Signatures - refried lentils, duck albondigas, lamb neck consommé - return in a new, warm setting, without sacrificing the complexity that made the original iconic. Chicharrón reimagined into a crisp-soft pinwheel of pork belly. Duck albondigas permeated with smokiness from chipotle and bacon. Lamb neck, its meat as yielding as pot roast, previously steamed in tamales and currently fashioned as chile-stained barbacoa set over fragrant consommé.
If Portland's Thai food scene wasn't exemplary enough, January saw an impressive expansion with the opening of two restaurants: one returning and one brand-new. The first, in early January, was the welcome reopening of Yui, a beloved mom-and-daughter spot with a tight, focused menu of Thai staples and rarely seen dishes. After a few itinerant years as a pop-up, Yui has settled into a spacious dining hall on SE Belmont Street, formerly home to sushi and ramen restaurant Musashi's.
When it opened in 2021, Brixton Market's Temaki quickly became a hit with the city's sushi aficionados. The restaurant, which was London's first dedicated to handroll sushi, received a Time Out reviewer's praise for its 'triple whammy of expertise, exceptional produce and classy execution'. Alas, the south London Temaki wasn't to last. The California-style sushi joint shut its Brixton outpost last summer. Now, however, Temaki has announced a grand return to the city - this time in central London. A new location will open on Mayfair's Maddox Street
When Alleva Dairy, the oldest cheese shop in the U.S., was forced to close its Little Italy location after 130 years, New Yorkers were outraged. The legendary shop had all but defined its corner of Mulberry and Grand Streets, and its loss was mourned both in person and online, with many frustrated by the financial struggles and court battles the business had faced.
This winter, things are about to get hot in Williamsburg. The team behind the beloved and famously spicy Ugly Baby has signed a lease at 364 Grand Street, as initially reported by the Instagram account Yes Williamsburg, before chef Sirichai Sreparplarn's business partner, Som Kharazmi, confirmed the news to Grub Street. The Ugly Baby team will move into the former Emmy Squared space between Havemeyer Street and Marcy Avenue, with Kharazmi saying that while there is no official opening date set, "February seems likely."
A 41-year-old Cambridge sushi icon has lived several lives, tucked into a strip mall between Harvard and Central Squares, and a new one is about to begin. Cafe Sushi's dining room, closed since the early days of COVID, reopens December 3, marking another evolution for a business whose second-generation ownership transformed it from a dollar-sushi staple to a neighborhood omakase favorite, always behind the familiar glow of its neon signage.
Danny Meyer's shuttered Maialino is finally coming back. After closing back at the beginning of the pandemic and a 10-month wine bar pop-up stint, the Roman restaurant is reopening in Gramercy Park at 67 Irving Place, near East 18th Street, in 2027. Maialino opened under Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group in 2009 inside the Gramercy Park Hotel, becoming known for its ricotta pancakes and cacio e pepe.
The wait is over. Gold Mirror, the 56-year-old family-owned Italian restaurant out in the Sunset that has been closed since early 2024, is reopening at the corner of Taraval Street and 18th Avenue. The DiGrande family, which has owned the restaurant since 1969, is celebrating with two days of invitation-only parties for city politicos including the mayor, family, friends and neighbors, starting Saturday at 5 p.m. It will be open to the public next Wednesday.
The reopening of Cap't Cass Rock Harbor Seafood in Orleans has brought joy to the community, as patrons share their cherished summer memories in a guest book filled with stories.