British Cuisines
It’s All About Cider at Wassail on the Lower East Side
In the last few years, the city has wholeheartedly embraced crisp, fruity and refined cider as a happy medium between beer and wine. Witness the growing popularity of the annual NYC Cider Week (don’t miss our upcoming festival guide!), as well as a significantly enhanced presence on local menus…
Read More
Q & A with Salvation Taco’s April Bloomfield
The term “Gastropub” gets thrown around pretty freely nowadays. It generally refers to bars that serve food far superior to the expected handful of beer nuts, meat pie, or run-of-the-mill burger. But the concept didn’t get much play outside of England until 2004, when British chef April Bloomfield burst onto the NYC scene with The Spotted Pig.
Read More
The Breslin Bar & Dining Room
This ultra hip bar, tucked into the equally hip Ace Hotel, offers a cool ambience and a drool-worthy menu from the creative mind of April Bloomfield. Pair some of her inventive bar snacks, including the Boiled Peanuts Fried in Pork Fat or the Sea Salt and Pepper Crisps, with one of the Breslin’s outstanding beer cocktails.
Read More
The Spotted Pig
The Roquefort-topped burger alone is reason enough to head to the city’s first gastropub. Still, April Bloomfield has got plenty more up her sleeve than that at this buzzing, two-story watering hole dealing in British bar bites, like roll mops and devil’s on horseback. Bloomfield takes inspiration from all over the world and the result is an exceptional dish of ricotta gnudi bathed in brown butter and fried sage and pork belly with salsa rossa and polenta
Read MoreThe Libertine
British pub grub altered – for the worse – for the American palate. 15 Gold St., (212) 785-5950. Lunch: Mon.-Fri., 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Dinner: Mon.-Thurs., 5:30-10:30 p.m.; Fri., 5:30-11; Sat.-Sun., 6-10. Brunch: Sat.-Sun., 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. CUISINE: Brit comfort food VIBE: Think private men’s club. OCCASION: Business lunch, group dinner DON’T-MISS DISHES: Lamb potpie, hazelnut chocolate trifle AVERAGE PRICE: Appetizers, $14; entrees, $25; dessert, $10 RESERVATIONS: Accepted I’m all for whimsy and chefs who play with my food. After all, it’s just food. I’m game for a gimmick – as long as it tastes good. A Kobe-beef pig in a blanket? I can’t argue with that. Sliders? Overplayed, yes. But in the right hands, sliders can be worth a month-long wait for a table. Case in point: the gravy-smothered meatball sliders at the Little Owl. Apple pie with cheddar...
Read MoreThe Inn LW12
Address: 7 Ninth Ave., at Little W. 12th St. Phone: 212.206.0300 Cuisine: Canadian-British gastropub Vibe: Ski lodge meets hunting inn Scene: Buzzing. Hours: Seven days a week, Dinner, 5:30 pm-12 am; Lunch, 11:30 am – 3 pm; Late night, 12 am – 3 am. Price: Appetizers, $9-$15. Entrees, $18-$36. Reservations: Same day reservations. Highly Recommend: Poutine (cheese fries with gravy) Official Website The Inn LW12th (short for Little West 12th) is technically trendy. First, it’s in the Meatpacking District. Second, it rides the gastropub wave. Third, it fronts the sign of the former occupant (Rio Mar), very fashionable and even more confusing than having no signage at all. And yet surprisingly, this Canadian-British gastropub feels like a charming escape from the harrowing hipster zone that envelopes it. This charming three-story townhouse is part ski lodge, part hunting inn. ...
Read More