This year may be more than half over, but some of the most exciting restaurant and bar openings and spirits and book launches of 2018 are yet to come. Seriously. No matter what the rest of 2018 may bring, these new establishments, drinks and reads will inspire you and entertain you through the end of year. And don’t worry, you won’t find any pumpkin spice here!
Ottolenghi Simple by Yotam Ottolenghi
What you need to know: If you don’t already own one of Yotam Ottolenghi’s best-selling cookbooks—and even if you do—his latest release ought to be at the top of your wish list. Packed with dishes like Lamb and Feta Meatballs and Braised Eggs with Leeks and Za’atar, each recipe included plays off his signature palette of Middle Eastern flavors and somehow he still manages to simplify the cooking process. And that’s not to mention the stunning photography that will have you hungry for more. Release date: October 16
ADVERTISEMENT
Pizza City, USA: 101 Reasons Why Chicago Is America’s Greatest Pizza Town by Steve Dolinsky
What you need to know: Chicago is passionate about pizza—so much so that 13-time James Beard Award-winner Steve Dolinsky was inspired to write an entire book about the city’s collective obsession with cheese and sauce smothered crust. Pizza City, USA not only covers the pies loved by Chicagoans, but also tries to dispels the idea that deep dish is all there is to The Windy City. Release date: Out Now
Israeli Soul: Easy, Essential, Delicious by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook
What you need to know: This soon-to-be-released tome on modern Israeli cooking is the third book co-authored by James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Solomonov and his longtime business partner Steven Cook. Not only will it include accessible recipes for their versions of classics, including falafel and hummus and a host of other inspiring dishes, but it will also take readers through the history of Israeli food and how elements from a number of cultures combined to create the dishes we know and love. Release date: October 16
Liberated Spirits: Two Women Who Battled Over Prohibition by Hugh Ambrose with John Schuttler
What you need to know: Prohibition wasn’t just about drinking—it was also tied to the suffragette movement and the struggle for women’s voting rights. In this thrilling account, historian and author Hugh Ambrose explores this complex relationship through the stories of two extraordinary women, Assistant Attorney General Mabel Willebrandt and Republican party official Pauline Sabin. Release date: October 16
Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook by Dorie Greenspan
What you need to know: Two years after the release of her acclaimed cookbook Dorie’s Cookies, author Dorie Greenspan is coming out with, Everyday Dorie: The Way I Cook, which features 125 of her favorite recipes. Ranging from starters to entrees to veggie sides, the recipes cater to home cooks with even the most basic of cooking skills and a lack of fancy gadgets. Release date: October 23
A Drinkable Feast: A Cocktail Companion to 1920s Paris by Philip Greene
What you need to know: A Drinkable Feast captures the drinking culture during the Roaring ’20s in Paris. Part history lesson and part recipe book, Daily Beast columnist Philip Greene explores everything you ever wanted to know about the era’s most well-known drinks, from the Champagne Cocktail to the Bee’s Knees, and includes favorites of such literary greats as Ernest Hemingway and Zelda Fitzgerald. Release date: October 16
Cocktail Codex: Fundamentals, Formulas, Evolutions by Alex Day, David Kaplan & Nick Fauchald
What you need to know: After publishing the Death & Co cocktail book in 2014, Alex Day, David Kaplan and Nick Fauchald are releasing this essential guide to making drinks at the end of next month. Whether you’re a pro or a beginner, this book will guide you through how to craft classic and original drinks from the perspective that there are really only six “root cocktails” to work from: the Old-Fashioned, Martini, Daiquiri, Sidecar, Whisky Highball, and the Flip. Once you’ve got these down, they say, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a better, more informed, bartender. Release date: October 30
The DogHouse, Columbus, OH
What you need to know: After launching a crowdfunding campaign that garnered more than four times its original goal, BrewDog opened an impressive 32-room hotel at the end of the summer. In addition to its dog-friendly rooms with built-in shower beer fridges, the hotel also features an on-site dog park and an interactive beer museum. Opening date: Open Now
Officina, Washington, DC
What you need to know: Nick Stefanelli, owner and chef of Michelin-starred Masseria, is expanding his Italian restaurant empire and opening the much-anticipated Officina this month. Located at The Wharf, Officina draws inspiration from Italy’s markets and will feature an in-house butcher, a trattoria, a year-round rooftop with views of the Potomac River, and—perhaps most exciting of all—an amaro library filled with rare bottles that Stefanelli has collected during his travels. Opening date: September
St. Anselm, Washington, DC
What you need to know: For the first outpost of this Brooklyn steakhouse, James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Stephen Starr and St. Anselm founder Joe Carroll are collaborating to open a new St. Anselm location in D.C.’s Union Market. Top Chef alum Marjorie Meek-Bradley was recently named head chef and the menu will be similar to the original, but it will be all-around bigger and meatier. The cocktail menu will be more extensive as well, including a selection on draft. Opening date: September
Misi, Brooklyn, NY
What you need to know: Missy Robbins is having a good year. Not only was she named 2018’s Best Chef New York City by the James Beard Foundation, but she’s set to open Misi, her second restaurant in Williamsburg, in the coming weeks. Located in the former Domino Sugar Refinery, across the street from Domino Park, it will serve simple, seasonal dishes from various regions of Italy, including all the pasta your heart desires. Opening Date: September
Miss Carousel, Houston, TX
What you need to know: From the Agricole Hospitality crew behind Houston staples Eight Row Flint and Coltivare, Miss Carousel is a mammoth 5,000 square foot bar set to open with the mission of simplfying the cocktail menu. Co-owner and beverage director Morgan Weber groups the drinks into familiar categories, from Sours to Spritzes to Highballs. The food will also be a draw, with planned items like the Carrot & Beet Tartare with sweet potato, Dijon and cocoa, and the Tiki Sundae, a coconut rum and cashew gelato with spiced pineapple and demerara rum caramel. Opening Date: September
Benne on Eagle, Asheville, NC
What you need to know: Slated to open later this season in Asheville’s Foundry Hotel, Benne on Eagle is the latest establishment from James Beard Award-nominated executive chef John Fleer, of Rhubarb and The Rhu. The restaurant’s menu pays tribute to the neighborhood’s African-American and industrial history, as well as to the vast impact African-American cooks have had on Appalachian food. Opening Date: Late Fall
Bow & Arrow, Auburn, AL
What you need to know: Southern cooking encompasses a wide variety of foods and traditions, and Iron Chef David Bancroft’s latest venture combines two of those distinct styles: Texas smokehouse and Alabama potluck. Bancroft, executive chef and partner, will serve an array of smoked meats and southern sides, from tater tot casserole to collards and creamed corn. Opening Date: October
About Last Knife, Chicago, IL
What you need to know: Next month, Hotel Julian Chicago plans to debut About Last Knife—the new restaurant from Dan Weiland, formerly of Trenchermen and Blackbird. The steakhouse will focus on serving a small menu and will also feature a significant beverage program—and, it seems, a punny sense of humor. Opening Date: October
Kumiko, Chicago, IL
What you need to know: Originally scheduled to open in the spring of 2018, Kumiko will no doubt be worth the wait. The Japanese-inspired bar in the West Loop will be helmed by star bartender Julia Momose, the former head bartender at GreenRiver, as well as the founders of the two Michelin-starred Oriole, Noah and Cara Sandoval. In addition to an omakase-style menu, the beverage program will feature more than a dozen cocktails. Opening Date: Fall
Llama-San, New York, NY
What you need to know: The third installment from chef Erik Ramirez’s Peruvian restaurant collective, The Llamas, Llama-San will take over the former space that formerly housed Tertulia in Greenwich Village. The restaurant will celebrate Peru’s oft-overlooked Nikkei cuisine, merging Peruvian and Japanese tradition in dishes like Quinoa Tofu Caviar (wild sturgeon caviar topped with quinoa tofu, chancaca sugar and quinoa furikake). Bar maven Lynnette Marrero is spearheading the cocktail program, which will have a heavy focus on Japanese sake, shochu and whisky, as well as pisco and other Latin American spirits. One innovative drink to look out for is the Midori Madre, a blend of shochu, pisco, lime and yuzu juices, aloe vera, and a shiso and kiwi shrub. Opening Date: Fall
Goslings Papa Seal Single Barrel Bermuda Rum
What you need to know: Named in honor of both its instantly recognizable mascot and its current patriarch—E. Malcolm B. Gosling, Sr., President and CEO of Gosling’s International Limited—this is one release rum lovers won’t want to miss out on. It’s aged for a whopping 15-plus years in medium-charred used bourbon barrels. Only 12 barrels of this rum will be bottled and released within the United States with the suggested retail price of $199. Launch date: Mid-October
Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond
What you need to know: The first fall release in Old Fitzgerald’s new Bottled in Bond series, this whiskey ($90) will be packaged in a 1950s-inspired decanter. The 9-year-old, 100-proof bourbon will pay tribute to John E. Fitzgerald’s days as a bonded treasury agent in the late 1800s. As such, this whiskey follows all the necessary rules to qualify as bottled-in-bond. Launch date: September
Kavalan Distillery Select
What you need to know: Marking the accomplishments of the Taiwanese whisky brand’s master blender Ian Chang, Distillery Select ($60) was created with an eye toward versatility and approachability. The 86-proof whisky intends to merge tropical, warm and spiced flavors in one. Launch date: September/October
Wigle Mezcal-Finished Rye Whiskey
What you need to know: Pittsburgh-based Wigle Whiskey is preparing to launch a rye whiskey finished in used mezcal barrels ($75). The rye is made from a mash of mesquite smoked malted barley to “simulate an American version of the smoky characteristic of mezcal,” according to Wigle co-owner Meredith Meyer Grelli, and is first aged for two years in charred, American oak barrels. It was then aged for a second time in barrels procured from Wahaka Mezcal for more than a year. Launch date: December
