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Four, the Latest From Jesse Schenker, Opens on Long Island

A third location of Mermaid Inn, a residency for Greenpoint Fish, and more restaurant news.

The chef Jesse Schenker in the kitchen at Four, in Oyster Bay, N.Y.Credit...Johnny Milano for The New York Times

After the chef Jesse Schenker made his name at Recette and The Gander in Manhattan, he decamped for the Long Island village of Oyster Bay, where he opened 2 Spring with Claudia Taglich, his business partner, in early 2018. Now, he has another restaurant ready to make its debut next door. Called Four, it’s in a historic Victorian cottage. (The two restaurants connect by a glass-covered pavilion that functions as an expanded dining room for 2 Spring.) Four has just 10 upholstered seats at a marble counter surrounding a demonstration kitchen done in simple Scandinavian style with blond wood set within the cottage’s white brick and siding. A painting of Anthony Bourdain is a centerpiece on one wall, and a huge Bonnet range equipped with a Japanese charcoal grill helms the kitchen. There, Mr. Schenker will be onstage so to speak, preparing and serving a 10- to 12-course tasting menu, $245, for one of the more elevated dining experiences available on Long Island. Mr. Schenker said he missed the ad hoc menus he used to prepare on Mondays at Recette. “I am thrilled for the opportunity to cook in a similar intimate style for my guests,” he said. Among the dishes he’s planning are an oyster tartlet, langoustine with Champagne essence, rigatoni with giant clam and chiles, foie gras with a duck fat croissant, Mishima Wagyu with wasabi and onion, and chocolate pot de crème. Mr. Schenker’s attention to detail will extend beyond the food and the list for 500 wines (from an underground cellar) to the tableware, with no pieces repeated throughout the dinner. Soon, he will open Provisions, a retail food shop, in a building around the corner. (Opens Thursday)

4 Spring Street (Shore Avenue), Oyster Bay, N.Y., 516-624-6877, 4springstreet.com.

This third location of Mermaid Inn, in the former Red Cat space in Chelsea, was open for just six days before lockdown in March 2020. It has reopened. The owners, Danny Abrams and Cindy Smith, have also announced that with a new partner, Jeff Bank, the chief executive of Alicart, which owns Carmine’s and Virgil’s, they will be opening a vast new Mermaid Inn next spring. It will be in the 15,000-square-foot space that housed Heartland Brewery at 127 West 43rd Street.

227 10th Avenue (23rd Street), 646-905-5900, themermaidnyc.com.

Because indoor seating is very limited at its home base on Nassau Avenue, the restaurant arm of this fish market is taking up residence at Threes Brewing a few blocks away. (For now, there will be no restaurant service at the market.) From Friday through April 30, their oysters, salads, smoked fish pâté, chowder, tacos, fried calamari and sandwiches will be on the menu for indoor and outdoor dining and takeaway. (Friday)

113 Franklin Street (Kent Street), Greenpoint, Brooklyn, 731-333-3430, greenpointfish.com.

This Greek steakhouse known for its spit-roasted lamb for two has reopened with a new consulting chef, Jean Charles Métayer, who has restaurants in Athens. The restaurateur James Paloumbis is now the managing partner.

5 West 21st Street, 212-380-1950, merakia.com.

Montclair, N.J., is becoming a magnet for Daniel Boulud alumni. Dominique Paulin and Olivier Muller opened a brasserie, Faubourg, over two years ago. Now, Jayce Baudry, a native of Bordeaux who was a pastry chef at Daniel and Épicerie Boulud, has opened this classic pâtisserie with a few cafe tables for instant gratification. His wife, Rebecca Baudry, also a pastry chef, is his partner in the business.

17 Church Street (Bloomfield Avenue), Montclair, N.J., 973-531-6464, jaycebaudry.com.

Here’s an original restaurant name for sure. The chef, Joel Reiss, says it’d meant to convey a sense of mystery. Mr. Reiss, who worked at the Odeon, Orsay and Artisanal, has joined Frank and Pietro Pecora, the owners of Delizia 73, for the first restaurant he’s calling his own. (Mr. Reiss and the Pecoras are partners.) The food leans toward comfort with some original touches like Nashville-hot frog legs, vegetable fried rice with a marinated skirt steak, and chicken “Parmanese,” a hybrid of Parm and Milanese made with fontina cheese. The 75-seat room has a tavern feel with exposed brick and some neon lights. (Wednesday)

1626 Second Avenue (84th Street), 917-388-3687, whosjacw.com.

Patrick O’Connell, the owner and chef of the much-lauded Inn at Little Washington, has opened this cafe and bakery as a new addition to the hotel, cottages and formal dining room in this village west of Washington, D.C. It has a more casual dining room serving a seasonal menu, a sidewalk cafe, and a retail shop for baked goods, pastries and other items. Devin Bozkaya is the head chef, and Christian Capo is the head baker. Both have worked at the Inn. Lindsey Fern, the Inn’s wine director, is overseeing the wine here as well. The cafe and bakery were designed by Pierre-Yves Rochon, who is known for L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon in New York and the Savoy in London, among many other projects.

389 Main Street, Washington, Va., 540-675-3801, pattyoscafe.com.

Daniel Boulud, who took over Augustine, the French restaurant that Keith McNally opened in the Beekman Hotel five years ago, said he didn’t plan to keep its name when he reopens it in the spring. But he does plan to retain much of the décor. “We’ll work with it; the charm will remain,” he said. He plans a bistro serving mostly classics, “more classic than I have done,” he said, “with a more chef-driven approach.”

5 Beekman Street (Nassau Street).

The Michelin guides will be expanding their reach in the United States next year. They are adding a guide to several parts of Florida: Miami and Dade County, Orlando and Orange County, and Tampa and Hillsborough County. In a statement, Gwendal Poullennec, the international director for the guides, said, “The inspectors look forward to discovering the world-class culinary landscape in Miami, Orlando and Tampa.” The guide will not include destinations just north of Miami, like Fort Lauderdale or Palm Beach, nor will it include St. Petersburg for the Tampa region. The guide, Michelin’s fifth destination in the United States, is a partnership with the tourism agency Visit Florida.

Florence Fabricant is a food and wine writer. She writes the weekly Front Burner and Off the Menu columns, as well as the Pairings column, which appears alongside the monthly wine reviews. She has also written 12 cookbooks. More about Florence Fabricant

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section D, Page 6 of the New York edition. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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