Restaurants in Lower East Side
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Restaurant Spotting: Paulaner
Originally slated to open just in time for Oktoberfest this year, Paulaner (the 375-year-old German beer brand), couldn’t have picked a better way to make its New York restaurant debut. Unfortunately, that anticipated holiday launch wound up being delayed well into November, and then the brauhaus mysteriously shuttered again a few months later, affixing brown paper to the windows and a cryptic “Coming Soon” sign to the door. But now, Paulaner is once again serving up sausages and giant steins of beer on the Bowery, and seemingly much better for the evident internal shakeup…
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Q & A with Rosette’s Executive Chef Nick Curtin
At the recently opened Rosette on the Lower East Side, Nick Curtin is fully committed to making approachable, craveable fare at a truly accessible price point. “There are a few basic ideals that we’re trying to adhere to at Rosette, like ‘flavor is king,’ Curtin says. “Our other mantra is technique over technology. We’re not about water baths and gels and things like that. We want to make food perfect the old fashioned way.”
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Get Your Caffeine Fix with Yerba Mate
Looking for a jitter-free alternative to your daily cup(s) of coffee? Try mate, a tea-like beverage made from the leaves of the South American holly plant yerba mate. This national drink of Uruguay and Argentina is loved for the clean energy boost it provides…
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Rosette – Reviewed
Why aren’t more people talking about Rosette? New Yorkers can’t seem to get enough restaurant gossip, especially when it comes to openings (though we love a good chef shuffle, too). Yet, Rosette has barely scratched the surface of our collective radar. Which is good for the rest of us until word gets out to the foodie set. And I’m pretty sure it will…
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New York Sushi Ko – Reviewed
By now, you’ve probably heard about New York Sushi Ko. (Or not.) It’s part of the new order of sushi joints popping up around New York City (hurray!). And by new order, I mean hip, laidback, and excellent. Let’s face it: Most sushi temples (the great ones anyway) evoke solemn dining experiences, like eating in church, speaking in hushed whispers, careful not to disturb or annoy the chef behind the sushi counter. And I won’t even get into it that Los Angeles has always trumped New York in the sushi department…
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Q & A with Contra’s Jeremiah Stone and Fabian Von Hauske
If you ask chefs Jeremiah Stone and Fabian Von Hauske to describe the concept for Contra, their new, tasting-menu only restaurant, they’ll insist that its clean and spare, like their Lower East Side space, with food that’s serious, but doesn’t take itself too seriously. “We’re just trying to stay focused, showcase great products, and avoid doing things that represent who other people are as cooks…
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Skal – Reviewed
In my wildest dreams, I never imagined that we’d need to add Icelandic to the list of cuisines we search for when dining out in New York. In fact, I wrote a book on the world’s foods and never conceived that Nordic cooking would be relevant, certainly not relevant enough to include in my book, Try This, nevermind Icelandic. But head down to Chinatown, on the edge of the Lower East Side, and you’ll find a buzzy little spot called Skal, serving up Pan-Seared Pike with Pickled Plums & Kohlrabi in an herbaceous Verbena Sauce, and tangly Icelandic Yogurt with Grated Beetroot and Sorrel Granita…
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Yonah Schimmel Knishery
This Lower East Side knishery has been cooking whole grains for over one hundred years now. Just what is a knishery exactly? It’s a place that peddles Jewish knishes, big, pudgy dumplings filled with anything and everything, and often stuffed with kasha, which refers to a large family of grains eaten in Slavic Europe (make it plural and you get Kashi, thus the name of the eponymous cereal and snack bar purveyor). The Kasha Knishes at Yonah Schimmel are round, baked shells of dough filled with a savory mixture of kasha and chopped onion. It doesn’t matter if you lack Eastern European roots – these knishes are undeniably...
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Shopsin’s Chicken Tortilla Avocado Soup
The menu at Kenny Shopsin’s eponymous Shopsin’s has a seemingly endless number of options from which to choose (there’s over 900 options to be exact), with everything from French Toast Sandwiches to Deep Fried Pancake Quesadillas making an appearance. It can be a bit overwhelming to peruse the menu and settle on something to eat, so if you want some advice, go for the Chicken Tortilla Avocado Soup.
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Mission Chinese Food
Does “Americanized Chinese Food” conjure up visions of uninspired, overseasoned beef and broccoli in brown sauce, or gloppy, MSG-laden chicken chow mein? Danny Bowien blew those misconceptions out of the water when he opened the first East Coast outpost of his popular San Francisco restaurant this year. What the team behind Torrisi and Parm did for nostalgic 1970s Italian in NYC , Bowien did for throwback Chinese, delighting patrons with Salt Cod Fried Rice, Kung Pao Pastrami, Tingly Tea Smoked Chicken, and of course, Broccoli Beef Brisket with Smoked Oyster...
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What I’m Loving – Yopparai
It’s not easy to surprise me with a great, new restaurant that’s not really new at all. It makes me feel like I’ve failed as a food writer and restaurant chaser. How did I miss the memo about Yopparai? Seriously. I suggested we go for Japanese to a friend who responded, “I just went to a great spot on the Lower East Side.” When I neared the entrance, I realized I’d been to the same address for sushi just a year before when it was Sushi Uo, an oddball sushi spot that sadly didn’t last long. I buzzed the same mysterious buzzer, then passed through a door into a railroad-style apartment building where the restaurant occupies a long, narrow space on the ground floor. There’s a long wood sushi bar with cozy, cushioned seating, several two-tops along the wall,...
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Mission Chinese’s Fusion
After years of working late nights as a line cook, Bowien found that he and his colleagues were always searching for the perfect Asian junk food to eat after work. Hence, Mission Chinese was born.
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Sugar Sweet Sunshine’s Pumpkin Eggnog Pudding
We’ve been fans of this teeny Lower East Side bakery and its pies, cakes and cupcakes for years. We love the story of these two ladies, Peg and Deb, who met while performing in The Music Man, living parallel lives of auditioning and working together at Magnolia Bakery. They launched this itty bitty bakery over nine years ago and we think it gets better every year. Come October, they roll out their moist and surprisingly light Pumpkin Cake. But the best card they’re holding is the Pumpkin Eggnog Pudding Cake, a mildly spiced trifle layered with moist Pumpkin Cake and a thick and luscious Eggnog Pudding....
Read MoreFirst Prize Pies’ Apple Cider Cream Pie
Ever since Allison Kave won the 1st Annual Brooklyn Pie-Off back in 2009, her pies have been getting tons of attention from New Yorkers. It’s not just the quality of the pies that makes us love this place, but the innovative offerings on their menu. Kave dreams up everything from Greek Honey pie, with a consistency somewhere between custard and cheesecake, to Mexican Chocolate Cream pie dusted with a kick of cayenne and chile, and Apple Brandy. Even her apple pies are different, like Apple Brandy or Apple Cheddar. Still, there’s something about her Sweet Potato Pie that soothes our comfort food cravings like nothing else. It’s the combination of luscious sweet potato, maple syrup, molasses and rum. Though they don’t have a shop yet, you can pick up orders from Roni-Sue’s Chocolates on the Lower East...
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The Doughnut Plant
As if Crème Brulée and doughnuts were not extravagant enough on their own, The Doughnut Plant has fused the two in one of their most popular creations: the Crème Brulée Doughnut.
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