Headliner
Kokomo
“Pan-Caribbean with Indian and Asian flavors” is how Ria Graham describes the food at the new spot she owns with her husband, Kevol Graham, and her mother, Karen Valentine, who helps run the place. Both Grahams have experience in the hospitality business. The chef, Christian Aranibar, is from Lima, Peru, but became familiar with Caribbean food while working on Margarita Island off the coast of Venezuela. The menu offers spiced Rasta pasta, marinated shrimp with sautéed callaloo and grilled pineapple, lentil meatballs in coconut curry, braised oxtail and a calypso burger with grilled pineapple, Gruyère, guava and cilantro sauce, and jerk fries. Artwork and crafts from the Caribbean islands decorate the two-level space, which has outdoor seating for 76. Bamboo is the material of choice for the bar where for now tropical, but nonalcoholic, drinks are dispensed.
65 Kent Avenue (North 10th Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 347-799-1312, kokomonyc.com.
Opening
Silver Apricot
Long awaited but finally open, the latest spot from Simone Tong and Emmeline Zhao (Little Tong) puts a contemporary spin on cooking that takes a subtle approach with Chinese flavors. Dishes like charred radishes with honey soy and smoked egg yolk, cucumber melon salad with ramp vinaigrette, skirt steak with pickled wild spring onions and sesame relish, and poached Arctic char with crisp fish cracklings are highlights of a fairly brief menu for outdoor dining and takeout.
20 Cornelia Street (Bleecker Street), 929-367-8664, silverapricot.nyc.
Cleo
The last restaurant-kitchen sighting of the chef Rocco DiSpirito was about a year ago at the Standard Grill in the meatpacking district, where he lasted less than a year. Now, he’s cooking at a summer pop-up at Cleo and Mondrian Terrace, both in the Mondrian Park Avenue hotel in NoMad. The food is Mediterranean, rooted mostly in Italy, with dishes like spaghetti with pistachio pesto, soft shell crab fritto misto, a burger with provolone served like a hero, and charcoal-grilled pizza bianca. For now, dining is outdoors, and takeout and delivery are available. The chef, who has been selling his own gluten-free nut and seed bread, became involved in this project because he wanted to work with Stephen Brandman, a friend who runs the hotel. They say that some of the proceeds, an amount yet to be determined, are being donated to City Harvest.
Mondrian Park Avenue, 444 Park Avenue South (30th Street), 646-948-2370, mondrianparkave.com.
Caravan Uighur Cuisine
The pillars of this sturdy Silk Road cuisine, lagman noodles and skewered meats (over charcoal), are well represented here. Meat pies, samsa pastries and dumplings, often fiercely spiced, are also served.
200 Water Street (Fulton Street, entrance on Pearl Street), 917-261-7445, no web.