Mosu, Pineapple And Pearls, And Pasquale Jones Open
14 restaurants around the country to add to your must-try list
New York City
Café Altro Paradiso: Estela's co-owners Ignacio Mattos and Thomas Carter quietly opened their second restaurant, Café Altro Paradiso, last week in western Soho. The team has remained tight lipped about their menu, but expect lots of pasta. Since Mattos is in the kitchen, this likely won't be just any Italian restaurant. Find Café Altro Paradiso here, or in our DINE app.
Pasquale Jones: It's all about the ovens at the Charlie Bird team's latest project in Nolita. Those ovens are from Stefano Ferrara in Italy and will be used to make what the team's calling "neo-New York-style pizzas," and also to roast poultry, fish and steaks. Quince and Cotogna alum Tim Caspare will be in the kitchen along with Charlie Bird co-owner Ryan Hardy. Find Pasquale Jones here, or in our DINE app.
Bedford & Co: John DeLucie, who used to be part of the Crown Group Hospitality (remember The Lion?) just opened a solo project near Grand Central. The menu hops around from a bacon chop with braised red cabbage to roasted winter squash with burrata and a squid ink spaccatelli dish with nduja. The common thread is that many of the dishes are cooked over an open fire. Find Bedford & Co here, or in our DINE app.
RELATED Two Major NYC Restaurateurs Get into the Vegetable Game "
Mr. Donahue's: Ann Redding and Matt Danzer of Thai hit Uncle Boons are focusing on something a bit closer to home for their follow-up act, a late 19th-century diner. The small menu is broken down into straightforward categories: mains (like roast beef and broiled porgy), sides (like sunchoke ravioli, spicy clams imperial and barbecued oysters) and sauces (like classic gravy and mushroom Marsala). Find Mr. Donahue's here, or in our DINE app.
Los Angeles
Spread: This Downtown Middle Eastern spot lets you mix and match to make the perfect desk lunch, which might mean za'atar flatbread topped with "all night" braised short ribs and spicy feta labneh spread. Or sneak out of the office for a midday Greek frozen yogurt with preserved lemon and olive oil. Find Spread here, or in our DINE app.
Demitasse: Hollywood employees, this is your new spot to beat the midday slump and get fired up on nitro coffee and Kyoto-style cold brew. There's breakfast (sweet potato pancakes), lunch (tortas) and dinner (octopus, purple yam gnocchi), so you can grab a meal from the global-inspired menu no matter the time of day. Find Demitasse here, or in our DINE app.
San Francisco
Mosu: At one of the most anticipated new restaurants of the season, The French Laundry and Benu alum Sung Anh is serving an Asian-inflected very modern tasting menu. Expect dishes like sea moss and foie gras soup and truffle with sea urchin, sake lee and fish head extract. The 12-course affair is priced at $195. Find Mosu here, or in our DINE app.
Chicago
Forbidden Root: Head to West Town for Chicago's first botanic brewery, which uses bark, stems, sap, flowers and more to make its own beer. Snack on fried giardiniere and cranberry bean hummus in the brick-walled brewpub, and make sure to pick up a growler on your way out. Find Forbidden Root here, or in our DINE app.
Snaggletooth: Its Instagram byline reads "spreading fishy love throughout Chicago," which couldn't be more accurate with the menu of pastrami trout tartine with kimchi schmear and confit tuna on a bialy. The Lakeview café is like the no-frills delis of yesteryear, but with a modern Midwestern spirit and 21st-century attention to ingredients. Find Snaggletooth here, or in our DINE app.
Houston
Nam Eatery: The walls at this small Vietnamese restaurant (which is owned by the same people as the nail salon next door) are covered with stunning murals of Vietnamese fishing boats. Order pho, meatball banh mi, char-grilled pork and other Vietnamese staples at the counter. Find Nam Eatery here, or in our DINE app.
Washington, D.C.
Pineapple and Pearls: Aaron Silverman, the man behind the hit Rose's Luxury, just opened his sophomore effort. To start, Pineapple and Pearls is functioning as a coffee shop with to-go sandwiches like one made with masa bread stuffed with egg hash and salsa verde, another with chimichurri grilled chicken on an olive brioche. There are also sweets like the namesake pineapple sticky buns. Once Silverman settles in, the space will become a tasting-menu restaurant in the evening. No word yet on what that menu will look like, but stay tuned. Find Pineapple and Pearls here, or in our DINE app.
Miami
KYU: Burnt ends aren't just for barbecue. They can also come off smoked duck breast at a wood-fired-centric Asian restaurant. When you go, try the steamed buns, which have crispy crab legs poking out from within, and beef tartare with Japanese mustard vinaigrette and soy-cured egg yolk. Find KYU here, or in our DINE app.
Sushi Garage: Don't roll your eyes just yet—it's not just another South Beach sushi joint, despite the name. The team behind Juvia bring miso maple sea bass and spicy tuna crispy rice to round out the still-tempting raw options, which include a tuna chicharrón roll and king crab yuzu chili nigiri. Find Sushi Garage here, or in our DINE app.