Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month in May at Four Outstanding Asian Restaurants

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and we have four outstanding restaurants where New Yorkers and guests of the city can go to celebrate and enjoy great food and drink.

Restaurant Yuu, by Executive Chef-Owner Yuu Shimano, located in the fashionable Little Tokyo District of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, was awarded one Michelin star just six months after opening. The menu is a 13-course French omakase tasting menu with Japanese undertones. Chef Yuu was named the #1 Best New Restaurant in America by Robb Report in 2024 and ranked #68 out of 598 in OAD's Top Restaurants in North America for 2024, as well as being featured in EATER’s Mise En Place video series, The New York Times, Town & Country, Forbes, and Michelin Guide, among others.

ippudo V, the sixth New York outpost and first vegan, plant-based ramen offshoot of this renowned Japanese ramen chain, opened under the radar in July 2024 from founder Shigemi Kawahara. Nestled under the Brooklyn Bridge in Dumbo, it arrives 17 years after the iconic brand's first foray into New York City. Ippudo is known for its authentic Hakata-style tonkotsu ramen. 

ISHQ is a casual fine-dining regional Indian restaurant in the East Village by Executive Chef-Owner Vamshi Adi, whose first restaurant, Gazab, made him the youngest Indian chef to own and operate a restaurant in NYC. Just one month after opening, Chef Vamshi’s menu of reimagined classic Indian dishes earned ISHQ a spot in the Michelin Guide and soon after, a Michelin Bib Gourmand title. In the kitchen, Chef Vamshi leads a team of skilled chefs who have trained extensively in India and New York to showcase a plethora of regional Indian cuisine that originate from the ancient plains of the Awadh region all the way to Chef Vamshi’s home of Hyderabad. With beverages acting as tributes to the vibrant diversity of India’s cities and an interior featuring pink quartz illuminated by floral fixtures, ISHQ invites patrons to a relaxing yet elegant environment.

Hortus NYC is a staple Modern Asian restaurant in NoMad, known for fusing flavors from China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia in unique ways that will take diners on a culinary journey at an approachable price point. Managing Partner Suhum Jang (Per Se, Daniel, Jungsik) oversees the restaurant, in addition to Midtown’s cherished donut shop, Bear Donut. On Hortus NYC’s second level is a hidden garden oasis that creates the perfect environment for spring dining. 

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Hortus NYC