Where Colin Ate: Ha’s Snack Bar, Octo, Zimmi’s
This week, our columnist rides the hype train to new spots, and shares some insider hacks to use at a few old classics
While January is business as usual for me—hitting restaurants every single night—last week was an interesting one, as you’ll notice. Think: a mix of brand new spots brimming with hype and a handful of old classics. But here’s the thing, every restaurant, no matter how good, demands that you meet it halfway. How you interact with the place, what you order, where you sit, all the moves you make, partially determines the quality of your experience. So, for those standbys, I’ve got some hacks that were passed down to me by old restaurant pros years ago, and now, kids, I’m passing them onto you. Enjoy.
Colin
Ha’s Snack Bar
📍Lower East Side
🍽️ Vietnamese
Ha’s Snack Bar is somehow the most under the radar, highly anticipated, and hyped new opening I have ever seen – yes, all these things at once. For a little background, the Ha’s husband and wife duo has been doing pop-ups in NYC and around the world for around five years now as Ha’s Dac Biet. They have done meals in iconic spots like Paul Bert, Frenchette, Gia Vin et Grille, and Ops, among many others. They recently renovated the former Gem Wine Bar into an amazing little restaurant. We sat at the bar as a 4-top with a fun group including one of the owners of Early June Paris who had previously hosted the Ha’s crew as a residency a while back. As popular as these pop-ups have been, it is amazing that their first brick and mortar has still somehow flown under the radar of the craziness that usually follows a new opening (when this happens, I believe both the restaurants and the guests get the best out of it). The food at Ha’s Snack Bar is their own style and unapologetically funky. A chalkboard menu lists the day’s offering. The steak in particular was a standout, slicked with herbs and fish sauce. So was the vol-au-vent of curried crab and chanterelles, which was perfectly executed. Who knows if either of those dishes will be on the menu for any period of time, but definitely worth tasting if they are. The room has a great energy and it’s fun to see the team finally in a place of their own. This place is on the top of my list to get back to asap.
Zimmi’s
📍West Village
🍽️ French
Zimmi’s is a brand new opening in the West Village on Downing St., in the former home of Casa Brazilian. The space had been on the market for years and I myself had at least two friends “going to open there” before something fell through and it stayed vacant. Finally a sign went up and some press came out about six to eight months ago, followed by a brand new Southern French style spot. The restaurant comes from former Mattos and USHG vets and already has quite a bit of buzz. French spots seem like they have been all the rage for years now, and I don’t see the trend slowing down at all with new openings like Chez Fifi, Le Veau d’Or (technically not new, but under new ownership), Libertine, and their soon to open sibling La Royale among a ton of other bistro-like clones of Balthazar (which itself is a clone). Going to new restaurants when they open is usually a crapshoot. There’s so much hype, it’s impossible to get in either by design (holding the book) or space (small restaurants) and much of the time all the restaurant needs is a short while to settle in. Zimmi’s happens to be a really small restaurant that has the look and feel of a great neighborhood spot. Like I do often, I made a last minute decision to try to swing by and try my luck. Good news: I was quickly seated at the bar and sorted, great martini in hand and ready to try some food. The menu is pretty rustic, highlighting several foie dishes, a terrine and lamb stew as one of three mains (four if you include the massive steak option). As I was dining alone and not trying to eat too heavy—I was headed to Ernesto’s Five Year Anniversary party—I ordered conservatively (by my standards). Standouts to me were the pesto pasta with beans (who knew?!) and a perfectly lightly cooked salmon with chanterelles, turnips, and some wonderfully acidic sorrel which brought it all together. As a new restaurant this place felt like it had it together. I will definitely be checking back in on this one over the next few months as they dial it in even further.
Octo
📍Koreatown
🍽️ Korean-Chinese
Octo opened up about a year ago in Koreatown and has been on my to-do list for a few months now. Bonus points that it’s open on Mondays. It seems like NYC is just really starting to come back from 2020, but Sunday and Monday dining options still feel kind of slim. Octo serves a blend of Korean and Chinese food described from their site as “born out of the high demand for the Chinese dishes that were uniquely developed in Korea since late 19C and have been established as one of the most popular foods in Korea”. Honestly, I had no idea this was a thing, but I’m glad I do now because it was great. In a time where all of the popular restaurants of the moment are nearly impossible to get into, it’s always satisfying to find an under the radar place where the food is this good. I would recommend going with a group, though, as I wish I could have tried more of the menu. That being said, every single thing we tried was delicious and I would 100 percent order again. The 48-day dry aged half Peking Duck was incredible and as good a version as I’ve had in NYC. I also ordered the Kimchi Soup Dumplings, Jellyfish Salad (such a fun texture), and the JaJangmyeon, which is a pork and onion noodle dish with bean paste. Can’t wait to come back with more of a crew.
Leon’s
📍Union Square
🍽️ Italian
Leon’s is the brand new all-day restaurant from the husband and wife team at Anton’s. Leon’s opened about a month ago and has been humming along ever since. It’s always exciting when your go-to spot opens another location. I love seeing how they switch it up and decide what direction to go in next. For me, Anton’s is a spot I pop into often. It’s about a block from my place, and I love stopping by for a martini or two before heading out for the night, or I use it as the spot to meet my friends for a quick drink. Their ice box martinis are fantastic and if you can get a spot at the bar you’re feeling good. The food also happens to be delicious so any night I don’t feel like going far, I know a great meal is just up the street. For Leon’s they kept the Italian base and took the food in a much more Middle Eastern direction which has been really fun. The space is grand with 20-foot ceilings and a wide open feel that you don’t find often in NYC. It is literally the exact opposite of the old time tavern vibes at Anton’s but still is very comfortable. The menu is large and there are many ways to put together a great meal here. For me, the can’t miss items would be to start with some cheese/salumi, definitely the falafel, tuna carpaccio, pastas and the chicken. Honestly, the chicken may be one of the best I’ve had in recent memory in NYC.
Blue Ribbon Brasserie
📍Soho
🍽️ American
I can’t count how many times I have been to Blue Ribbon, but it has to be close to 50. I feel like any hospitality person who came up between the years of 1992-2020 has spent a good amount of time here. The biggest reason being that up until the pandemic it was open until 4 a.m. every night of the week. You could sit down after work at 3:45 a.m. and have an incredible meal of BR classics, like the famous bone marrow with oxtail marmalade (usually with the equally heavy foie terrine on the side – extra flaky salt always, please!). While my order has changed over the years—I honestly just can’t eat like I did as a “kid” at 2 a.m. any longer—BR is nearly back to its pre-pandemic glory. In other words, they’re open till 2 a.m., both the Pu Pu Platter and Chicken Burger are triumphantly back, and the oyster bar has returned to where it should be, behind the bar. I know that those seem like small things, but to be back there the other night and seeing familiar staffers doing their thing with the same old energy picking up around 11 p.m. was awesome. Now for the perfect Blue Ribbon Order: Oysters, Steak Tartare, New Orleans Shrimp, Chicken Burger with Goat Cheese and Serrano’s (goat cheese still isn’t back but I’ll find a sub until it is) or the Duck Club, and every once in a while crush a Pu Pu Platter, just to keep it fun.
Minetta Tavern
📍Greenwich Village
🍽️ French
I love burgers. I love eating them. I love talking about them. I love debating them. At a recent party, burgers and favorites quickly became the topic with someone whose opinion I respect, and I woke up the next morning craving only burgers. Or, more specifically: the Minetta Tavern burgers. Yes, plural. Minetta is known for two things: amazing steak and amazing burgers. Oh, also its amazing room. But I am always partial to the bar. A friend and I ended up snagging two bar seats immediately and I put my “Minetta game plan” in play. Minetta has two incredible burgers: the Minetta Burger and The Black Label. The Black Label is far and away their most talked about. It’s made with aged beef, trim from their awesome steaks, and famously served sans cheese (although I believe they will now accommodate people who want to add it). While both burgers are great, the only way to do Minetta correctly imho is to order both and split them with a friend. The first bite of a Black Label Burger hits you with the aged beef flavor of a steak. It’s incredibly rich and just barely balanced by the sweetness of the onions on top. The Minetta Burger is a great steakhouse style burger, coming with melted cheese and grilled onions. For me, half is all that I want. The Minetta Burger is the perfect compliment when you feel like having another half but don’t want to go straight into a food coma from the richness of The Black Label. Personally, I prefer raw onion on a burger to grilled, but the Minetta Burger’s grilled onions have their place here. Together, these two burgers are one of the best burger experiences in NYC.
Hen House
📍East Village
🍽️ Lebanese
Restaurants are hard. Really hard, and then even harder than that. You deal with so much bullshit every day – bills, staffing, vendors, weather, guests, HR, seasonality, plumbing, and that doesn’t even mention the food. Opening a restaurant is a challenge, but there is nothing like the feeling when it’s going well. It’s addicting. It’s why anyone who’s done it has such a hard time staying away and are always close to dipping one toe back in. All that is to say that it was great to see the community come together this weekend for Hen House, a little hole in the wall spot in the East Village serving a variety of Lebanese dishes. Truly, it’s a great little gem, as is the story behind it: a Montreal-raised chef starts out with a stall in Smorgasburg and gets enough of a following and online buzz to open his own brick and mortar. I first tried it via delivery and was blown away by the intense flavors and quality. The toum smacks you right in the face with sharp garlic and is absolutely craveable. After a few deliveries, I became a regular. A few days ago Tony, the owner, posted a message, the gist of which was basically: Hey, I’m being real with you, January is tough and I don’t want to just come out one day and say we’re closing, but the reality is, we may have to. Please come by and have some delicious food.
I loved Tony’s message, and even more so the amount of support and shares they got on that message. It always sucks to close up any business, but I feel like it stings even more when you announce it and then have your three best weeks ever because everyone comes out of the woodwork. Hopefully this call to action gives them the kickstart they need. If you go anywhere in the next few weeks, give this place a try. Tony’s message brought me to Hen House, and I can tell you that the Lebanese Crunch Wrap is the perfect bite after a big night of drinking. Also: don’t sleep on the Ramp Sambal, which is an insanely perfect condiment.
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