Restaurants in New York City
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Aldea
Cuisine: Mediterranean Vibe: Civilized Occasion: Intimate date; business dinner; chef’s counter. Don’t Miss: Sea urchin toast; calamari with squid ink and herb purée; escolar; arroz de pato. Price: Appetizers, $9; entrées, $23; desserts, $9. Reservations: Recommended Phone: (212) 675-7223 Location: 31 W. 17th St., btwn. Fifth & Sixth Aves. There’s not much to look at in Aldea, a restaurant that recently opened in the Flatiron District. There’s no artwork on the walls, no flashy furniture, just a scattering of blond wood tables and muted blue banquettes. It’s a long, narrow space with an open kitchen in the back and a staircase leading to the upstairs dining room. The only prominent flourish is a large cluster of acrylic tubes that dangle over a six-seat chef’s counter right in front of the kitchen. I highly suggest you sit at the counter...
Read MoreTable 8
Cuisine: Contemporary American Vibe: Clubby chic Occasion: Group dinner, casual date, scene-y supper Don’t Miss: Rabbit sausage, scallops on wilted spinach, baby chicken Price: Appetizers, $9; entrees, $24; dessert, $9 Reservations: Highly recommended Phone: (212) 475-3400 Location: 25 Cooper Square, between Fifth and Sixth Sts. On a busy night at Table 8, it’s easier to get a drink in the rest room than the dining room. Instead of handing out hand towels, the restroom attendant pours Prosecco. It’s not the best of times for diners or restaurants, but considering how hard it was to get a reservation, Table 8 seems to be doing just fine. The first time I tasted Govind Armstrong’s cooking was at a Mediterranean restaurant called Chadwick’s in Beverly Hills over five years ago. That’s where he first came up with the concept for Table...
Read MoreEmporio
Cuisine: Roman-style Vibe: ’20s trattoria Occasion: Group dinner, casual date, long lunch Don’t Miss: Grilled lamb Scottadito Price: Appetizers $10, entrées $18, dessert $6 Reservations: Recommended Phone: (212) 966-1234 Location: 231 Mott St., near Prince St. Over the past few months, five Roman-style restaurants have opened in Manhattan. What is it about Roman cooking? For starters, it’s simple and cheap. And right now, simple and cheap is a very good thing. Roma means carciofi alla giuda (Jewish-style fried artichokes), fried asparagus, fried zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies. Rome means salads made with fresh fava beans, chickpeas, anchovies and mint. And Pecorino Romano, a salty, aged sheep’s milk cheese. Rome is also famous for pizza with wafer-thin crust topped with mozzarella, tomato, capers and anchovies. If you don’t know what a Roman pie tastes like, visit Emporio, a...
Read MoreBubby’s
Cuisine: American comfort food Vibe: Country chic diner Occasion: Late night munchies; neighborhood bites; after-work hangout Don’t Miss: Jalapeño Bloody Mary, mac and cheese, blueberry sour cream pancakes; Michigan sour cherry pie Price: Appetizers, $8; entrees, $16; dessert; $5. Reservations: Accepted Phone: (212) 219-0666 Location: N Moore St & Hudson St, New York, NY 10013, USA Ron Silver worked the breakfast shift at Florent 15 years ago. Then he became obsessed with pies. That’s when he opened Bubby’s, a pie shop – a pie shop that became so popular he couldn’t resist turning it into a restaurant. But breakfast was still in his blood, and so was the concept of late-late-night dining, which is how the current Bubby’s evolved. I’ve eaten brunch at Bubby’s in Tribeca tons of times. They make a spicy Bloody Mary, great house-smoked salmon Benedict...
Read MoreVutera
Cuisine: Mediterranean Vibe: Subterranean sanctuary. Occasion: Romantic date, group dinner, preconcert bites. Don’t Miss: Roasted poussin, braised lamb shank Price: Appetizers, $8; entrees, $16; dessert; $5. Reservations: Accepted Phone: (718) 599-0069 Location: 345 Grand St. between Marcy & Havemeyer Aves, Brooklyn. I’m not big on atmosphere. I’m the type who prefers phenomenal food to phenomenal décor. I’d take a great steak over a great scene any day. But even I was put off by the grungy entryway to Vutera, a restaurant that opened in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a few months ago. Open the door, and you’re standing in a dark hallway with a whole mess of concert posters taped to the walls. Just ahead, there’s another door with two hand-scrawled signs in light boxes hanging over it. The sign with the arrow pointing right reads: “For Drinks or Music.” That...
Read MoreHarbour
Cuisine: Seafood Vibe: Nautical chic Occasion: Dinner at sea, cozy date, group dinner Don’t Miss: Maine mussels with cabbage and bacon, clam chowder, butterscotch pudding Price: Appetizers, $12; entrees, $24; dessert, $8 Reservations: Recommended Phone: (212) 989-6410 Location: 290 Hudson St., at Spring St. Do you ever just go out and eat?” a friend asked me at dinner a few months ago. “Rarely,” I answered before returning to the menu. But a lot of people do. There are plenty of people who don’t need to know who the chef is before making a reservation. Can you picture someone walking into their local diner and demanding to see the chef’s résumé? There’s no denying food gets much more attention than it used to. Think about it: food TV, food bloggers, food porn and celebrity chefs with cooking shows. I thought...
Read MoreMinetta Tavern
Cuisine: French bistro Occasion: See-and-be-seen dinner, date, group dinner Don’t Miss: Lobster salad, roasted chicken, Minetta burger Price: Appetizers, $14; entrees, $20; dessert, $9 Reservations: Highly recommended Phone: (212) 475-3850 Location: 113 MacDougal St., near Minetta Lane. When did we become so self-conscious about burgers? I’ll bet that back in the 1930s, when someone ordered a burger, they ate it and that was the end of it. They didn’t photograph it or write home about it. These days, chefs compete for burger bragging rights. They battle over exclusive access to butchers, prized cattle and prime cuts. Everybody’s got a burger these days, but Minetta Tavern‘s got two — the $16 Minetta burger and the $26 Black Label burger. For 26 bucks, that had better be a good burger. The patty had a nice, crusty exterior, good sesame brioche bun...
Read MoreFatty Crab
Cuisine: Malaysian Vibe: Funky UWS bustle Occasion: Neighborhood bites, casual date, kid-friendly Don’t Miss: Scallop satay, short rib Rendang, watermelon pickle & crispy pork Price: Appetizers $7, entrees $1 Reservations: Accepted Phone: (212) 496-2722 Location: 2970 Broadway, between 76th and 77th Sts. I think you can taste when the chef’s not in the kitchen. On the chef’s night off, the food’s never quite the same. It’s a little like going to the theater and finding out you got stuck with the understudy. Of course, at a restaurant, they never tell you that kind of thing. Can you imagine? The server hands you a menu and says, “Welcome to Fatty Crab. Tonight, the part of the chef will be played by one of the line cooks. Can I get you a cocktail?” That’s how I felt the last time I...
Read MoreScuderia
Cuisine: Italian Vibe: Rock ‘n’ roll trattoria Occasion: Business lunch, romantic date, family affair Don’t Miss: Squid-ink tagliatelle, Scuderia pizza, buttermilk panna cotta Price: Appetizers, $9; entrées, $18; dessert, $8.50 Reservations: Accepted Phone: (212) 206-9111 Location: 10 Downing St., between Bleecker and Houston. Stand at the corner of Downing St. and Sixth Ave. and take a look around. What you may be seeing is the core of a New Little Italy, complete with neighborhood feuds and family businesses passed down to the next generation. The old Little Italy, to the east and downtown, is slowly fading away. But here are Bar Pitti, Da Silvano, Silvano Bistecca and Scuderia, which just opened six weeks ago. Thirty years ago, Silvano Marchetto opened Da Silvano – it’s upscale, it’s hard to get into, it’s like a celebrity supper club of sorts. But...
Read MoreInakaya
231 W. 40th St., between Eighth & Broadway. (212) 354-2130 Dinner, Mon.-Sun., 5 p.m.-11 p.m.; lunch, Mon.-Fri., 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. CUISINE: Traditional Japanese robatayaki. VIBE: Dinner theater. DON’T-MISS DISH: Chicken thigh skewers, Kaku Ni simmered Berkshire pork belly, Kinki deep-sea snapper, ginkgo nuts. AVERAGE PRICES: Appetizers, $10; entrees, $20; desserts, $5. RESERVATIONS: Recommended for the robata counter. About four years ago, I ate at Inakaya in Tokyo. The locals said I shouldn’t miss it. They warned me it’s touristy. Guess what? It is. And the food’s excellent. Now New York‘s got its own Inakaya, and the food is just as good. This one’s scaled to New York, so it’s triple the size of the Tokyo flagship, and so is the menu. It’s right across from the Port Authority at the edge of Times Square, in the Olive Garden–Red Lobster–Applebee’s...
Read MoreLe Cirque
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...
Read MoreChez Lucienne
An affordable French bistro in Harlem. 308 Lenox Ave., between 125th and 126th Streets (212) 289-5555 Lunch – 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m., M-F.; Dinner – 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Sun.-Thur., 5 p.m.- midnight, Fri.-Sat.; Brunch – 11-3 Sat.-Sun. CUISINE French bistro VIBE Charming haunt OCCASION Group dinner, neighborhood eats DON’T-MISS DISH Foie gras terrine, tuna tartare, nougat glacé PRICE Appetizers $8, entrees $16, desserts $7 RESERVATIONS Recommended This is the way New York works: Something unexpected pops up and it turns out to fill a crying need. In other words, it wasn’t so unexpected after all. I mean, why was I surprised to find a good French bistro at 125th St. and Lenox Ave. —and surprised to find it jammed on a Friday night, so jammed you couldn’t make your way to the bar? The city is full of unexpected restaurants...
Read MoreCasa La Femme
A new and improved Casa La Femme in the West Village. 140 Charles St., and Washington St. (212) 505-0005 Dinner: Sun. – Tue., 5p.m. – midnight: Wed. – Sat., 5p.m. – 3a.m. Cuisine: Egyptian Vibe: Sultry and exotic lounge Occasion: Intimate date, group grazing Don’t-miss dishes: Salataa tamatem, grilled lamb chops, baklava Average prices: Appetizers, $8; entrees, $20; dessert, $7.95. Tent prix fixe, $55 per person. Reservations: Recommended. How often do you get to eat dinner in a tent? And when you do, the bathroom is usually the great outdoors. But at Casa La Femme, a new restaurant that opened six weeks ago in the West Village, your table is tented in white organza from Egypt. At Casa La Femme, there’s a glass chandelier and chair in every bathroom. In fact, just about everything in the 200-seat restaurant is...
Read MoreButcher Bay
East Village fish shack Butcher Bay’s no keeper Tuesday, March 10th 2009, 4:00 AM Sunshine/News (Butcher Bay serves up fish in the East Village.) Not quite everything you hope for in a fish shack. 511 E. Fifth St., near Avenue A. (212) 260-1333 Dinner: Mon.-Sun., 6 p.m. until late. CUISINE: Fish shack VIBE: Down and dirty East Village OCCASION: Neighborhood dinner, bar bites DON’T-MISS DISH: Scallop pan roast, steamed mussels with bread AVERAGE PRICE: Appetizers, $6; entrees, $17. No desserts. RESERVATIONS: Not accepted. A hell of a lot has changed at 511 E. Fifth St., near Avenue A. It used to be called Seymour Burton. It wasn’t the prettiest place to look at, but the food was wonderfully hearty. And they had a great burger. Now Seymour Burton is Butcher Bay, a wanna-be Pearl Oyster Bar. Adam Cohn,...
Read MoreLa Fonda Del Sol
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...
Read MoreCompany
Apparently the city needs one more pizza joint. 230 Ninth Ave., at 24th St. (212) 243-1105 Dinner, Tues.-Sat., 5-11 p.m.; lunch, Tues.-Sat., noon-3 p.m. Closed Sun. & Mon. CUISINE Pizzeria VIBE Casual Chelsea chaos OCCASION Group dinner, neighborhood bites DON’T-MISS DISH Pizza bianca, pizza flambé, chocolate breadcrumb torte PRICE Appetizers, $5; entrees, $15; dessert, $5. RESERVATIONS Not accepted There must be as many pizza places in NYC as there are ATMs. And everyone’s got a favorite slice. Talk about a tough culinary genre to break into. Who makes the best crust? Who uses the freshest sauce? Who creates the perfect ratio of cheese to sauce to crust? People argue about these things all day long. Forget the local Ray’s. Some say there’s no better pizza than the pie at Di Fara in Midwood, Brooklyn. Others love Grimaldi’s on Old...
Read MoreBar Breton
Brunch is more like it at Bar Breton. 254 Fifth Ave., near 29th St. (212) 213-4999. Dinner: Sun.-Thu., 4 p.m.-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 4 p.m.-midnight; brunch: Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. CUISINE: Casual French bistro VIBE: A bit like home OCCASION: Brunch, casual date DON’T MISS DISH: Croquettes de bacalao, Chelsea buckwheat galette, Mont Saint-Michel galette, Red Eye cocktail PRICE: Appetizers $11; entrees $21; desserts $7 RESERVATIONS: Accepted I think Bar Breton should change its name to Brunch Breton. Even Breakfast Breton would make more sense. Because the best dishes on the dinner menu are items you’d order for breakfast. Cyril Renaud, the chef and owner of this new restaurant on Fifth Ave. near 28th St., is from Brittany – or, as the French say, Breton. And Brittany is famous for its galettes. Galettes Breton aren’t dainty or delicate crepes....
Read MoreDesnuda
Guerilla molecular gastronomy at Desnuda 122 E. Seventh St., (212) 254-3515 Hours: Dinner, Mon.-Thurs., 5 p.m.-midnight; Fri.-Sat., 5 p.m. – 2 a.m.; Sundays: closed CUISINE: Ceviche VIBE: Sexy Ceviche Bar OCCASION: Bar bites, Casual date DON’T MISS DISH: Tea-smoked oysters, mackerel ceviche, apple & fig mixto with pomegranate molasses. AVERAGE PRICE: Appetizers, $4; entrees, $16. RESERVATIONS: No reservations There’s no kitchen at Desnuda, a new cevicheria on Seventh St. in the East Village. There’s a popcorn popper, a microwave, a dinky sushi fridge, and a toaster oven. So how does Christian Zammas, the chef, manages to smoke raw oysters every night? In a gravity bong, of course. Zammas made his bong from scratch, using a Sprite bottle and a glass bowl he bought on St. Marks Place. He packs the glass bowl with Lapsang souchong tea leaves and Sichuan...
Read MoreShang
Chinese cooking too clever for its own good. 187 Orchard St., near Allen St., (212) 260-7900 Hours: Dinner, Mon.-Sat., 6 p.m.-11 p.m. CUISINE: Global fusion VIBE: Glossy hotel haunt OCCASION: Group dinner, business dinner, date. DON’T MISS DISH: Singapore slaw with salted plum dressing, turnip cake, chickpea sweet onion fritters. AVERAGE PRICE: Appetizers, $16; entrees, $28; dessert, $10. RESERVATIONS: Recommended. I worry about new restaurants. Especially big, glossy ones with 130 seats to fill. I mean, who could’ve predicted such a frosty economy? Opening a restaurant requires years of planning. Think of all the details that have to be settled — financial backers, designers, vendors, inspections, a liquor license and getting Con Edison to finally flip the switch. I’m sure the Thompson Hotel Group had big plans when they first set their sights on the fashionable lower East...
Read MoreButtermilk Channel
524 Court St., at Huntington St., Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, (718) 852-6872 CUISINE: American comfort food VIBE: Country B&B OCCASION: Casual date, bar bites, kid-friendly family dinner DON’T-MISS DISHES :Maple- and bacon-roasted almonds, delicata squash tart, duck meatloaf AVERAGE PRICE: Appetizers, $8; entrées, $16; dessert, $7. RESERVATIONS: Accepted for parties of four or more Owner Doug Crowell named his new restaurant in Carroll Gardens after a shallow strait that runs between Governors Island and Brooklyn. Once upon a time, farmers used to walk their cattle across this strait during low tides. That was more than a hundred years ago, but I imagine that back then a corner restaurant might have looked like Buttermilk Channel. A single candle flickers in every window, and a clunky wood dresser stands along the edge of the room. Wooden pews from a church down...
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