New tables, gallery afternoons and dates to keep in mind as the city’s fall season unfolds.
Post fashion month, October allows us to settle in to the city and what is coming lookings exciting: gallery shows nearing their final weeks, new restaurants taking reservations, and evenings that begin with a jacket over your arm. These are the places and occasions I want to explore as the month unfolds.
Good Company is the only opening here I’ve visited, at its preview. The rest are on my radar for their chefs, exhibitions or programs. Below, newly opened addresses sit alongside the arrivals still to come.
See
Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous, The Met
Through January 31, 2027
The Met’s exhibition follows Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock across the full arc of their careers, with more than 120 works. You get to see two distinct practices side by side, instead of letting their marriage stand in for the story of either artist.
I’m saving this for a weekday visit, with enough time to go beyond the most familiar paintings. It runs into January, so unlike the Chelsea shows below, there’s no rush.
A Chelsea Gallery Afternoon Before October 24
Two shows make an easy pairing: Lee Bul’s The Anatomy of Every Setting Sun at Hauser & Wirth, 542 West 22nd Street, and Jordan Wolfson’s first Gagosian show in New York, at 555 West 24th Street. Both close October 24.
Lee Bul’s show looks at humanity’s drive to rise above nature through technology, and at the collapse that often follows. Its centerpiece is a zeppelin-like metallic balloon. Wolfson’s new sculptures carry photographs drawn from art history, popular culture and personal archives. Seen together, they offer two very different takes on how an image becomes an object.
I’d give each show its own time, then finish with a walk on the High Line. Both galleries are open Tuesday through Saturday.
The New York Film Festival, Lincoln Center
Through October 12
This is the most time-sensitive entry here, because the festival’s 64th edition ends Monday. The final weekend is the last chance to fit in a screening.
Eat and Drink
Good Company, SoHo
Good Company opened October 8 at 343 West Broadway, and I attended its preview the night before. It comes from the team behind Waiting on a Friend and Yesterday’s, with Robert Sieber, formerly of Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne, leading the kitchen. The two-level bar is built for after-work drinks, dates and late dinners.
The room felt like worlds colliding: retro and funky, but warm and inviting. My favorite bites made a case for starting with snacks. The fried olives were excellent, and I especially loved the salty, seasoned popcorn. I enjoyed the food overall, but those small bites stayed with me. I’d like to go back for a longer dinner.
For now, it’s on my list for a downtown catch-up. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 4 pm on weekdays and 2 pm on weekends, with reservations on Resy. Follow along on Instagram.
I attended an invited opening preview.
Recently Opened, Still on My List
Romy, SoHo: A steakhouse in the former Little Prince space at 199 Prince Street. A candidate for the first proper red-wine dinner of the season.
La Salumeria, SoHo: An Italian grocer with a short sandwich menu at 95 Sullivan Street. One for the lunch list.
Iara, Lower East Side: Chef Vitor Mendes’s open-kitchen Brazilian restaurant at 205 Allen Street, built around Amazonian ingredients.
Mythily, Williamsburg: Chef Rasika Venkatesa’s restaurant at 129 Havemeyer Street, cooking South Indian food shaped by the Tamil dishes she grew up eating.
Calabash, West Village: Camari Mick’s Afro-Caribbean brasserie and bakery at 183 Christopher Street. I’m especially curious about the pastry.
Opening Soon: The Dates I’m Watching
Dates as of October 9.
Humm, West Village (October 10). Daniel Humm’s namesake restaurant takes over the former EN Japanese Brasserie space at 435 Hudson Street, with an à la carte modern American menu. Pierre Yovanovitch designed the room, which includes a ceiling mural by Francesco Clemente and work by Rashid Johnson. The room is part of my curiosity, too.
Straker’s, SoHo (reported for October 10). Thomas Straker’s first restaurant outside the U.K. moves into the former Lucky Strike at 59 Grand Street. I’m interested to see how his London cooking translates to downtown New York.
One Bryant Park, Midtown (October 15). A Japanese kaiseki restaurant at 135 West 42nd Street, built around eight seasonal menus.
Ditto, Union Square (October, date TBA). Cookbook author and former Bon Appétit editor Andy Baraghani is opening his first restaurant at 13 East 16th Street. It’s a casual bakery-café, partly inspired by the late City Bakery.
Symone, Long Island City (announced for early October). DeVonn Francis’s French-African café at MoMA PS1 is a daytime spot for curry chicken salad sandwiches, patties, soft serve and seasonal pastries, with seating on the museum terrace.
Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival
October 15–18 · The Seaport and venues across the city
The festival runs from walk-around tastings to intimate dinners, which are very different evenings. My approach: choose one event built around a chef, cuisine or drink you love, and give it your full attention.
Whiskey Washback, The Bowery Hotel
October 30 · 6 pm early entry, 7–9:30 pm general admission
A focused whiskey tasting at 335 Bowery, and a good way to close out the month.
Celebrate
Día de los Muertos, New York Botanical Garden
October 3–November 2
A community ofrenda, where visitors can add a photo or written memory, anchors the Garden’s celebration, alongside folk music, dance and papel picado workshops. This is the one I’d choose for an afternoon with room for reflection as well as color.
Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade
October 17 · 11 am
Sometimes the invitation is simple: dogs in costumes. Spectators line Avenue B between 7th and 11th Streets, and watching is free.
Village Halloween Parade
October 31 · 7 pm
The Sixth Avenue parade is the choice for a Halloween night in the middle of the city’s spectacle. Decide in advance whether you’re watching or marching. A plan beats a last-minute text from across the crowd.
Where I’ll Start
The Chelsea shows have a closing date to work around, and the new restaurants have menus and rooms I’m curious to explore. Dates and hours can change, so check each link before you go. I’ll start with a gallery afternoon and one new table, leaving space for what arrives later in the month.
There will be more to say after the visits. For now, these are the addresses and dates I’m keeping close.
