After a soft opening in August, the famous taqueria’s New York outpost reopens on September 8. Illustration: Naomi Otsu
Welcome to Grub Street’s rundown of restaurant recommendations that aims to answer the endlessly recurring question, Where should we go? These are the spots our food team thinks everyone should visit, for any reason (a new chef or the arrival of an exciting dish, or maybe there’s an opening that has flown too far under the radar). This month: hype tacos, high-end scallops, and whether Park Slope has secretly become the best restaurant neighborhood in New York?
Hed (Chelsea)
The very friendly staff at this new Thai spot doesn’t like to call its $126 prix fixe a “tasting menu.” Rather, it’s a modern Thai “sharing progression” designed to be enjoyed as a group across multiple dishes. The first three courses — oysters, grilled scallop and rice noodles, and lobster in a deep, earthy broth — are standard for all diners. Even I, oyster ambivalent as I am, couldn’t deny how far a bit of Thai seafood sauce and chile jam could take these little guys. From the fourth course on, however, choice is on the menu: Between the mains, I preferred red-curry fried chicken, toupe topped with its own crisp skin, and southern Thai crab curry. The space is beautiful, deep-toned, muraled, and loungey thanks to a smooth, jazzy soundtrack that runs through the night. —Shay Cohen
20 Blocks (East Village)
A whimsical new sandwich shop has entered the chat: 20 Blocks feels like a direct competitor with Brooklyn mainstay Court Street Grocers or the newer, worker-owned Sea & Soil. The paper-wrapped menu at 20 Blocks is slimmer, however: two mainstays plus a rotating third. The crowd-pleaser is the Turkey Town, served on honey whole wheat with a juicy fried green tomato and Cajun mayo. My pick, though, was the Corn Star — charred corn and Havarti on milk bread — which reminded me of my favorite sandwich at the now-closed Crema Cafe in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In the rotating slot: the Fly Fish, with smoked-trout dip and dilly beans, could earn a permanent place on the roster. The house chips (denoted on the menu by a tiny drawn house) and puppy chow are also must-orders, the latter featuring strawberry jelly to add a tang to the Midwest’s favorite dessert. —Zach Schiffman
All of Our Picks, Mapped
28 Nomad (Nomad)
“Can you Wellington it?” is a question chefs love to ask. Cody Mao of 28 Nomad has his answer: The restaurant’s signature dish is a miniature Wellingtoned scallop, a fat mollusk swaddled in mushroom and leek and prettily crimped pastry. It’s an adorable entry to the genre, and a hotshot’s demonstration of skill. Not everything at this restaurant, which opened quietly a few months ago on a corner in Rose Hill, hits that high, but there’s enough that works to keep things interesting. Mao and his partner, Samuel Park, met working front of house at Atomix, and before that, Mao cooked at Aska, which helps explain the spirit of experimentation on the menu. (In the chef’s own words about Korean rice cakes studding a dessert of ice cream and pork floss: “I just put in something weird.“) Weird for its own sake is not always a workable proposition, but for every sea-pineapple bibimbap — made with a semi-obscure rock-dwelling sea squirt (yes, that’s what it’s called) — there’s Sichuan-peppercorn popcorn chicken, and really, who’s going to say “no” to that? —Matthew Schneier
El Califa de León (Flatiron)
After a summer of waiting, New York finally got a little preview opening of this lauded CDMX import, which serves exactly one thing: tacos. There are three options for beef and one for pork, all of which arrive in the form of griddled slabs of meat draped over warm fresh tortillas. (If you are a vegetarian, go elsewhere; the lone meat-free taco is nothing special.) These tacos are as spartan as it gets, topped only with a squeeze of lime and one of two salsas: bright and green, or smoky and red. Early criticism has focused on one taco in particular that costs $19. Is that too much for a taco? It’s a lot. Is it too much to pay for a quarter-pound of rib-eye steak, which is what this taco contains? That’s up to you. The restaurant will take reservations when it reopens in the second week of the month, but don’t be tempted to make a meal out of it. Instead, treat it like a place to get a quick bite and drink — maybe while waiting for a spot to open up at S&P around the corner? — the way you might treat one of this city’s many oyster bars. This one just happens to have margaritas, too. —Alan Sytsma
Apapachó (Park Slope)
A crudo or two have become de rigueur at every restaurant selling $18 glasses of wine, but rarely do they feel transcendent. This tuna aguachile cured my crudo cynicism: The fish itself is barely adorned, chopped and layered over avocado with some jicama shreds and a cilantro sprig. In actuality, the meaty cubes serve as the garnish for the spoonable pool of aguachile negro, dark and fruity from pasilla peppers with a recognizable dash of soy-sauce umami in the background, and it’s thick enough to stick to the three fresh tostadas on the side. Follow this with the slow-cooked short-rib enchiladas norteñas, another show of the kitchen’s salsa skill, this time with a rich mole rojo to match the braised meat. Both are easily shared with a companion in the dimly lit dining room, while a long, separated bar makes it easy to drop in for pescado al pastor tacos. —Tammie Teclemariam
