As the sun’s heat fades and the leaves begin to change colors, each fall season marks one of America’s most popular times to introduce new dining concepts. And 2024 is no exception. Across the country, tried and true operators are gearing up to debut exciting new restaurants, from a polished bistro from the lauded Sushi Noz team in New York, to the long-awaited revamp of chef Aitor Zabala’s Somni in a new Los Angeles location. And with a single service per evening, cooking for just 14 guest, Somni 2.0 is sure to be an ultra-hot ticket. So, get your calendar ready because these are the restaurants you’ll want to book this fall.
New York
Cafe Zaffri, Union Square
Estimated Debut: Mid-October
From the female-led team behind Raf’s and MICHELIN One Star The Musket Room comes this all-day Middle Eastern restaurant, which claims the ground floor of Union Square’s forthcoming hotel and members' only club, The Twenty Two. Executive chef Mary Attea’s Lebanese roots inspire the menu here, served through the 2,100-square-foot multi-room space accented with wood-paneled walls, Persian rugs, and brass. Expect a modern take on Levantine cuisine from a smoked trout-accented Jerusalem bagel plate for breakfast to a lamb tartare and spaghetti with crab and saffron for dinner.
Chez Fifi, Upper East Side
Estimated Debut: Mid-October
Brothers Josh and David Foulquier, the hit-makers behind Two MICHELIN Star Sushi Noz, will next open a French bistro with Spanish touches named after their late mother. The casual yet polished restaurant claims the first two floors of a four-story townhouse on East 74th Street and involves a 42-seat ground floor dining room with an upper-level lounge named Salon de Fifi à L’Etage. Longtime Café Altro Paradiso vet Zack Zeidman is in charge of dishes like a Basque-style crab dish in which the crustacean’s meat is cooked with pimentón and an aromatic blend of vegetables and herbs then stuffed back in its shell, and red prawns with hollandaise and caviar. One level up, former Martiny’s bartender Yumi Nemoto will spearhead the lounge’s library of old spirits—focused on French and Japanese producers—plus French-rooted cocktails, both classic and new.
La Tête d’Or, Flatiron
Estimated Debut: November
This fall, prolific French chef Daniel Boulud of his namesake Two MICHELIN Star Daniel will add a wood-fueled steakhouse to his ever-growing restaurant repertoire. Think American steakhouse-rooted dishes with French touches claiming the ground floor of sleek, remodeled office tower, One Madison, in Flatiron. He tapped designer David Rockwell to bring the space to life with rich jewel tones, dark wood, and copper. In addition to a bar/lounge, main dining room, and private dining room, Boulud is also designing a separate space with a dining counter for a surf and turf omakase. He’ll be sourcing his seafood locally and from Japan, with meat coming from ranches in places like Texas, Colorado, and Japan.
Sushi by Scratch, Flatiron
Debut: Sept. 6
Sushi by Scratch kicked off seven years ago in Los Angeles, and the unorthodox fish on rice omakase concept just welcomed its 10th location. Chef Phillip Frankland Lee is behind the place with help from his wife Margarita Kallas-Lee, and they’ve remodeled a tiny spot on Broadway and 21st Street to offer just 10 counter seats. For those who have dined at Sushi by Scratch in the past, expect an identical menu, with bites like the fan-favorite two-part bone marrow set in which bone marrow nigiri is served simply with soy and wasabi root, then the fatty tissue is used to fry (and enrich) freshwater eel. In New York, the 17-course menu will run $225. Like other locations, drinks feature Japanese booze from beer to spirits to sakes.
Time and Time, Flatiron
Estimated Debut: October
The late chef James Kent’s Kent Hospitality Group (of Two MICHELIN Star Saga) is behind this restaurant and bakery moving into a vast 7,000 square foot space on Park Avenue South. The main attraction is chef Danny Garcia’s 110-seat contemporary fish house—split between main dining room, raw bar, and cocktail bar—with seafood towers and more substantial plates like a pithivier with cured halibut, halibut mousse, and mushroom duxelle. Overstory’s bar director, Harrison Ginsberg, is running the ocean-inspired drinks program here which will lean into ingredients like seaweed, and alcohols including sake and sherry. The team hired Modellus Novus (Saga) to design the space, which takes some loose inspiration from Kent’s summer home on Long Island with details like terracotta-tiled floors. And as for the bakery, Baby Birdee will operate during the day when the restaurant is closed, led by the group’s executive pastry chef, Renata Ameni, and paying tribute to a mix of American and European pastries.
Crane Club, Chelsea
Estimated Debut: November
Chef Melissa Rodriguez of Mel’s (and the late Al Coro), along with her partner Jeff Katz, is, teaming up with clubby Tao Hospitality Group on Crane Club, which moves into the former Al Coro home. In place of an Italian tasting menu, the 200-seat restaurant will spotlight global flavors and live-fire cooking. Expect over 1,000 wines from around the world plus a roaster of specialty cocktails also all available in non-alcoholic form.
California
Somni, Los Angeles
Estimated Debut: November
After running a Two MICHELIN Star restaurant of the same name with chef José Andrés within West Hollywood’s The Bazaar hotel, Chef Aitor Zabala packed up shop and is reopening an upgraded version of the original concept as a solo project. Taking over a Donna Karan shop on Nemo Street in West Hollywood, Somni now is double the size at around 2,000 square feet with an expansive outdoor patio; its design nods to the chef’s Spanish heritage with details including original Gaudí-designed Panot tiles that are found on the streets of Barcelona. With just one seating a night for 14 guests, it sums up the chef’s Catalan roots and his Southern California locale via a progressive, 20-plus course menu with dishes like "The Bone," a sweet and savory prep with an apple meringue, smoked eel, fresh Granny Smith apple, bone marrow emulsion, and caviar. To pair, in addition to a non-alcoholic drinks program spearheaded by the kitchen, the wine program will, naturally, focus on bottles from Spain and California with a mix of classic and up-and-coming producers.
Eylan, San Francisco
Estimated Debut: November
Chef Srijith Gopinathan made a name for himself with his Indian-accented California cuisine at Campton Place (he’s also behind South Indian Copra and Cal-Indian Ettan), so naturally there are high expectations for Eylan, which he will open with partner Ayesha Thapar. Debuting within forthcoming residential development of Stanford Middle Plaza in Menlo Park, 155-seat, earthy-toned Eylan—which will have a black-and-white tile floor and vibrant handmade chandeliers—hinges on seasonality and a global take on Indian cuisine. Patrons can order Indian snacks like chaats and farsans via a roving snack cart; meanwhile the kitchen will be anchored by a wood-fueled hearth that will not only fire a variety of proteins such as caramelized onion and lime yogurt-marinated leg of lamb, but also new takes on regional Indian breads like Dungeness crab sourdough skillet kulcha. In addition to wines that highlight regions like Burgundy and Piedmont, drinks consultants West Bev Consulting has signed on to design a cocktail program that borrows ingredients from India and elsewhere around the world.
Under-Study, California
Estimated Debut: November
Chef Philip Tessier, who some might recall from his award-winning competitive cooking with the Bocuse d'Or, has been quietly running the refined, One MICHELIN Star Press kitchen up in St. Helena for the last five-plus years. And now with the same management team there he’s opening Under-Study, taking over what was once Dean & Deluca’s flagship on Saint Helena Highway. But the team isn’t straying too far from the building’s haute grocery store’s past; in fact, they will open their own take on a modern market. Within the 4,500 square foot space they will build a patisserie, a butcher shop stocked with dry-aged beef from Flannery Beef and Snake River Farms, a sustainable seafood counter, and an area with charcuterie by cured meat expert Tony Incontro. Tessier will helm a casual, all-day dining counter with elevated American cuisine with dishes like lobster corn dog topped with Tsar Nicoulai caviar, and grilled octopus with black truffle mole sauce.
Sushi Nakazawa, Los Angeles
Estimated Debut: November
New York’s One MICHELIN Star Sushi Nakazawa—the counter helmed by ‘Jiro Dreams of Sushi’ alum Daisuku Nakazawa—will open its first West Coast location and third for the company overall on North Robertson in Beverly Hills. Like its past outposts, the restaurant includes a counter and dining room tables (both indoor and out), with seating for 55. Patrons can choose from two 20-course menus, either an all-sushi path or one with around five cooked dishes—the first time Nakazawa has offered cooked seafood preps. The company’s longtime beverage director, Dean Fuerth, promises the deepest sake list in the state with around 140 bottles. Local design firm Studio UNLTD will spearhead the aquatic interior design defined through blue tones with gold accents.
Florida
Sunny’s Steakhouse, Miami
Estimated Debut: October
Co-owners Will Thompson and Chef Carey Hynes behind Miami’s beloved—though now shuttered—cocktail bar Jaguar Sun and previous pandemic pop-up Sunny’s Someday Steakhouse are flipping the outdoor brick courtyard which housed the latter into a lively brick and mortar. The 220-seat indoor/out white tablecloth surf and turf spot will feature dishes such as corn agnolotti with crab and saffron, and a wood-fired Westholme F1 wagyu bone-in strip. Here, classic and creative cocktails will be front and center, designed by Jaguar Sun’s acclaimed bartender Will Thompson. Beyond highly customized martini service and large-format drinks, he’s bringing back some past Jaguar Sun hits like fan favorite tequila and mezcal-laced Green Ghoul with cucumber and chamomile.
Chicago
il Carciofo
Estimated Debut: December
Former Top Chef winner Joe Flamm elevated Croatian-Italian cooking at Rose Mary in Fulton Market, and next up, just two and a half blocks away, he will open il Carciofo. The 230-seat Roman restaurant’s design—with a mix of indoor and front patio dining—is inspired by patinaed trattorias and ristorantes, and here he wants to channel that lived-in feel with dark woods, a tin ceiling, and deep green marble. In the main dining room, one will find an open kitchen with counter seating, in addition to floor-to-ceiling bifold windows that open to the front patio. In terms of cuisine, expect mini rice balls filled with mozzarella and ragu sauce, thin-crust Roman pizzas topped with squash and mozzarella, and a tomato-rich oxtail stew. The Italian cocktail program will highlight bitters like Aperol and Campari, alongside Italian beers and old-world wines.
Kentucky
Byrdie's, Louisville
Estimated Debut: November
The team behind One MICHELIN Star Esmé in Chicago––chef Jenner Tomaska, wife Katrina Bravo, and beverage director Stevan Miller––will open their first out-of-state project in Louisville, a French bistro with Southern touches that’s taking over the former Rosettes space within boutique property Hotel Genevieve. While details are still in the works, Tomaska’s menu will hinge on Southern flavors and local ingredients elevated with both classic and contemporary French technique. Expect plates like fried green tomatoes served alongside a tart sauce that’s dually inspired by Alabama-style white barbecue sauce and the classic French cold egg sauce known as gribiche, and steak frites with a Bourbon peppercorn sauce.
Hero image: John Troxell / Press
Thumb image: Chad Wadsworth / Sushi | Bar Montecito
