The Michelin Guide’s latest roundup spotlights over 60 culinary establishments participating in NYC’s Summer Restaurant Week. Black chefs only run two places out of those featured on the entire list.
A Black-owned spot highlighted is Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Hav and Mar in Chelsea, a seafood-focused restaurant inspired by his global palette. Michelin recommends the Swediopian, a first-course option on the eatery’s Restaurant Week menu. The unique dish features “a berbere-cured salmon shingled between slices of Granny Smith apple, dressed with mustard seed caviar and buckthorn, finished with injera chips.”
Melba Wilson famously spearheads Harlem’s Melba, known for its signature Southern comfort food. The establishment’s Restaurant Week menu is three courses for $45. It includes a dark meat, white meat, or wing entree option of her Southern Fried Chicken. Michelin describes Melba’s version of the classic dish as “enticing.”
NYC’s Michelin Guide includes both Melba’s and Have and Mar.
What Other Black-Owned Spots Are Michelin-Approved And Participating In Restaurant Week?
NYC’s summer edition of Restaurant Week runs this year from July 22 to August 18. It’s important to check out when the restaurant you want to visit is participating, as establishments can serve their pre-fixe menus for only a portion or specific week of the nearly month-long event. Some food spots will run their promotions till September 1. Saturdays are excluded, and Sundays are optional for participating establishments.
NYC Restaurant Week offers two-course lunches and three-course dinners for $30, $45, or $60. The city’s tourism website lists 633 eateries serving Restaurant Week menus across the five boroughs.
Black caterer and former high-fashion model Norma Jean Darden owns Miss Mamie’s Spoonbread Too in upper Manhattan. The establishment is a Michelin Bib Gourmand, recognized for its “good quality, good value cooking.” It’s offering two Restaurant Week specials, both under $31.
Djon Djon is a Haitian-owned spot in Brooklyn. Its $45 Restaurant Week menu is a three-course pre-fixe nodding to its culinary heritage. The Michelin Guide describes the place as “warm and welcoming” with unmissable non-alcoholic drinks “for a bit of tropical fun.”
