Headlining

Blondeau Bar

Sometimes the pandemic has had salutary results, and this new bar on the sixth floor of the Wythe Hotel in Williamsburg is one example. When they opened Le Crocodile, the French brasserie on the hotel’s ground floor, partners Jon Neidich and chefs Aidan O’Neal and Jake Leiber had in mind a sixth-floor space for a bar to wine. So, in May 2019, they opened it as Lemon’s, with an airy coastal Italian approach. “It was supposed to be temporary, a pop-up window,” Mr. Neidich said. “There was no full kitchen and we planned to renovate it. The shutdown for Covid gave the partners more than a year to install the kitchen and redo the space, which offered views of the Empire State Building. The partners were inspired by neo-bistros and Parisian wine bars. “Their quality is at a high level, but they are more informal than restaurants,” said Neidich. The menu has small plates, many with seafood like lobster salad, oysters, and salmon rillettes. A few more substantial items include halibut and fries, and rice paella with duck and snails. Among the desserts, the chocolate babka with salted caramel ice cream. The wine list, assembled by beverage director Rafa García Febles, is comprehensive and long, with plenty of choices by the glass and several non-alcoholic drinks, for which Mr Neidich said he sees growing demand. Warm oak walls, benches, green velvet and golden lighting define the space, which can accommodate 70 people in several spaces, including an outdoor terrace.

Sixth Floor, Wythe Hotel, 80 Wythe Avenue (North 11th Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 718-460-8006, barblondeau.com.

Opening

A white street

Dustin Wilson, former wine manager at Eleven Madison Park, met his partner at this TriBeCa townhouse restaurant, Austin Johnson, while dining at Gregory Marchand’s Frenchie in Paris, where Mr Johnson was executive chef. Mr Wilson was impressed and Mr Johnson signed on to be the chef and his partner at One White Street. The townhouse, now located on a stretch of West Broadway teeming with restaurants, has been fitted with an a la carte wine bar that seats 23 inside and 25 outside. The next two floors, accented with blue upholstery, will feature six-course tasting menus, $ 148, delivered from open kitchens and largely based on what is harvested from the Valley Restaurant’s farm. Hudson, Rigor Hill. Among the dishes on the opening menu are the focaccia with roasted tomatoes, summer vegetables with sorrel and ricotta hummus, grilled monkfish in a leek broth with bonito and glazed gnocchi with corn, chanterelles and with the mimolette. A dessert listed as coffee, yuzu, and banana is reminiscent of the Frenchie’s banoffee in London. Audrey Frick of Bobby Stuckey’s Tavernetta in Denver is in charge of the wines. (Opens Thursday)

One White Street (West Broadway), onewhitestreetnyc.com.

Hart’s

The pandemic turned this restaurant’s dining room into a retail space, selling groceries, take-out and wine. Now he’s back to serving dinner with a new chef, Gillian Graham, who was Cervo’s sous-chef, Hart’s brother. Its menu includes some of the restaurant’s favorites, like clam toast, a lamb burger, and olive oil cake.

506 Franklin Avenue (Fulton Street), Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, 718-636-6228, hartsbrooklyn.com.

that of Philomène

Den Hospitality brothers Kyle and Sean O’Brien open this cocktail bar with drinks created by sculpted and infused ice maker Kyle Dailey. Mediterranean dishes will be provided by the neighboring restaurant Pomp & Circumstance. (Wednesday)

790 Grand Street (Humboldt Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, philomenasbar.com.