A Few New Minimalists

They've serving naked octopus and turning broth into garnish.

- CHRIS CROWLEY

A DECADE AGO, when some of the earliest natural-wine bars-Estela, Contra-arrived in New York, they offered a first taste of Paris's bistronomie movement, where chefs applied haute cuisine flair to daily-changing menus and locavore ingredient sourcing. Now the progeny of those kitchens are running their own spots around town and paring things down even further: shingles of button mushroom draped over ruby cubes of beef tartare, individual tart shells filled with a mash of fava beans, a puck of lentils in a sauce of herb oil. Their naturalistic and understated touch has resulted in some of the most dialed-back new dishes in the city. 

Jay Wolman

Mimi (185 Sullivan St., nr. Bleecker St.) and St., nr. W. Houston St.) Babs (72 Macdougal