The Pavilion

Open Seasonally from mid-April to mid-October.

After six-odd years of renovations and delays, Simon Oren's restaurant at the north end of Union Square is finally open, with an almost Loeb Boathouse meets Italian villa feel. Billed as a "market cafe," the Pavilion serves up a solid list of starters like beef carpaccio with arugula, fennel, and shaved parmesan, a sourdough crouton and herb creme fraiche tomato soup, and wild mushroom bruschetta with a poached egg and truffle butter. For entrees, the list is similarly short, but altogether compelling: take the short rib ravioli with beef jus and grana padano cheese, a hanger steak with chive-mashed potato, wilted kale, and bordelaise sauce, and a roasted organic chicken with fingerling and purple potatoes, broccoli rabe, and a thyme jus.