Restaurants in New York City
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Dona
Don’t hate me because I went to Dona even before its official open on this magical Monday evening. I, restaurantgirl, had taken it upon myself, to wander selflessly from restaurant to restaurant, throwing myself at the mercy of chefs across the five boroughs, bravely risking bad service, an upset stomach, and weathering, well, the weather, all in search of the perfect dish so that you may never waste a meal again. I happily sacrificed my Saturday night to give you a sneak peek at the restaurant formerly known as Bellini (Donatella Arpaia of david burke & donatella’s first born). Did you ever have that “go to guy” you could always count on for a good time, even though you knew he wasn’t “the one”? Bellini was mine. That is, until he decided to change his name, menu and wallpaper. ...
Read MoreBuddakan
When word spread about Buddakan, a practical legend in his hometown of Philadelphia, I threw on my hot off the Barneys’ sales rack miniskirt and scurried down to his Meatpacking pied-a-terre. In my wildest dreams, I never imagined he actually owned the entire block. Rumor has it this mega-restaurateur, Stephen Starr, had magically transformed a 16,000 square foot lumber company into a dazzling two-floor dining mecca where the Asian fusion sizzles and all of Buddakan’s a stage. A theatrical maze of candlelit corridors and room for every mood, his sleek palace was a feast for the eyes and mouth. I don’t know if it was the spectacular forty-step staircase, wooden chandeliers, or massive communal table fit for royalty and of course, a princess like me, but I was ready to move in with him. Hell, I would’ve happily...
Read MoreFalai
It’s been over a week and fantasies of Falai still linger in my stomach. After building pastry castles in the air at Le Cirque, Iacopa Falai has migrated to the Lower East Side, a sudden utopia where foodie’s dreams come true. While everyone else has been busy trying to impress with the latest trend, it was refreshing to meet someone so uncomplicated, boasting of simple Modern Italian Fare — he knew what he had to offer. He wined and dined me by candlelight in his sleek new white digs. From the moment I laid eyes on the impressive bread menu (compliments of the house), it was love at first bite. I don’t like to pick favorites and luckily, I didn’t have to because Falai let me have my way with the entire...
Read MoreA Voce
So maybe I was that annoying girl in junior high who ran to the front of the line at recess, and I may have crossed the starting line before the official even blew the whistle, and just maybe, I ate at Andrew Carmellini’s A Voce on opening night. A restaurant girl never tells. Of course, I’ve been warned by countless critics to wait until after a restaurant had fine-tuned the food and ironed out all the wrinkles, but I was, well, I was hungry. By the dark of night, I scurried down to Andrew Carmellini’s new pad on Madison & 26th, a practical culinary wasteland except for Alex Urena’s new digs only blocks away. You might want to sit because what I discovered may astound you. As if he’d moved in months ago, he seemed surprisingly at home in...
Read MorePhilippe
Hot on the trail of the opening of Mr. Chow’s Tribeca outpost (I’m still mourning the loss of Danny Meyers and Abrams’ underrated sleeper of an offspring — Pace) comes Philippe, a Chow spinoff from the former executive chef of Mr. Chow, coincidentally also named Mr. Chow (Philippe is his first name). Just as Madonna, Beyonce and Cher once shed their last names in the wake of newfound fame, Philippe has outed himself as a celebrity chef and branded himself the king of Chinese haute cuisine, leaving his sur name behind. From the signage to the dishes, practically everything in this minimalist two-story House of Philippe proudly wears the name of its owner. In the past year, droves of celebrity chefs have been getting bad raps for being...
Read MoreDavid Burke at Bloomingdale's
DAVID BURKE AT BLOOMINGDALE’S? The grand dame of department stores is getting a modern makeover as celebrity chef, David Burke, opens a 2500-square-foot restaurant within its doors—with its own separate entrance and hours to boot. Having already mastered upscale Modern American Fare at davidburke&donatella, he aims to reinvent lunch at his dual-concept eatery. While the restaurant serves imaginative fare to ladies who lunch, those who run in a fast crowd can order gourmet to go from the Burke in the Box take-out counter or grab a drink after work at the sleek coffee and wine bar. Of course, the whimsical world of David Burke wouldn’t be complete without an innovative creation: calorie-free flavor spray, a guilt-free condiment to complement any one of his edible works of art. So if you crave “parmesan” on the risotto of the day,...
Read MoreQuartino
BLAND DATE: It was a beautiful summer night, love was in the air and I was determined to find it, so I turned to a friend for a last minute set-up. I wanted to dine under the moon with someone new and different. He suggested someone who’d just moved to the East Village with an extensive knowledge of Italian, homemade pastas and organic wild salmon. When I arrived, my hostess shuffled me through a narrow dining room to a dark back alley and disappeared leaving me without so much as a menu or a waiter. What should’ve been a luminous moon hanging over my head was a menacing fire escape and the garden seemed suspiciously more like an alley cramped with strangers. With the heat of the kitchen exhaust blowing gently against my neck, I started to sweat...
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