Smithereens

Should You Book Smithereens?

If you're choosing between Smithereens and a polished uptown seafood institution like Le Bernardin, the decision is direct: they're solving different problems. Le Bernardin is about technical refinement and ceremony at $$$$. Smithereens, which opened in November 2024 on East 9th Street in the East Village, is about depth of flavor and wine-driven pleasure at $$$. For diners who want serious seafood without the white-tablecloth overhead, Smithereens is the stronger call right now.

The Space

Smithereens occupies a subterranean room at 414 E 9th St — dim, close, and deliberate in its atmosphere. Tables and counters fill every available corner, giving the space a snug, almost barnacled quality that fits its New England seafood-shack DNA without leaning on kitsch. This is not a breezy summer clam shack aesthetic. The room reads dark and purposeful, the kind of place where the lighting is low enough to make you focus on what's in your glass and on your plate. Counter seating is available, which matters for solo diners and pairs who want to engage with the kitchen's rhythm. The spatial intimacy is the point: it concentrates the experience in a way that larger, brighter dining rooms cannot.

The Food

Chef Nicholas Tamburo built his menu around the less-celebrated end of the seafood spectrum: bluefish, mackerel, whiting, amberjack belly. This is a deliberate stance, not a budget compromise. Dishes cited in coverage include amberjack belly grilled over binchotan charcoal, Boston mackerel with seaweed and ginger, and a bowl of beans loaded with shrimp, uni, and squid. The chowder, rather than arriving in the standard New England form, arrives frothed around creamy rice with quahogs folded in. Nothing about the menu is large or exhaustive; the tightness is intentional. Tamburo uses the whole fish, down to the bones, and the menu reflects that economy and focus.

The celery root float has attracted attention as a signature dessert, and one publication described what may be the leading cider doughnut in New York. These are strong claims for a restaurant that opened fewer than six months ago, but the early evidence — a Resy Best of the Hit List nod for 2025 and a White Star from Star Wine List, suggests the kitchen is delivering at a level that justifies the attention.

The Wine Program

Sommelier Nikita Malhotra's wine list is the most analytically interesting part of Smithereens, and it's what separates this from a casual neighborhood fish spot. Star Wine List awarded Smithereens a White Star in April 2025, a credential that signals a list built with genuine intentionality rather than a default markup of obvious bottles. The list skews heavily toward white wines, described as bright and high-energy, which is exactly the right architecture for a menu built around acidic-bright preparations like mackerel with ginger, and rich umami-forward dishes like the shrimp-uni-squid bean bowl.

The pairing logic here matters. At the $$$ price point, you are getting a wine program that has been built with the food in mind, not assembled from a distributor's catalog. For wine-focused diners, this is the reason to choose Smithereens over comparably-priced New York seafood options like Lure Fishbar or Mermaid Oyster Bar, both of which offer good food but without this level of wine program ambition. The sommelier-driven list also makes Smithereens worth benchmarking against seafood-forward wine programs at places like Crevette and Marea, though those operate in different price tiers and formats. If the wine list is important to your decision, Smithereens earns serious consideration at this price level.

Booking and Practical Details

Smithereens opened in November 2024 and landed on Resy's Best of the Hit List for 2025 within months of opening. That kind of early recognition compresses the booking window quickly. Treat this as a moderate-difficulty reservation: book at least two to three weeks ahead for weekend evenings, and check for counter seats or early-week availability if you want a shorter lead time. The restaurant is on the Resy platform. The East Village location at 414 E 9th St is well-served by subway, and the neighborhood has enough pre- and post-dinner options to build a full evening around it. For a broader view of where Smithereens sits in the city's dining map, see our full New York City restaurants guide. If you're planning an extended visit, our New York City hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the rest.

Who Should Book

Smithereens is the right call for wine-focused diners who want a seafood-led menu with genuine somm-driven pairing logic rather than a generic list. It works well for pairs and solo diners at the counter. The tight menu and close space make it less suitable for large groups or anyone looking for a broad, options-heavy format. If you want to understand how ambitious American seafood cooking is developing beyond the obvious fine-dining tier, Smithereens, alongside Oceans, is one of the more interesting places to eat in New York right now. For context on how this approach compares internationally, the ethos of whole-animal seafood cookery and strong regional identity has parallels at places like Alici Restaurant on the Amalfi Coast and Gambero Rosso in Marina di Gioiosa Ionica, though the East Village execution is distinctly its own thing.