Adour's interactive Wine Library, complete with a touch-screen bar
(Credit: Bruce Buck)
Alain Ducasse’s eponymous restaurant at the Essex Hotel may have gone MIA in 2007, but he’s anything but smarting from it: The powerhouse chef blasts back onto the NYC scene with two spots in 2008—Bistro Benoit, which opens later this year, and, first up, Adour at the St. Regis, which debuts on Monday. Located at the old Lespinasse space and designed by David Rockwell, the wine-centric spot is named after the river in southwest France near the chef’s birthplace and alludes to his early culinary roots. Ducasse collaborates with executive chef Tony Esnault on a seasonal and contemporary French menu, but the real money shot is the restaurant’s “Wine Library”: a four-seat interactive bar with a touch-screen surface that allows guests to read up on the wines they’re downing. Ancient civilizations once had another name for something similar: uh, a sommelier. 2 E. 55th St. at Fifth Ave., 212-753-4500
Persephone
The folks behind downtown mainstays Il Cantinori and Periyali stomp the Upper East Side with this traditional Greek spot. “We’re basically marrying a lot of the wonderful vegetable dishes that in Greece they eat as entrees with meat, fish, chicken,” says co-owner Nicola Kotsoni, “and doing things in a slightly different way.” This translates into dishes like chickpeas and eggplant with white fish, cannellini beans with salmon, and saffron-seasoned seafood with orzo. The focus is on adhering to tradition—a departure from NYC’s recent haute Hellenic wave at spots like Athens Tavern and Anthos. “Anthos is not Greek at all,” Kotsoni says. “It’s the chef’s version of Greek—he knows the flavors. We’re trying to stay a lot more traditional.” The restaurant might prove to be a feast for the eyes as well: Artwork includes a series of Matisse prints from the owner’s personal collection. 115 E. 60th St. at Park Ave., 212-339-8363
Padre Figlio
In a biz infamous for opening delays, you gotta give Antonio Cerra a gold star: Three weeks after shuttering East Side Italian standby Da Antonio, he’s back in circulation with this Italian steak house right off the U.N., which opens on Monday. Cerra tells us that the new digs finally provided him more space—it seats about 150 and has “six difference ambiences,” from a chef’s table to a glass-enclosed garden room. It also allowed him to rethink the restaurant’s concept, which was a no-brainer: “Italian steak house?! Hello?!” he quips in his typically animated chatter. The voluminous menu, which includes over 20 pastas, seafood and meat dishes, has one real raison d’etre: to showcase Cerra’s love Piemontese beef, including a Fiorentina T-bone steak that he says would be his last meal on earth: “Give me that, a couple of cannolis—Bruni said you can’t have just one—an espresso and sambuca, and you can shoot me!” he cracks. 310 E. 44th St. between First and Second Aves., 212-286-4310
Gusto Organics
Just when you thought going green was, like, sooooo 2007, along comes this sustainably minded eatery a few blocks from Union Square. It’s got the “Go, go green!” checklist down pat: Takeout utensils made from corn, all-natural soaps, handmade furniture from recycled trees, energy-efficient kitchen equipment. Natch, the menu has been certified organic by both the Northeast Organic Farming Association and the USDA, according to partner Gabriel Scott. By day, the place is a casual, café-style spot with thin-crust pizzas (i.e. caramelized onions and mushrooms), three kind of empanadas and steak sandwiches, among other goodies. At night it switches over to a full-service restaurant with a seasonal American menu that changes daily depending on the day’s available ingredients. 519 Sixth Ave. between 13th and 14th Sts., 212-242-5800
