitude you need for another round of Tia Marias, the bar's mezcal spin on the Mai Tai.—Alia Akkam

Order this: Maiden Name, Buena Onda, roast pork, pupusas

Neighborhood: Chelsea Address and phone: 835 Avenue of the Americas (212-290-7600) Website: lupulonyc.com

Never mind how beautiful the handmade tiled tables are—the best perch at George Mendes’ airy ode to Portugal is the horseshoe-shaped blackened-steel bar, where rustic feasts begin with sparkling Vinho Verde and a mesmerizing glimpse into the open kitchen. In 2009, when Mendes opened his first restaurant, Aldea, he successfully put little-known Portuguese cuisine in the New York spotlight and convinced guests it was a worthy fine-dining splurge. With Lupulo, Mendes takes a more casual, homespun approach to Iberian cooking with crispy turnovers oozing shrimp jus, charred cucumbers with satiny razor clams, and sunny-side-up eggs cloaking messes of chorizo and green peas. Seafood is the star of Portuguese kitchens, and that’s no exception at here: Cast-iron casseroles of salt cod layered with potatoes and topped with black olives are reason enough to discredit that whole sophomore slump theory.—Alia Akkam

Order this: Charred cucumber and razor clam salad, crispy shrimp turnovers, green peas with chorizo and egg, bacalhau (grilled cod)

Neighborhood: East Village Address and phone: 75 St. Marks Place (212-777-9637) Website: holidaycocktaillounge.nyc For years, Holiday was the kind of bar that was better in theory than reality. A rickety dive with decades' worth of East Village cred on St. Marks Place, it was owned and usually bartended by a elderly Ukrainian man who would occasionally storm the barroom floor, ranting and raving before kicking everyone out mid-drink (hilarious until it happens to you). When he died in 2009, the bar limped along before closing and lying vacant, mourned by neighborhood die-hards and Old New York rubberneckers. Lucky for them—and all of us—it's now been cleaned up (don't worry, it's still dark as hell in there) and reopened, a boozy phoenix rising from the ashes of a million cheap beers. Drinks now come from the classed-up cocktail minds of brothers Michael (Rum House) and Danny (Extra Fancy) Neff, but still include cheap (like, five bucks cheap) on-tap options like a Long Island Iced Tea for the OG dive crowd.—Regan Hofmann Drink This: I Know You Are (a blend of mezcal, peppercorn-infused Cointreau and Lillet Rose); on-tap Dark & Stormys

Neighborhood: Nolita Address and phone: 220 Bowery (917-639-3880) Website: rebellenyc.com Another new French restaurant is the last thing we thought New York needed this year, let alone one on the Bowery. Yet Rebelle is the surprise hit of the summer. With an $18 house cocktail you will see Instagrammed ad infinitum, and a deep wine selection that trades pretension for new-school geekery, it's a fine place for lushes. But mostly, it's the food that makes the place sing—very fundamental French recipes with smartly nuanced tweaks. Think Duck a l'orange, with endive and smoked almonds; chicken poached in tarragon butter with rendered potatoes and a small burst of citrusy sorrel to the side; and lamb tartare with fried shallots, green chickpeas, and capers. And, of course, there's that can't-miss Limousin dessert, a cherry claufitis for two, served in a cast iron mini-dutch with—hold your breath, Julia Child occultists—pitted (gasp!) cherries and lime zest-blasted whipped cream. Now do you get the name? Against the odds, Rebelle might be the most inventive new entry in New York this year.—Foster Kamer Order this: Fluke, lamb tartare, chicken, pork, duck, cherry clafoutis, St.-Honoré

Neighborhood: East Village Address and phone: 163 1st Ave Website: momofuku.com/new-york/fuku Halfway through 2015, there's no doubt that the year belongs to the chicken sandwich. Previously left for dead in the wake of the burger boom, the humble foodstuff is finally experiencing a renaissance. While Shake Shack nailed all the fundamentals with the limited-release ChickenShack, it's David Chang's Fuku—a tiny take-out spot with all the trappings of a chain-in-the-making—that has emerged as the biggest disruptor in the space. The architecture of the sandwich, which involves inches of chicken overhang extending past a Martin's potato roll package, may shock purists, as will the abysmal steak fries that even a dousing of spicy-sweet Ssam Sauce can't salvage. But Fuku's fried chicken—a flattened, boneless thigh rather than the traditional white-meat filet—is so obscenely juicy that bites of crunchy poultry with no bread or pickles offer their own distinct bliss. An international tribunal will have to be formed to determine whether this thing is even a sandwich, or simply a piece of fried chicken with a bun clinging on for dear life. In the meantime, we'll just accept it as another delicious triumph from Chang.—Chris Schonberger Order this: Fuku Spicy Chicken Sandwich  

Neighborhood: Nolita Address and phone: 70 Kenmare St Website: ramen-lab.com

With NYC's OGs (Sapporo), imports (Ippudo), and second-wave ramen-ya all still going strong, the city finally seems primed to venture beyond the familiar noodle-slurping classics. Last year, Ivan Ramen gave the genre a New York spin with his rye-and-schmaltz–inflected, Jewish-by-way-of-Tokyo bowls. And now we have Ramen Lab—a tiny, 10-seat operation spearheaded by Sun Noodle Company (i.e., the place that makes noodles for all your favorite ramen joints). The tachi gui (“stand and slurp”) counter space strips away all the frills and focuses on the one-on-one connection between you and the soup. What originally launched as shrine to a singular, pared-down vision of ramen by  Jack Nakamura (and his signature yu kiri noodle shake) has evolved into a much broader, albeit still focused, program. Now, a rotating crew of ramen specialists will occupy the tiny Nolita kitchen on a month-to-month basis, highlighting obscure styles like the pork-studded jiro ramen, a favorite among Tokyo’s university students. Part incubator, part ramen exposition, Ramen Lab proves that that, if anything, the Japanese export is flirting with rebirth, not death.—Justin Bolois

Order this: Monthly special, Orion Beer

 

Neighborhood: Greenwich Village Address and phone: 116 MacDougal St (212-260-3000) Website: upandupnyc.com Mention the Beagle, Up & Up owner Matt Piacentini's now-closed East Village bar, to any cocktail head in this city, and get ready for the wistful sigh of a 12-year-old girl thinking about the 1D breakup. Piacentini (also an owner of Portland cocktail mecca Clyde Common) won some serious industry cred with that bar, which specialized in sherry before sherry was cool. He's using his reputation wisely at the Up & Up, a low-key bar sunk beneath the NYU shitshow of MacDougal Street offering high-class cocktails (like the chanterelle-infused Strunk Text) without the attitude. The menu goes full Goldilocks, serving up everything from miniature "halfies," to bottled cocktails big enough for four, served with all the bartenderly garnish needed to make every drink ready for its Instagram closeup.—Regan Hofmann Drink this: Strunk Text, Greenbaum Negroni

Neighborhood: Lower East Side Address and phone: 171 E Broadway (212-432-0300) Website: mcfny.com Ask ten people why they love the new Mission Chinese and you'll get ten different answers. Some might mention the wood-fired pizzas and sourdough flatbread, created with a starter dough from San Francisco's famed Tartine Bakery. Others might gush about large-format feast options like the herb-smothered "Big Tray" fish, or delicate noodles dusted with a snowfall of green-tea powder. The one thing everyone can agree on: The restaurant is nothing like its original iteration on Orchard Street, a Szechuan-inflected dive whose faults were easily forgiven amid the mind-altering onslaught of spice and booze. A few of those sinus-clearing classics remain, including the divisive Chongqing chicken wings and porky ma po tofu, but Danny Bowien's phoenix-from-the-ashes reprise of MCF is far more eclectic and well-oiled: a fitting banquet hall for the type of New York diners who don't blink at expense-account caviar service, kung pao pastrami, and pepperoni pizza all on the same menu. Party on, Danny.—Chris Schonberger Order this: Steamed oat noodles, green tea noodles, big tray chicken, ma po tofu, bread and butter, Chongqing chicken wings

Neighborhood: Nolita Address and phone: 29 Kenmare St (212-226-1262) Website: N/A

Not all Japanese soups share ramen’s shouty, aggressively flavored star power in the U.S. Just ask the husband-and-wife duo over at Cocoron, who’ve cultivated a fanbase with their nuanced, soothing bowls of buckwheat soba. For their follow-up, the team has rallied around another under-appreciated dish, turning New Yorkers on to the soul-warming appeal of Japanese curry. The brown elixir comes in two forms: an aromatic, slightly medicinal soup derived from a 16-spiced Chinese ‘food therapy’ called yakuzen (which benefits from the smoky tandoori-style chicken), or a concentrated, stick-to-your-bones roux best served with beef, carrots, and potatoes. Goemon understands the art of no-frills comfort food, which is why you’ll also find the post-war Okinawan specialty Taco Rice (a ground-beef-and-cheese favorite among military personnel in the 1960s), and Frozen Fruits with Milk dessert. Even if these aren't the dishes of your childhood, Goemon still makes you feel like you’ve arrived home.—Justin Bolois

Order this: Standard curry, yakuzen, taco rice