Addison Aloian Addison Aloian | May 3, 2021 | Food & Drink,
Maracuja's bar snacks include mixed olives, pickles, boquerones with peppers, and cheese.
Gotham Guide is a weekly list of new restaurants, special menus and pop-ups throughout New York City. Support local businesses and head out on a culinary adventure with our suggestions below.
It's official. New York City will completely reopen on July 1! We’ve been waiting for this news for more than a year, and it’s exciting to think it’s less than two months away.
During the citywide shutdown, we had to say goodbye to many of our favorite restaurants, but there are plenty of new eateries ready to start fresh legacies, and this week's Gotham Guide is here to celebrate some truly divine flavors.
From Black-owned ice cream delivery to Mexican pizza, Spanish delights in Brooklyn and the return of lobster rolls, there are some wonderful small businesses to support this weekend. Mask up and make sure they stay in business before the city fully reopens.
See also: Can Sushi Save The World? How Chef Bun Lai Leads a Sustainability Revolution of Love
Black-owned homemade ice cream pop-up Dre’s Dessert delivers creamy pint flavors right to your door. Founder Andre Olivier started the company during the start of the pandemic to spread joy and ice cream to fellow New Yorkers. Now, he hopes to continue as the city opens. Flavors rotate and are announced weekly on Instagram. Orders are accepted via DM, email and through the website each week until Thursday for Saturday delivery, or Friday for Sunday delivery. For Mother’s Day weekend, guests that order one pint will get the Prosecco Sorbet flavor at half price.
229 Flatbush Ave., Brooklyn / Website
Tiny’s Cantina in Prospect Heights is finally open. Specializing in Mexican pizza, the restaurant serves a variety of Mexican dishes and traditional drinks. Enjoy a rotating assortment of Poblana regional-topping tlyaduas, including a bright chorizo version, as well as the cemita poblana with smoked chipotle. Wash it down with one of more than 75 bottles of mezcal and tequila, including cristalino. Reservations can be made via Tiny's website.
279 Grand St., Brooklyn / Website
Williamsburg’s Maracuja has new owners and a new Executive Chef in Roberto Jimenez. There's a new menu to celebrate, and Jimenez infused the dishes with his personal touches. The Spanish menu incldes a selection of tapas, pintxos and shareable plates such as gazpacho maduixa, chicken croquetas, skirt steak with tostones and chimichurri, and seafood paella for two.
76 Varick St. / Website
The Garden of Love has returned to NYC for its fourth summer. The Tulum-inspired restaurant and Mezcal bar offers views of the downtown Manhattan skyline where guests can enjoy gypsy-disco music and other entertainment, as well as a modern Mexican menu and Mezcal-focused cocktails. Sink your teeth into the watermelon walad, a fresh tuna tostada, truffle tlayuda, grilled chicken pastor and more. Reservations can be made via Garden of Love's website.
101 Liberty St., 3rd Floor / Website
Eataly NYC Downtown has partnered with the Color Factory for a new dining experience. La Pizza & La Pasta A Colori transforms the Italian restaurant into a colorful, family-friendly destination with a whole new food and drink menu. Bring the kids or your friends for an Italian cheese platter and la pizza verde. Adults can enjoy cocktails including the golden hour with rye and americano, or the garden breeze with limone gin, St. Germain, cucumber and mint.
See also: 4 Undeniable Reasons These Canned Cocktails Are Superior
659 Vanderbilt Ave., Brooklyn / Website
Olmstead welcomes summertime with a new seasonal theme. Olmstead Summer Camp kicks off Wednesday, May 5, boasting a new menu that highlights produce sourced from local farmers and Olmstead's own lush backyard garden. Make the most of summer with soft shell crab, grilled ramps and spring onion “onion rings. You can also order summer classics such as hot duck pastrami and corn dogs.
236 Lafayette St. / Website
Counter-service cafe Gertie collaborates with Blank Street coffee shop to offer famous bagels and spreads from acclaimed baker Melissa Weller, available at Blank Street’s SoHo location. The plain and everything bagels are on the menu, as well as the plain cream cheese, red spring onion seasonal cream cheese, and the roasted tahini spread. Of course, you can pair each with any of Blank Street’s delicious coffees.
217 E. 26th St., Manhattan; 270 Metropolitan Ave., Brooklyn / Website
To welcome summer, Tipsy Scoop has teamed with the Bahamas' Atlantis Paradise Island to launch a limited-edition Guava Lime Cocktail ice cream flavor. A coconut base is infused with rum and guava, available at Tipsy Scoop’s Manhattan and Brooklyn locations from May 6 to May 27. You can also order from their website.
Pier 81 at W 41st St.; 12th Ave. / Website
North River Lobster Company on the Hudson has officially returned. Bringing a taste of New England, New Yorkers will love sitting in this boat restaurant, biting into the popular “Shelly” dish, aka the self-proclaimed "longest lobster roll in the country." You can also get down on a double truffle roll with fries, or the Lower East Side roll with scallion cream cheese, maybe even the Cadillac mountain platter with oysters, clams, crab leg clusters, and one whole chilled lobster. Passes for the boat can be purchased online.
Photography by: Lily Brown/MST Creative PR