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Off the Menu

Wagamama, Serving Asian-Influenced Dishes, Opens in NoMad

The bar area at Wagamama, an Asian restaurant that has 150 locations worldwide.Credit...An Rong Xu for The New York Times

WAGAMAMA It’s easy to understand why Asian restaurant groups that have come to New York — like Sugarfish from Los Angeles, Ootoya from Tokyo and now Wagamama from London — do not want to be called chains. These places are well designed, with interiors handsomely finished in fine materials. Wagamama, which started in 1992 and has 150 locations worldwide, has opened a two-story space in the NoMad area that seats more than 200, mostly at counters and communal tables. Some seats face the kitchen, though with a no-reservations policy, snaring one may be a challenge. The food, made fresh, is basically Asian, highlighting ramen but also offering soba noodle dishes, donburi rice bowls and curries, which the executive chef of the group, Steve Mangleshot, thinks will have special appeal for New Yorkers. This is the only location where spirits are poured and brunch will be served: 210 Fifth Avenue (26th Street), 212-920-6233, wagamama.us.

BLACK TAP MIDTOWN This is the fourth outlet for burgers and eye-catching baroque milkshakes from the chef Joe Isidori and Chris Barish. (Opens Saturday): Blakely Hotel, 136 West 55th Street, 212-315-4356, blacktapnyc.com.

BLAKE LANE Some highlights from the all-day California-style menu by the chef Diego Moya, formerly of Casa Mono, include sweet-and-savory grain porridges, a poke bowl, olive oil cake and his take on bibimbap, made with farro. The restaurant is owned by Suzanna Beall. (Thursday): 1429 Third Avenue (81st Street), 212-988-4700, blakelanenyc.com.

CHAO CHAO Over the summer, this was Soothsayer, a pop-up from the chef and an owner, Stephan Brezinsky, who learned to cook from his Vietnamese mother. Now it has set down roots with a new name in a whitewashed brick space thick with greenery. Look for grilled and charred eggplant with crushed peanuts and mint, a charred squid salad with pickled cucumbers and herbs, and thit kho consisting of braised pork shoulder and belly glazed with caramelized fish sauce and paired with Asian long beans. Beer and wine are served. (Wednesday): 171 Avenue A (10th Street), 212-475-3171, chaochaonyc.com.

DOLCE BROOKLYN Never mind the impending winter. At this 18-seat sweets parlor, there are gelatos and sorbettos in flavors like spiced pumpkin, Earl Grey tea and grapefruit with lavender to pamper the palate. Hot chocolate floats, crepes and (to order in advance) gelato cakes are also sold: 305 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn, 718-855-0680, dolcebrooklyn.com.

H&H MIDTOWN BAGELS EAST Without getting into the muddle of the place’s various names, owners and locations, let’s just say that it’s near the spot where the original no-frills H&H Bagels held forth, and serves bagel sandwiches with various kinds of cream cheese and smoked fish at counters and tables, and to go: 526 Columbus Avenue (86th Street), 212-498-9828, hhmidtownbagelseast.com.

LALO In a bright setting, the chef Gerardo Gonzalez, formerly of the highly regarded El Rey Coffee Bar & Luncheonette, is devising complex Mexican-accented fare like green mole Bulgarian feta, char sui ribs in a sour plum sauce, and sweet braised pumpkin with candied panko and queso fresco. (Thursday): 104 Bayard Street (Mulberry Street), 646-998-3408, lalo.nyc.

MAXWELL’S CHOPHOUSE There was a restaurant of this name in Boca Raton, Fla., from 1993 to 2007. Now the mother-and-daughter team who owned it, Babette Haddad and Melissa Haddad Malaga, have resurrected it in New York, in a landmark NoMad building owned by their family. In the gilded dining room, with high ceilings, leather seating and a zigzag marble floor, there is a typical steakhouse menu, with a deep collection of wines. The beef dishes can be turned into surf and turf with the addition of seafood. (Thursday): 1184 Broadway (29th Street), 212-481-1184, maxwellschophouse.com.

99 BANK The chef, Nima Khansari, working with the owners, Frank Baldassare and Michelle Kassner, serves a gluten-free menu with tricks like a Caesar salad with croutons, country pâté with seven-grain toast, pasta arrabiata and Nutella flourless cake. (Monday): 99 Bank Street (Greenwich Street), 212-524-0030, 99banknyc.com.

SHAY & IVY The ivy from the name (the title of a children’s book) twines throughout much of the rear dining room and softens an otherwise industrially decorated space. The executive chef, Bradley Warner, has devised a seasonal American menu with several choices meant for sharing: 39 West 24th Street, 646-666-8635, shayandivyny.com.

URBAN VEGAN KITCHEN Vegan comfort food is the specialty of this newcomer from Pamela Elizabeth’s Blossom and Blossom du Jour group: 41 Carmine Street (Bedford Street), 646-438-9939, urbanvegankitchen.com.

CORNER SLICE Ivan Orkin, best known for his Ivan Ramen restaurants, is adding this homey Italian bakery and pizzeria in January to Gotham West Market, where he also runs Slurp Shop for ramen. It will replace the Blue Bottle Coffee stand, which has closed, and it will serve La Colombe coffee. Mr. Orkin said he would be making mozzarella on the premises and would also offer sandwiches: 600 11th Avenue (44th Street).

THEMESS Ed Schoenfeld, who is having a successful run looking East with his groundbreaking Chinese restaurants RedFarm and Decoy, will be opening a Western (think Marlboro Man) restaurant by year’s end in the space that had been All’onda. He has engaged Zod Arifai, a self-taught chef and a native of Kosovo who was the chef and owner of Blu in Montclair, N.J., which closed last year. Mr. Schoenfeld has long known and admired Mr. Arifai’s work and has said he has been looking for a way to bring him to New York for years: 22 East 13th Street

MARK MATA, formerly at Mermaid Inn, is now the executive chef at August, an under-the-radar favorite on the Upper East Side: 791 Lexington Avenue (61st Street), augustny.com.

FABIO PICCHI, the chef and owner of Cibreo in Florence, Italy, is cooking a special $75 prix fixe menu with the executive chef Tim Kensett at Storico in the New-York Historical Society on the Upper West Side, through Nov. 25: 170 Central Park West (77th Street), nyhistory.org/dine.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ AND JUSTO PEREZ, two chefs from Havana, will prepare their specialties, including lobster medallion in a rum-and-coffee sauce, on Thursday and Friday at Guantanamera Restaurant: 939 Eighth Avenue (55th Street), guantanamerany.com.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section D, Page 12 of the New York edition. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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