Welcome to Where to Eat, the restaurant newsletter that just ran out of the lamb shank — so sorry. Here’s what we’ve got for you today:
ECONOMICS OF DINING Americans are drinking less, restaurants are feeling hung overIn January, I wrote a short rant about the nonsensical pricing model for bitters and soda at restaurants after I was charged $10 for one. What I thought was a silly observation sparked some of the most spirited feedback I’ve ever received on an Instagram story, including a cost breakdown from a respected bar professional: A bitters and soda should cost no more than $6, she told me. But the most interesting message I received by far came from a restaurateur who said he felt some empathy for the restaurants I described: He’d also noticed a drop in alcohol sales at his own establishment and felt the squeeze on his margins. “I dunno, it’s a tricky question actually,” he wrote me. “Should a restaurant assume the alcohol sale is part of the business model?” And if diners like myself want something lighter, like a bitters and soda, what should restaurants do, he wondered. This restaurateur’s concerns don’t exist in a vacuum: Last year, alcohol consumption by Americans hit a record-low 54 percent, according to Gallup, and the pinch is being felt in dining rooms across the country. This week, Meghan McCarron has a story out about how restaurateurs, who have long factored alcohol sales into their business model, are preparing for a future where diners drink less or not at all. Read the story →
THE BRIEF REVIEW JaBäBefore a meal begins at JaBä, the Midtown Taiwanese restaurant, a server may offer the preamble that the chef, Anthony Inn, has created a menu unlike anything else in New York. And it’s true. For familiar Taiwanese cooking, there are places like Main Street Imperial in Flushing or Happy Stony Noodle in Elmhurst. But at JaBä, Mr. Inn is exploring what the cuisine might look like with an unconventional dash of wit and whimsy. A dish called “Because chicken is boring” reinvents popcorn chicken as crisp frogs’ legs with finger-licking good seasoning. But an actual chicken en papillote dish, inspired by sesame oil chicken, is hardly boring. Roasted in parchment, it is half a juicy bird thrumming with musky white pepper. At their best, these playful riffs on canonical dishes are delightful. But there are times when an idea feels forced or fails to achieve the same synergy, like the doughy scallion focaccia. As if hesitant to stray too far, Mr. Inn, who was born in Taiwan, also offers a few unedited classics. Here, he is more assured — five spiced pork belly lo ba beng is flavorful without being too rich. On each of my visits, the dimly lighted dining room sat mostly empty, which is a shame. Maybe it’s because JaBä doesn’t necessarily have the youthful energy of a place like Wenwen. Maybe people are wary of the restaurant’s language of refinement. To me, this is a positioning problem, not a cooking one. If other Taiwanese restaurants are serving nostalgia, or fun, Mr. Inn is making food for the dreamers. Their tables are waiting. Address: 230 East 58th Street (Second Avenue), Midtown East; 212-256-1468; jabanyc.com. Recommended Dishes: Stinky tofu; “because chicken is boring”; sesame oil chicken en papillote (pictured above); three cup soft shell shrimp; beef noodle soup; Berkshire pork LBB; sweet potato crème brûlée. Price: Appetizers $14 to $24; entrees $36 to $62; noodles, rice and greens $18 to $26; desserts $16 to $25. Wheelchair Access: The restaurant and bathroom are wheelchair accessible. OPENING OF THE WEEK The Ample Hills couple is betting on chicken burgersJackie Cuscuna and Brian Smith, the couple behind Ample Hills are back with a new restaurant, Ramblin’ Chick. The focus at the Carroll Garden restaurant is smash burgers made with ground chicken, plus other comfort foods like mac and cheese and soft serve. In an interview with New York magazine’s Grub Street last week, Cuscuna said after the troubles that have plagued the Ample Hills brand, which resulted in the couple being pushed out of the business in 2023, there’s still “the desire to do it again and to build a business again the right way.” More restaurant openings in the East Village, Upper East Side and Midtown →
A TIMELINE How did Noma get here?In 2023, Noma and its chef and co-owner René Redzepi announced that the Copenhagen restaurant would close, citing the “unsustainable” modern fine-dining business model, just months after announcing that it would finally pay its interns. (The closing was drawn out for more than two years.) Five months later, Noma organized its first monthslong residency since Noma Tulum in 2017, this time in Kyoto, Japan. Between pop-ups, Noma continued its push into online retail with Noma Projects, started in 2022 to sell high-end pantry goods created in the restaurant’s lab. In July 2025, Noma announced that its next pop-up would take the roving restaurant to Los Angeles. In January 2026, dates for the residency were announced as well as the price tag: $1,500 per person. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Redzepi attributed part of that cost to the need to bring 130 Noma employees and their families to California. Weeks later, Jason Ignacio White, the former head of Noma’s fermentation lab, began gathering and posting accusations of physical and psychological abuse against Redzepi from former Noma employees on Instagram. Julia Moskin, who has been reporting on Noma for years, independently interviewed dozens of former employees, culminating in her March 7 report about rampant abuse in Noma’s Copenhagen kitchen between 2009 and 2017. That same day, Redzepi shared a statement online that he was “deeply sorry” and that he had “found better ways to manage my anger.” On March 10, the day before the pop-up began, Blackbird and American Express announced that they were pulling their sponsorship. The first day of the residency, as protesters, including White, gathered outside the estate hosting the dinner series, Redzepi announced on Instagram that he would step down from Noma. In the aftermath, our co-chief critic Tejal Rao wrote that Noma failed to live up to its promise to bring fine dining into the future, while Julia Moskin reported on the restaurant industry’s divided reaction. But as Tejal pointed out, what exactly Redzepi has planned is unclear. “Was Noma, a place full of talent, going to become a worker-owned organization?” she asked. “Who exactly would lead the team? What role, if any, would Mr. Redzepi play? Or was this just another day in Noma’s perfect storm, another squall and breaker for Mr. Redzepi to weather?” Have New York City restaurant questions? Send us a note here. Follow NYT Food on TikTok and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.
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