101 new NYC restaurants

Piquant

The former Mitchell's Bar & Grill has been rebooted as a Southwest-focused restaurant anchored by former Mustang Grill chef David Sharp, a Texas native. With name like Piquant, Sharp and owner Mike Issa are certainly hoping that the food lives up to its tasty tease, with dishes like orange-dusted shrimp with mashed plantains and orange-avocado salsa, seared tuna with black beans, and grilled lamb chops with chipotle sauce. A big change from Mitchell's: The onetime deli up front has now been converted into a bar, which Issa hopes will give the space a much more inviting, upscale feel: "I had customers come in and say, 'There's one problem—that deli in the front doesn't really give you respect.'" Here's hoping this redo finally does.

Piquant
259 Flatbush Ave. between St. Marks and Sixth Aves.
Prospect Heights
718-484-4114