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\n Zimmi\u2019s has a new, next-door wine bar. It\u2019s great.
\n Illustration: Naomi Otsu\n <\/p>\n
Welcome to Grub Street\u2019s rundown of restaurant recommendations that aims to answer the endlessly recurring question: Where should we go? These are the spots that our food team thinks everyone should visit, for any reason (a new chef, the arrival of an exciting dish, or maybe there\u2019s an opening that\u2019s flown too far under the radar). This month: Zimmi\u2019s<\/a> debuts its sidecar, the cooking of Brazil gets a new showcase, we have a tip for getting into the Corner Store\u2019s new sibling spot, and more.<\/p>\n Caf\u00e9 Charmant<\/a> (West Village) Iara<\/a> (Lower East Side) All of Our Picks, Mapped<\/p>\n See the Map<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Brasserie Boulud<\/a> (Upper West Side) Bar \u00e0 Part<\/a> (West Village)
I wasn\u2019t excited about another restaurant from the people behind the impossible-reservation specialists at the Corner Store<\/a> and the Eighty Six<\/a>. But once I realized Jake Brodsky \u2014 who spent the past seven years cooking at one of my favorite hotels, Palm Heights<\/a> \u2014 was running the kitchen, I was prepared to wait for a table for roughly as long as it takes to fly from JFK to Grand Cayman. Luckily, all of the best things at Caf\u00e9 Charmant can be enjoyed at the bar, where seats are available for walk-ins. I loved the \u201ctuna Charmant,\u201d tiny cubes that you can dunk in aioli and olives before scooping everything up with chips, as well as sea-bream crudo with yuzu marmalade and tons of lime juice. Follow both up with curry duck pastels \u2014 crisp, three-bite envelopes of slow-braised duck \u2014 coconut curry, and house fries, which are a just-right cross between shoestring and wedge. I\u2019ve never seen my husband order the same cocktail back-to-back, but he would have been happy to down a third mezcal Margarita Verte, which tastes shockingly close to a green juice thanks to a combination of pineapples, cucumbers, mint, and celery. \u2014Oset Bab\u00fcr-Winter<\/p>\n
Every inch of the small space is filled with either diners or keepsakes from South America. The bar, which winds around the restaurant\u2019s bustling open kitchen, is brimming with first dates, well-dressed 20-somethings, and curious solo diners all craning their necks to get a better look at what\u2019s coming off the line. Chef Vitor Mendes \u2014 formerly of Fort Greene\u2019s Theodora<\/a>, forever of Brazil \u2014 is putting the food of his home country on display. Every application of the multifaceted cassava is accounted for, as in crispy farofa (its flour) and chewy tapioca fries (its starch). Grilled picanha pastel, loaded with tender beef and brightened with a generous shower of lime, is running as a special for now but deserves a permanent spot on the menu. And caranguejo na moranga \u2014 an artful pile of honeynut squash, Jonah crab, Parmesan, and spiced pumpkin seeds \u2014 was one of my favorite bites of the night, as was a brothy stew of dry-aged tilefish. \u2014Shay Cohen<\/p>\n
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Yes, one of the city\u2019s best restaurants is on the property at Lincoln Center, but it takes quite a bit of effort to get into Tatiana<\/a>. Thankfully, we now have Brasserie Boulud, a 7,500-square-foot French behemoth that combines the Daniel Boulud\u2013owned bar and \u00e9picerie that once sat across the plaza. The expansive menu has something for people just catching a film (like a $25 Burger Classique with cornichon mayo) and those with box seats at the opera (a $65 New York strip). The $37 duck \u00e0 l\u2019orange was as sumptuous as Justin Peck\u2019s choreography across the plaza, and \u2014 I have to say it \u2014 more flavorful than Le Veau d\u2019Or<\/a>\u2019s version across town. If you\u2019re dining without a time crunch, you can luxuriate in Brasserie Boulud\u2019s not-so-secret speakeasy, which is very convenient when your guests are 45 minutes late to dinner, like mine were. \u2014Zach Schiffman\u00a0<\/p>\n
My great love for Zimmi\u2019s, Maxime Pradi\u00e9\u2019s French-country dining room on Bedford Street, is well known<\/a>, but not every occasion calls for pigeon en salmi or a kilo of c\u00f4te de boeuf. Bar \u00e0 Part is the more casual ride-along; it puts me more in mind of Parisian holes-in-the-wall than Proven\u00e7al inns. As in the City of Light, the daily offerings are on a chalkboard menu (on dit \u201cl\u2019ardoise,\u201d the slate), the space between the few tables minimal, and the glow both rosy and tipsy. There\u2019s usually something to make a full meal of \u2014\u00a0lately, Pradi\u00e9 has been rolling up porchetta \u2014 but the space is just as much a spotlight for his homemade charcuterie and pastry chef Clodagh Manning\u2019s tarts and cakes. To accompany, Cory Holt\u2019s wine team sloshes whatever they feel like drinking by the glass, and\u00a0the full, unapologetically Eurocentric Zimmi\u2019s wine list is available here, with much of it available by the half-bottle (listed as DB: demi-bouteille). Try Anne Boisson\u2019s aligot\u00e9 \u2014\u00a0white Burgundy\u2019s \u201clesser\u201d grape, here coming from 60-year-old vines in the god-tier wine village of Meursault \u2014 at a very reasonable $55 for a half. \u2014Matthew Schneier<\/p>\n