It’s the tapas of the town.
Restaurants across New York City are increasingly adding single, flavor-packed bites to their menus to accommodate customers with shrinking appetites due to weight-loss medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. According to some surveys, as many as 1 in 8 Americans have tried the drugs.
People come in and “they’re not shy about saying they’re on Ozempic,” said Max Tucci, the restaurateur behind the buzzy Tucci in NoHo. To better serve such guests, the Italian restaurant recently started offering its caviar-topped arancini in a single portion for $12 — instead of the usual three arancini for $34.
Guests can also order a single meatball for $10, instead of the usual $27 portion, which includes three of the signature item, featuring manchego cheese and a Calabrian chili marinara.
“If more people are going through this and they’re experiencing this, and their appetites are suppressed, then let’s offer them something sweet and simple,” Tucci told The Post of his motivation. It’s a win for the restaurant, he added, because it results in less food waste.
Clinton Hall, a beer-and-burger joint with several locations in Manhattan and one in the Bronx, is known for its hearty offerings, such as “The CH Challenge” — a 20-ounce beef patty dressed with bacon, cheese, chicken tenders, crispy onion rings and more for $50.
But, it recently introduced a Teeny Weeny Mini Meal for summer that features two 1-ounce beef patties and baby buns.
“[Diners are] being a little bit more conscious about their intake,” Clinton Hall’s culinary marketing director Gregory Mecane told The Post. This is a playful way “to serve bold flavor in portions that reflect more and more adults’ shrinking appetites.”
Other restaurants aren’t altering their menus, but they’re finding that diners have a bigger appetite for small, luxurious bites. Customers want bold flavor without the food coma.
At The Noortwyck in the West Village, an appetizer featuring a single hash brown topped with caviar and crème fraîche for $22 has long been on the menu. But, chef Andy Quinn admits the item’s popularity has grown over the past year.
It could very well “be attributed to the rise in Ozempic [use],” he told The Post, adding that he’s also observed tables ordering fewer dishes than they once did.
In Tribeca, the haute Japanese-French restaurants l’abeille recently nixed its five-course menu in favor of a three-course option to accommodate those with smaller appetites.
Owner Howard Chang said they’ve “noticed people are eating less” perhaps due to weight-loss drugs.
He added they’re happy to offer single portions of ala carte dishes, such as a squash blossom stuffed with New Caledonian blue prawn and saffron rice. Typically, two come to an order for $48, but those who ask can order just one.
At other popular restaurants, restaurateurs might not acknowledge they’re catering to GLP-1 users, but those with smaller appetites will certainly find appealing options.
Since it opened in early 2024, the upscale fried chicken joint Coqodaq has been famed for offering a singular chicken nugget topped with Golden Daurenki caviar for $28.
At Crevette, an elegant, rose-hued Mediterranean restaurant that opened in the West Village earlier this year from the team behind Dame, the menu is heavy on raw bar offerings.
However, there’s no three-tiered seafood tower on offer but rather a large assortment of single, thoughtfully conceived bites, such as a chilled mussel with salsa brava for $2 or an individual razor clam with parsley and cucumber for $12.
The trend seems likely to follow a similar path as the rise of low- and no-alcoholic cocktails. Not too long ago, those who didn’t want to imbibe while eating out had limited options at NYC restaurants — typically just iced tea and soda.
Now, creative zero-proof cocktails — many with price tags only slightly lower than their boozy brethren — abound.
“We’re always evolving. We’re always learning,” Tucci said of himself and other city restaurateurs. “If this is going to become a food trend and we’re making money off of it too, then it’s worth doing.”
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