AT the end of my first year in the restaurant critic’s chair, the New York dining landscape still looks like a wonderland to me.
There were, unavoidably, a few meals I wish I had dodged, the joyless plates slapped together by cynical or lackadaisical kitchens. But such memories have a way of burying themselves, and what I recall most brightly are the restaurants that set themselves apart by their pursuit of new varieties of deliciousness. New York can be a punishing place for risk takers. Despite that, or because of it, chefs seem to line up for a chance to try something different here.
In a break from routine for a city that is often a graveyard for carpetbaggers, many of those chefs came from other cities this year, like Andy Ricker of Pok Pok Ny (from Portland, Ore.), Matthew Lightner of Atera (Portland again) and Danny Bowien of Mission Chinese Food (San Francisco). Others had already established a berth among New York’s elite, like Daniel Humm of the NoMad and Alex Stupak of Empellón Cocina. And it was a very good year for sleepers like Gwynnett St. and Calliope, places that opened without a hallelujah chorus of publicity so that they seemed to come out of nowhere.
What made an equally deep impression on me, though, was the restaurant industry’s response to something else that seemed to come out of nowhere, the beating the city took when Hurricane Sandy trampled over the region. Chefs scrambled to give fund-raisers for relief groups and for some of the many restaurants that were so badly damaged they remain closed even now, like Governor, in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Chefs even lent a hand to would-be competitors. When David Sheridan’s plans to open a pizzeria in Ditmas Park were set back after floodwaters destroyed his new ovens, another Brooklyn pie slinger, Paul Giannone of Paulie Gee’s in Greenpoint, offered a free pizza to any customer who donated $ 25 to the cause.
And restaurants did what they always do when people need comfort: they cooked. Manhattan chefs shipped meals to devastated neighborhoods where homes had no kitchens and no heat. In the Rockaways, Queens, a food truck called the Fisherman’s Dog and a bicycle-powered fruit cart called Shore Fruit fed residents, and Veggie Island, a juice bar, worked to set up a nonprofit that is helping with recovery and rebuilding. Allison and Matt Robicelli, known for their buttercream-frosted cupcakes, helped set up a kitchen in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, that made up to 2,000 meals a day.
Acts like these demonstrated in the most vivid way that even in a business that seems increasingly driven by the impulse to cash in, there are deep reserves of generosity, and that there are many forms of excellence in dining.
To return to the more standard sense of excellence, what follows are my 12 favorites among the new restaurants I reviewed this year. (Because this newspaper gives newcomers at least two months in business before awarding stars, some on my list opened toward the end of 2011, while others still too young to be reviewed will have to wait for next December’s tally.)
The list is arranged as a countdown, “American Top 40” style, but it does not always follow my star ratings, which take into account a host of factors. It is more like a cardiogram, with each spike in the chart denoting a restaurant that made my heart race this year.
12. GWYNNETT ST.
When you’re sick of restaurants that are all style and no substance, Gwynnett St. is the remedy. All the razzle-dazzle is on the plate, where Justin Hilbert works seasonal ingredients into modern compositions that have the impact of true originality. The tofu tells what you need to know about Mr. Hilbert’s independent streak. He has made it from cashews, from pistachios, from almonds and from sunflower seeds, changing the formula whenever the spirit moves him, and he plates this nut-milk custard with the same precision and care he gives to bay scallops or chicken breast coated in ash. 312 Graham Avenue (Ainslie Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn; (347) 889-7002.
11. CALLIOPE
When the Spotted Pig opened eight years ago, it introduced gastropub dining and a contemporary British kitchen sensibility to New York, making it one of the most influential restaurants of the last decade. Calliope has a chance to do something similar for the bistronomie movement, led by Parisian chefs who have breathed new life into bistro cuisine. For Calliope’s owners and collaborative chefs, Ginevra Iverson and her husband, Eric Korsch, this means discarding the clichés and reviving French dishes so long out of style they seem fresh again. This fall, you could find tangy rabbit kidneys on toast with Cognac sauce. Last week, the pastry chef tweeted a photo of plucked woodcocks on the cutting board, right there in the East Village. 84 East Fourth Street (Second Avenue), East Village; (212) 260-8484.
10. BLANCA
Carlo Mirarchi’s gift as a chef is in finding ingredients that almost radiate their superior quality, and then cooking (or not cooking) them in ways that gently amplify their excellence. New potatoes and sweet potatoes with a splash of buttermilk had as much presence as the richly marbled and slowly roasted lamb with clear mint jelly. Only 60 people a week are served at the 12 leather captain’s chairs lined up along a porcelain counter, making this tasting room in Bushwick, Brooklyn, one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city. I might have been happier with a slightly faster and less costly meal ($ 180 a person before tax, tip or drinks), but at how many other restaurants can you spoon up caviar while listening to a vintage Fleetwood Mac LP? 261 Moore Street (Bogart Street), Bushwick, Brooklyn; (646) 703-2715.
9. LA VARA
La Vara’s menu is a tribute to the imprint of Jews and Arabs on the kitchens of Spain. What could have been an esoteric history lesson turned out to offer a fresh take on a cuisine that Americans are just starting to understand. Without footnotes, you might not know that chicken heart skewers rubbed with coriander come from the Arab side of the family tree, and the tender almond cake called Torta di Santiago from the Jewish side. Your palate, though, will pick up on a cluster of ingredients from the Middle East, like rice, eggplants, cumin and saffron, and soon you’ll be seeing all kinds of Spanish foods in a different light. 268 Clinton Street (Verandah Place), Cobble Hill, Brooklyn; (718) 422-0065.
8. PERLA
Michael Toscano made lush, exuberant Italian food when he was at Manzo, inside Eataly. To enjoy it, though, you had to sit within partitions that stopped well short of the ceiling and offered views of a wing chair upholstered like the flag of Italy. Mr. Toscano finally got a restaurant that lives up to his cooking with Perla, a red-banquette-lined den that feels like “21” for people under 40. As it did at Manzo, beef figures prominently, charred in a wood oven for a two-serving rib-eye, or chopped and raw for a sophisticated tartare. And there is foie gras, shaved over a duck ragù or melted into the sauce for roasted guinea hen. Even the more restrained items gave strong testimony that Mr. Toscano is a chef who has come into his own. 24 Minetta Lane (Avenue of the Americas), Greenwich Village; (212) 933-1824.
7. POK POK NY
Even hardy explorers of the city’s Thai restaurants are bound to discover thrilling new flavors at Pok Pok Ny. A transplanted version of Pok Pok in Portland, Ore., this ramshackle little compound facing an unscenic stretch of the Brooklyn waterfront tries to reproduce the cooking of Northern Thailand. That means a lot of pork and a lot of grilled food, often both at once, as in the galangal-scented Chiang Mai sausage served with an array of vegetables and a mesmerizing green chile paste. It also means fresh herbs rarely seen in these parts, like the green leaves that you fold into catfish laap. 127 Columbia Street (Kane Street), Columbia Street Waterfront District, Brooklyn; (718) 923-9232.
6. EMPELLÓN COCINA
The wonder of Empellón Cocina is that almost none of its Mexican food is traditional, yet none of it feels inauthentic, either. It’s as if the chef, Alex Stupak, has simply discovered a Mexican cuisine of his own, in which a potent spackle of mole poblano is a natural match for sweet roasted carrots and yogurt, where masa flatbread is the obvious thing to dip into a brightly seasoned guacamole with pistachios. There is serious commitment to Mexican flavors in Mr. Stupak’s kitchen, wedded to a determination to make those flavors do things they may not have done before. 105 First Avenue (Sixth Street), East Village; (212) 367-0999.
5. ICHIMURA AT BRUSHSTROKE
This is the kind of sleeper hit that critics dream about. Almost nobody was talking about the little sushi bar inside Brushstroke where Eiji Ichimura was quietly refining the techniques he had learned as a young chef in Tokyo decades ago. Mr. Ichimura ages much of his fish before slicing and serving it. Some species he simply air-chills for a few days; others he presses between layers of seaweed until they are pale green and deeply savory. Now that the secret is out, don’t expect Mr. Ichimura to start serving spider rolls. He just does what he does, and that is the reason to sit at his counter. 30 Hudson Street (Duane Street), TriBeCa; (212) 513-7141.
4. ATERA
Arguing about whether cuisine can be art is fruitless, but without question great restaurants have the same power to reshape our perceptions. Dinner at Atera can redraw the line between nature and artifice, with food that mimics living creatures (a razor clam made of bread), and deeply unconventional ingredients made into something familiar (a puffed chip made of rock tripe). Not everything I ate was delicious, but to say that Matthew Lightner’s cooking puts presentation before taste misses the point. Meticulously constructed and technically complex, his plates are edible demonstrations that he watches the world closely, and wants us to see it, too. 77 Worth Street (Church Street), TriBeCa; (212) 226-1444.
3. THE NOMAD
When they opened the NoMad, Will Guidara and Daniel Humm were betting there was a large, unclaimed territory between the rarefied luxury of their Eleven Madison Park and the restaurants where people wait for two hours to sit on a paint can and eat noodles. They thought that if they offered Mr. Humm’s highly polished yet generous cuisine in rooms that made people feel like getting dressed up, then played some rock ’n’ roll, they’d have the kind of restaurant that New Yorkers have been hungry for, without quite realizing it. They believed that a city littered with roast chickens would still exclaim over one presented whole on a platter with truffled brioche and foie gras stuffed under the skin. And they were right. 1170 Broadway (28th Street), Midtown South; (347) 472-5660.
2. IL BUCO ALIMENTARI E VINERIA
Donna Lennard had meant to open a casual, wine-centered offshoot of Il Buco, which she opened 18 years ago on Bond Street. But then she installed a baker who makes slow-risen, wild-fermented breads; a curing specialist who ages astonishing salumi and hams; and a chef, Justin Smillie, who roasts the best short ribs I’ve ever tasted. Soon she had something on the order of “The Godfather: Part II,” a sequel that goes deeper than the original. No place I reviewed this year inspired so many to write (or tweet) their enthusiasm. A larger number wrote something along the lines of “so delicious,” with an intensifier before delicious that won’t make it past my copy editors. I share the sentiment, if not the language. 53 Great Jones Street (Bowery), NoHo; (212) 837-2622.
1. MISSION CHINESE FOOD
True, I gave more stars to other restaurants. Mission Chinese Food, which got two, is young and probably still growing. The same dish might taste very different from one night to the next. But both versions would taste like nothing else in town. And no other restaurant I reviewed this year left me feeling as exhilarated each time I got up from the table. The chef, Danny Bowien, seems to have found a secret stash of flavor that he applies to food that may start out as Chinese but that leaves the kitchen as pure Mission Chinese. You couldn’t mistake Mr. Bowien’s cumin lamb for the original Sichuan dish, not with its wads of sugary dates or its bay leaves with their eucalyptus scent. He amplified the flavors in the typically sedate salt-cod fried rice until he had something that seized your full attention and kept it. For its bravado, its inventiveness, its low prices, its attempt to ease the suffering of those waiting at the door by tapping a small keg of free beer, and its promise to give some of its earnings on each entree to a food bank, Mission Chinese was the most exciting restaurant of the year. 154 Orchard Street (Rivington Street), Lower East Side; (212) 529-8800.
Restaurants: 12 Restaurant Triumphs of 2012 http://pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-89EKCgBk8MZdE.gif
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