NoLita · New American · Wine Bar · Small Plates
A second-floor wine bar on Houston that changed how New York restaurants cook — endive with walnut and anchovy, still
Estela is up a flight of stairs on East Houston, holds maybe fifty people, and has spent over a decade being quietly imitated by every small-plates restaurant that opened after it. Ignacio Mattos cooks with a directness that reads as simple only until you try to reproduce it: endive dressed with walnuts and aged cheese, tartare cut coarse and served with a crisp, ricotta dumplings that arrive looking plain and do not taste that way. The wine list leans natural without being doctrinaire. The bar is the best place to sit. It holds a Michelin star and has never behaved like a restaurant that wanted one.
Estela is a second-floor wine bar on Houston that changed how New York restaurants cook — endive with walnut and anchovy, still. Regulars order endive salad with walnuts and ubriaco rosso and beef tartare with sunchoke.
Estela is priced at $$$ — approx. $40–$75 per person.
Estela takes reservations by phone — call (212) 219-7693 to book.
Estela is at 47 E Houston St, New York, NY 10012, in NoLita. Street parking on Houston St; garages on Lafayette St
Estela is open Daily 5–10:30 PM · Fri–Sun 11:30 AM–2:30 PM lunch. Hours can change on holidays — confirm on Google Maps before a long drive.