After a lull in restaurant openings due to lockdowns, building permit holdups, and supply chain delays, chefs and operators across the country are finally looking to launch new projects in 2022. From major cities—D.C. chef Nicholas Stefanelli will open his long-awaited ode to Greek cuisine, Philotimo—to buzzy destinations like Savannah, Georgia and Napa Valley, creative culinary minds are debuting new concepts and reimagining the old. Take a look at the eating experiences we can look forward to in 2022, below.
Austin, Texas
Key Players: Mashama Bailey, Johno Morisano
Estimated Debut: Early 2022
Chef Mashama Bailey of Savannah’s acclaimed The Grey restaurant and casual counter-style The Grey Market will expand her Southern roots to Austin’s Thompson hotel early next year with The Diner Bar and a second outpost of her sandwich shop and market. Located on the property’s ground floor with an all-day menu, expect the Port City Southern food for which she’s known, this time with Texan touches.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Key Players: Maria Rondeau, JuanMa Calderon
Estimated Debut: Late January 2022
Maria Rondeau and chef JuanMa Calderon of Union Square’s beloved Peruvian boîte Celeste are gearing up for another such engagement, La Royal. While Celeste embraces the homestyle Peruvian cooking JuanMa grew up eating, La Royal will instead focus on his interpretation of regional Peruvian dishes. The duo is teaming up with author Darra Goldstein who will create a collection of macerated liquors for the restaurant.
Charleston, South Carolina
Key Players: Randall Cook
Estimated Debut: Fall 2022
Method Co., the team behind Philly’s lauded rustic Italian restaurant and hotel Mulherin's Sons, will expand to Charleston this spring with The Pinch, yet another boutique property plus restaurant. Claiming two Victorian-style structures dating back to the 1860s, the hotel will offer two dining engagements, one of which is The Quinte, a turn-of-the-century-themed oyster house and cocktail lounge. Patrons will be able to saddle up to a 47-seat marble oyster bar and sample simply prepared sustainable seafood dishes.
Healdsburg, California
Key Players: Kyle Connaughton, Katina Connaughton
Estimated Debut: March 2022
Chef Kyle Connaughton and his business and life partner Katina have made waves not only in the U.S. but around the world with their California ryokan and three-Michelin-star kaiseki-accented restaurant, SingleThread. Later this year they will venture out with their second wine country engagement, Little Saint. Claiming the breezy building that previously served as adorable market and café SHED, the duo will maintain the former concept’s farm focus, with a new bill of fare inspired by all that’s local to Sonoma. Think: a plant-based restaurant, a café, and a wine shop focused on small production wines. The 10,000-square-foot venue will also function as an art gallery and performance space highlighting local talent curated by interior designer Ken Fulk’s Saint Joseph’s Arts Foundation.
Houston, Texas
Key Players: Ho Chee Boon
Estimated Debut: Early 2022
After a splashy debut this past summer in San Francisco with modern Cantonese number Empress by Boon, Michelin-starred chef Ho Chee Boon is expanding to Blossom Hotel Houston with Duck House by Boon. It will be an upscale duck-focused Cantonese-leaning spot that will also offer dim sum and stir-fried dishes.
Key Players: Terrence Gallivan
Estimated Debut: Spring 2022
Chef and owner Terrence Gallivan––formerly of Houston’s James Beard-nominated The Pass and Provisions––is now focusing his attention on neighborhood pizzeria ElRo and an attached raw bar. Claiming a vintage bungalow in central Houston, the team is going for a cozy, comfortable aesthetic with a wooden bar and velvet banquettes. ElRo will offer uniquely topped pizzas, seasonal crudos, plus salads and snacks. Expect natural wines, in addition to those from the New World and Old World.
Key Players: June Rodil, Felipe Riccio, Pete McCarthy, Bailey McCarthy
Estimated Debut: Fall 2022
Goodnight Hospitality (MARCH, Rosie Cannonball) is revamping their honky tonk bar Goodnight Charlie’s into an upscale restaurant named The Marigold Club. Local legend chef Felipe Riccio will helm the modern continental menu. The space will feature rich upholstery, banquettes, and a speakeasy-inspired private dining room with art deco touches.
Los Angeles, California
Key Players: Katianna Hong, John Hong
Estimated Debut: January 2022
Chefs and partners Katianna and John Hong (formerly of Napa’s The Restaurant at Meadowood) are drawing on their Korean-American heritage with Yangban Society, a celebration of the two cultures filtered through a Jewish deli lens. Situated in downtown L.A.’s Arts District, Yangban Society manifests as a casual, counter-style spot that highlights California’s excellent seasonal produce spiked with Korean flavors and a sprinkle of everything bagel seasoning. Expect dishes like kimchee and pork belly posole, doenjang-roasted mushrooms and bracken fern, and buffalo milk soft-serve with doenjang caramel. Within the deli, visitors will also find Yangban Super, a convenience store stocking house-made pantry goods, snacks, drinks and more.
Miami, Florida
Key Players: Keith McNally, Stephen Starr
Estimated Debut: July 2022
New York’s acclaimed French bistro is headed to Miami’s artsy Wynwood District, landing on NW 26th Street. Founder Keith McNally designed the 8,000 square foot space that also offers a 2,500 square foot patio along with Paisely Design’s Ian McPheely (also responsible for the NYC location). Expect a similar classic bistro feel and menu, with seating for 160 inside and another 100 on the patio.
New York, New York
Key Players: David Hess, Aiden Carty, Justin Hauser, Shigeyuki Tsunoda
Estimated Debut: Spring 2022
Noda, the acclaimed, Michelin-starred sushi counter from chef Shigeyuki Tsunoda has moved to a new home on West 20th Street, and with it comes more wiggle room for a sleek new bar. At Noda’s old location on West 28th Street, the venue’s vast Japanese whisky collection was only open to those with dinner reservations, but now with more space, the 16-seat bar will open for regular bookings (walk-ins accepted too). In addition to hand rolls and caviar service, patrons can anticipate what the team describes as a “theatrical cocktail experience” themed around classics made with Japanese ingredients––with some drinks prepared tableside––helmed by Noda’s head of operations, Philip Dizard.
Key Players: Pierre Gagnaire
Estimated Debut: Summer 2022
European luxury hotel brand Hôtel Barrière is expanding its iconic Parisian property Le Fouquet’s Paris to New York, and with it comes the hotel’s signature restaurant, Fouquet’s New York. Legendary French chef Pierre Gagnaire who helms the Paris brasserie will also command operations in Tribeca, with a similar classic French menu. Inspired by the Paris aesthetic, expect high-gloss wood wall paneling, leather chairs, black and white tile, and lipstick-red embellishments.
Key Players: Atsushi 'ATS' Kono
Estimated Debut: February 2022
After years spent taming the flames at New York’s highly-regarded yakitori den Torishin, Atsushi 'ATS' Kono peeled off to team up with the team behind sushi bar Nakaji. Located in an adjacent complex on Bowery, Kono––who spent the summer grilling on the roof deck just above––is unveiling his long-awaited solo project. Just a stone’s throw from Nakaji in Bowery's Canal Arcade, guests enter an elegant 14-seat counter for a kappo-style yakitori omakase hinged on specialty Amish chicken cuts grilled over binchotan alongside other small, seasonal dishes.
Key Players: JP Park, Ellia Park, Riad Nasr, Lee Hanson, Greg Baxtrom, Clare de Boer, Jess Shadbolt, Annie Shi
Estimated Debut: Late spring 2022
Rockefeller Center’s dining transformation continues in 2022 with a spate of exciting new additions. JP and Ellia Park of two-Michelin-starred Atomix will launch another to-be-announced Korean concept, Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson of Frenchette will replace the Brasserie Ruhlmann space with another French eatery. Meanwhile Clare de Boer, Annie Shi, and Jess Shadbolt of King will debut an upscale full-service restaurant, and Olmsted’s Greg Baxtrom will unveil a seasonal, all-day, plant-forward eatery with design inspired by his signature restaurant’s lush garden.
Ojai, California
Key Players: Josh Loeb, Zoe Nathan, Kate Pepper, Kelsey Brito, Saw Naing
Debut: January 6
The Dutchess is a chic new all-day restaurant and bakery coming to Ojai, California, and it’s helmed by one of Los Angeles’s most beloved hospitality couples, Josh Loeb and baker Zoe Nathan (Rustic Canyon, Huckleberry). They partnered with chef Saw Naing (Tallula’s) on the restaurant’s Burmese menu, along with local baker Kate Pepper (Kate’s Bread). As with everything Loeb/Nathan do, of course there will be a serious attention paid to seasonal and local produce (the team is sourcing most ingredients from within 50 miles), and they’ve taken over an old 1926-era building, in fact Ojai’s first-ever bakery, for this concept which will include an events space.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Key Players: Jim Burke, Randall Cook
Estimated Debut: Summer 2022
Method Co., the group behind lauded Philly eateries like Wm Mulherin’s Sons, is launching a sister concept to their Fishtown Italian eatery, this one named Mulherin’s, coming to Midtown Village. Also hinged on Italian cuisine but with a greater focus on pizzas, expect creatively-topped pies fired by chef Jim Burke, who also heads up eats at Wm Mulherin’s Sons. The team is also planning Italian-leaning seasonal veggies and salads, plus a small collection of larger dishes.
Portland, Maine
Key Players: Colin Wyatt, Daniel Gorlas
Estimated Debut: Summer 2022
Chef Colin Wyatt (Eleven Madison Park) and Daniel Gorlas (Per Se) have decamped from Manhattan to team up with Portland, Maine’s Prentice Hospitality Group (EVO Kitchen + Bar). This summer they’ll unveil Twelve, a seasonal American restaurant that pays homage to Maine’s best ingredients. Twelve will be housed within a historic building that was moved a few yards away from its original plot and rebuilt brick-by-brick at 58 Fore by the water.
Savannah, Georgia
Key Players: Andrew Brochu, Sophie Brochu, Dave Baker, Georgia Vinzant Baker
Estimated Debut: Summer 2022
Andrew Brochu, the founding chef behind one of Chicago’s most acclaimed restaurants, Roister, has left the Windy City for Savannah, and this summer he’ll drop Brochu’s Family Tradition in Starland District, an area that’s popular for food startups and other emerging businesses. While Brochu had initially intended to open this concept in Chicago, he has switched things up to instead launch in his wife Sophie’s hometown. Expect a totally informal, coastal-leaning joint focused on quality-minded eats and drinks inspired by crab boils and barbecues he attended growing up. And yes, the fried chamomile chicken he made famous at Roister will indeed be on the menu.
Key Players: Kyle Jacovino
Estimated Debut: Summer 2022
Chef Kyle Jacovino, who heads up arguably the best restaurant in Savannah, Pizzeria Vittoria, is eyeing his second concept. Lucía takes shape as a casual spot dedicated to grinders, which is basically a sub sandwich. Jacovino is known for his excellent pizza dough, so it’s no surprise to hear that he’ll be baking all bread in-house using heritage grains for this new project. Think crusty hearth-baked rolls stuffed with fillings like wood-fired sausage and peppers, eggplant or meatball Parmesan, plus revolving house-made pasta specials such as baked pork sugo cannelloni, and tagliatelle bolognese.
Washington, D.C.
Key Players: Johnny Spero
Estimated Debut: Spring 2022
Johnny Spero, the chef who operates one of the District’s most compelling, ingredient-driven tasting menu haunts, Reverie, is launching his second act. Bar Spero, launching in D.C.’s East End, derives inspiration from the cuisine served in Spain’s Basque region and will manifest as an energetic, seafood-focused bar hinged on open-fire grilling and super-fresh seafood preps. Expect plates like grilled oysters with brown butter and an uni beurre blanc-laced omelette, alongside seasonal riffs off classic cocktails.
Key Players: Nicholas Stefanelli
Estimated Opening: January 2022
Nicholas Stefanelli, chef and owner of Michelin-starred Masseria and Officina in Washington, D.C., has been working to open Philotimo for the last two years. The eatery, imminently debuting in the District’s shiny Midtown Center mixed-use development, will pay homage to the chef’s heritage via elevated takes on regional Greek dishes. Stefanelli spent some time among the islands this past summer for fresh inspiration, and he’s now planning to offer dishes like politiki (cabbage salad), googges (handmade pasta), and kakkavia (fisherman’s soup). Philotimo, designed with natural tones and light wood, will offer 62 dining room seats in addition to a chef’s counter, a bar, and a table in the kitchen where guests sign up for a chef’s choice menu.
Wilmington, Delaware
Key Players: Scott Stein, Antimo DiMeo
Estimated Debut: February/March 2022
The team behind Wilmington, Delaware’s James Beard semifinalist restaurant Bardea Food & Drink, Scott Stein and chef Antimo DiMeo, are expanding their Bardea brand with beef-based Bardea Steak. Serving as their third eatery, Bardea Steak will be a contemporary take on a classic steakhouse, claiming a spacious 5,000 square foot plot adjacent to Bardea Food & Drink in downtown Wilmington. DiMeo is planning to cook various beef cuts (including off-cuts) in a custom-made open-hearth, with a focus on various aging techniques. Wines will lean toward American producers, while some cocktails will be made tableside.
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