The Llama San Team Expands Nikkei Cooking at Papa San
Nikkei, the fusion of Japanese and Peruvian cuisines that is a hallmark of Peru, again inspires Juan Correa and Erik Ramirez of Llama San, who also own Llama Inn. Looking to the Japanese izakaya for style, they're serving ceviches, makis, tiraditos, zensai, robata grill items and donburi. There's also a chicken tour de force, with the entire bird deconstructed from beak to tail with yakitori style gizzards, heart, wings, crisp skin, chicken sausage and broth. Their Nikkei also crosses paths with other cuisines in cacio e pepe udon, unagi pizza and yuzu Béarnaise. Neon accents add color to the generously windowed industrial space with a stretch of open kitchen and a mezzanine bar. Consultants from Tres Monos, a notable Buenos Aires bar, helped shape the cocktail menu.
The Spiral, 501 West 34th Street, 929-533-2037, papasannyc.com.
This plant-filled, brick-walled taste of France on a notable West Village triangle is a collaboration between the New York Jets star C.J. Mosley and his business partner, Brandon Wassel, with Mathias Van Leyden and Mino Habib, the owners of Loulou Petit Bistro & Speakeasy in Chelsea. Expect escargots, onion soup, salade lyonnaise and steak au poivre. The executive chef Mehjabin Ahmed, a veteran of Eleven Madison Park and Le Coucou in New York and Bistro Paul Bert in Paris, is in charge. For drinks, Jeremy Le Blanche can suggest a mix bourbon, ratafia, salted caramel Campari, meringue and dehydrated roses in your cocktail glass. (Opens Thursday)
173 Seventh Avenue South (Perry Street), 646-558-3200, lepetitvillagenyc.com.
The chef Sungchul Shim has opened his ode to steaks and more with an epic menu on an Eighth Avenue block dense with tourist traffic. It's discreetly situated on the second floor above Bar 92 serving burgers (beef, shrimp) with drinks. The 120-seat main dining room, subdued and with an open kitchen, turns out steakhouse fare (prime and Wagyu, choice of sauces), seafood, uncommon items like clam chowder pie and Sichuan-spiced mala gambas, and, as a filling finish, the option for Asian rice or noodle dishes. Luis Robles, the chef de cuisine, has been at Mr. Shim's side for several years. (Saturday)
776 Eighth Avenue (47th Street), 646-329-5929, guinyc.com.
This week's addition to the city's fertile list of omakase options has been installed on a bustling crosstown street. All of eight seats are available for a seating at 5:30 p.m. every night except Sunday for the many courses ($300) created by the chef Hiroki Abe. After the omakase session, around 9 p.m., an à la carte kappo-style menu will be available. The owner, Shuichiro Kobori, had a hand in the dark interior with Japanese wood accents.
127 East 34th Street, 646-360-4492, jo-newyork.com.
Mexican Modernism, based on the work of architect Luis Barragán, is the theme for this year's Orchid Show at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. It's also what is shaping the food at the various dining locations around the garden during the show, and also for the special Orchid Nights when there will be a dinner menu at the Hudson Garden Grill from 7 to 10 p.m. On the various menus will be dishes like shrimp in green mole, red mole cemitas and churros. Orchid Nights will be Saturdays, continuing this Saturday until the show closes April 27.
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Back at the center of the intimate, wood-accented sushi bar, before Nakao takes a bite of his 'pizza,' a camera operator reminds him to flash his signature thumbs-up and say the tagline heard 'round the world: 'Asanebo style!' They breeze through two more videos before wrapping up the day's social media shoots. Maybe next time, they say, Nakao should riff on skincare, rubbing uni and other ingredients on his face as if part of a nighttime routine? Or maybe they should make another video with jumbo clams? They decide to table the decision for another day, turning their attention to dinner service. After all, they're still running one of the city's favorite sushi restaurants and Bruno Mars is waiting.
