Mili, the restaurant that spent its early life as a roving pop-up, opens its own dining room at 123 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side this week. Its reservation book on Resy opens with Wednesday, November 4, the first night tables can be booked.

The restaurant comes from chef Jorge Luis Pabón and Alexis White, partners in life and in business, who ran Mili as a series of pop-ups before signing for a permanent space. Ludlow Street is the first address the restaurant has had to itself.

The block

Number 123 sits on Ludlow between Rivington and Delancey Streets, the stretch of tenement buildings, bars and small restaurants that fills up after dark. Sara D. Roosevelt Park is two avenues west, and the Delancey Street-Essex Street subway station is about two blocks south.

The menu

Mili's own description centers the cooking on seasonal, market-driven ingredients, pairing classic technique with less expected combinations. The menu is built to change with the seasons. The opening list includes cured scallops with Manhattan chowder, duck with quince and grilled grape leaves, monkfish with onion sauce and sea lettuce, and a sunchoke tart with Taleggio and lavender.

Manhattan chowder on a scallop plate is a nod to the city's own tomato-based clam chowder, the red cousin of the creamy New England version, and the kind of local reference the menu leans on.

The wine

The wine program follows the same approach as the kitchen, with an emphasis on domestic producers and bottles. The stated aim is to introduce diners to wines they have not met before, so expect American labels from smaller producers rather than the usual French and Italian list.

How to go

Mili is at 123 Ludlow Street, New York, NY 10002, and is open Wednesday through Sunday from 5 to 11 p.m. It is closed Monday and Tuesday. Reservations are on Resy, and the restaurant's phone number is 347-241-8948. The nearest subway is Delancey Street-Essex Street, served by the F, J, M and Z trains.

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