Keeping up with the amount of restaurant openings in New York is dizzying. And while new blood is always inspiring, I find the endless roundups of new and only new, to be a touch fatiguing. Sure, a hunger for novelty is a compelling motivation. But as temperatures drop and the wind begins to sting, there’s often a more bodily compulsion in the hunt for that perfect winter meal. The northern countries have their own words for it: gezelligheid in the Netherlands, koselig in Norway, gemütlichkeit in Germany, mysig in Sweden, coorie in Scotland. The most famous is probably hygge, hailing from Denmark. While each term takes their own slight spin, they all convey the warmth, comfort, coziness, and conviviality shaping certain spaces and their inhabitants. In other words, the ideal conditions for where to dine come winter in New York. Below, you’ll find a list of restaurants falling squarely within this spirit, from those I enjoyed recently discovering to those I have loved for years. Some new, some old — all made to warm the soul.
Wei’s Williamsburg
Late night Shanghainese food bathed in warm, lantern light.
Years ago, I fell into a martini and oyster-fueled friendship with a chef. At the end of long, raucous nights, we’d come here to spill our secrets in a booth. His love of the restaurant imprinted on me. Today, Wei’s remains my favorite restaurant in the world. An East Williamsburg haunt since 2014, the Shanghainese-style restaurant takes the shape of a triangle, strung with glowing paper lanterns — soft and moon-like. Dark leather booths line the walls, disco lilts throughout, and the food? Hauntingly craveable: piping hot soup dumplings that pop and pour through the mouth; snappy, emerald green pea shoots; crispy salt and pepper shrimp, its shallots like the salty shards at the bottom of a chips bag; slices of cold, pickled cabbage glossed red with chili oil; and their signature Shanghai Cowboy — a cocktail made with both whiskey and the notoriously highproof Chinese liquor, baijiu. Alone, baijiu can be quite abrasive. In the Cowboy, it becomes aromatic — floral and licorice-like. The drink basically sips like a funkier Sour, encapsulating the restaurant itself: familiar and mysterious at once.
Clemente Bar
A collaboration between an intrepid chef and a famed artist.
Known for turning his restaurant Eleven Madison Park into the world’s first plant-based recipient of three Michelin stars, Chef Daniel Humm’s latest project is a collaboration with neo-expressionist artist Francesco Clemente: a bar and food concept lined with the legend’s paintings, housed within the former private dining space above Eleven Madison Park’s grand hall. Their cocktail program has always been exceptional and Clemente Bar is a natural extension of that. Take the Clemente Martini, infused with green curry and saffron, its olive tasting of smoky Algerian spices. Or La Tomatina, an effervescent, tequila-based drink with olive sake, tomato water, and a single disk of tajin-dusted white chocolate. Dishes like their Tonburi, a bright carrot and horseradish spread topped with tonburi (a plant-based stand-in for caviar) and sake pickles make for zingy openers to their deeper dishes like the Clemente Burger (a lightly fried, oozing mushroom disc, further enriched with a creamy plant-based take on ranch) and Agedashi Dog — a log of delicate fried tofu heaped with black truffle. Peruse the walls between dishes to admire Clemente’s gestural creations, painted directly onto the surface or framed and illuminated from behind.
Basta Pasta
A timelessly elegant backdrop for Japanese-inflected Italian dishes.
Opened in 1990 (with its original in Tokyo since 1985), Basta Pasta is a serene and exacting restaurant that serves upscale Italian prepared by Japanese chefs. The open concept kitchen was ahead of its time back then — a web of glossy stovetops and counters flanking the entryway. So were its dishes. I remember watching them roll out an entire wheel of parmesan cheese when I was a little girl, drop in a tangle of spaghetti, and then mercilessly scrape and mix until the cavity began to melt. The pageantry! These days, pasta alla ruota can be found in many places. But it was cutting edge for New York back then. Start with the bagna cauda, bright market vegetables and warm anchovy dip, followed by the spaghetti con uova di pesce, dotted with tobiko and strips of aromatic shiso — a beautiful moment of that Japanese-inflected Italian the place is known for. Note the white tablecloth topped with crisp paper, good for doodling if you’re a child and comparing signatures if you’re an adult. While admittedly evocative of a certain early 2000s chic, Basta Pasta never lost its quality nor aesthetic dignity. In short: a timeless treasure.
Bridges
A sleek, sexy scene for innovative small plates.
