There's something delicious about a restaurant that makes critics want to argue. Smithereens, the new seafood spot from Nick Tamburo (late of Claud) and Nikita Malhotra (late of Momofuku Ko), has achieved what most restaurants never do: it has made New York's food world genuinely, vocally unsure what it thinks. The Infatuation loves its electric vibe and terrific seafood. Others leave wanting nothing more than to get smashed.
Walk in and you understand the energy immediately. Tamburo is cooking New England seafood, but not the kind you'll find in a strip-mall lobster shack. His buckwheat pancake with smoked bluefish arrives with the kind of textural intelligence you expect from someone who spent time at an ambitious kitchen. The lobster roll is precise. A bowl of beans with shrimp, uni, and squid suggests someone thinking seriously about how to layer flavors across a plate. This is cooking with intention, not nostalgia.
But then come the desserts, and you understand why people are divided. Smithereens serves what may be the two most polarizing desserts in New York City: a celery float and a seaweed-and-black-licorice cream. These aren't failures or provocations for their own sake. They're genuine expressions of a kitchen willing to chase a flavor into uncomfortable territory. If you're the type of eater who sees that as courage, Smithereens becomes a revelation. If you see it as unnecessary, there's no argument that will convince you otherwise.
The Michelin Guide called it "cool in all the right ways," which might be the most honest assessment yet. Smithereens isn't trying to be a fine-dining temple or a casual beer hall. It's a restaurant with a distinct point of view, staffed by people who've already proven they know how to execute. Whether that point of view is genius or exhausting largely depends on your tolerance for risk, and your feelings about seaweed in dessert.
The real question isn't whether Smithereens is good. It's whether you're the kind of eater who finds polarization exciting or off-putting. In a food scene increasingly built on consensus, this restaurant's refusal to split the difference feels almost radical.