You’ll Be Sipping Homemade Vermouth at This New Pintxos Bar By Month’s End

A new Basque restaurant is set to bring house-made vermouth and cider on tap to the former L’asso EV space by the end of the month. Seating 75, Huertas will feature a pintxos (Basque tapas) bar in the front and tables for a four-course, $52 “menu del dia” in the back.

Chef-owner Jonah Miller, who has worked at a slew of fine-dining restaurants in New York — Chanterelle, Gramercy Tavern, Savoy, and most recently, as sous chef at Maialino — said he decided he wanted to open a Basque restaurant after studying abroad and doing a food tour around Spain.

“I also don’t think we have enough great Spanish food here in New York yet,” he said (no offense to those other newcomers: Cata on the Lower East Side, Donostia in the East Village, and El Born in Greenpoint). “I want to introduce New Yorkers to a cuisine that’s not exotic but still largely unfamiliar to them.”

Huertas is expected to open April 22 at 107 First Avenue, between East Sixth and Seventh Streets. You can see a sample menu on its website.