Somehow it’s already October and you can’t cross a street without seeing a pumpkin in NYC. From farmers markets to townhouse stoops, to bagels to lattes, the city is drowning in gorgeous gourds.
In other fall news, tables seem to be filling up at the brand-new Dante on Elizabeth Street in Nolita and reservations are now open for HUMM, chef Daniel Humm’s massive new downtown spot, which is slated to open its doors on October 10.
In the meantime, there are other exciting openings throughout New York City. This week, look out for a sizzling new Brazilian restaurant on the Lower East Side, a great new happy hour option lands in the heart of SoHo, the debut of a Park Slope bagel shop from a legendary Brooklyn baker, and more.
Bun Mee
This Thursday, October 8, San Francisco’s Bun Mee will open its first location outside of the Bay Area, right on 23rd Street in the Flatiron District. Denise Tran founded Bun Mee in 2011 to put her own modern spin on the food she grew up eating, and her mother “Mama Tran” is named in several menu items.
Signature dishes include bánh mì sandwiches, made with baguettes specially baked using Bun Mee’s proprietary recipe. Also look for noodle bowls, crunchy salads, and sides like egg rolls and salt and pepper garlic fries. Drinks include the Vietnamese Cream Cloud, made with Vietnamese coffee and topped with soft whip and 5-spice powder. The 2,200-square-foot space offers dine-in, pick-up, and delivery and they plan to be open daily for lunch and dinner. 115 E. 23rd St., Flatiron, bunmee.co
Carnegie Diner & Cafe
Late last month, Carnegie Diner & Cafe opened its first Brooklyn location at City Point, the brand’s eighth location nationwide. The modern American diner has an all-day menu filled with affordably-priced comfort dishes.
Housed in the former Sixpoint Brewery space, this new 4,500-square-foot restaurant features booth seating for up to 150 guests. All-day breakfast items include the Classic Benedict, BLT Quinoa Bowl with chopped bacon and poached eggs, and Steak and Eggs. Plus, a dozen types of pancakes, waffles, and French toast, along with bottomless coffee.
Every Carnegie Diner & Cafe location also offers a “pre-theater” prix fixe menu and desserts include a 24-layer chocolate cake and over-the-top milkshakes. Carnegie Diner is also the first in America to serve a full plant-based menu, which includes items like a Souvlaki Platter, Yeero Platter, and an Impossible Vegan Burger. 445 Gold St., 1st floor, Downtown Brooklyn, Brooklyn, carnegiediner.com
iara
Brazilian-American chef Vitor Mendes, who most recently helped open Theodora in Brooklyn, opened iara on the Lower East Side last week. The dinner-only restaurant is named for the water goddess of Amazonian legend.
It’s an expression of the Brazilian Amazon, where chef Mendes spent a month back in 2021 to learn about the regional ingredients and culture. The menu focuses on ingredients native to the Brazilian Amazon: açaí, cassava, jambu (an Amazonian herb), and tucupi (a yellow broth made from the fermented juice of cassava root).
“The Amazon Rainforest is a magical part of Brazil, the lungs of the earth,” Mendes said. “New York is the only city in the world that gives you everything except the ingredients of the Amazon; iara is where those two worlds meet, in harmony with the seasons of New York.”
The largely cachaça-focused beverage menu was curated by a fellow Theodora alumnus, Calvin Czypinski, and features cocktails including the Iara, which is made with cupuaçu, cachaça, and Brazilian vanilla honey. 205 Allen St., Lower East Side, iara.nyc
Caputo Bagels
From fifth-generation baker James Caputo of famed Caputo’s Bake Shop in Brooklyn and his longtime friend, restaurateur Rafael “Rafi” Hasid (Miriam and 1803 NYC), comes Caputo’s Bagels. After a lifetime of baking bread, Caputo was ready for a new challenge and his menu items nod to his bake shop. For example, the signature Lard Provolone Bagel reimagines the bakery’s famous lard bread, with salami, lard, and provolone folded into the dough. The result is a crispy, savory bagel that Caputos said reminded him of the original.
“This isn’t going to be a traditional New York bagel,” Caputo said. “I didn’t [try] other bagels because I didn’t want to compare ours to what was already out there. I wanted to make my own bagel, based on my own flavor profile. I’ve spent my whole life baking—it’s part of who I am—[and] working with Rafi gives me the chance to focus on what I love most: working with dough, developing the product, and being hands-on with the baking. I’m taking everything I’ve learned over the years and putting it into something new.”
Much like Caputo’s family baking history in Brooklyn dates to 1904, the idea for Caputo Bagels has been 20 years in the making. In addition to the aforementioned lard bagel, look for plain, sesame, and everything options, cream cheeses, smoked salmon, whitefish, breakfast sandwiches, pastries, and coffee drinks. The small-batch, hand-rolled bagel shop will have seating for 25 guests who don’t want to grab and go. 81 Fifth Ave., Park Slope, Brooklyn, no website
Good Company
Opening this Thursday, October 8, is Good Company from the same team behind Yesterday’s, which opened on Bleecker Street in the West Village earlier this year. Housed in the former Little Ways space and led by executive chef Robert Sieber, Good Company will serve modern American comfort food with inventive cocktails in a bi-level space ideal for after-work drinks and date nights.
Menu items include sharable dishes like Fried Losada Olives stuffed with Italian sausage, Wagyu French Dip Sliders, and Grilled Mortadella Skewers with hot honey glaze. Larger plates include the signature Good Burger and a Crispy Fish Sammy served on a potato roll; for dessert, a build-your-own Banana Split. Cocktails include the Matchapeno, a signature at Yesterday’s and made with jalapeño-infused Código Blanco Tequila, fresh lime juice, and matcha. 343 W. Broadway, SoHo, goodcompanysoho.com
