NYFW’s Most Stylish Restaurants

Have you ever thought about the fact that you can get style inspiration from a restaurant? We hadn’t—until recently, when it seemed that some of New York’s newest eateries were drawing crowds as much for their considered interior design as their food. This is, of course, thanks to seasoned interior pros who can translate the spice and tenor of a menu to a sensory experience of the other sorts—to a style.

Want to dress like a chill art gallerist? Go observe the team at De Maria, and then go buy clear-lucite Moscots and Everlane schmattas. If “sarcastic yet warm, midcentury modern enthusiast” is your vibe, Loring Place will feel full of infectious choices, including the exclusive Todd Snyder aprons chef commissioned.

But, wait—there’s more! Three more, to be exact.

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@demarianyc

It’s nearly impossible to not Instagram every tiny little detail at De Maria, the new health-minded restaurant in NoLIta, a vision of The MP Shift , a concept and branding studio co-founded by two women, Anna Polonsky and Amy Morris with collaboration from art director Nikki Brand. We mention all of this to say no nuance is left un…nuanced. The muted patina’d palette and the rough plaster walls suggest an attention for design in even the unused or unnoticed spaces. The food, of course, is very good.

Location: NoLIta

Followers: 2,794

@chinesetuxedo

120 years after the first Chinese Tuxedo opened on Doyers Street, a second one is opening. This one’s a tribute to the first in way more than just name and location. Even the brand-spanking-new restaurant’s Instagram feed time travels a bit—because the new shots are posted in black and white, they look eerily in time with actual photos from the first which are mixed right into the feed. This iteration builds on its past—the two-story space was once an opera house, and the original palm trees are still thriving. It’s a sexy subterranean jungle, perfect for pre-dinner drinks or really weird late nights, and it’s part of the Chinatown rehabilitation wave. Eddy Buckingham (“Justin Timberlake’s mixologist,” Google it) and Jeff Lam, a visionary contractor brought the idea to life, and then they opened The Good Sort, a cafe and porridge shop, on top of it.

Location: Chinatown

Followers: 1,329

@loringplacenyc

Here’s where the Todd Snyder apron thing comes in. Dan Kluger, a chef with twenty years in kitchens of some top-top chefs, has finally opened his own place. He knew seasonal produce and midcentury design would be on the menu, but compromise never will be, so he hand-selected every detail—or those are the whisperings at the Loring Place bar while patrons freak out over the upholstery or persimmon accents or the custom chambray-inspired smocks.

Location: Greenwich Village

Followers: 2626

@lalonewyork

Lalo, a new restaurant from the former chef at El Rey, feels like Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West got mixed up with a neon artist. This is an attempt at explaining things like the turquoise glow coming from odd places: below yellow upholstered booths like a car’s underglow, or from behind a mirror on a windowsill, one of the very few objects in an otherwise quirkily un-designed space. The color-blocked frame on the menu, even, is something to dress around.

Location: Chinatown

Followers: 2,505

@lo_nyc

Unfair addition here in the form of THE LØ (or The Lø, depending), a cocktail bar hidden below De Maria on Kenmare. When the bar and “creative epicenter” opens—soon, we hope—perhaps the owners can explain. All we know now is that it’s a mood board we might as well pin in a closet, with forest-green velvet, peacock feathers and Curtis Kulig yellow smiley face paintings.

Location: NoLIta

Followers: 312


THE GET

Antidote to this weekend’s snow—affordable fleece booties from MontBell, an outdoor brand famous for its superbly-constructed and simple products. Japanese, of course.