Squibb Park Bridge

"Bridges has Lower Manhattan in a chokehold. The dining room is just about exactly how we’d want a new restaurant to feel — warm but not overly dressed, where the bar seating is as lively as the white-tableclothed tables in the main dining room. The food is hard to pin down to one cuisine but pulls emphasis from the owners’ experiences at Estela. The Comté cheese tart with mushrooms is the dish people are excited about, and yes, you should order it. But the tuna with dates is even more special, an unlikely combo that somehow works." - Emma Orlow

"From its unassuming Chinatown location to the lowkey wood and chrome decor, Bridges is seductively simple. And while it’s one of the most talked about openings right now, with reservations booked up for months, dining here still feels like being let in on a really good secret. The menu is deceptively short, with simple one-line dishes like “grilled oysters” and “lettuces, asian pear, and trout roe,” described anti-climatically, like that super secure friend who is much too confident in themselves to outwardly brag. But don’t let the sparing details fool you: every dish here has hidden layers—and that’s no metaphor. There are anchovies and peppers tucked between the sardines and toast; juicy dates and barely-there onions wrapped inside two types of tuna, dark maroon meat with slices of pink belly on top. The Comté tart—the most internet-hyped dish here—sits on a thin pastry base that contrasts satisfyingly against the creamy custard texture, finished with gorgeous chanterelle mushrooms. The king crab legs are barely seasoned but expertly grilled and dripping with salty sweetness, the kind that’s hard to wash off your hands. The highly controlled minimalism of it all ensures flavors are enhanced, not lost, and that each dish is designed to be tasted anew with each bite. It’s the trademark style of Bridges chef Sam Lawrence, previously the culinary director of Mattos Hospitality (the restaurant group behind Estela and Altro Paradiso). Bridges is fine dining in the purist sense, as in delicious food creatively constructed to evoke an experience. Pro tip: the bar is reserved for walk-ins only with plenty of available seating, for now. —H.T." - CNT Editors