Michelin Guide Adds 25 New Restaurants To Its New York City Selections

Your to-dine list just got a lot longer. On Wednesday, July 15, The Michelin Guide announced 25 additions to its New York City selections, a predecessor to the revered guide’s announcement of Bib Gourmand and Star awarded restaurants later this year. The list is to help food lovers and adventurous diners explore these restaurants prior to any potential accolades (and potentially sold out tables, if they’re not booked up already).

“By revealing some of the new additions made by our inspectors throughout the year, we enhance our digital tools to further strengthen the ties that bind us to food lovers,” said Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides. “We hope that these regular revelations and updates to the selection throughout the year will provide opportunities to highlight the profession and invite everyone to discover and support the restaurants around them.”

Ranging from regional Mexican food, to contemporary Korean to New York steakhouses and beyond, these selected restaurants are diverse in flavor, ownership and price point.

Here’s the list of Michelin New York City additions, with previews of the inspector notes for each restaurant:

Bar Tulix

Baja-inspired eats meet SoHo sleek at Bar Tulix, a hot spot from John McDonald and Justin Bazdarich. The food straddles a very relaxed line between casual and haute Mexican cuisine, and the seafood-leaning menu is primed for enjoyment.

Barbuto

After closing its original location, this favorite from Chef Jonathan Waxman reopened just a few blocks away. The feel of the space is much the same, with the likes of a humming kitchen and arched windows with views of the Hudson.

Bonnie’s

Inside, the look is retro Hong Kong diner through and through but Chef Calvin Eng plates Cantonese regional cuisine with modern interpretations.

CheLi

Chef Qiling Wang and wife/pastry chef Fang Fang are clearly in charge of this deep study on Shanghainese cuisine. There is wine-soaked chicken to get things going, while a stew of minced crabmeat and peach resin deserves its specially marked notation.

Cómodo

Felipe Donnelly and Chef/co-owner Tamy Rofe have resurrected their much-loved SoHo spot, now at the Freehand Hotel. This iteration is wooing patrons with its warm interior and tempting dishes blending Latin American influences from Brazil to Mexico.

Dame

Dreamed up by Patricia Howard and Ed Szymanski, this pop-up turned brick-and-mortar is all the rage. It’s a quaint space, and the seafood-focused menu spins to the season, although fish and chips is the dish that catapulted it to fame.

Esora Omakase

Esora is a counter within another Japanese restaurant, J-Spec, owned by Tomoe Food Services, a local and specialized meat distributor. Preparing the omakase menu, Chef Koichi Endo incorporates wagyu throughout the progression of courses.

Gage & Tollner

Seafood towers, big steaks, crab cakes and a particularly superb platter of fried chicken with cornmeal fritters take their cues from the legendary Edna Lewis, who ran the kitchen in the late ’80s.

Gotham

Three decades in, longtime pastry chef Ron Paprocki now runs the show at this tried-and-true institution. Gotham exudes old-school New York, as does the classic American cooking with Continental accents.

Icca

Chef counters are a treat, but a seat in front of Chef Kazushige Suzuki feels like a best-kept secret. The room has a presence of its own, notable in scale and hidden away in the back past a cocktail bar.

Joomak Banjum

Chef Jiho Kim and pastry maven Kelly Nam merge global flavors on their approachable tasting that riffs on familiar dishes, like jajangmyeon, made here with squid ink-sourdough noodles.

LittleMäd

Chef Sol Han has created a menu that offers freedom of choice in its contemporary à la carte compositions, all of which delight with endless — and many Korean — surprises.

Lore

Run by chefs/partners Jay Kumar and John Kim, this unique corner storefront at the base of a Park Slope residential building delivers creative, highly enjoyable Indian-infused and American fare.

Mel’s

Salads and vegetable-focused dishes kick things off; and then there are the pizzas. Chef Melissa Rodriguez has the necessary skills to make a truly good pie (think a paper-thin crust with chew and char).

Nudibranch

A former pop-up from two Ssäm Bar alums, chefs Victor Xia and Jeff Kim, Nudibranch has found its footing in its East Village space, proffering a three-course prix fixe (or four if you seek dessert — and you do).

Nura

Chef Jackie Carnesi’s menu is deliciously informed by co-owner Michelle Lobo-Hawley’s Indian heritage. From coriander garlic naan to maple sweet crumbly corn bread, the fresh bread basket is a marvel.

Porcelain

In a vintage space that was once the set of a Martin Scorsese film, big flavors and big portions fly with abandon. The menu’s approach to Asian cuisine is daring and has no sections — it’s a roaming, borderless lineup.

Rolo’s

By day, the front is a bakery and bodega. By nightfall, the room morphs into a spacious cocktail bar. An adjoining space also comes to life as a roaring wood-fired grill bathes the room in flickering amber hues and signals the start of dinner service.

Sushi Ikumi

This rather modest sushiya is simply outfitted; the best seat in the house — naturally — is at the counter, where diners can watch the master in action, as he prepares his top-notch fish and seafood with purity and delicious simplicity.

Sweetbriar

Sweetbriar is Chef Bryce Shuman’s broadly appealing second act. Here, he delivers New American cooking kissed by the flames of a wood-fired grill and a seasonally directed menu that has something for everyone.

Veranda

On the second floor of the ModernHaus hotel, the décor is dramatic yet breezy. Keeping company with this convivial setting is a range of accessible fare, like ‘nduja with béchamel, burrata, and honey coupled with fresh-baked flatbread.

Victor

This Mediterranean beau arrives in Gowanus courtesy of well-known chefs, Ian Alvarez and Ryan Angulo. This is cooking that optimizes the wood oven and is best enjoyed with a friend. Dishes are seasonal, adopt a modern approach, and harness bold flavors.

Wau

The façade of this Salil Mehta operation is meant to evoke the hawker stalls of Singapore; and thankfully, the chef’s creations are equally unique and delicious.

Wenwen

Chef Eric Sze and partner Andy Chuang bring the vibrant flavors of Taiwanese cooking to Greenpoint with Wenwen.

Yoshino

Revered Tokyo chef Tadashi “Edowan” Yoshida has named his NYC venture for the town in Nara Prefecture where his father hails. This meticulous approach is seen in the room, and again in the presentation of dishes.