It’s hard for us mere mortals to imagine, but some brave souls are forging ahead despite the seemingly never-ending pandemic. These innovative restauranteurs and chefs are looking forward to a brighter future and creating unique concepts even as a new COVID-19 strain emerges. These concepts represent the light at the end of the tunnel and the next hot spots we can’t wait to experience.
Continent Atlanta
Coming soon to Atlanta, GA is Chef Scotley Innis’ Continent Atlanta. The executive chef’s long-awaited Afro-Caribbean inspired cuisine will make its debut in 2021 on Buford Highway. You may remember Innis from his appearance on season 18 of Hell’s Kitchen or experienced his Jamaican cooking at his Scotch Yard pop-up dinner series.
Ornos Estiatorio
Chef Michael Mina’s award-winning restaurant group that includes SeaBlue at the MGM Grand, has opened its first Greek concept. Washed in the brilliant blue of the Aegean Sea with its own outdoor oasis, Ornos Estiatorio feels like it would be right at home on the cliff-top villages of a Greek Isle. One of the first restaurants with its own fish sommelier, Ornos offers the freshest fish found around the world and in its own backyard of Miami, FL.
Le Pavillon
Manhattan’s tallest skyscraper will soon be home to Le Pavillon, Michelin-star chef Daniel Boulud’s fine-dining concept. Trees and plants fill the 11,000 square-foot restaurant, bringing nature and beautiful architecture together to create an indoor oasis. Local farmers and suppliers provide many of the products for Boulud’s seasonal French-American menu focused on seafood and vegetables.
Hawksmoor
For those looking for a concept formed from top-notch cocktails and grass-fed, dry-age beef, Hawksmoor, in the United Charities Building in New York City, may just be your place. Will Beckett and Huw Gott’s restaurant ventures from across the pond where the two own nine of these charcoal-grilled steak wonders throughout London, Edinburgh, and Manchester. If you’re wondering where the notable cocktails come in, Hawksmoor’s cocktail program is twice-winner of the Best International Restaurant Bar award.
Imperfecto
This Mediterranean-Latin American influenced fine dining establishment is named for the imperfection inherent in humans that leads chefs and entrepreneurs to strive for more. Creators Ezequiel Vazquez-Ger and Enrique Limardo, renowned for Seven Reasons, rated Esquire’s 2019 best new restaurant, know about striving for perfection.
When COVID-19 forced the restaurant to patio-only dining, the owners opted to charge guests a 22% service fee that went to both front and back of house staff. They will adopt this same practice at Imperfecto in Washington, D.C. Guests can expect dishes such as a Moroccan lamb shank with quinoa and risotto laced with mole sauce.
Rose Mary
The former executive chef at Spiaggia and 2018 Top Chef winner, Joe Flamm, plans to open Rose Mary, a restaurant named after his grandmothers and the herb that grows in Italia and Croatia. Located in the Fulton Market district of Chicago, the casual and fun atmosphere will feature a Croatian-Italian menu and “Adriatic drinking food,” as described by Flamm. The dining area features a custom-made 9-foot hearth.
The Reading Club & Seneca Restaurant
This two-in-one concept will find itself on the rooftop of the Intercontinental Hotel on San Diego’s downtown waterfront in 2021. A creation of Consortium Holdings, a brand defined by unique gathering spaces that bring people together for conversation and food, the full-service rooftop restaurant and bar will be open to the public.
The members-only Reading Club will provide an intimate gathering space where members enjoy food and drink, private meeting rooms, a meditation room, a library, and an onsite wellness director. Membership costs range from $2,000-$2,600 a year.
Puttshack
This London-based tech-infused mini-golf concept will be coming to three cities in 2021. They have plans to open in Atlanta, Miami, and Oakbrook, IL bringing their gaming and top-notch food menu to the US.
The co-founders, Adam Breeden, Steve Jolliffe, and Dave Jolliffe have an unprecedented track record in social entertainment. Adam is the founder/co-founder of All Star Lanes, Bounce (Acebounce in the U.S.), and Flight Club while Steve and Dave Jolliffe are the founders of Top Golf.
Tin Cup Kitchen and Oyster Bar
This upscale venue along the shores of Virginia Beach will offer beautiful views and delectable seafood. Located in the recently $27 million renovated Delta Hotels by Marriot, guests will enjoy local seafood and produce from surrounding farms.
58 Fore
Portland Maine’s first waterfront market is finding a home in what was once a 10-acre industrial site with 19th-century manufacturing and workshop buildings. The neighborhood of Portland Foreside will become home to 58 Fore—a food hall for culinary innovators, including chefs and food producers.
The 13,000 square-foot Market Hall will feature 20 chefs, along-side food producers, while 58 East, a one-time warehouse for blacksmiths built-in 1883, will be home to restaurants and food retailers.
Park Row
If the latest superhero craze has left you binge-watching Supergirl, Arrow, or The Flash, 2021 may be the year to make your way to London (when Britain re-emerges) for an immersive comic book mega-restaurant experience. Warner Bros. and Wonderland Restaurants have joined forces to create the first DC comic-inspired dining adventure. The DC Multiverse pays tribute to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and other iconic superheroes.
Park Row includes five restaurants and three bars including the Batcave, Gotham City, and a Japanese omakase bar inspired by Harley Quinn. Guests can view their favorite DC heroes in the onsite theater while enjoying an exceptional multi-sensory tasting menu.
While the unrelenting pandemic has caused many of these long-anticipated gastronomic delights to postpone opening their doors, this list contains entrepreneurs that forge ahead, not unlike the superheroes of Park Row.
