Where Colin Ate: Clemente Bar, Sunn's, Foul Witch, Mitsuru
Plus: an ode to Ferdinando’s Focacceria
Colin Camac (aka @resyguynyc) is officially Blackbird’s “Strategic Sales Lead,” and unofficially is our resident insider’s insider. He is out, on the town seven nights a week, sniffing out the city’s best joints, skateboard in one hand, martini in the other.
Last week was big and filled with, dare I say, quite a few hotspots, at least by my standards. I try not to chase the hype train too hard, but sometimes it can’t be avoided, especially when the joints warrant all the attention they’re getting. What I am more interested in—or, you could say, concerned about—is what happens when the hype shifts elsewhere? Just because the fickle influencers have decamped for the next restaurant darling doesn’t mean the places they’ve abandoned aren’t still worth your patronage. A restaurant that was impenetrable two years ago might be just as good now, or better. And that hundred-year-old institution you thought would be around for another hundred years? Well, that’s not always the case …
Colin
An ode to Ferdinando’s Focacceria
📍Carroll Gardens
🍽️ Italian
Over the weekend news dropped that Ferdinando’s Focacceria would be closing immediately. The Brooklyn stalwart had been in operation for 121 years, first opening its doors during Teddy Roosevelt’s first term in 1904. That’s a pretty amazing feat and something that shouldn’t be glossed over in the latest news cycle. This modest restaurant stood the test of time, doling out delicious Sicilian food all day long. I had been a fan for around 15 years now, and honestly I can’t remember how or when I first read about it, but soon after I did I went in for my introductory visit. The first thing I remember ordering—something that I would get on every subsequent visit—was the Vastedda Sandwich, which is a classic Sicilian sandwich with cheese and offal that they were known for. In this case, it was spleen layered with fresh ricotta and topped with grated caciocavallo cheese on fresh baked bread. It is an amazing sandwich for anyone like me who loves offal as it pairs the warm, slightly metallic livery flavor with the cold ricotta and saltiness of the grated cheese in a perfect way. I continued to go almost yearly since then, pretty much anytime they were open and I was in the area. I would always order the Vastedda but there were tons of less adventurous dishes on the menu that I loved too, like the amazing and huge Arancina Special, which was a rice ball topped with tomato sauce and cheese; the Panelle Special, which was a warm fried chickpea fritter dressed exactly like the Vastedda on the warm fresh bread; Frutti Di Mare and even chicken or veal parm. I am sorry I will not get a chance to go there again as it was such a classic NYC spot and it is really sad to see it go.
A funny Ferdinando’s story that bears repeating: while I was sitting down with some friends recently, a gentleman walked in, looked around, before proudly announcing, “Wow, you guys are still here? I haven’t been here in 35 years!” Without skipping a beat, the woman at the register replied, “Yeah, no thanks to you!”It was the perfect response and the perfect moment, much like the perfect place that Ferdinando’s always was. Don’t be that guy. Go to all of your favorites because they don’t usually last for over 100 years and most are gone before you know it.
Mitsuru
📍West Village
🍽️ Sushi
Mitsuru is a new West Village restaurant from Parcelle Wine and Chef Mitsuru Tamara, the former longtime chef of Sushi Yasuda. I have been a HUGE fan of Chef Mitsuru since I was introduced to him through friends around 10 years ago at Sushi Yasuda. To back up a bit, Sushi Yasuda opened in 1999 from Chef Yasuda and pretty immediately became the top sushi restaurant in NYC and one of the first (to my knowledge) offering omakase. This is the first place I remember tasting uni and understanding that the crisp nori wrapped around it really changed the bite and experience. It was the first time I remember that all of the parts of sushi started making sense to me. Needless to say, I still had—and still have!—a lot to learn, but Sushi Yasuda was a place that always felt special to me. When Chef Yasuda left his namesake spot in 2010, I was interested to go back to see if it was still as great as I remembered it. Good thing Chef Mitsuru was there by then and the place didn’t skip a beat. Over the years, Chef Mitsuru and I became friendly, so I couldn’t be happier for him to now finally have his own place. The centerpiece of Mitsuru is the eight seat sushi bar where Chef presides. Beyond what, imho, is a below market omakase price point ($150 or $250), the thing I really love about this place is the way the room feels. It feels totally different than many of the sushi temples that have become en vogue over the last 10 year of the high end sushi boom. It feels more like a chic Japanese living room than a temple, the music is going, the voices get boisterous. It’s genuinely a great “vibes” space, which seems like a part of the sushi experience that I didn’t realize I’d been missing. The food is delicious and the wine list expansive, with fun pours at all price points. Chef Mitsuru is a true master and a really fun personality behind the bar. Go let him take care of you.
Foul Witch
📍East Village
🍽️ Italian
The restaurant landscape is funny sometimes. Writers, bloggers, and foodstgrammers find their favorites, create an echo chamber, and then they are all onto the next. Rinse and repeat. It’s like whiplash for new places, which rarely have a chance to get their feet under them before the hype cycle moves on. One of the early media darling restaurants of ‘23 was Foul Witch. I went several times over the last few years, usually sneaking in sans reservation on Monday nights for an early seating (yes, one of the increasingly rare places open seven days a week!) and enjoyed some unbelievable meals there. Last week, I was thinking about what I was in the mood for and wanted to go to a fun restaurant with great food. In 2025, short notice for the caliber of restaurant of Foul Witch is nearly impossible, but to my surprise I was able to get some primetime seats at the bar with only a few days' notice. In my opinion, the best seat at any restaurant is at the bar, but especially at Foul Witch, where you can see the open kitchen and watch the dishes come out over the pass. After another incredible meal here, I can honestly say that Foul Witch is the most slept on restaurant in the city right now. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen them “on my feed,” but any time someone I know speaks about it they all agree that it’s highly underrated. For this visit, I wanted to eat a bit lighter and focus on their seafood (because, you know, health) and yet I still ended up being blown away. Of course the bread and butter/fire and ice situation is hard to pass up, but for this visit I was able to resist it and instead zeroed in on the celery salad with anchovy, a Boston mackerel with labne, as well as the absolutely perfect beans with salsa verde. Followed that up with a brand new pasta of a wonderfully funky taleggio cappelletti and the main event of a yellowfin tuna collar. Rule of thumb for me is that if there is a fish collar of any sort on a menu, I am 100 percent going to order it. The little nooks of tender meat you find throughout? Honestly, they make for one of the most fun and delicious eating experiences. At any rate, my return to Foul Witch reminded me that, much like remembering to visit institutions like Ferdinando’s Focacceria before they’re gone, don’t forget about your favorites! That place that you loved a year or two ago, come back and eat there again. More times than not, you will be happy that you did.
Sunn’s
📍Chinatown
🍽️ Korean
I’ve been a huge fan of Sunny Lee for years, so I couldn’t be happier to see her thriving at the newly opened Sunn’s. I first met Sunny when she was doing her pop-up at the Peoples Wine Bar in Essex market. There was a buzz in the industry around that pop-up, one that featured Korean banchan as the main star and paired it with an awesome wine list. The pairing of the two was absolutely perfect, and people were losing their minds over the fun of the whole concept. I remember going for the first time with a few friends and it was a revelation of how exciting banchan could be (not to mention things like an incredibly tasty stew). Sunny’s food has always tasted like a warm hug and, to me, remains the most nourishing meal in NYC. It is something I crave and could easily eat every day. Besides how much I loved the food at her pop-up, the real star of the show was always Sunny herself. After her extended pop-up, Sunny and I kept in touch (again, big fan) and I followed her around to her many one off pop-ups, be it at a Korean street fair, a wine event, or Daymoves. Literally wherever Sunny went, I was going to be there, always asking her what was next and hoping she was going to tell me about her new restaurant. There were a few starts and stops along the way, including a stint totally revamping the menu at Achilles Heel into her style, but finally the pieces all fit together for her to open a small shop of her own with the team from Parcelle Wine. Sunny is a chef’s chef. She has worked in many of “the” places and knows all the people. She is more than just the person behind the concept though, and she loves to interact with the guests. Every table at some point or another has a genuine interaction with Sunny and that is what makes it so special. Sunn’s has been my favorite new opening so far, and as much as I’d prefer to gatekeep it, it deserves all of the praise it is currently receiving, as well as all of what I am sure is about to come. Do yourself a favor and give this place a visit, order most if not all of the always rotating menu, and tell me how much you love it. I know I do.
Clemente Bar
📍Flatiron
🍽️ Cocktail Bar/Vegan
I can’t remember the last time I have heard so many people singing the praises of a newly opened bar as I have with Clemente Bar. I mean the pedigree is obviously there, what with a 3 Michelin Star kitchen and all the freedom to do something cool, but you never know with these things. I tried my luck a few times as a solo walk-in early in the evening and ended up just hanging at the EMP bar waiting to see if I received a text, to no avail. Honestly, the EMP bar is a pretty great consolation – the staff is fantastic and it is pretty laid-back. At long last, aka last week, I finally got the call. A good friend was doing some work with the Clemente team, and I was going to meet him to hang out and check the place out as soon as he was done. We opted for the lounge rather than the tasting menu as I wanted a more à la carte experience. The room is gorgeous, with textured wooden walls and large Clemente murals on both the front and back of the space. The backbar is totally minimalist with no bottles showing, meaning all of the focus is on the large art piece and the bartenders. The drinks are inventive and delicious and broken up into four categories. My favorites being The Clemente Martini, made vesper style with vodka and gin plus additions of green curry and saffron. It also comes with a perfect house olive that adds a bit of a cumin kick to it as well. The other fun thing about this bar is that, just like the restaurant it lives above, it’s also completely vegan! In most cases, I’d be skeptical, but the food here was delicious. I went with the avocado inari pockets, which are basically avocado nigiri wrapped in a soft tofu wrapper with finger lime and shiso. I could have eaten a lot of these, but thankfully they only gave me two. The other highlight was the burger, which was a fried portobello mushroom burger. It made me nervous at first, and I feared that it might not pack enough punch. But the first bite was absolutely bursting with flavor and definitely worth checking out. All in all I couldn’t recommend this place enough, it was a great experience.
Romeo’s
📍East Village
🍽️ Cocktail Bar
Romeo’s is one of my favorite newer bars that opened in the last year. It is owned by some friends and is always a great time. They do a lot of fun community events/flea markets and just in general always seem to have a fun thing going on. Last Monday, Romeo’s did an awesome pop-up, collaborating with a bunch of other cool companies/restaurants (Blackbird being one of them!) such as Rubirosa, 886, Ford’s Gin, Toronto Tartare, and The Brooklyn Hot Dog Company, to come up with a menu that paired hot dogs with martinis. Each pairing was a steal at $20 and the three I tried were all delicious. It seemed like the most popular of the night was the Rubirosa Dog, which was a play on their famous “Tie Dye Pie” with a pepperoni hot dog topped with vodka sauce, mozzarella, and pesto and paired with an understated pesto martini. I believe they may keep this one on the menu for a bit, so give it a try. Such a fun event!
Quick hits …
Wayne & Sons NYC
📍East Village
🍽️ Tex-Mex
Wayne & Sons is a tiny sliver of a Tex-Mex restaurant that recently opened in the East Village. I popped in quickly for some of their breakfast tacos (Sunday’s only) and thought it was really tasty. Looking forward to coming back to try the hard shell tacos they are leaning into. The potato, bean, egg and cheese taco on this particular morning hit the spot.
Le Veau d’Or
📍Upper East Side
🍽️ French
Le Veau d’Or is just a magical place. I wrote about it a few weeks ago so we won’t go that deep here, but, as my recent fourth visit proved, the place only gets better. No other room in the city feels as good as it feels to be here, and the staff is all really top notch. The frog legs also returned for this visit as a special and, if they’re on the menu, are a must get!