{"id":83543,"date":"2025-12-29T15:14:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/83543\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T15:14:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:14:12","slug":"the-best-new-restaurants-in-nyc-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/83543\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best New Restaurants in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Kelang is an excellent addition to the Greenpoint scene.
\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: We\u2019re going low-key because it\u2019s January and the best restaurants are the places that feel, more than anything, easy.<\/p>\n

Kelang<\/a> (Greenpoint)
Walking into Kelang, which opened on Manhattan Avenue in early December, is cinematic. There\u2019s a long row of plush red banquettes, jade-green tables, and moody lighting kept low. This makes sense: Co-owner and executive chef Chris Low is a cinematographer. But his most relevant credit here is his family restaurant Hainan Chicken House<\/a>, which became one of Sunset Park\u2019s most-talked-about openings in years as people clamored for his dad\u2019s char siu and poached chicken. Food is similarly dialed in at the younger Low\u2019s new spot: The butter roti with chicken curry demanded a second order; the char siu, cut into chunks and served with some pickled cucumbers, is as juicy as it is in Sunset Park. An industry friend said he considers Chris\u2019s broad rice noodles to be particularly impressive: They\u2019re chewy and stir-fried, and they come with smoked little clams and prawns. Consider making pork belly a double feature and order the bak kuh te, an herbal soup that has pork rib and trotter with skin as burnished as barbecue bark. \u2014Chris Crowley<\/p>\n

Gertie<\/a> (Prospect Heights)
Like its target audience \u2014 hip millennials \u2014\u00a0Gertie has grown up and moved from Williamsburg to Prospect Heights. The modern Jewish deli from husband-and-wife duo Nate Adler and Rachel Jackson brings its counter-service operation closer, both geographically and in spirit, to their sit-down restaurant on Carlton<\/a>, inheriting the massive yard and beloved kale-salad sandwich from previous tenant R&D Foods. They\u2019ve also brought over the medallion latkes served at Gertrude\u2019s via a \u201clatke bar.\u201d I suggest their twist on the sweet classic: sour cream and apple butter. Also of note: The chocolate babka can go toe-to-toe with the juggernauts of the city<\/a>. \u2014Zach Schiffman\u00a0<\/p>\n

All of Our Picks, Mapped<\/p>\n


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See the Map<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

L\u2019Apero by L\u2019Appartement 4F<\/a> (Brooklyn Heights)
I live nearby, but I refuse to fight the croissant crowds that still line up in the mornings. The real move, I\u2019ve discovered, is to use the place for its quieter alternate purpose: as an evening snack bar. By nightfall, the pastry case on the ground floor is shut up, and up a narrow flight of stairs, candles illuminate a few bistro tables, where small plates and surprisingly decent wines are served. I\u2019ve sipped ros\u00e9 with the bakery\u2019s own sourdough and salted French butter, and in the doldrums of January, I intend to make it a regular stop. Plates get as large as branzino in papillote and pork tenderloin, but I\u2019ll probably confine myself to lighter stuff: kabocha custard tart with macerated Pinot Auxerrois? I\u2019m an orange-wine skeptic, but I\u2019ll bite. \u2014Matthew Schneier<\/p>\n

Ziggy\u2019s Roman Cafe<\/a> (Dumbo)
Get some cacio e pepe with the kids: This Italian spot comes from the husband-and-wife team of Helen Zhang and Igor Hadzismajlovic, and it\u2019s built for families. There\u2019s a literal play area upstairs for younger diners, and that might be grounds for points off, but the food \u2014 like gentle braised artichokes and a textbook-perfect bucatini all\u2019amatriciana, all acid, smoke, and porky funk \u2014 is excellent. So are the homemade passion-fruit sodas and, for dessert, scoops of vanilla gelato tucked into soft brioche rolls. The restaurant opens at 4 p.m. to relieve anyone who\u2019s been cooped up on a cold, snowy Saturday and needs an escape hatch. \u2014Alan Sytsma\u00a0<\/p>\n

Vato<\/a> (Park Slope)
A promised dinner service hasn\u2019t started yet, but it is still time to visit this caf\u00e9 if you haven\u2019t yet already. Go early, since they tend to sell out, for, yes, the famous tortillas \u2014 tenderly textured and full of flavor from sourdough and butter \u2014 that can be filled with saucy refried beans and cheese, a dynamically smoky chicken mole, or pork in salsa verde. The sleeper hit is cookielike churros, all crisp, fried exterior and coated in more sugar than seems possible. They\u2019re very nice with a sip of spicy caf\u00e9 de olla. \u2014Tammie Teclemariam<\/p>\n

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\n If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the December 29, 2025, issue of
\n New York\u00a0Magazine.<\/p>\n

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