{"id":166377,"date":"2026-03-17T17:13:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T17:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/166377\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T17:13:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T17:13:39","slug":"at-oresh-mediterranean-cooking-meets-manhattans-toughest-reservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/166377\/","title":{"rendered":"At O\u2019resh, Mediterranean Cooking Meets Manhattan\u2019s Toughest Reservation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Snagging any cool reservation in NYC<\/a> these days is no small feat, but the level of impossibility is exponential in the case of O\u2019resh<\/a>. Factor in its newness, its relation to The Corner Store (they\u2019re both part of Catch Hospitality Group), and chef Nadav Greenberg’s cachet, and you\u2019ll need to either have really good luck with DoorDash\u00a0notifications or friends in high places. The latter is how I found myself seated at this new Manhattan hotspot on a busy Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

RECOMMENDED: Or\u2019esh is the new it-restaurant that everyone in NYC is trying to get into<\/a><\/p>\n

O\u2019resh (Or meaning light and Esh meaning fire in Hebrew) is truly a love letter to Mediterranean cuisine, with an emphasis on fresh ingredients, seafood, meats and veggies all masterfully prepared over live fire and coal. We\u2019ll get to the food, but first let\u2019s dive into what gives this place its well-deserved hype.<\/p>\n

\"The
\nPhotograph: Dana Rozansky for Time OutThe bar at Or’esh <\/p>\n

Stepping into O\u2019resh, you\u2019ll come face to face with a sexy bar filled with sexy people, and you\u2019ll feel like you\u2019ve made it. The crowd was effortlessly cool without trying too hard\u2014well-dressed but not flashy, and a total mixed bag. Flanking us at the bar while we waited for our table was a fabulous mother-daughter duo, owners of a haircare brand, and a lively group of 30-somethings who were definitely ready to continue the party post-dinner. We also noticed twosomes on dinner dates, and then there was us: a trio of working gals with a \u201cwork hard, play hard\u201d mentality, ready for a little midweek indulgence befitting of the sophisticated space. I was breaking my own rule of waiting until Thursday night to go out and have fun. For O\u2019resh\u2014a restaurant I\u2019d heard so much about\u2014I was ready and willing.<\/p>\n

Once seated, it was time to hydrate with the fanciest water presentation I\u2019ve ever seen: a simple but elevated silver tray of assorted sliced cucumbers, lemons, limes and oranges to level up your H2O experience just a notch. Talk about romanticizing your life.<\/p>\n

\"Tahini
\nPhotograph: Dana Rozansky for Time OutTahini espresso martinis from Or’esh <\/p>\n

Feeling quenched, we moved on to cocktails. Dirty martini lovers will swoon over the grilled olive martini, which comes with a sidecar of plump green olives stuffed with goat cheese, brushed with lamb fat and grilled before making their way to our martinis. For those needing a little support to power through the 9pm dinner reservation you were lucky enough to score, there\u2019s a tahini espresso martini. The tahini gave it a nice, sweet note without being overpowering, and it came with a sesame candy on the side, which was a welcome addition.<\/p>\n

After deep-diving on Instagram for days leading up to this dinner, my party and I had memorized the menu and were ready to strike when our server arrived to take our order.<\/p>\n

We started with the Jerusalem bagel with dips (babaganoush, matbucha, mint tzatziki, olive oil and za\u2019atar), crispy potato pastel with golden ossetra caviar, Spanish octopus and a Hudson Valley chicken liver cigar\u2014an elevated take on street food. Seasoned chicken liver is wrapped in thin, flaky phyllo dough that\u2019s baked until golden and crispy and served over a sweet-and-spicy dipping sauce made with date syrup, harissa, caramelized onions and spices. It just worked.<\/p>\n

\"Or'esh
\nPhotograph: Courtesy of Or’esh <\/p>\n

I was literally giddy to try the golden halloumi kadayif and the snapper two ways (since I had seen them all over social leading up to dinner), but both were sold out for the night, and I shed a tear. Word to the wise: order as soon as you sit down to avoid a similar travesty. Our little snafu aside, we loved all of the shareable starters, and I\u2019m pretty sure we scraped our plates clean\u2014but it\u2019s hard to confirm or deny because we were a few grilled olive \u2019tinis deep at this point.<\/p>\n

Assuming you still have room, you must try the 18-layer wagyu New York strip and the ratatouille. Both came served skewer-style, emphasizing that they were cooked over a live-fire charcoal grill, which is the premise of the whole concept at O\u2019resh. The buttery, smoky wagyu was set atop tomato foam and tahini, a deeply rich combination of flavors. The ratatouille was a beautiful array of charred onions, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes and bell peppers served over a spiced tomato pur\u00e9e. Such a satisfying way to get your veggies in.<\/p>\n

\"Crispy
\nPhotograph: Dana Rozansky for Time OutCrispy potato pastel and golden ossetra caviar from Or’esh <\/p>\n

We capped off the meal with the chocolate tahini cake and the cardamom soft serve, both very rich and delicious but slightly salty, which surprised our palates. The cake was presented as one generous slice, drizzled with tahini caramel, sesame praline and milk crunch with a scoop of ice cream on the side. We probably could\u2019ve done without the soft serve but couldn\u2019t turn down the heaping mound topped with caramelized kataifi crumble, honey, lemon zest and olive oil\u2014an explosion of sweet and savory flavors to cap off the meal.<\/p>\n

Or’esh is open Monday through Saturday, from 5 to 11pm. Read more about the restaurant<\/a> and\u00a0how we curate and review at Time Out<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Snagging any cool reservation in NYC these days is no small feat, but the level of impossibility is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":166378,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[2590,75,84,83,9,24,2591,63,821],"class_list":["post-166377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-categories-restaurants","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news-eating","tag-nyc","tag-restaurants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=166377"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/166377\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/166378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=166377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=166377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=166377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}