3 Brooklyn Spots Are Among 'Most Anticipated' Restaurants Of 2022

BROOKLYN, NY — Just a few weeks into 2022, the city's gourmands are already clamoring for seats at some of the restaurants planning to open before the year is done — including three spots in Brooklyn.

The upcoming eateries were included in a new list by Eater NY, rounding up 13 of the "most exciting" restaurant openings slated for 2022. The Brooklyn spots include one in Greenpoint, one in Williamsburg and one in Clinton Hill.

Several Brooklyn spots — including a second location of Pasta Louise and Pecking Houses's upcoming brick and mortar outpost — also got a shout out in the "other openings" section of the list.

Here's a look at the eateries that landed one of the 13 top spots:

Wenwen (1025 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint)

Opening: February

"It’s been three years since Eric Sze and Andy Chuang opened 886, their St. Marks Place restaurant that’s become known as much for its rowdy, 20-something clientele as its Taiwanese cooking. But the restaurateurs are growing up, Sze says. They’re not too old for the disco lights in their new restaurant’s bathroom or the Long Island iced teas on its menu, but chairs with backs and a Greenpoint address might be overdue. Their forthcoming restaurant, called Wenwen, is inspired by “homesickness,” according to Sze, who hasn’t been back to Taipei since signing his lease on Manhattan Avenue in early 2020. The menu is loosely based on the foods he ate growing up — shrimp floss, braised pork belly with cuttlefish — served in a high-ceiling space befitting of a chef about to enter his 30s."

Laser Wolf (97 Wythe Avenue, Williamsburg)

Opening: February

"In just a few weeks, Philadelphia restaurant empire builders Michael Solomonov and business partner Steve Cook will unveil their smash hit Israeli skewer shop Laser Wolf on the rooftop of the Hoxton hotel in Williamsburg. Solomonov, an acclaimed chef who is best known for his James Beard Award-winning Israeli destination Zahav, designed more of a raucous night out at Laser Wolf, where diners will gather around tabletops imprinted with backgammon board designs and where every inch of available space will be filled with charcoal-grilled kebabs, puffy rounds of pita, and a colorful array of salatim, or seasonal salads and dips. The Brooklyn debut marks the first expansion outside of Philadelphia for Laser Wolf, which has been topping national and international best-of lists since it first opened in February 2020."

Place des Fêtes (212 Greene Avenue, Clinton Hill)

Opening: Late February

"Increasingly, Brooklyn restaurants are turning their attention to conservas, the tinned fish and seafood commonly snacked on in Spanish bars (see also: El Pingüino in Greenpoint and Minnow from the Cervo’s team). The latest comes from Nico Russell, also behind the Michelin-starred Oxalis restaurant in Prospect Heights, and chef Jacob Harth, a 2019 Eater Young Gun known for his Portland seafood spot Erizo. They’re pulling inspiration from the bars of Barcelona and other Spanish cities, which operate with little more than planchas in their kitchens and where people can order glasses of wine with mussels, clams, and other grilled and raw shellfish. It’s a step in a more casual direction for the Oxalis chef, whose seasonal tasting menus are more befitting of a special occasion. He wants Place des Fêtes, which will offer walk-in seating, to be lower-key: 'Imagine someone gets off from work and they come straight to you for a salad and a glass of wine,' he says. 'That’s the kind of place we want to be.'"

Read Eater's list "NYC's Most Anticipated 2022 Restaurant Openings" here.

Patch reporter Kayla Levy contributed.