Headliner
Yemen Café
What does owning restaurants have in common with flying? Both are risky endeavors, and both are Akram Nassir’s careers. He’s a captain for Delta Air Lines and has just opened another Yemen Café. While achieving his dream of becoming a pilot, he went into the restaurant business with his father and uncle. He still flies, weaving his schedule with his restaurant duties. His father, Muthamma Nassir, was a chef at Windows on the World and opened the original Yemen Café in 1986 with a relative, Yahya Alsubai, on the stretch of Atlantic Avenue bordering Brooklyn Heights, a neighborhood clustered with Middle Eastern restaurants and shops. Akram Nassir says it was the first Yemeni restaurant in New York, if not the United States. In 2011, he opened another in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Now, he and his partner, Mr. Alsubai, have branched out to Staten Island. There, they will again serve a Middle Eastern community, he said. The latest Yemen Café, a spacious room with a traditional fishing boat hanging on one wall, has outdoor seating. As at the other locations, the specialty is lamb more than a dozen ways, notably slow-cooked, succulent falling-off-the-bone cuts like shanks and shoulder. There are also chicken dishes and Middle Eastern appetizers.
1816 Hylan Boulevard (Seaview Avenue), Dongan Hills, Staten Island, 347-825-2118, yemencafe.com.
Opening
Brett’s Deli
Brett Reichler, a former executive chef at Gallaghers Steakhouse who has built a 30-year-plus career of opening restaurants for others, has opened a sandwich shop in partnership with Urbanspace. Among the heavily loaded choices on sesame hero bread are the grand Italian with cured meats, cheese and roasted peppers; a cheesesteak; and hot chipotle chicken. Food is served until 8 p.m., and breakfast is coming.
Urbanspace Vanderbilt, 230 Park Avenue (45th Street), no phone, brettsdeli.com.
Marea at Sea
Monday evenings starting Aug. 14 through September, the 105-foot schooner America 2.0 will sail with Marea on board. The restaurant’s chef, Lauren DeSteno, will serve two savory courses, each including an assortment of preparations like oysters en escabeche, branzino crudo, seafood salad, beef tartare, lobster and stuffed eggplant. A dessert plate will follow during the two-hour New York harbor excursion by Classic Harbor Line. The cruises leave from Chelsea Piers after 6 p.m. (exact times vary).
Classic Harbor Line & Marea, $178 ($228 with wines), 212-627-1825, sail-nyc.com.
Wine Series at the Noortwyck
On Monday evenings in August at the Noortwyck, the chef Andrew Quinn will offer four-course summer menus featuring dishes like heirloom tomatoes with burrata, corn agnolotti with black truffles, chilled lobster with melon, duck breast with apricots, and Eton mess with strawberries. They’ll complement six wines selected by Cedric Nicaise, a partner and the restaurant’s wine director. On Aug. 7, summer reds will be poured. Aug. 14 will showcase Piedmont wines, while Aug. 21 will be for the Rhône. Aug. 28 will compare New and Old World wines. Each dinner is $190, plus tax and gratuity.
The Noortwyck, 289 Bleecker Street (Barrow Street), 917-261-2009, thenoortwyck.com.