Restaurants in Midtown East

Aquavit

Cuisine: | Featured in Uncategorized

Dark Chocolate and Désir: A Taste of Belgium

Cuisine: | Featured in Ethnic Eats, Holiday Eats

If you’re going to give someone your heart this Valentine’s day, make it a chocolate one—Belgian chocolate, to be exact. After all, in the world of chocolate, Belgium is king. The country houses a higher concentration of chocolatiers than any other on the planet, and still sticks faithfully to Old World, artisanal methods of making their candy by hand…

Le Cirque

Cuisine: | Featured in Uncategorized

Royce’ Chocolate

Cuisine: | Featured in Uncategorized

Jacques Torres

Cuisine: | Featured in Uncategorized

Juni

Cuisine: | Featured in Uncategorized

Rotisserie Georgette – Reviewed

Cuisine: French | Featured in Hottest Newcomers, Reviews

God knows New York could always use a few more great restaurants north of 57th Street on the east side. I know, I know; solid progress has been made over the years (The Mark, Salumeria Rosi, & The East Pole), but nonetheless there remains a culinary no man’s land between uptown and midtown. Aside from Fred’s at Barney’s, Rouge Tomate and the famously overpriced Nello, there ain’t a lot of choices. But things have been looking up since Rotisserie Georgette flung open its doors on 60th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues. Who would have thought you could get a killer Roast Chicken in these parts? Or better yet, a Roast Chicken for Two…

Neuhaus

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of, Holiday Eats

Hershey’s, Mars Bars and Milky Ways are great when you’re young.  But as you get older, you crave chocolate that, well, actually tastes like chocolate.  That’s where this famed Belgian manufacturer comes in.  They really know their way around a cocoa bean (the company was founded in 1857), so pay a visit to the New York flagship store for Peruvian Chocolate Praline, silky Pistachio Truffles, buttercream-based Manon Sucre, Dark Chocolate Orange Tablets, or impossibly decadent candy bars, studded with Wild Strawberries, Feuilletine, Speculoos, or crunchy Gianduja and Puffed...

The Four Seasons

Cuisine: | Featured in Uncategorized

Grand Central Holiday Fair

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of, Holiday Eats

Grand Central’s elegant Holiday Fair features 76 micro-boutiques, and while none of them specialize in food, the terminal itself has seriously stepped up its game in the last few years.  Finish off a day of shopping with a ready-to-go sandwich from Murray’s Cheese, pick up a fancy french pastry from Financier, or, if you still have a bit of cash to burn, settle in for champagne and crustaceans at the Grand Central Oyster...

Vermilion’s Indian-Latin American

Cuisine: Global Fusion | Featured in Best Of

The woman behind Vermilion, Rohini Dey, is a force to be reckoned with and what Time magazine dubs, “a culinary superstar.”  Following stints as an economist for the World Bank and a consultant at a Chicago financial advising company, Dey, a New Delhi native, was inspired to leave her finance career behind and launch a very novel restaurant concept.  Her idea was to celebrate the shared Arabic and Portuguese culinary influences in Latin and Indian regions and the result are dishes, like Duck Vindaloo Arepas and Artichoke Pakoras with Eggplant Coconut Sauce.  The drink menu is just as international and unique, featuring a mix of lassis, aguas frescas, and “herb and spice” Latin cocktails.   Not to mention that Vermilion’s an unusually sexy restaurant for such seriously ethnic cuisine:  The bi-level space is sleekly outfitted with white woven chairs, glossy wood...

Park Avenue Autumn’s Pumpkin & Molasses Cake

Cuisine: American | Featured in Best Of, Fall Foods

This midtown spot not only include a change in the menu but the entire décor and space as well. Park Avenue Autumn is here until late November, with a menu that highlights the season’s best, including Roast Chicken with “Pumpkin Pie”.  Except this year the talented Richard Leach has added a new and exceptional sweet to his dessert menu, a Warm Pumpkin & Molasses Cake.  A stunning arrangement of four components that include a warm and deliciously dense Pumpkin Cake, sweetened with molasses, alongside a a Sour Cream Panna Cotta Bar, and Chilled Molasses...

Peking Duck House

Cuisine: Chinese | Featured in Best Of

If you’re an aficionado of Peking Duck, this Chinatown joint is a rite of passage. The gargantuan menu features regional cooking of Shanghai, Szechuan and Peking and there’s plenty worth trying. Their signature dish happens to be a flawless rendition. (Dare we say it’s one of the best in the city?!)

Q&A with Crave Fishbar’s Todd Mitgang

Cuisine: Seafood | Featured in Chef Q&A, Chef Q&A Recipes

Not many chefs get the opportunity to be a Chef De Cuisine at just 22 years old.  Todd Mitgang managed to graduate from the French Culinary Institute and land himself in the modern Thai kitchen at Kittichai, inside the stylish, Thompson Hotel.  Mitgang has seen it all over his ten year career.  His breakout success, Crave Ceviche Bar, was destroyed by a freak crane accident in 2008, forcing him to close his restaurant and start virtually from scratch. His next move was an unexpected one, turning up at Cascabel Taqueria where he tried his hand at casual Mexican cooking, then out east in Montauk at South Edison.  But after three years, Mitgang has finally revived the Crave brand with Crave Fishbar as inspired by flavors from all over the globe as ever.   He’s bringing back old classics and taking risks...

The Ginger Man

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of

If the vintage Guinness posters on the walls have you convinced you’re at just another pub, you’ll need to reconsider.  This place is anything but generic, from the ridiculous number of beers on tap (we’re talking around 70), to the lounge area, which is nice enough for any after work relaxing you’re looking to do.  We say stay for dinner, especially for the German sausage platter, which is excellent and comes with plenty of beer suggestions.  The Ginger Man Club sandwich (which is another personal favorite) comes with a chicken breast, provolone, fresh avocado, tomato, and a chipotle aioli all layered on ciabatta.  If you don’t have time to make a night of it, check out their beer-to-go menu (yes, really), which includes traditional German growlers and create-your-own six...

Dishspotting – Crave’s Razor Clams

Cuisine: Seafood | Featured in Dish Spotting

What took so long? That’s what I asked when I stepped foot into the revival of Crave Fishbar. If you’ll recall (or maybe it was so long ago you’ve forgotten already), Crave opened in midtown east in the summer of 2008.

Sparks Steakhouse

Cuisine: Steakhouse | Featured in Best Of

It’s hard to think of eating steak in New York without thinking of Sparks.  This pub-turned-steakhouse has been serving some of the biggest and best steaks for over 35 years.  We know there’s lots of competition, the likes of Peter Luger and Striphouse, but you’d be hard pressed to find a comparable steak fromage (topped with roquefort) or filet mignon.  Not to mention how good  the crabmeat cocktail and baby lamb chops are.  (Just saying.)  Sparks doesn’t mess around with over-the-top seasonings and sauces.  They let the quality of their meat speak for itself and the final product is something that even the burliest steak lovers swoon over. If you’re looking for a classy, old school steakhouse to close a deal or lock in a client, this is the...

Monkey Bar

Cuisine: American | Featured in Reviews

Cuisine: American Vibe: Swanky supper club Occasion: Stargazing; see and be seen. Impress your date. Don’t Miss: Monkey bread, Nora’s meatloaf, sticky toffee pudding Price: Appetizers, $13; entrees, $25; dessert, $9 Reservations: Highly recommended Phone: (212) 308-2950 Location: 60 E. 54th St., near Park Ave. Monkey Bar isn’t really a restaurant. It’s Graydon Carter’s uptown dinner party. The editor of Vanity Fair ­began dabbling in restaurants a few years back when he revived the aging Waverly Inn. Some people like buying vintage cars. Carter likes buying vintage restaurants and restoring them. Monkey Bar still looks like the original, 1930s supper club – rich red-leather banquettes, brass trimmings, monkey lamps and a 65-foot mural of New Yorkers along the walls. Most of the servers wear white steward jackets with long tails and striped patches on the shoulders. The dining room...

Le Cirque

Cuisine: French | Featured in Reviews

In the lounge, it’s Le Cirque in blue jeans. 151 E. 58th St. (between Lexington and Third Aves) (212) 644-0202 Dinner, Mon.-Sat., 5:30-11 p.m.; lunch, 11:45 a.m.-3 p.m. CUISINE Modern French VIBE Elegant institution OCCASION Business lunch, romantic date, family affair DON’T-MISS DISHES Tuna with avocado tapenade, duck and green-mango salad, crème brûlée. AVERAGE PRICE Cafe prix fixe, $35; appetizers/entrées, $17; dessert, $12. RESERVATIONS Accepted but not necessary. I wore jeans to Le Cirque. My friend wore jeans and sneakers, and they didn’t throw us out. I felt a little guilty, but no one winced at us. Not even Sirio Maccioni, who still runs the show. What’s Le Cirque without Sirio — the man who wrote the playbook on working the dining room and keeping the rich and famous happy? But these days, Sirio runs the show from a...

La Fonda Del Sol

Cuisine: Spanish | Featured in Reviews

The back room is the place for a full, leisurely meal at La Fonda del Sol.   CUISINE: Modern Spanish VIBE: Buzzing midtown hub OCCASION: Business lunch; after-work tapas; group dinner DON’T-MISS DISH: Grilled calamari, pumpkin seed-crusted lamb, suckling pig, Mexican chocolate cake AVERAGE PRICE: Appetizers, $9; entrees, $28; desserts, $9 RESERVATIONS: Accepted Josh DeChellis has bounced around a bunch over the past few years. He’s what I call a restaurant drifter, a chef with no home. It all started with the closing of Rocco DiSpirito’s Union Pacific. And you can taste it in his cooking. The back room is for grownups who want to talk business in a suit and exercise their table manners. And each room gets an appropriate menu. If you want affordable tapas, go to the front room. If you want a traditional suite of...