Your daily borough-by-borough look at what’s opening and closing across New York City’s food scene. Today: a Georgian carb palace lands in Bushwick, a live-fire stunner settles into Nolita, and a Jordanian favorite plants a flag on the Upper West Side.
Quick Bites
- Chama Mama / Let’s Chama — Bushwick, Brooklyn (81 Morgan Ave). Georgian restaurant + bakery now open.
- Oriana — Nolita, Manhattan (Mott Street). Live-fire dining from The Noortwyck team.
- Hinds Hall by Ayat — Upper West Side, Manhattan. Palestinian shawarma, halloumi, and mansaf.
- Arthur — Greenpoint, Brooklyn. A polished neighborhood bistro from a Michelin-trained chef.
- 28 Nomad — NoMad, Manhattan. Contemporary Asian tasting menu.
Brooklyn
Chama Mama brings a Georgian carb palace to Bushwick. The beloved Georgian mini-chain has opened its largest location yet — a roughly 6,300-square-foot corner spot at 81 Morgan Avenue — and it’s three experiences in one. There’s a 64-seat main dining room with counter seats facing the kitchen, a 25-seat bar and lounge, and a 14-seat bakery nook called Let’s Chama. The bakery is the part to know about for your morning commute: it turns out khachapuri (the famous cheese-filled bread boat), mushroom pie, chocolate cigaretti, and other traditional Georgian pastries alongside specialty lattes; bakery hours run weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. If you’ve never had a proper adjaruli khachapuri — the canoe-shaped one with a runny egg pooled in the center — this is your sign.
Arthur quietly raises the bar in Greenpoint. Chef Kevin Finch, who’s logged time in Michelin-starred kitchens, has opened Arthur, a warm Greenpoint bistro built for regulars and people willing to cross a borough for dinner. Early word points to real finesse rather than flash — the kind of room that becomes a standby fast.
Manhattan
Oriana lights the fire in Nolita. The team behind The Noortwyck has opened Oriana, a bi-level live-fire restaurant on Mott Street. Expect an onyx bar, a sprawling wood-fired grill working through peak-season vegetables, fresh seafood, and large-format meats, plus an old-world wine cellar downstairs. It’s one of the more ambitious openings of late spring, and the grill-forward menu is timed perfectly for summer produce.
Ayat plants a flag on the Upper West Side. The Palestinian restaurant group known for its generous, family-style cooking has opened Hinds Hall by Ayat on the Upper West Side, serving shawarma, fried halloumi, and slow-cooked mansaf — the lamb-and-rice dish that anchors Jordanian and Palestinian tables. For a neighborhood that’s long been underserved on the Levantine front, this is a welcome arrival.
28 Nomad opens in NoMad. A new contemporary Asian restaurant, 28 Nomad runs a seasonal menu that has featured dishes like scallop Wellington and Chinese sausage-stuffed chicken wings — playful, technique-driven cooking aimed at the neighborhood’s dinner crowd.
Closings Watch
The biggest farewell on the calendar remains Cozy Soup ‘n’ Burger, the 54-year-old Greenwich Village diner at 739 Broadway, which has set its final day for June 21. If you’ve never had a burger and a bottomless bowl of soup at the counter that’s anchored the NYU end of Broadway since 1972, the clock is ticking. Go before it’s gone.
The Bottom Line
Early June is delivering exactly the mix you want heading into summer: ambitious live-fire cooking, comfort food from immigrant traditions done at a serious scale, and a few neighborhood rooms that’ll quietly become favorites. We’ll keep tracking it borough by borough We’ll keep tracking openings and closings borough by borough — check back tomorrow.mdash; check back tomorrow.
Spotted a new opening or a closing we missed? That’s the beat. We verify every address and opening date against primary sources before publishing.
