The Darby – The Fun Date
When all else fails, keep things lighthearted and simple. A good time doesn’t have to mean fussy tasting menus and knockout views. Sometimes, the best dates are just straight up fun… with great food, of course. What’s more fun than a live musical performance with music you can sing along to every night of the week? The Darby’s got their own, house band and most evenings end up on the dance floor, singing along with the band. That’s just the beginning. Then, there’s the raw bar, studded with oysters, and the menu, created by the talented Alex Guarnaschelli. If oysters aren’t your (or her) thing, share the Crispy Zucchini Blossoms with Heirloom Tomato Vinaigrette, or the Grilled Octopus with bacon and pickled jalapeños. But the real pièce de résistance is the 2.5 pound Maine Lobster cooked with dry vermouth,...
Visit PlaceThe Roof at NoMad – The Trendy Date
We know how much people love trying new restaurants, so we think it’s smart to kill two birds with one stone: Take a date to a hip, new spot. (Even if you don’t like your date, you still tried a new spot.) The newly opened Rooftop at the NoMad Hotel is one of the hottest new openings and perfect for the occasion on many counts. Head up to the roof and you’ll find phenomenal, panoramic views of the city and a terrific ultra-seasonal cocktail menu. With the Eleven Madison Park team behind the hotels many menus, you know the food is going to be exceptional. Nibble on Radishes with Butter-Dipped Fleur De Sel or Salmon Rillettes and see how the night unfolds. If it’s looking good, stay for dinner and try the Strawberry Gazpacho, the Black Bass with Summer...
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Acme
Teaser: Nordic cooking is having its moment in New York right now and perhaps the most exciting spot to sample it right now is Acme, where Noma’s co-founder Mads Refslund fortuitously turned up in the kitchen this winter. Talk about a makeover…
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Brooklyn Bowl
How many bowling alleys have bragging rights to one of the best fried chicken dishes in New York? Leave it to the Bromberg Brothers (of Blue Ribbon fame) to spread the love to a Brooklyn bowling alley with 16 lanes and live music. As for their fried chicken, it’s a crispy-skinned thing of beauty. But if there’s one thing on the menu that just might upstage the fried chicken, it’s the “Bourbon Street Milkshake.” It’s got all the comfort of a creamy milkshake with some adult-friendly alterations to keep things exciting. There’s the shot of bourbon and a sizable dollop of Nutella, injecting a rich, praline flavor to the drink. And then, there’s the homemade ice cream made with real vanilla. They mix it all together and serve it in a chilled sundae glass. The result is one killer spiked shake,...
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Yakitori Totto
Climb the stairs of this second floor walk-up and you’ll feel as if you’ve stepped out of Manhattan and into an izakaya in Tokyo. One of my favorite food escapes in the city, grab a seat along the counter to watch the yakitori chefs at work. “Yakitori” translates as grilled bird with an emphasis on head-to-toe-chicken, but some of our favorite dishes never touch the grill at all.
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The Spotted Pig
The Roquefort-topped burger alone is reason enough to head to the city’s first gastropub. Still, April Bloomfield has got plenty more up her sleeve than that at this buzzing, two-story watering hole dealing in British bar bites, like roll mops and devil’s on horseback. Bloomfield takes inspiration from all over the world and the result is an exceptional dish of ricotta gnudi bathed in brown butter and fried sage and pork belly with salsa rossa and polenta
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Sripraphai
It could take you all year to eat your way through the 25-page menu at this Woodside Thai joint. And you’d still want to return time and again for their Pad See Ew, a dark sweet tangle of Wide Rice Noodles wrapped around broccoli, egg and chicken, beef or pork (your choice) that’s Thailand’s answer to Comfort Food. That’s not even the half of it. This no frills joint doesn’t look like it would do delicate well, but the Steamed Calamari with Ginger, Lime and Chiles is wondrously moist and exotic.
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Peter Luger Steakhouse
This carnivore institution never gets old. Even the servers’ attitudes seem oddly charming at this Brooklyn steakhouse. Settle into a wood table, skip the menu and order the extra thick-cut bacon and a tomato and onion salad. We’ve even come up with our own creation. Slice open one of their signature, onion rolls and layer it with bacon, onion, tomato, a dab of Luger sauce and repeat.
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Peasant
If you’re looking for the perfect date spot, this is your guy. There’s just something about the open kitchen, brick oven and dripping candles that draw couples back time and time again. But it’s the Tuscan fare and the open fire cooking that has kept us coming back over the years. Everything – the skate, the leg of lamb, the tomatoes – is touched by some form of an open flame.
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Milos
This midtown Greek spot is admittedly pricey, but you’d be hard-pressed to find whole fish as fresh as the ice display here. Start with the grilled octopus and tomato salad and head to the ice display to shop for your dinner. (If you see langoustines, grab them.) If not, there’s plenty of other excellent and hard-to-find options the likes of white salmon.
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Mile End
What we love most about this Brooklyn deli is that everything, from smoking the meats to pickling peppers, is done in house. This Montreal-style deli regularly draws Manhattanites over the bridge for their unique take on pastrami — a beautifully smoked, spiced Angus brisket, moister than any we’ve had to date. But it doesn’t stop there. Inspired by the smoked meats from his native Montreal, owner Noah Bermoff decided to recreate the deli food he grew up on in Boerum Hill.
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Masa
From start to finish, a mind-blowing meal that will change the way you see Japanese food forever. Sit at the counter, so you can watch the sushi chefs create divine bites of truffle-coated sushi, toro with black caviar, mackerel, and snapper sushi. Dinner at Masa isn’t exclusively sushi. There’s excellent cooked dishes as well, like wagyu with white truffles, langoustines and more.
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Marea
Whoever says fine dining is dead has never eaten at Marea. This elegant CPS restaurant is furnished with a high-gloss rosewood bar, chocolate leather banquettes, and roaming silver trolleys toting liqueurs. The seafood-centric menu is as exceptional as the setting. Especially when they’re mingled with pasta, like the fusilli with red wine-braised octopus, spaghetti with crab & sea urchin and the lobster ravioli.
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Locanda Verde
Every neighborhood should have an Italian spot as good and as cozy as Locanda Verde. The kitchen’s packing star power with Chef Andrew Carmellini (Cafe Boulud, A Voce) on savory, Karen DeMasco (Gramercy Tavern & Craft) on sweets and Josh Nadel (Cru) on beverage. The perfect mix of creative, yet comforting cooking, the menu is studded with winners, like fire-roasted garlic chicken, roasted sea scallops with spring peas and almond gazpacho, and pappardelle with lamb bolognese. Start with the blue crab crostini and the ricotto crostini, which are both excellent and save room for DeMasco’s innovative gelati, budino, and seasonal tarts. What to drink with it?
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Gramercy Tavern
As if you needed another reason to visit this Gramercy institution, chef Michael Anthony just won the James Beard award for best chef New York. Truth to be told, we’d come for the impeccable service and cozy, farmhouse-style setting and the first-class cocktails, like the mortoni (Danny Meyer’s take on a negroni) and the concord grape crush. The menu depends primarily on the season, but if you spot ramp custard or any custard at all, order it.
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Frank
This East Village Italian never gets old, which is why it’s always buzzing with diners, hungry for their juicy Meatloaf, Fresh Gnocchi or Mussels Marinara. They don’t take reservations, but you can linger at the bar while you wait for your table. As soon as you grab a table, grab a glass of well-priced Italian wine and the gorgeously buttery, imported Burrata, still one of the best in the city, with sliced tomatoes.
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Fatty Crab
This funky joint (with two Manhattan outposts) peddles some seriously exciting Malaysian food. And if you’ve never sampled Malaysian before, this is the place to do it. The servers are young, faded, rock ‘n’ roll t-shirt types and the dining room is packed with a laidback, but lively crowd gnawing on fiery chicken wings and fatty duck. Start with a rum and coconut cocktail served in a coconut shell with a sugar cane swizzle.
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Eleven Madison Park
If you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind dining experience, consider Eleven Madison Park – a temple of haute French cuisine. With its vaulted ceilings, marble floors and sweeping views of Madison Park, the stunning art deco setting is reason enough to spend an evening here. Then, there’s the fact they won the James Beard award for Best restaurant in 2011 not to mention that Daniel Humm won best chef in the country just a few years ago.
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Di Fara
This hole-in-the-wall pizza joint has bragging rights to one of the best slices in the city, and even the country. Nearly half a decade since he first opened the doors, owner Dom DeMarco is still behind the counter churning out handmade pizzas five days a week. No wonder he’s so grumpy: He dresses every pie himself with freshly cut basil, San Marzano tomatoes, Italian buffalo mozzarella and more.
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Blue Ribbon
How many restaurants offer Matzoh ball soup, grilled sardines and fried chicken? Not to mention that they pull it off effortlessly. Prepare to wait at the Bromberg Brothers perenially popular, no reservations flagship eatery in Soho, where you can sample the raw bar or head straight for paella, tofu ravioli or pigeon. My favorites are the raw scallop served in the shell, steamed artichoke and the smoked trout, but you can’t really go wrong here no matter what you’re craving. If you still have room for dessert, the banana split’s the move.
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