Meet Smithereens, Your New Spot for New England-Style Seafood in New York

1. With a team like this, you know it’ll be good.

Both Tamburo and Malhotra boast long and storied restaurant resumes. Tamburo was previously cooked at the ever-popular Claud, as well as Blanca and the now-closed Momofuku Nishi. Malhotra handled the beverage program at Momofuku Ko, later working with Pressoir and earning the title of New York’s sommelier of the year award from the Michelin guide in 2022. Smithereens marks the first time either one has had an ownership stake in a restaurant, and really been able to make it their own.

“It’s definitely a big change. There are a lot more little things to worry about and keep an eye on, but at the same time, it’s super freeing,” Tamburo says.

2. There’s meaning behind the name.

The restaurant’s name comes from a 1982 movie of the same title, a coming-of-age story set in the punk scene of the East Village at that time.

“We’re finding that the name has a lot more relevance to what we’re doing than [just the location],” Tamburo says. “We feel like smithereens are small broken pieces, and we’re taking these things that we’ve learned in the industry and at other places and figuring out how we want to put them back together.”

3. Here’s how it all came together.

This may be Tamburo and Malhotra’s first ownership venture together, but the pair has run in the same circles for years. Both worked at Ko (although they didn’t overlap), and the idea to collaborate first arose when Malhotra dined at Claud.

“I’ve always been a fan of Claud, so it wasn’t my first time or anything,” Malhotra recalls. “I saw Nick on the pass and knew he hadn’t been to Ko in a while, so I wanted to let him know he should come by. Little did I know they would close that year. It was a new beginning.”

4. The vibes are classic New England tavern, with a sleek, modern edge.

There are plenty of thoughtful, personal touches to be found throughout the design of this subterranean space that holds close to 50 diners. (Funnily enough, Smithereens is also a basement space in the East Village, just like Claud). A nautical painting behind the bar was done by Tamburo’s friend, and the purple-colored wine cellar, Malhotra’s home base, is adjacent to the back dining room where three tables of four are located.

The space was designed in collaboration with Ian Chapin, who also designed Claud, Penny, and Hellbender. The bar is a key feature, with a mottled stainless front designed to be reminiscent of an oyster shell, a burnt wood bar top fashioned from the previous tenant’s own, and reclaimed cork floors. The walls are lime-plastered and the tables are blackened sassafras, to match the bar top.

There’s also a delightfully open kitchen, where chefs will be able to serve a handful of diners at the chef’s counter. Tamburo says it’s also likely that he and his chefs will likely hit every table at some point during service.

“We wanted to create something that was inspired by that traditional tavern or pub, but more contemporary and enough removed that it won’t feel like a theme restaurant,” Tamburo said.

5. If you love white wine, you’re in luck.

Malhotra has crafted a uniquely personal and curated wine list, and looking at the handwritten full cellar list, complete with notes, doodles, and commentary of her own, is enough to tell you that.

Her short list of anywhere from 60 to 80 bottles focuses on bottles from Germany and various coastal regions, highlighting the seafood-centric menu. Even more unusual? Right now, the short list is all white wines, save for a single red — Will’s Wine Gamay 2022 — and a German skin-contact pet nat from the Mosel region — Jan Matthias Klein Kiss Kiss Maddies Lips.

Malhotra says she and Tamburo picked that single red wine because it’s “a red wine that works well with the white wine theme” boasting a similar “vibrancy and acid profile” that you’ll find throughout the wine list. The pet nat, she adds, shows how there’s more than just Riesling to be found in the Mosel region of Germany.

“I wanted there to be a moment where you open the list and you’re able to see that everything makes sense in terms of curation,” Malhotra says. “I want people to understand that we’ll probably go into red wine when that makes sense in terms of our discovery as a team, but for now it’s white wine driven.”

For now, there are five by-the-glass wine options, and Malhotra plans to have two special verbal by-the-glass options fro each night of service, with the hope of sharing wines that might otherwise be difficult to source or that are new to the city.

They’ll also have a full bar and cocktail program, including some drinks they simply “had to” include — the Cape Codder (vodka and cranberry juice), Moxie Original Elixir (a favorite soda of New Englanders), and a $5 Narragansett lager included.

6. The menu is all about seafood, and the seasons.

Fans of Claud will likely find much to love at Smithereens, despite the difference in cuisines, thanks to a shared culinary philosophy between the teams.

“Josh [Pinsky, co-owner and executive chef of Claud] and I really speak the same culinary language,” Tamburo says. “We worked together at Ko and we really learned stuff together. Claud is very much rooted in France and Europe, while here [at Smithereens] we’re trying to embrace the idea of an American restaurant.”

The menu at Smithereens is inspired largely by Tamburo’s childhood growing up in New England, so expect to see lots of seafood dishes and hearty vegetables.

“We’re not exclusively serving seafood, but that’s definitely where our attention is. We’re really focused on seasonality — not just when it comes to produce, but also with fish. We want to be flexible with what’s coming in and work with what’s best at the moment,” Tamburo adds.

There’s a regional yeasted bread from New England — anadama bread — served with seaweed butter; grilled Swiss chard with salted radish; tuna with cherry blossom and pear; and barbecue monkfish tail, to name a few.

7. Don’t know where to start? Start with these dishes.

We asked Tamburo to tell us about three must-order dishes on the menu in his own words. Here’s what he had to say, in his own words.

1. Buckwheat pancake with smoked bluefish

“For this dish, we pulled inspiration from a few different places. One of them is the legendary Neptune Oyster in Boston. They make this johnny cake (essentially a cornmeal pancake) that they serve with smoked bluefish and caviar, and it’s so delicious. I also ate a fair amount of buckwheat galettes when I was in Paris cooking at Fulgurances L’adresse. I thought something like that would be a great vehicle for the smoked fish. Then I found out about ployes, which are a buckwheat pancake traditionally eaten in Northern Maine and Nova Scotia, and it all kind of came full circle.

“We smoke whole filets of bluefish with applewood. Throughout the smoking process, we baste the fish with a glaze made from garlic, maple syrup, whole grain mustard, and a few other things. Once the fish is cooked through, we flake the meat apart and fold it with creme fraiche, chives, and lemon to make a salad. We put it on the bottom of a plate and cover it with a thin buckwheat pancake that’s brushed with maple butter and sprinkled with chives.”

2. Hake with clams

“Until I was about 13 years old, New England clam chowder was my absolute favorite food. I really wanted to have a dish with all of the same flavors, but one that makes sense in the context of our restaurant. We make a chowder with littleneck clams, cream, aromatics, and dry vermouth. Instead of thickening the chowder with a traditional roux, we essentially blend clams into the chowder to give it body and a huge boost of clam flavor. We then put the chowder into a whipped cream canister to give it some lightness and body. We gently steam some hake and serve it with onions, celery, potatoes, clam bellies, and we finish it with the “chowder” and some bay leaf oil.”

3. Apple cider doughnut

“Cider doughnuts are a ubiquitous fall treat in the Northeast and definitely something I grew up eating while going apple picking or pumpkin picking with my family. The problem with apple cider donuts is that they don’t taste like apples or cider — mostly just of cinnamon and sugar.

“In our doughnut recipe, all of the liquid is apple cider which gives it some great flavor. After we fry it, we dust it with a cinnamon sugar mix that also includes freeze-dried apple and malic acid (the acid that is present in apples). This gives it a big boost of apple-y flavor that’s really satisfying.”

Smithereens will be open Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 to 10 p.m. beginning on Friday, Nov. 1.

Ellie Plass is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn. Follow her on Instagram and X. Follow Resy, too.