The New NYC Restaurants On Michelin's 2022 Awards Radar

The Michelin Guide, the storied hotel and restaurant guide that anoints worthy eateries with many sought-after stars, has released 25 more NYC restaurants on its list as guide contenders, reports Eater. The outlet says that the list in no way guarantees these restaurants will be anointed with any number of its cherished stars or be part of its Bib Gourmand category, bestowed on budget restaurants with exceptional quality.

The slow rollout of Michelin contenders is new this year, ending the tradition of announcing its winners twice annually, notes Eater. International director of the Michelin Guides, Gwendal Poullennec, told Forbes, "We hope that these regular revelations and updates to the selection throughout the year will provide opportunities to highlight the profession and invite everyone to discover and support the restaurants around them."

Eater points out that restaurants on this list of 25 — which the 27 restaurants previously added since last fall — hail from Manhattan, Queens, or Brooklyn, most of which are upscale. The foodie site also notes that the just-released list includes only five new restaurants: Bonnies (Williamsburg), CheLi (with two locations, the East Village and Flushing), Dame (West Village), Mel's (Chelsea), and Wenwen (Greenpoint).

Bonnies received a New York Times critics pick when it debuted in February 2022. Critic Pete Wells praised the restaurant for its inspired fusion of Chinese and American food, even waxing poetic about the eatery's version of the McRib.

CheLi's also gets its culinary inspiration from China, but according to Grub Street, its food is authentic to the Shanghai-region. Eater praised its wine-soaked offerings like blue crab (cooked in Shaoxing wine) and a rice wine braised fish head. 

Dame started as a pandemic pop-up with its fish and chips earning the restaurant a cult following. Opened by chef and former-Londoner Ed Szymanski, the restaurant embraces its inner Brit with a touch of whimsy, like a wine menu that divides its offerings by James Bond or Austin Powers (via New York Times).

The former executive chef of Del Posto, Melissa Rodriguez, helms Mel's, which reimagines the old fine dining space as an elevated pizza joint. With Mel's, she breaks the restaurant's legacy from disgraced former owner Mario Batali with pies the New York Times found praise-worthy. 

Chef Eric Sze and his business partner Andy Chuang — of the raucous East Village restaurant 886 (per BK Mag) — bring the good times to Greenpoint with Wenwen. The restaurant's Taiwanese comfort food includes the B.D.S.M. fried chicken, which sells out before 6 p.m. daily, according to the New York Times.

According to Michelin, stars and Bib Gourmands will be announced in the Fall.