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R17, a cocktail lounge and restaurant at the Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City, will open on Dec. 1 with a beverage program from mixologist Mark Murphy. The cocktail menu will include savory ones such as this F.Dirty.R. — a gin martini with black olive brine in a Nick & Nora glass. The finishing touch to the drink, named after martini enthusiast President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is a prosciutto-wrapped olive.
Availability: Indefinitely
Price: $14
Another cocktail that will be available once R17 debuts is the San Luis Swizzle — crafted with mezcal, Chartreuse, pineapple and serrano chiles. The spicy sip is served in a Collins glass, topped off with Peychaud’s Bitters and garnished with a blistered shishito pepper
Availability: Indefinitely
Price: $14
Executive chef Srijith Gopinathan specializes in Californian-Indian cuisine at Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurant Campton Place in San Francisco. One of the chef’s new fall prix-fixe menus includes pasta featuring a bevy of luxurious ingredients: lobster, white truffle shavings, truffle fondue and edible 24-karat gold. According to Gopinathan, chefs in India used to incorporate edible gold and silver when cooking for royalty as a sign of celebration. White truffles are only available from mid-autumn to mid-winter, and the chef wanted to celebrate the season by adding gold to the dish.
Availability: Through winter
Price: $98 supplement on the $155 Spice Route Menu
A dessert that is available on both of Gopinathan’s prix-fixe menus mimics the appearance of a green apple — a tribute to this classic fall fruit. The “apple” is composed of apple mousse, spiced apple compote and cake made from mawa, or khoya, a thick, creamy solid created by reducing milk over heat, and then covered in a green-colored apple glaze. The dessert is served with fennel-apple sorbet.
Availability: Through winter
Price: Available on both the $155 Spice Route Menu and the $119 four-course menu
Executive chef Dianna Daoheung is continuing the monthly chef collaboration series at Black Seed Bagels, a New York City concept. For December, Daoheung is teaming up with Umber Ahmad, founder and chef of Mah Ze Dahr, a local bakery and café backed by Tom Colicchio. The monthly special at all four Black Seed locations will be a sesame bagel sandwich with Moroccan-style chicken salad, seasoned with cilantro, saffron, preserved lemon, Castelvetrano olives, dried cranberries and tahini. The limited-time offer combines sweet and savory flavors and highlights ingredients from the Mediterranean and North Africa as an homage to Ahmad’s travels.
Availability: Starting Dec. 1 through the end of the month
Price: $8.50
The Water Tower opened Nov. 16 at The Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn, N.Y. The menu at the new lounge and nightclub includes lavish bites such as a grilled cheese sandwich with three different kinds of cheese — fontina, Comté and smoked gouda — on brioche from Brooklyn Bread Lab, which is in residence at the hotel. What takes the menu item over the top is the addition of white truffle shavings.
Availability: Through winter
Price: $70
The Hummus & Pita Co., based in New York City with five units, is expanding to the morning daypart with the launch of a breakfast menu at its location at Bell Works in Holmdel, N.J. Among the new offerings is a sabich, an Iraqi-Israeli breakfast sandwich, served on pita with spinach, sliced hard-boiled eggs, tomato-cucumber salad and fried eggplant. The fast-casual Mediterranean chain’s other breakfast dishes include omelets, shakshuka and a selection of freshly baked goods such as bourekas — pastries with spinach, potato and cheese. The Hummus & Pita Co. plans to roll out the breakfast service to all other stores by early 2019.
Availability: Indefinitely
Price: $6.95
Related: 12 fast-casual Mediterranean concepts poised to grow
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