The Most Exciting Restaurant Openings, New Cookbooks And Entertainment

Our top picks for fall restaurant openings, cookbook releases, TV shows and more

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Since the dawn of time, the approach of the Autumnal Equinox has signaled the return of many beloved things.

Things like aspirational apple picking. And hot toddies and a new season of Homeland and a month-long period when everyone says "foliage." All that and the inevitable bumper crop of "Fall Preview" round-ups just like this one.

So, in the spirit of the season, here are the restaurant openings, cookbooks and culinary happenings we're looking forward to.

Clockwise from top left: A Work in Progress; pasta and a cappuccino at Eataly; Husk Stable

RESTAURANTS

NEW YORK: Ramen otaku will finally have a chance to slurp Ivan Orkin's noodles without flying to Tokyo with the opening of Ivan Ramen on NYC's Lower East Side...The unstoppable Michael White seems to have run out of names if not ideas: His Upper East Side Morini outpost may be a bit more posh than its downtown sibling...Staying Uptown, Marc Murphy plans to open Kingside at the new Viceroy New York hotel on W. 57th St...Across the East River, Hugh Dufour and Sarah Obraitis apply their Quebecois/Queens mojo to the much-anticipated M. Wells Steakhouse.

PHILADELPHIA: Marc Vetri brings his Midas touch to Callowhill in September with the opening of Pizzeria VetriSAN FRANCISCO: Brainy Daniel Patterson has a new book and a more casual spot headed to Market St. called Alta CA...The Spotted Pig and Breslin duo, April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman, fly west to reincarnate sacred divey North Beach hangout Tosca. Visitors can expect better food, updated coffee-less "House Cappucinos" and shellshocked regulars. LOS ANGELES: The prolific Walter Manzke (Wildflour Cafe + Bakery, Petty Cash) goes white tablecloth at Republique in the old Campanile space...fifty seven won't just change menus seasonally, it'll change chefs throughout the year.

Left to right: Il Buco Vita; Ivan Ramen in Japan

CHICAGO: There he goes again–Paul Kahan (Blackbird, Avec, The Publican) will open the Italian seafood joint Nico, named for the sultry Velvet Underground collaborator. RALEIGH: Ashley Christensen (Poole's Diner) has at least two new projects in the works: Death & Taxes (the building has been both a funeral home and a bank) and the culinary event space Bridge ClubNASHVILLE: Sean Brock could serve sandwiches in an outhouse and we'd get in line. Instead, he's opening The Stables at Husk, an extension of his groundbreaking New Southern restaurant. With a rotating (ahem) stable of guest chefs and Brock himself in residence, the creativity (and bourbon) are sure to flow freely.

COOKBOOKS

The countdown to the holidays means the release of an amazing array of cookbooks we're excited to try. Advance copies we're crushing on (and preordering as gifts) are: Pok Pok by Andy Ricker and JJ Goode; Chad Robertson's Tartine Book No. 3; David Kinch of Manresa's An Edible Reflection. Sea-buckthorn evangelist and veteran overachiever René Redzepi returns to print with three volumes, bundled together as A Work In Progress. With pictures, a chef's diary and recipes, there's a lot of satisfying perusing and cooking here to tide you over while you wait for that reservation at Noma. Here's our full roundup of this season's culinary book selections.

SHOPPING

CHICAGO: Team Batali & Bastianich do not do small-scale. Their Eataly outpost is six-hundred-million-square feet of pure Italianness with trattorias, butcher shops, real live Italian grandmothers, a scale model of the Trevi fountain made of lardo, plus a tower of Parmigiano Reggiano said to be visibly clear across Lake Michigan*. WASHINGTON, DC: From the Toki Underground guys, Marketto is a partially crowd-funded Asian marketplace and street food space. NEW YORK: Lovingly curated Il Buco and Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria return to their housewares roots with the upcoming Il Buco Vita line of hand-made plates, terracotta pitchers, pretty candles and the like, all sourced in Italy. *Details unconfirmed. We didn't read the press release that closely.

Clockwise from top left: Haute Cuisine; Tartine Book No. 3; a rendering of Alta CA; Ilan Hall of Knife Fight; Pok Pok

ENTERTAINMENT

Baohaus badboy and Twitter darling Eddie Huang delivers his star power to two TV networks: A pilot of the '90s-era sitcom Fresh Off the Boat, based on his memoir of the same name, is slated to premiere on ABC, and he's hosting a cooking competition, Smackdown, on MTV...The manly magazine spinoff Esquire Network is premiering soon on a TV near you–and with it comes the return of Top Chef season two winner Ilan Hall. His show Knife Fight pits L.A. chefs in late-night "underground" battles (whatever that means)...Haute Cuisine, a film based on the true story of Francois Mitterand's private chef and how she charmed the French president with her culinary skills, premieres Stateside on September 20th.

HAPPENINGS

Nashville's Music City Eats (9/21 to 9/22) is our kind of food festival: lots of good chefs (Jonathan Waxman, Nancy Silverton, Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo) with a heavy emphasis on music (tribute to Tom Petty hosted by Kings of Leon)...Put a bird on your eating exploration of one of America's best little eating towns at Feast Portland (9/19 to 9/21)...An impressive contingent of culinary talent (April Bloomfield, Dan Barber and Albert Adria) descend on Charleston for Cook It Raw's BBQ Perspectives with Sean Brock & Friends (10/26), the first public event from the roving annual chef gathering.