Restaurants in Manhattan

Q & A with Joe & Misses Doe’s Joe Dobias

Cuisine: American | Featured in Chef Q&A

While there’s something innately comforting about the well established or tried-and-true, lets face it, everyone is always looking for the next big thing. That’s what makes the two-month-old Joe & Misses Doe so uniquely appealing… while it’s been assembled entirely from scratch (including the name and menu), it’s also wholly familiar, a 2.0 version of the popular five-year-old restaurant, JoeDoe.

Q & A with Khe-Yo’s Soulayphet Schwader

Cuisine: Asian Fusion | Featured in Chef Q&A

Southeast Asian food couldn’t be more popular in New York right now, from Kin Shop, Pig and Khao and Fatty ‘Cue in Manhattan, to Talde, Pok Pok Ny and Nightingale 9 in Brooklyn. But as familiar as we’ve become with spicy Thai Curries or Vietnamese Bun, you’d be hard-pressed to find a restaurant entirely focused on the cuisine of Laos. That’s where Soulayphet Schwader comes in. The AZT, BLT Steak and Umi Nom alum has just opened Khe-Yo, the city’s first fully Laotian restaurant, with the help of Iron Chef Marc Forgione, his longtime friend and collaborator.

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…

Toro

Cuisine: | Featured in Uncategorized

Restaurant Letdowns: Pagani & Villard

Cuisine: French, Italian | Featured in Reviews

If you’re a foodie, there’s nothing more exciting than discovering a great, new restaurant. And there’s nothing worse than wasting an evening at a mediocre or awful, new eatery, especially if you’ve dragged a group of friends along with you. Something about it being “new” makes it all the more depressing when hopes of a potentially fantastic find are dashed and calories wasted. But the truth is it happens all the time…

Oceana

Cuisine: | Featured in Uncategorized

What to Eat at the New Gotham West Market

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of

Not that there aren’t some real bright spots in the area (like Esca and Danji), but for the most part, Hell’s Kitchen has largely been known as a restaurant wasteland. How could it be anything else, with a name like that? Well, believe it or not, Hell’s Kitchen has suddenly become a hot dining destination with the introduction of Gotham West Market, a high-end food court akin to hubs like Chelsea Market or the High Line.

Q & A with Contra’s Jeremiah Stone and Fabian Von Hauske

Cuisine: American | Featured in Chef Q&A

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…

Skal – Reviewed

Cuisine: Icelandic | Featured in Hottest Newcomers, Restaurant, Reviews

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…

Toro – Reviewed

Cuisine: Spanish | Featured in Hottest Newcomers, Restaurant, Reviews

Anyone who’s eaten with me knows I don’t care much about the scene. It’s not that I’m a hater. I just prefer great food to a great room or cool crowd. Afterall, you can’t eat decor (as they say). So I was a little wary when I walked into Toro opening week to find the 100-seat tapas spot, packed with scenesters, clamoring for a peek of the new eatery and a taste of the food (or at least I was). Housed in the former Nabisco factory, Toro boasts sky high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Hudson River. The industrial chic space is outfitted with hanging aged jamon, a bull’s head, plenty of high top communal tables to socialize while you’re nibbling on tapas, and an ivy-covered wall at the rear of the restaurant near the plancha bar, which happen to be the best seats in the house…

Mitchmallows

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of, Holiday Eats

Marshmallows are something we generally reserve for popping on top of hot chocolate or roasting over an open flame.  But the artisanal, homemade squares at Mitchmallow are delicious enough (not to mention interesting enough) to be eaten out of hand.  There are over three dozen incredibly diverse, multi-layered creations, from Classic S’more, Creamsicle, Sweet Potato Vanilla and Peanut Butter and Jelly, to Wasabi-Ginger, Tempura, Wine and Cheese and even BLT… tomato with bacon!  (That sounds a little scary, doesn’t it?)  And for Halloween, there’s Candy Corn and Green...

La Maison du Chocolat

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of, Holiday Eats

This Paris-based chocolatier is as posh as any Madison Avenue boutique — although instead of silk scarves and Birkin bags, the glittering glass cases hold finely crafted candies filled with Fennel-infused Ganache, Honeyed Cognac, and Gianduja Praline.  At $65, the limited edition Sleepy Hollow Pumpkin concealing Amanda’s (cocoa-covered Almonds) and Rochers Suisses is a bit of a splurge, but sure to make a statement as the centerpiece of an especially elegant Halloween...

Dylan’s Candy Bar

Cuisine: | Featured in Uncategorized

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...

Sokerbit

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of, Holiday Eats

Nordic cuisine has become one of the hottest and most pervasive trends on New York’s food scene, so it’s hardly a surprise that the obsession has extended to candy.  This seriously modern West Village shop exposes a sweet side of Scandinavia way beyond Swedish Fish, with Lucite trays full of Banana Bubs (banana-caramel foam biscuits), Cocosar (coconut-covered licorice), and perfect for Halloween, 8 oz. jars of teeth-chatteringly sour Gummy...

Yao’s Dragon Beard Candy

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of, Holiday Eats

For a truly original treat, prowl the streets of Chinatown in hopes of spotting the elusive Yao’s Dragon Beard Candy cart (it’s most often parked outside of the subway on the corner of Chrystie and Grand).  So named because they resemble a mythical dragons beard, the Vendy Award-nominated sweets are made by hand-pulling powdered sugar into gossamer-thin strands, twisting them into a ball and forming a sticky cocoon around a filling of toasted peanuts and coconut.  We hunt them down year round, but Halloween is an especially good...

Q & A with Piora’s Chris Cipollone & Simon Kim

Cuisine: Italian | Featured in Chef Q&A, Restaurant

There’s no shortage of restaurants serving fusion fare nowadays. Chinese-Mexican. Jewish-Japanese. French-Scandinavian. But Korean-Italian? That’s a new one, even for New York. “Our approach is simple… to cook and serve who we are,” said Simon Kim, owner of the exciting new West Village eatery, Piora. “We have two different heritages, Italian and Korean, so it was a natural process to marry our two cuisines.”

Q & A with Toro’s Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette

Cuisine: Spanish | Featured in Chef Q&A, Restaurant

Boston has a lot more to offer New York than just Baked Beans, Clam Chowder and Cream Pies. In fact, our city has just become home to one of the South End’s best restaurants, Toro, a Barcelona-inspired tapas joint owned by chefs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette. Housed in the old Nabisco Factory building in the Meatpacking District, overlooking the Hudson River, the 100-seat eatery is outfitted with floor-to-ceiling windows, an arched entryway flanked by an ivy-colored wall, and a pair of lofty, wooden shelves sporting hanging Iberico Hams. And like its Boston predecessor, Toro serves a mix of traditional and modern Spanish dishes, made with greenmarket-inspired ingredients…

Dish Spotting: Dominique Ansel’s Gingerbread Pinecone

Cuisine: Bakery | Featured in Dish Spotting, Restaurant

Meet Dominique Ansel, the Daniel alum behind the SoHo phenomenon, Dominique Ansel Bakery. He was recently nominated for a James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef, on the strength of a slew of treats that have taken the city by storm. His first masterstroke was the Cronut, a cream-filled croissant/donut hybrid that has drawn worldwide attention, countless blog posts, three hour-long lines (actress Emma Roberts was infamously turned away by security after trying to cut in), and despite being trademarked, has inspired scores of imitators, from the Dough’Ssants at ChikaLicious to the Cro-Do’s at Stew Leonards shops upstate.

Q & A with Charlie Bird’s Chef Ryan Hardy

Cuisine: Italian | Featured in Chef Q&A, Restaurant

Chef Ryan Hardy has experienced plenty of “highs” in his career. And yet, the accomplished chef considers Charlie Bird, his new urban Italian eatery in the heart of SoHo, to be his greatest achievement yet. “It’s afforded me all sorts of creative opportunities,” Hardy says of his cross-country move to New York. “I was able to open a place that provided terrific service and delicious food with great art and awesome music, that wasn’t (or didn’t have to be) fine dining.”