Headliner
Nonna Dora’s Pasta Bar
Addolorata Marzovilla, known as Dora, has been cooking for about 70 years, the last 32 of them alongside her son Nicola at his New York restaurants, notably the recently closed I Trulli. Now, at 85, she has her own restaurant, a showcase for her excellent handmade pastas, which opened in February. During the pandemic, she remained at home, making pasta. “I like making pasta” Ms. Marzovilla said, adding that she also liked being around people. This allows her to do both. Her son made it clear that this was her project, not his, though he is an adviser. The restaurant, serving only dinner for now, is small, with a dozen counter seats, a few high-top tables and an open kitchen at the small bar. Ms. Marzovilla’s menu, with a strong nod to her native Puglia, cuts no corners, offering a lengthy list of appetizers that includes panzerotti and Sunday meatballs. The pastas, just shy of 20 choices, include cavatelli with broccoli rabe and almonds; tagliatelle with wild mushrooms and truffles; orecchiette in rabbit ragú; three kinds of lasagna; maccheroncini grano arso (burnt wheat) with duck; and mezzelune stuffed with shrimp and mushrooms. A few family-style main courses, including roasted rabbit, rack of wild boar and Tuscan steak, can be ordered in advance. There’s a full bar and a small selection of products like olive oil for sale; all the food is available to-go.
606 Second Avenue (33rd Street), nonnadoras.com.
Opening
DOM
The Austrian drinks virtuoso Albert Trummer has opened his most ambitious project to date, in the United Charities building in Gramercy (also home to Hawksmoor restaurant). DOM is in a spacious underground room, with a glowing bar done in striated honey onyx as its cynosure. Mr. Trummer said the name referred to the word “domicile.” Late-afternoon aperitifs, cocktails with small bites, digestifs and nightcaps are assembled by a team that is led by Mr. Trummer and includes his son Jakob. The food is by Wolfgang Ban. To complete the picture, clusters of plush upholstered furniture are found in a space designed by Giulio Cappellini. Music, often live in supper club style, will evoke what Mr. Trummer calls “the Frank Sinatra era.” (Opens Friday)
287 Park Avenue South (entrance on East 22nd Street), 212-652-7103, domlounges.com.
Chez Zou
This cocktail lounge sits above Zou Zou’s, a new Mediterranean restaurant in the Manhattan West development, on the fourth floor of the Pendry Hotel. Drinks in the lounge, a vibrant setting with expansive outdoor seating, are by Joey Smith, who was at the NoMad, and bar snacks are from Madeline Sperling, the executive chef of Zou Zou downstairs.
Manhattan West, Pendry Hotel, 385 Ninth Avenue (33rd Street), 212-380-8585, chezzou.com
Pebble Bar
The upper floors of this townhouse, which, for over a century, was Hurley’s, a bar attracting the likes of Jack Kerouac, Johnny Carson and David Letterman, have been reimagined. The second floor is a bar, the third floor a dining room and the fourth is Johnny’s, for private events. (There’s a branch of Magnolia Bakery on the ground floor.) In charge are the restaurateurs and chefs Matt Kliegman, Carlos Quirarte, Noah Bernamoff, Julian Brizzi and Matthew Charles. The executive chef, Carlos Barrera, from the Lobster Club, emphasizes seafood.
67 West 49th Street, pebblebarnyc.com.