Fall Dining Preview '07: Downtown West

Pichet Ong's Dragon's Devil Food Cup, at Batch

Batch
150B W. 10th St. at Waverly Place
Not content to unveil just one restaurant this year, P*ong’s Pichet Ong ups the ante with this dessert-and-pastries takeout spot right next door. “My original plan was to open up a dessert restaurant with a shop attached to it, like a bakery,” he says. “But because the space I found for P*ong was so small, I separated the takout concept.” That concept includes envelope-pushing cakes, ice cream and cookies made with Ong’s signature ingredients (Ovaltine, Ovaltine, Ovaltine!), as well as Asian-influenced flavors like yuzu, coconut and jackfruit. “I like more extreme tastes,” he says. “The salty is saltier, the sweet is sweeter.” And with two new businesses side by side, it looks like “busy” means “busier.” (September)

Merkato
55 Gansevoort St. at Greenwich St.
After conquering Scandinavian cuisine in Midtown, Aquavit’s Marcus Samuelsson brings African cuisine downtown with Merkato, an homage to his roots in Ethiopia, where he was born. (The restaurant’s name alludes to the large open-air market in that country’s capital, Addis Ababa.) Samuelsson reportedly drew inspiration for Merkato while writing his book “The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa,” which took him four years to research and eventually won him the 2007 James Beard award for best international cookbook. (September)

Market Table
54 Carmine St. at Bedford St.
Meat heads can rejoice: Pat LaFrieda, the butcher behind the patties at Shake Shack and Stand, will be selling his secret blend to the grilling public—not at Whole Foods but at the counter of restaurant/quality-obsessed grocer Market Table. Joey Campanaro and Gabriel Stulman, the team behind critical fave Little Owl, are on board, as is Mike Price, Campanaro’s sous chef at The Harrison. Market Table is located at the old Shopsin’s location in the West Village, and while menu details are sketchy, expect seafood to play a role—Price has also spent time at Mermaid Inn. (September)

Bobo
181 W. 10th St. at Seventh Ave.
French-born chef Nicolas Cantrel, an Alain Ducasse alum, is at the helm of this modern European restaurant in the Village, whose name tips its hat to the Village’s “bourgeois bohemian” spirit (yep, try telling that to Marc Jacobs and Ralph Lauren’s sleek Bleecker Street shops). Located at the space of the legendary John Clancy restaurant, Bobo seeks to capture the feel of a “European dinner party,” with eclectic antique-chic tchotchkes to match: vintage goblets, an old organ, even original cookbooks from John Clancy itself. (September)

El Quinto Pino
401 W. 24th St. at Ninth Ave.
You can’t throw a chunk of chorizo without hitting a tapas bar in Manhattan these days, and that’s in part thanks to the work of Mani Dawes. A partner in the critically acclaimed Tia Pol, Dawes is opening another tapas bar, El Quinto Pino. Half the size of Tia Pol and located a block away, it will offer a different menu from its elder sibling. The bar’s name, according to Dawes, translates to “in the boonies.” Judging by the crowds at Tia Pol, “El Quinto Pino” may prove to be something of a misnomer. (October)

Lunetta (NY)
920 Broadway at 21st St.
Taking a cue from Williamsburg’s Aurora, which spun off its own Manhattan outpost this year, Smith Street standby Lunetta hits the big time by making the leap across the river to Gramercy with a second location. Chef Adam Shepard goes for what is being billed as a “mid-century Italian-American homage,” using the same small-plates formula that worked so well at the Cobble Hill location. Menu offerings include house-made ricotta and meatballs with toasted garlic, as well as a regional wine list of over 100 bottles. (October)

Smith's
79 Macdougal St. at Houston St
Danny Abrams, who built a savory reputation for himself as one-half of the duo—with former partner Jimmy Bradley—behind the Harrison, the Red Cat and the Mermaid Inn, is set to open his newest venture, a contemporary American restaurant. "It's a jewel of a restaurant in Greenwich Village," he says, and will be offering "rustic American food." This time around, Abrams is teaming up with Cindy Smith, one of the owners of Soho stalwart Raoul’s, and chef Pablo Romeo, a former sous chef a Bouley. The interiors, from Mark Zeff (who designed both the Red Cat and the Harrison), will juxtapose contemporary and found elements to give it an overall eclectic feel. Smith's will occupy the former Dante Trattoria space. (October)

10 Downing
10 Downing St. at Sixth Ave.
California cool comes to the Village with this market-driven restaurant from the same folks behind 5 Ninth. This “new American bistro” takes its cue from the California Cuisine movement of the ‘80s, which emphasized farm-raised ingredients with a fusion flair, only this time chef Scott Bryan (Veritas) puts a Mediterranean spin on things. Completing the West Coast vibe: artwork from the ‘50s to ‘70s that evokes L.A.’s revolutionary “Cool School” aesthetic. (November)

Q
308 Bleecker St. at Grove St.
Having first seduced diners and critics alike with her spin on contempory American-Asian fusion at Annisa, Anita Lo next won over stuffed-dough fanatics with her menu at Rickshaw Dumpling Bar. Now she’s applying her considerable talents to—you guessed it—barbecue. But, as at Annisa, the food will have an Asian-American twist, focusing on sweet and sticky grilled “comfort food” that includes smoked duck and red-braised-beef short ribs. The restaurant will also have a raw bar and serve a range of sake, wine and Asian-themed cocktails. Its decor will offer a stylistic nod to Southern ‘cue joints, and is being designed by the same architect responsible for the sleek interiors of Jewel Bako and Kyotofu. (November)

Zeppelin
21 W. Ninth St. at Fifth Ave
Bartenders Jason Kosmas and Dushan Zaric won critical acclaim and the gratitude of cocktail aficionados across the city at Employees Only, the Prohibition-style bar and restaurant they opened two years ago in the West Village. At Zeppelin, which is located in the former home of Marylou’s (and, prior to that, a Prohibition-era speakeasy), Kosmas and Zaric will serve more classic cocktails, but this time in a forties atmosphere. While the emphasis at Employees Only is on the drinks, the food at Zeppelin will also get its due, thanks to Chanterelle and Butter vet Keith Harry’s “old-world American brasserie” menu. Kosmas and Zaric, whose cocktails are also served at Schiller’s and the Beatrice Inn, have already mixed up Zeppelin’s signature drink: a rye Collins with a float of red wine that’s callled, appropriately enough, The New Yorker. (December)