Table 8

Upload your photo »

Your Table is finally ready: After months of delays, the eagerly awaited New York outpost of Govind Armstrong's popular California-cuisine eatery finally checks in at Bowery's Cooper Square Hotel. (There are two other locations, in California and Miami.) "It's really just using the local product, that's basically where we start," Armstrong says of tailoring his menu to an East Coast palate while still adhering to a philosophy of fresh sourcing and unfussy preparation. To that end, local clams grace a skate wing dish bathed in lobster broth, and ramps pop up in a soft-shell crab with shaved asparagus and pickled-ramp aioli. Plus, he's now got Pat LaFrieda meats! It's apparently left Armstrong giddy: In the past, he's only been able to use the renowned meat purveyor for test dinners. A tip: Ask for the off-menu salt-roasted porterhouse for two, which is loaded up with kosher salt and sea salt, plus aromatics like fennel seeds, bay leaves and chile flakes, and is sent out on the bone.

See more:

East Village restaurants, New York restaurants, American contemporary restaurants