Welcome to Monday. Last week was a busy one for NYC dining, with a Carroll Gardens Italian icon coming back from the dead, a Brutalist French temple opening in the Breuer building, and a Latin American steakhouse debut at the Kimpton Era. Here’s the borough-by-borough rundown of what opened, what closed, and what’s about to land — pulled from the past 48 to 72 hours of food news so you know exactly where to point yourself this week.
Quick Bites
- Bar Ferdinando — Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn — Italian bar & cafe in the 121-year-old Ferdinando’s Focacceria space (opened April 15)
- Marcel — Madison Avenue, Manhattan — French dining inside the Brutalist Breuer building (opened April 16)
- Amasa & Bar Amasa — Midtown, Manhattan — Contemporary Latin American steakhouse inside Kimpton Era Hotel (opened April 14)
- Skinny Louie — Upper East Side, Manhattan — New UES location (debuted last week)
- Prince Street Pizza — Brooklyn — Heading across the river with a new outpost
Manhattan
Marcel (Madison Avenue) finally opened its doors on April 16 inside the Brutalist Breuer building on Madison Avenue. Developed in partnership with Roman and Williams, the room is a warm, 1960s-inspired space with views straight into an open kitchen and the sculpture garden beyond. Parisian chef-partner Marie-Aude Rose and executive chef Juan Moncalvo are running a French menu pitched at the building’s design-forward crowd. This one’s been on the calendar for months and lived up to the anticipation on opening night.
Amasa opened April 14 inside the Kimpton Era Hotel in Midtown. It’s a contemporary Latin American steakhouse leaning on huacatay herb-marinated bavette steak, Peruvian roasted chicken and agave-forward cocktails. Bar Amasa, the casual sibling next door, debuted in tandem and is centered around fresh guacamole, regional tacos and margaritas — your faster, looser entry point if you don’t feel like committing to dinner.
Skinny Louie brought its act uptown last week with a new Upper East Side location. It joins a growing list of downtown brands testing the appetite for casual, neighborhood-y spots above 60th.
Brooklyn
Bar Ferdinando opened April 15 in Carroll Gardens, and this one matters. Sal Lamboglia took over the 121-year-old home of Ferdinando’s Focacceria — one of the oldest continuously operating Italian spots in the borough — and reimagined it as a bar and cafe that respects the room’s history. Expect Italian small plates, focaccia (of course), wine and aperitivo culture in a space that’s been feeding the neighborhood since 1904.
Prince Street Pizza is officially heading to Brooklyn. The pepperoni-cup-and-spicy-square brand from Nolita is opening a new outpost across the river — confirmed last week, with the location now being prepped.
Queens
Queens was relatively quiet on the new-opening front this past week, but Stuart Cinema & Cafe in Long Island City opened to private events on April 10. The public grand opening is set for April 24 — mark your calendar if you’ve been waiting for a coffee-and-a-movie hybrid in LIC.
Closings
Two longtime spots said goodbye last week, with the news landing in the April 16 Eater roundup. Specific names and the full backstory are still developing, but the larger trend continues: rent pressure on legacy operators in Manhattan and Brooklyn neighborhoods that have priced out their original tenants. We’ll update this post as the dust settles on which two restaurants closed.
What’s Next
This week, keep an eye on the public debut of Stuart Cinema & Cafe in LIC (April 24), and the continued rollout of spring openings from spots like Lou & Bev’s on the Cobble Hill / Downtown Brooklyn line and Fireboat at Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park, both of which are due any day now.
For more daily dining intel, check our April 14 openings & closings rundown and the broader NYC food markets and halls guide for where locals actually shop and eat.
