Matt Russell This excerpt was originally published in Pre Shift, our newsletter for the hospitality industry. Subscribe for more first-person accounts, advice, and interviews. Now Open is a yearlong series celebrating some of 2026’s most exciting new restaurants. Throughout the year, we’ll check in with teams in Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C. to hear what it’s really like behind the scenes of a buzzy opening. Then, we’ll host exclusive meals at these restaurants as part of Dinner Party, presented by Capital One. Read along for challenges, candid reflections, and advice from the proprietors behind some of the country’s hottest new openings. In New York, the line between “bar” and “restaurant” is hard to parse. Both delineations are nebulous at best; more and more self-described wine bars offer $80 entrees and counter service, while there are also restaurants that hawk small plates exclusively. If you squint, they all blur together. That said, Dean’s, the latest venture from chef Jess Shadbolt and beverage director Annie Shi (the pair of whom opened King together in 2016 and Jupiter in 2022), stands on a compelling middle ground. It’s a British pub. And while such places can operate as rowdy drinking halls, the quintessential pub is both a place for 12 Guinesses on a Tuesday night (mind you, Dean’s has a prize for the first guest to drink 500 pints), and sit-down fish and chips among friends. Open since late March, it’s a brighter, New York-ified version of the public house. Notably, 75 percent of…
