Summer is fun and all, don’t get us wrong, but there truly is nothing like fall in New York. This coming season offers no shortage of things to be excited about: there are new hot spots to dine at, luxury hotels opening their doors and plenty of big names coming to Broadway (Mia Farrow! Patti LuPone! Robert Downey Jr.! Adam Driver!). Below, WWD Weekend breaks down what not to miss in New York in the days ahead.
Where to Eat and Drink
New to the city is Eel Bar, which opened late in the summer on the Lower East Side. From the team behind Cervo’s, Hart’s and The Fly, Eel Bar offers food and wine inspired by Southern France and the Basque country. The team behind Michelin-starred Rezdôra has opened Massara in Flatiron, in a larger space and with a more expanded menu beyond pastas. Le Veau d’Or, which debuted in 1937 on East 60th Street and is New York’s oldest operating French bistro, has been revived by Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr of Frenchette and Le Rock. The restaurant has been owned by just three families in its 87-year history and was beloved by the likes of Orson Welles, Grace Kelly, James Beard, Jacqueline Onassis and Marlene Dietrich. The new Le Veau d’Or will offer items like pommes soufflés caviar rouge à la crème, pâté en croute, duck magret with cherry sauce and a daily fricassé poulet avec vin jaune.
The nightlife experts at Golden Age Hospitality that operate The Nines, Le Dive, and Deux Chats will open a Parisian-style wine bar called Elvis in September. Located on Great Jones Street in NoHo, Elvis takes over from Great Jones Cafe (which inhabited the space for 35 years) and will offer small plates and natural wines. Over in Brooklyn, the see-and-be-seen crowd is flocking to Tenny’s, which opened this summer at SAA and is run by the hospitality gurus of Palm Heights. The menu skews American bistro with European sensibilities and offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. And for late nights? Freshly imported from Los Angeles, Desert 5 Spot has arrived in Williamsburg. Between the mechanical bull, rotating set of DJs spinning country tunes, a Dolly Parton-themed nook – and a menu of tacos, nachos and cocktails of course – we expect to see many a party here this fall.
What to See
After a spring season packed with new shows, fall on Broadway isn’t slowing down. Once you’ve crossed summer hits “Oh, Mary!” and “Job” off your list, there are plenty more shows to get excited about. First up is “The Roommate,” bringing Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone back to Broadway. The comedy explores the relationship between two new roommates and how you’re never too old to reinvent. It opens Sept. 12.
Robert Downey Jr. will make his Broadway debut this fall in “McNeal,” opening Sept. 29, in which he plays an accomplished writer with an estranged son and an obsession with AI.
Off-Broadway, Adam Driver returns to the New York stage at the Lucille Lortel in “Hold On To Me Darling,” from Oscar winner Kenneth Lonergan. The show, 13 weeks only and opening on Oct. 16, follows a country music star who returns to his hometown following the death of his mother.
“The Hills of California” makes its transfer from London’s West End when it opens on Broadway Sept. 29. From Jez Butterworth and Sam Mendes, the show is set in 1976 Blackpool, where three sisters pack into their family guest house as their mother lies dying.
The first Broadway revival of “Our Town” in nearly 25 years will open Oct. 10 with Jim Parsons, Zoey Deutch, Katie Holmes, Billy Eugene Jones, Ephraim Sykes and more in the cast.
After a delay, “Maybe Happy Ending” starring Darren Criss will finally open Nov. 12. Following the Tom Holland-led production in London, a new production of “Romeo and Juliet” comes to Broadway on Oct. 24 with Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler in the leading roles. Rounding things out, the West End production of “Sunset Boulevard,” starring Nicole Scherzinger, lands on Broadway Oct. 20.
Where to Stay
The Standard Hotel group will launch a new luxury concept in September with The Manner, located on Thompson Street. The 97-room hotel aims to feel like staying at a chic, well-connected friend’s SoHo apartment rather than a hotel and is the first hotel designed by Milan-based architect Hannes Peer, who specializes in residential design. His touches include floor-to-ceiling mirrors in the rooms, a gold leaf inlay inside the hotel’s bar, Sloane’s, and plenty of chandeliers.
What would fall be without a new members club? The Twenty Two, originated in London’s Mayfair, opens its second location in Union Square this fall in the Margaret Louisa Home. The nine-floor building will house a hotel, restaurant and private members’ club “dedicated to the art of lingering” and high-end service, “without the white gloves.” The restaurant, Cafe Zaffri, will be run by sisters Jennifer Vitagliano and Nicole Vitagliano of Raf’s and The Musket Room.
The Surrey, a Corinthia Hotel, will reopen in September on the Upper East Side, marking the first Corinthia Hotel in North America. The luxury hotel, which has been completely renovated, will boast 70 rooms, 30 suites and 14 residences, as well as an outpost of Miami hot spot Casa Tua.