Restaurants in New York City
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Parlor Steakhouse
1600 Third Ave., at 90th St. (212) 423-5888 Sun.-Thur., 5:30 p.m.-11 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., 5:30 p.m.-12 a.m. CUISINE Modern American steakhouse. VIBE Butcher-shop sleek. OCCASION UES date; group dining. DON’T-MISS DISH Tomato and watermelon gazpacho, filet mignon, sour-cream cheesecake. PRICE Appetizers, $9-$15; entrees, $22-$42; dessert, $8-$10. RESERVATIONS Accepted. You need a road map through the menu at Parlor Steakhouse. Here it is: Order the gazpacho, ask for the filet mignon medium rare, and finish with any one of Andrea Bucheli‘s desserts. If you don’t eat meat, order the branzino. If you don’t eat meat or fish – seriously, what are you doing at a steakhouse? You can still have a glass of wine and order dessert, which is probably worth the trek uptown. Did I mention the desserts? Save room, lots of room. They’re created by Bucheli, 28,...
Read MoreConvivio
If you’re looking for a sign of the times, Convivio is it. 45 Tudor City Place, at 42nd St. (212) 599-5045 Sun.-Thur., 5:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m; Fri.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. Cuisine Southern Italian. Vibe Warm Tudor City haunt. Occasion Business lunch; group dinner. Don’t Miss Dish Four-course prix fixe or the sweetbreads piccata, tuna & caper ravioli, roasted squab. Average Price Appetizers, $13; entrees, $25; dessert, $11. Reservations Recommended. Sometimes, a restaurant doesn’t really need a makeover. All it needs is a make-under. Convivio is a perfect example. Just six weeks ago, L’Impero shut its doors on a quiet block in Tudor City. Two weeks later, it reopened as Convivio. A quick wardrobe change, a few tweaks to the menu and voila, a new restaurant. Sort of. It’s the same chef, Michael White, same owners, and yet everything...
Read MoreJames
605 Carlton Ave., at St. Marks Ave., Brooklyn (718) 942-4255 Tues.-Sun., 5:30 p.m.-midnight; Fri.-Sat., 5:30-1a.m; closed Mondays. CUISINE Modern American cuisine VIBE Romantic neighborhood haunt OCCASION Intimate date; neighborhood dining DON’T MISS DISH Spinach salad; seared diver scallops; lemon almond pound cake PRICE Appetizers, $8-$12; entrees, $14-$29; dessert, $8-$10 RESERVATIONS For parties of six or more It’s 1 a.m., do you know where your chef is? If you’re a regular at James you do. He’s on the roof in his garden, among his herbs, weeding, watering, unwinding. It’s the end of a long night in the kitchen at the corner of 605 Carlton Ave. and St. Marks Avenue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. Bryan Calvert, the chef, has a short commute. He lives just above the restaurant and just beneath his rooftop garden – 600 square feet of...
Read MoreMatsugen
Paradise found in a bowl of soba noodles. 241 Church St., at Leonard St. (212) 925-0202 Tues.-Sun., 5:30 p.m.-midnight; Fri. & Sat., 5:30 p.m.-1 a.m; closed Mondays. CUISINE: Taste of Tokyo VIBE Hip, tranquil Tribeca haunt. OCCASION Intimate date; business dinner; serious noodle endeavors. DON’T-MISS DISH Homemade tofu; Matsugen special soba; inaka soba with goma dare sauce; grapefruit jelly. PRICE Appetizers, $9-$65; entrées, from $12; desserts, $9-$14. RESERVATIONS Recommended The last time I ate food cooked by the Matsushita brothers, the chefs at Matsugen, was in the Ginza District of Tokyo. I went to both of their restaurants. It was my first serious introduction to the simple, intense flavors and ingredients of Tokyo cooking – astonishingly fresh soba noodles, grilled pork belly, homemade tofu, even my first taste of uni. And I can tell you that Jean-Georges Vongerichten...
Read MoreForge
134 Reade St., between Hudson & Greenwich Aves. (212) 941-9401 Tue.-Sun., 5 p.m.-11 p.m. CUISINE Modern American VIBE Wintry Tribeca haunt OCCASION Casual date; group dinner DON’T MISS DISH Kampachi tartare; fettuccine “carbonara” PRICE Appetizers, $12-$18; entrees, $26-$34; dessert, $9-$11 RESERVATIONS Recommended Larry Forgione is often called the “godfather of American cooking.” His restaurant in St. Louis, An American Place, is a tribute to our country’s rich culinary history, a place where home-cooking standards like mac and cheese go to get refurbished. For Marc Forgione, Larry’s 29-year-old son, that’s a tough act to follow. But after working beside his father for a couple of years, he has opened an American place of his own, Forge, in Tribeca. The windows have been flung open onto the overheated streets. Customers have come in a summery mood, wearing sundresses and sandals. And...
Read MoreMiranda
Miranda offers a marriage of Mexican and Italian food. A block north of Bedford Ave. in Williamsburg, old women sit in lawn chairs along the sidewalk, fanning themselves with the crossword puzzle. Kids play catch in the middle of the street. A cyclist stops to high-five a friend through the large open window of a restaurant. It’s a new spot, open only since December, but already it seems to belong to the old neighborhood. It’s called Miranda. Inside, the tables are set with dishtowel napkins and grandmother china. Most nights, the co-owner, Mauricio Miranda, greets you at the door. And if he’s not there to greet you, you might want to come back another night. That’s how much difference his presence makes. The other co-owner is Miranda’s fiancée, Sasha Rodriguez, who is the chef. She and Miranda met...
Read MoreHundred Acres is not even a ghost of its old self
‘Hundred Acres’ Imagine a restaurant on a quaint, tree-lined street. Nearby, a few lonely restaurants attract just enough attention to survive. But this one is haunted – haunted by the ghosts of restaurants past. Perhaps you’ve eaten in a place like this, where yesterday seems as vivid as the present. You go to the door you’ve always gone to, only to find it’s moved 40 feet north. A young female hostess greets you, and yet you can’t help expecting to see the gruff, French maitre d’ who stood at a different door for 20 years. A grandfather clock – junked long ago – stands stubbornly in the corner sounding the stroke of midnight. And the newly gray walls suddenly fade to dingy green. You open the menu and it’s a palimpsest – traces of the old menu visible...
Read MoreSheridan Square
Sunshine for News Sheridan Square I remember the night the Russian Tea Room reopened – Nov. 4, 2006. I was probably one of the first people to make a reservation. The reason was the chef, Gary Robins. I had eaten his cooking at the Biltmore Room a few years earlier, and I wanted to see how Russian tasted when it came from his kitchen. I still remember the foie gras pelmeni. It was the very dish that Eloise at the Plaza would’ve ordered up if she had the flu. I thought of it fondly long after Robins left the Russian Tea Room. Then for a couple of years the question was, where in the world is Gary Robins? Now we know. Or at least we thought we did. He went to Seventh Ave. South and took his...
Read MoreScarpetta
The second coming of the Meatpacking District. 355 W. 14th St., at Ninth Ave. (212) 691-0555 Seven days a week, 5:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. CUISINE Southern Italian. VIBE Grown-up Meatpacking. OCCASION Trendy date; group dining. DON’T-MISS DISH Spaghetti with tomato & basil; scallop crudo; roasted capretto. PRICE Appetizers, $12-$17; entrees, $22-$37; dessert, $11. RESERVATIONS Highly recommended. In the past three weeks, I’ve eaten at Scarpetta three times. And every time, I ate too much. I ate polenta and panna cotta. I ate borlotti bean soup and imported burrata, braised short ribs and boneless veal shank. I ate scallops seared and as crudo. I ate cod and capretto. I ate ravioli, raviolini, tagliatelle, spaghetti, stromboli and lots of mascarpone butter. Wait, there’s more. I ate “pie” and “cheesecake.” Not to mention yellowtail, octopus, tuna and fritto misto. And all the homemade...
Read MoreWildwood BBQ
Serving up ecumenical barbecue in Gramercy Park Address: 225 Park Ave. South, at 18th St., (212) 533-2500 Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 11:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 11:30 a.m.-12:30 a.m.; Sat., noon-midnight; Sun., noon-11 p.m. Cuisine: Regional barbecue Vibe: Big-city barn Occasion: Festive occasion; group dining. Don’t Miss Dish: Barbecue burger; Texas smoked brisket; carrot cake. Price: Appetizers, $5-$9.50; entrées, $9.95-$28.95; dessert, $7. Reservation: Recommended If you want barbecue in New York City these days, you have to ask yourself what kind you’re craving. You can get down & dirty barbecue – sauce on your T-shirt – at Dinosaur BBQ. You can get artisanal barbecue – sauce on your business suit – at Blue Smoke. But if you want breezy barbeque – sauce on your white leather banquette – you should try Wildwood BBQ, a few blocks from Blue Smoke in Gramercy Park....
Read MoreBenoit
The not-so-fine art of fine French dining. 60 W. 55th St., between Fifth & Sixth Aves., (646) 943-7373. Seven days a week. Breakfast, Mon.-Fri., 7:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; lunch, Mon.-Sat., 11:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner, Mon.-Sun., 5:30-11 p.m. CUISINE French bistro. VIBE Elegant midtown bistro. OCCASION Group dining, business lunch. DON’T-MISS DISH Cassoulet, onion soup gratinee, escargots. PRICE Appetizers, $9-$19; entrees, $19-$48; dessert, $7-18. RESERVATIONS Recommended. No one expects humble from Alain Ducasse. But that’s what you get at Benoit. There’s even a dollar menu. It has one dish: Egg Mayo, a terrific deviled egg with a fluffy, sweet filling. It makes for a glorious, four-bite lunch. Ducasse now runs three Benoits – the original Paris bistro (which opened in 1912), another in Tokyo and the newest, at 60 W. 55th St., the address of the old Le Cote Basque. A...
Read MoreBar Milano
CUISINE: Northern Italian. VIBE: Elegant and deafening Murray Hill spot. OCCASION: Casual date; breakfast; neighborhood dining. DON’T MISS DISH: Cabbage with farro; caviar-topped potato with egg; monkfish and foie gras. PRICE: Appetizers, $9-$24; entrees, $20-$43; dessert, $5. RESERVATIONS: Highly recommended. 323 Third Ave., at 24th St., (212) 683-3035. Breakfast, lunch and dinner; seven days a week, 8 a.m.-3 a.m. Dinner served seven days, 5 p.m.-midnight. Bar menu available till 2 a.m. Whoever heard of a month-long wait for a reservation at a restaurant at 24th and Third? But that’s what you get when brothers Joe and Jason Denton open a restaurant in Manhattan. Most of their places – ‘ino, ‘inoteca, Lupa – have been rustic, wine-focused spots. But at Bar Milano, on the border of Gramercy Park and Murray Hill, they’re challenging themselves and their clientele with upscale cooking...
Read MorePomme de Terre
“It’s shocking,” a diner at Pomme de Terre said one night. “I’ve lived down the street for 20 years. A few months ago this was a seedy bodega that dealt drugs.” Now that seedy bodega in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, is a charming corner bistro near a laundromat, a CVS pharmacy and a few takeout spots — a culinary nowhere along Newkirk Ave. This snug 40-seat space is appointed with vibrant murals that resemble vintage French posters. The original tin-ceiling remains, newly restored and painted over in a sunny yellow. Through large curtained windows, I saw patrons of every age waiting along the sidewalk. From the expressions on diners’ faces, the neighborhood seems thrilled with the dizzying transformation. So are co-owners Gary Jonas and Allison McDowell, who are residents of Ditmas Park themselves. They opened their first restaurant — The...
Read MoreOlana
A culinary homage to the Hudson Valley. 72 Madison Ave., between 27th & 28th Sts., (212) 725-4900 Dinner, Mon.-Sat., 5:30 p.m.-1 p.m.; lunch, Mon.-Fri., 11:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m. CUISINE Modern American. VIBE Dated elegance. OCCASION Group dinner; neighborhood dining. DON’T-MISS DISH Grouper ravioli; roasted rabbit; white peach & cherry mousse. PRICE Appetizers, $11-$18; entrees, $24-$38; dessert, $8-12. RESERVATIONS Recommended. New Yorkers take their neighborhood restaurants seriously. Every new eatery that opens around the corner reinforces the notion that you live in an important culinary zip code. Olana, which launched on the fringes of the Flatiron District two months ago, is a refreshing addition for residents along what has been a lonely stretch of lower Madison Ave. Olana doesn’t strut for attention with glitzy decor. The setting is civilly outfitted with spacious banquettes, red mohair chairs and cherry wood paneling. With...
Read MoreAgo
New York gets a hollow replica of the original Ago. 377 Greenwich St., at N. Moore St., (212) 925-3797 Dinner, Sun.-Thurs., 5:30 p.m.-11 p.m., Fri. & Sat.,5:30 p.m.-midnight; lunch, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily. CUISINE Tuscan Italian VIBE Hip, bustling trattoria OCCASION Group dinner; Tribeca dining DON’T-MISS DISH Burrata con fagiolini; eggplant parmigiana PRICE Dinner, appetizers, $12-$18; entrees, $19-$44; dessert, $10-$12 RESERVATIONS Recommended The New York debut of Ago restaurant in the newly opened Greenwich Hotel had the makings of a summer blockbuster. The famous West Hollywood flagship has long been a powerful magnet for celebrities and movie moguls, including film giants Robert De Niro and the Weinstein brothers, who are partners in the Ago empire. This Tribeca outpost is the fourth offshoot of chef-partner Agostino Sciandri‘s Italian eatery, following expansions in Las Vegas and Miami. The recruitment of Grayling...
Read MoreEleven Madison Park
A spectacular reinvention. 11 Madison Ave. at 24th St. Phone: (212) 889-0905 Dinner: Sun.-Thurs. 5:30-10 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. 5:30-10:30 p.m. Lunch: Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Brunch: Sat. & Sun. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Not many restaurateurs are as skilled at pulling off a top-notch $4.75 burger (Shake Shack) as they are a $145 haute French tasting menu (Eleven Madison Park). But Danny Meyer has built an enviable empire of 11 winning lowbrow and high-end restaurants. On a recent evening, the famed Shake Shack burger drew a line that spanned the length of an entire city block. I was en route to Eleven Madison Park, the most opulent feather in Meyer’s cap, when the sight of cheese fries and custard at the pickup window nearly lured me off course. Had I caved, I would’ve missed one of the most spectacular...
Read MoreKorhogo 126
A modest Brooklyn restaurant unleashes exotic African spices. 126 Union St., near Columbia St. Phone: (718) 855-4405 Dinner: Weds., Thurs., Sun., 5-10 p.m.; Fri. and Sat., 5.-11 p.m. Some restaurants lack soul. Not Korhogo 126. You can taste the soul of its owners on nearly every plate. This French West African eatery marries the culinary heritages of Parisian-born Emmanuelle Chiche and chef Abdhul Traore, who made his New York City debut at Les Enfants Terribles on the lower East Side. Traore hails from Korhogo, a small town in the Ivory Coast that’s become this prideful new restaurant’s namesake. The chef injects a rush of seasonings and flavors from his homeland into French bistro staples. This translates to a menu where African classics, like grilled prawns in a pili pili (chili pepper) sauce appear alongside steak frites. But here the...
Read MoreElettaria
A hip stage for modern American with an Indian edge. 33 W. Eighth St., near MacDougal (212) 677-3833 Dinner, Mon.-Sun., 5:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. CUISINE Indian-inflected American VIBE Hip Village haunt OCCASION Bar dining; downtown date DON’T-MISS DISH Crispy pig’s feet; fried quail. PRICE Appetizers, $9-16; entrees, $18-25; desserts, $7. RESERVATIONS Recommended From the looks of it, you would never know there is a well-trained chef hustling in the kitchen at Eletteria, a restaurant that just debuted in Greenwich Village. Floating doors, cropped paintings and a fake staircase suggest a funhouse for frivolous culinary affairs. So does the audience, a hip, young crowd who tend to flock to the newest restaurants for sport. But a deep-fried quail suggests serious pleasures. When skin this crisp gives way to such wondrously sweet meat, you don’t debate the merits of frying. It’s perfectly...
Read MoreEighty One
An upscale newcomer on the upper West Side. 45 W. 81st St., between Central Park West & Columbus Ave. (212) 873-8181 Dinner, Sun.-Thur., 5 p.m.-10:30 p.m; Fri.-Sat., 5 p.m.-11:30 p.m. CUISINE Modern American VIBE Upper West Side elegance OCCASION Romantic date; fine dining DON’T-MISS DISH Sea scallop & foie gras ravioli; dry-aged Black Angus sirloin PRICE Appetizers, $12-39; entrees, $29-42; desserts, $12 RESERVATIONS Recommended With Dovetail, Bar Boulud, With Dovetail, Bar Boulud, Madeleine Mae and the latest arrival of Eighty One, the upper West Side is having an impressive run of new restaurants. If I lived in the neighborhood, I would certainly make a habit out of the scallop and foie gras ravioli at Eighty One. It’s a splendid appetizer conceived by chef-owner Ed Brown, who served as executive chef at the Sea Grill for 14 years. If you’re...
Read MoreQ & A with Dovetail’s Vera Tong
With the recent debut of Dovetail on the Upper West Side, pastry chef Vera Tong dazzled both critics and diners with her truly inspired approach to classic desserts. Prior to Dovetail, Vera Tong worked in the kitchen at Compass, where she first met chef John Fraser. The two team up again at this highly received contemporary American restaurant where she not only has conceived an exemplary pastry menu, but also bakes the white cheddar cornbread that launch guests into dinner every evening. Vera’s signature brioche pudding with bacon brittle will be making an encore on the spring menu, as will new additions, including a chocolate and coffee parfait, glazed pineapple crumble and a peanut butter frozen cheesecake. Status: Single/Married/Divorced Single What did you want to be when you grew up? Just a cook How did you get into food?...
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