New dining options in New York City are challenging conventional approaches to flavor and ambience with inventive menus and thoughtfully curated spaces.
Bar Chucho, located on the edge of Chinatown, offers a distinctive take on Cantonese XO sauce by incorporating Mexican ingredients. Chef Fidel Caballero blends traditional elements such as scallops with grasshoppers and smoked corazón to create a condiment rich in funk and umami. This mixture is paired with maple-glazed rice cakes served on toothpicks, delivering a chewy, textured snack intended to complement the venue’s signature cocktail, the Malverde, which combines sweet and herbal notes reminiscent of candied cilantro. The establishment, affiliated with the team behind the fine-dining restaurant Corima, positions itself as a casual neighborhood bar that balances upscale drinks with affordable food offerings, including brisket burgers enhanced with dry-aged garum and chiles toreados, priced at $18. Its culinary approach draws inspiration from Mexico City street snacks, elevating items like the chilindrina—a light, airy chicharrones de harina—by layering it with kombu cueritos and silky bluefin tuna. While guacamole appears on the menu, it features an unexpected ingredient: crisped tripe, adding complexity beneath a smooth avocado mash.
On the Williamsburg waterfront, Bar Susanne occupies a light-filled space near the East River, contributing to the area’s ongoing upscale transformation. Co-owner and chef Jackie Carnesi, known for her previous work rebooting Kellogg’s Diner, has fashioned the restaurant as a raw bar and seafood-focused establishment. Diners are drawn to its standout French fries, often ordered in multiples, but the menu extends beyond simple sides to creative seafood dishes. Highlights include littleneck clams served with a passionfruit aguachile, cooked scallops accompanied by sweet corn that bridges the flavors of merroir and terroir, tender squid in a bright gazpacho-style sauce, and boquerones presented atop lemon aioli with a side of potato chips. The restaurant experiments boldly with ingredients and presentations, although some dishes, such as an overpriced lobster salad burdened with bitter celery and thick endive cups, have faced critique for overpowering delicate flavors. In defiance of typical seafood restaurant norms, Bar Susanne also offers dessert, including a well-received chocolate coconut sundae enriched with toasted almonds, evoking the taste of an Almond Joy candy bar.
Both venues exemplify a willingness among New York City chefs and restaurateurs to rethink traditional dishes by blending unexpected elements and expanding the boundaries of familiar dining formats. While their culinary executions vary, Bar Chucho and Bar Susanne contribute fresh perspectives to the city’s evolving food scene.