Dine in a Palace of Mirrors at Musaafer

Opening

Musaafer

Another high-end taste of India is opening in TriBeCa. This one, an offshoot of a Houston restaurant, includes an uncommon feature: a room done up as a shish mahal, or “palace of mirrors.” Such opulent structures exist in Delhi, India, and in Lahore, Pakistan. In this restaurant, with décor inspired by the Taj Mahal, the room, in the rear of the restaurant and seating 42, can be used for private parties; total seating in the restaurant is 144. The corporate executive chef Mayank Istwal explores culinary highlights across the subcontinent and beyond, featuring dishes like baked oyster Rockefeller with paneer, escolar ceviche, tandoori octopus, beef vindaloo, smoked baby goat, stuffed squash blossoms, Malwani fish curry and lamb chop biryani. (Opens Monday)

133 Duane Street (Church Street), 212-605-0444, musaaferrestaurants.com.

Bucatini

This Italian addition to Midtown is tailored to business lunches with its pizzas, both classic margherita and mushroom with truffles, and its truffled tournedos Rossini with foie gras. Dishes like tuna tartare, burrata, Caesar salad, calamari and rack of lamb also participate in what has become a typical lineup. The chef, Augusto Ferreira, a native of Brazil, will dress the signature bucatini to taste: alla vodka, Alfredo and carbonara are a few options. The spacious dining room, on two levels, has a formality tempered with inventive, almost basket-like woodwork by Roy Nachum of Mercer Project. It’s all the work of the restaurateur Josh Kessler. (Thursday)

2 East 45th Street, 212-258-0675, bucatininyc.com.

El Rey Tacos

The ubiquity of the taco in New York is on the verge of challenging the bagel. A new taco contender with serious pedigree opened about six weeks ago in Times Square. It’s the work of Sebastian and Santiago Ramirez Degollado, from the family that has the El Bajio restaurants in Mexico City, and Casa Carmen in New York, inspired by the matriarch, Carmen Ramirez Degollado. The signature taco comes on a handmade tortilla, like all of them here, and is the panucho Yucateco with cochinita pibil (see U.S. Open, below). Prefer a quesadilla? They’ll add cheese to any taco and there you have it. The menu includes empanada platano, a dish from El Bajio.

1450 Broadway (41st Street), tacoelrey.com.

The Blue Vault

Two artisanal cocktails on a dark marble table, one garnished with berries in a black glass and the other in a crystal glass with straw nest

Here’s a cocktail lounge that deserves to be called a speakeasy; it’s hidden deep inside the Rosevale Cocktail Room in the theater district. Richly decorated with arched vitrines holding theatrical memorabilia, including red boots from “Kinky Boots.” It’s a partnership with Carver Road Hospitality, a national company, and it has narrowed its scope mostly to bourbon drinks with the spirits coming from Ross & Squibb Distillery in Lawrenceburg, Ind., (George Remus Straight Bourbon, Rossville Union Rye). Summoning Gatsby for the speakeasy era is the eggless West Egg, a cocktail made with bourbon, amaro and peach, cacao and coconut liqueurs. Bar snacks include a Korean fried chicken sandwich.

305 West 48th Street, second floor, 646-829-1500.

Mixteca

The spirited partner in the new Tacos 1986 location has opened. Agave-driven and capturing a busy West Village corner, it’s run by Jeff Bell and Victor Lopez of PDT. Tequila, mezcal, bacanora and raicilla shine in drinks like the Los Santos, combining mezcal infused with palo santo, Luxardo bitter bianco and white vermouth. Hungry? Tacos and other items can be ordered from Tacos 1986. The space is decorated with handmade tiles.

1 Cornelia Street (West Fourth Street), onecornelia.com.

Tortelli

The star of the show at this fresh pasta shop and Italian cafe in Brooklyn is the namesake filled pasta in an array of flavors beyond the basic butter-and-sage. It’s the work of James Mather, a chef who worked at Lilia, and Silvia Barban and Vincenzo Ruggiero, who are involved in a handful of other places, like Briscola Trattoria and MozzLab. The menu for dining in is limited with dishes like tagliatelle al ragu, cavatelli with tomatoes, and spaghetti with pesto. A few antipasti and a tiramisù round out the options. The shop sells pastas, homemade sauces, canned tomatoes and many well-chosen Italian products.

359 Sackett Street (Smith Street), Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, tortellinyc.com.

The Sconery

The multiflavored scones emerging from the ovens at this new Queens shop are not the neat triangular pastries sold at many coffee shops and bakeries. They’re rustic rounds, craggy and biscuit-like drop scones with a clearly handmade allure. Sheila Connolly, the owner, started by baking at home and selling to a Queens restaurant, then moved on to a farmers market and now has graduated to this shop where the scones are baked daily. Flavors include a plain cream scone ready for afternoon tea, and raisin, chocolate chip, blueberry, Cheddar-pepper, gingerbread, and cinnamon. Irish soda bread is another seasonal specialty. Scones are $5. Online availability is paused for the time being but will resume.

39-39 47th Avenue (40th Street), Long Island City, Queens, 718-440-2485, thesconerynyc.com.

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U.S. Open

New York’s contribution to the Grand Slam season includes some new high-profile food entries available to all attending. José Andrés Mexican Oyamel is playing doubles with Dobel Tequila and serving tacos cochinitas; Robbie Felice has pastaRAMEN for a Japanese-Italian combo; and CQDQ, from Coqodaq, lobbing a fried chicken sandwich for the first time.

Now through Sept. 7 for official matches, The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing Meadow, Queens, usopen.org.

Branches

Stretch Pizza

Wylie Dufresne’s pizzerias now qualify as a chain. Whole pies and slices with traditional and creative toppings, including everything bagel seasonings, have come to the Hugh food hall, for the third iteration.

157 East 53rd Street, no phone, stretchpizzanyc.com.

Looking Ahead

Chef Michel Bras at Stone Barns

To coincide with what is being billed as Climate Week NYC, the French chef Michel Bras, who introduced a vegetable menu at his eponymous Michelin three-star restaurant in south-central France 50 years ago, will prepare a benefit dinner with the chef Dan Barber at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. The number of courses hasn’t been determined, but seats (100 of them) are priced from $400 to $1,600, with the top tickets receiving upgraded wines and other perks. The event’s proceeds will benefit food and farming research at the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture.

Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m., Stone Barns, 630 Bedford Road, Tarrytown, N.Y., exploretock.com

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Florence Fabricant is a food and wine writer. She writes the weekly Front Burner and Off the Menu columns, as well as the Pairings column, which appears alongside the monthly wine reviews. She has also written 12 cookbooks.