Restaurants in Manhattan

French Culinary Institute

Cuisine: French | Featured in Best Of

You do know you don’t have to go to a restaurant on Valentine’s Day, right?  You could take a cooking class together.   That’s romantic and useful.  And there are plenty of classes to choose from at the French Culinary Institute around the 14th.  This year, they’ve got a Artisanal Bread Baking class, and a Wine Class for beginners.  If you’re not looking to get your hands dirty, you could book a table in the Monte Bello Dining Room inside the school, where FCI students will prepare a meal just for the occasion with wine pairings to...

The McKittrick Hotel’s Valentine’s Dance

Cuisine: American | Featured in Best Of

If you’re looking to spice things up and do something a whole lot different this Valentine’s Day, The McKittrick Hotel is the way to go.    Constructed in 1939, the hotel was planned to be the most luxurious of its time.  Unfortunately, World War II prevented the hotel from ever opening its doors, but after seven decades, it’s being reopened as one of the most original theater experiences in history.  With an interactive performance of Shakespeare’s Sleep No More, you’ll be able to choose your own path and eat and drink plenty along the way.  And after the performance , they’ll be a Valentine’s Day ball with mandatory Jazz-era attire required and plenty of...

Astor Wine & Spirits

Cuisine: | Featured in Best Of

Maybe this is your first Valentine’s Day with your significant other, or maybe you just really need a casual, relaxing night this time around.  Either way, a wine or cocktail class at Astor Wine & Spirits is a perfect way to loosen up and learn a little something before dinner.  The night before Valentine’s Day, they’re offering a Red Wine Class and a Hands-On Cocktail Workshop, so take your pick.  There are plenty of great gastropubs in the East Village to end the night at, including one of our favorites, The...

The Four Seasons

Cuisine: | Featured in Uncategorized

Perilla’s Farro Risotto

Cuisine: American | Featured in Best Of, Winter Eats

This neighborhood spot from Harold Dieterle, Top Chef Winner Season 1, has plenty in the way of whole grain options, from wheat berries served with Duck Breast, to a side of Quinoa Salad with Golden Beets or Creamy Polenta with the Pork Chop.  But the best use of grains is the Farro Risotto, which breathes new life into traditional risotto.  A firm grain similar to barley, the farro is cooked with creamy blend of artichoke confit and parmesan, and served with a chili-grape salad on top — perfect for...

Yonah Schimmel Knishery

Cuisine: European | Featured in Best Of, Winter Eats

This Lower East Side knishery has been cooking whole grains for over one hundred years now.  Just what is a knishery exactly?   It’s a place that peddles Jewish knishes, big, pudgy dumplings filled with anything and everything, and often stuffed with kasha, which refers to a large family of grains eaten in Slavic Europe (make it plural and you get Kashi, thus the name of the eponymous cereal and snack bar purveyor).  The Kasha Knishes at Yonah Schimmel are round, baked shells of dough filled with a savory mixture of kasha and chopped onion.  It doesn’t matter if you lack Eastern European roots – these knishes are undeniably...

ABC Kitchen’s Kasha & Bowties

Cuisine: American | Featured in Best Of, Winter Eats

Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s been singing the praises of obscure grains since the mid-90’s and now they’re not so obscure anymore.  In fact, they’re collectively the “it” ingredient this fall.  At ABC Kitchen, Vongerichten and his executive chef, Dan Kluger, deliver a cheeky spin on a Jewish dish called kasha varnishkes, with veal, oats and bowtie pasta.  He swaps out veal for moist, mini veal meatballs delicious on their own and even better mingled with bowties and kasha grains.   Want more grains? Sample one of their whole wheat...

Union Square Café

Cuisine: | Featured in Uncategorized

Louro – Reviewed

Cuisine: American | Featured in Reviews, What I'm Loving

More people should be talking about Louro in the West Village. It opened in a space that was once home to Lowcountry, and before that Bar Blanc, which opened was ultimately a bust, too. (Ironically, Bar Blanc’s chef, Cesar Ramirez, went on to open one of the hardest reservations in town better known as Brooklyn Fare.) But the past is the past and the space now looks less flashy.

Louro

Cuisine: American | Featured in Hottest Newcomers

More people should be talking about Louro in the West Village.  It opened in a space that was once home to Lowcountry, and before that Bar Blanc, which opened was ultimately a bust, too.  But the past is the past and the space now looks less flashy.  There are white-washed brick walls, cushy, curved banquettes along one wall and tables with burgundy leather seating along the other with mirrored paneling hanging overhead.   Louro seems more like a neighborhood restaurant than the “hip, new place to eat,” but believe me, Louro is the place to eat right now.  It’s not hip per se, but it is warm and cozy, and the staff’s passion for the restaurant is infectious. More importantly, the food is exciting.  The chef, David Santos, worked at Bouley and Per Se before launching a secret and wildly popular supper club, called Um Segredo, out of his very own apartment...

Dish Spotting: Willow Road’s Mussels A la Plancha

Cuisine: American | Featured in Dish Spotting

Being “new” is the best thing a restaurant has going for it nowadays. Everyone loves to try new things afterall. It’s just human nature. We all like seeing a new movie, staying at a hip, new hotel, or trying a chef’s latest creation. I mean, who wants to eat the same thing at the same haunts week after week?

El Toro Blanco – Reviewed

Cuisine: Mexican | Featured in First Bite, Reviews, What I'm Loving

I know it’s cliche to say, but good Mexican really is hard to find in New York.  I’m not saying there aren’t good dishes or a few good restaurants scattered about the boroughs.  There are… a few, but it’s hard to find a joint that can master a proper margarita, tamale, and mole.  That’s a whole other level and plenty of places don’t even offer tamales or a cactus salad (I love a good ensalada de nopalitos).  Instead, they stick to what I call “mass Mexican,” like burritos, quesadillas and tacos.   Then, there’s the other side of the spectrum, like Tehuitzingo Mexican Deli.  This grungy, Hell’s Kitchen spot makes hyper authentic sopes topped with goat’s meat (barbacoa), huitlacoche quesadilas and killer tacos el pastor.  But they don’t have a liquor license or much in the way of seating and...

Shopsin’s Chicken Tortilla Avocado Soup

Cuisine: American | Featured in Best Of

The menu at Kenny Shopsin’s eponymous ​Shopsin’s has a seemingly endless number of options from which to choose (there’s over 900 options to be exact), with everything from French Toast Sandwiches to Deep Fried Pancake Quesadillas making an appearance. It can be a bit overwhelming to peruse the menu and settle on something to eat, so if you want some advice, go for the Chicken Tortilla Avocado Soup.

La Bonne Soupe’s French Onion Soup

Cuisine: French | Featured in Best Of

“La Bonne Soupe” means the good life, with wishes for wealth, health, and happiness. While the good people over at La Bonne Soupe might not be able to deliver on all of that at this little French bistro, their French Onion Soup comes close.

Rosemary’s Minestra Di Stagione

Cuisine: Italian | Featured in Best Of

This charming West Village trattoria was buzzing even before it opened its doors this past summer, and the excitement about this place hasn’t dissipated since. With a menu featuring a mix of classic and inventive Italian dishes, including Zucchini Crudo, Octopus Salami, and various homemade pastas, you’re guaranteed to find something delicious to fill you up. We love the Minestra Di Stagione.

The Smith’s Cheddar Tomato Soup

Cuisine: American | Featured in Best Of

The Smith ​is known for its bar snacks, especially the Potato Chips with Blue Cheese Fondu, and hearty comfort food, like the Crispy Fried Calamari and Chicken Pot Pie. But when there’s a chill in the air and we’re looking for a dish to warm us up, we usually opt for their Roasted Tomato Soup.

Ippudo’s Spicy Pork Ramen

Cuisine: Japanese | Featured in Best Of

In Japan,Ippudo is a dime a dozen. But in New York, this Japanese brasserie is a rare gem. It boasts some of the most innovative ramen dishes in the city, with a dinner menu featuring six different types of ramen bowls with seven varieties of toppings. With lines out the door almost every night, it’s no surprise that their ramen is some of the best in all of Manhattan.

Q & A with China Latina’s Julieta Ballesteros

Cuisine: Asian Fusion | Featured in Chef Q&A

Consistently hailed as one of the top Mexican chefs in NYC, Julieta Ballesteros has worked hard to prove that real Mexican cuisine isn’t about nachos, burritos, and excess amounts of sour cream and shredded cheese.

Drink Spotting: Candy Cane Martini at Highpoint Bistro & Bar

Cuisine: American | Featured in Drink Spotting

It’s hard not to feel a little bit deflated after the holidays. Luckily, the Candy Cane Martini at Highpoint will keep you in the holiday spirit for just a little bit longer.

Empellón Cocina

Cuisine: Mexican | Featured in Best Of, Hottest Newcomers

After exhibiting a few growing pains at his often hit-or-miss gourmet taco shop, Empellón Taqueria, former pastry chef Alex Stupak presented a fully realized vision of high-flying Mexican food at Empellón Cocina this year.  An excellent starter of Pistachio Guacamole (why has no one ever thought of this before?) comes sided with a heap of masa crisps, Fried Whitbait makes a tasty appearance in fish tacos, topped with a smear of sprightly key lime mayo, and a Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder is like an elevated mash-up of homey, regional Mexican favorites, accented with masa gnocchi, radishes, and pozole...