Smithereens
2026.02 & 06 dinners
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Lobster roll
Bay scallops from Rhode Island, citrus, fresh wasabi
Amberjack with green blueberries and citrus
Fluke with celtuce, magnolia and sesame
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Down a few steps in the East Village,「Smithereens」is a seafood-driven restaurant shaped by chef-owner Nick Tamburo’s New England upbringing, but expressed through a much broader culinary language. Bluefish, shellfish, anadama bread, and other Northeastern ingredients meet Japanese and Asian influences such as seaweed, bonito, fish sauce, sake lees, and dashi-like broths.

Tamburo worked at「Momofuku Ko」,「Blanca」, and「Claud」. That background brings plenty of technique, but very little pretension. The dishes can be inventive and unexpected, yet remain comforting and, above all, simply delicious: a buckwheat pancake hides smoked bluefish beneath its folds, while rustic anadama bread arrives with seaweed butter. Perhaps that is the restaurant’s greatest charm.「Smithereens」doesn’t dress itself up more than necessary. The room is intimate and slightly rough around the edges, while even the most creative dishes retain the soul of something you simply want to eat.

Reservations have become incredibly difficult to catch, which says something about how much the restaurant has resonated. For me, it has quietly become one of my favorite restaurants in New York right now—thoughtful cooking without preciousness, and proof that technique is often most compelling when you barely notice it.
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@smithereensnyc @nick.tamburo
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