Restaurant Openings Report: Week Of July 27, 2014

Boston
The Verb Hotel has officially announced a partnership with James Beard award-winning chef Tim Cushman. Tim and Nancy Cushman, owners of The Roof at Park South in New York and o ya restaurant in Boston, will open Hojoko later this fall. Their second restaurant concept in Boston, Hojoko will be a high-energy izakaya (Japanese pub).

New York
On Monday, August 11, for one night only, chef David Santos' Hot Chicken Pop-Up will bring his love of all things spicy to the next Nossa Mesa dinner at Louro with his version of Nashville-style hot chicken.  Diners can enjoy half ($15) and whole ($28) chickens served mild, hot, or extra hot, using his own blend of hot pepper paste. It will be served with the traditional accompaniments of white bread and bread and butter pickles, with sides of coleslaw, deviled eggs, baked beans, pickles, and tomato salad available. Drinks are BYOB, and seating times are 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 p.m.; some walk-ins will be accepted at the bar as well.

Café el Presidente is hosting a pop-up café and taquería in the Flatiron Plaza on Tuesday, August 5 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to mark the launch of their new breakfast service, and as part of a larger series of Flatiron promotional events from the restaurant group designed to share Mexican food traditions with their neighbors. Complimentary La Antigua coffee, freshly made pastries, and signature tacos made by executive chef Jason DeBriere will be served from their trademark converted VW Bus. The kitchen in the brick-and-mortar restaurant is now open from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. every day, and is serving their complete breakfast menu seven days a week, which includes locally roasted coffee and espresso sourced from Chiapas, freshly pressed juices, breakfast tacos, classic egg dishes, seasonal fruit, Mexican granola, and handmade Mexican pastries by DeBriere.

Max Fish soft-opens this weekend on Orchard Street, nearly a year after owner Ulli Rimkus was forced to close the 23-year-old bar due to a raise in the rent. Luckily, Rimkus was able to find a two-story space just blocks from where the legendary establishment and art space originally stood. Rumor has it that she's saved many of the bar's most iconic details — including the cigarette that hung outside and the pool table — which will be restored in the new spot. As this is just the soft opening, only the ground floor will open on Saturday — the basement level won't be ready until the fall. The food menu is also still M.I.A., so for now the restaurant is allowing guests to bring their own food, but the first floor of the bar will be open.

The New York-based farm-to-counter restaurant, Dig Inn, is opening their ninth location on Thursday, August 14, in the Financial District. This location will offer the newest features including an on-site butcher carving block, and a grill and sauté station, which will serve their summer grilled vegetable special of grilled corn from Hoden Farms in Long Island. On opening Day there will be $5 suggested donation, with all proceeds going to their partnership with FoodFight to support food education in a local downtown public school.

Seattle
Tom Douglas has launched yet another culinary project with the opening of his Assembly Hall Kitchen inside the 10,000-square-foot Assembly Hall in Via 6 in Belltown. It includes a juice bar, a deli and specialty market, and restaurant, TanakaSan. Zagat broke the news, reporting that the new lunch counter fills the space that formerly housed a pastry kitchen. The menu in the specialty market, Home Remedy, includes sandwiches like teriyaki pork bahn mi and "Not Your Mama's PB&J," pizza by the slice, a salad bar, and build-your-own rice bowls.

Portland
Prettyman's General has opened on SE Hawthorne in the City of Roses. Named after the early Northwest settler known for cutting the path to what is now Hawthorne Boulevard, the eatery offers beer and wine, baked goods, sauces, and preserves, as well as cheese and meat. Diners can select a bottle from the dine-in shelves or choose one of the eight beers on tap, and then pair their drinks with a variety of sandwiches, salads, "drinking snacks," and pasties from localfavorite, Pacific Pie Co.

Kate Kolenda is the Restaurant/City Guide Editor at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @BeefWerky and @theconversant.