The Dalloway in SoHo is the perfect place to go on a cold, rainy, windy winter night in NYC. I mean the kind of night when you really can’t imagine walking, putting on pants (or whatever) and stepping outside, not even to see your closest, dearest people for a drink and more deliciousness- The Dalloway, once tasted, … Continue reading The Dalloway Opens in SoHo
If you have a sense of humor and an eclectic palette, and want to make sure the person you’re dating does, take them to dinner and a comedy show at The Stand. This bar/restaurant has its own downstairs showroom, where both seasoned and up-and-coming comedians take the stage each night at 8:30pm and 10:30pm. The … Continue reading The Stand Comedy Club & Restaurant is Now Open in Gramercy
La Bottega at the Maritime Hotel is the perfect place to luxuriate in the late-night hours of a crisp, clear-skied autumn night. Overhead paper lanterns dance in the breeze and ambient lighting shines onto the large patio space from indoors. The Maritime hotel attracts a fun, eclectic mix of visitors; the atmosphere is rich and bubbly. … Continue reading La Bottega: Awesome Italian in the Heart of Chelsea
Mark Stern’s Prandial is comforting in all of its richesse. Plush banquettes, dark wood, and an angular, modern feel about the bar space, which melds up a short set of stairs to the dining main dining area- balancing old world of luxury and the new world emphasis on dining and conversing in the utmost comfort … Continue reading Check Out Prandial in Chelsea
KTCHN, located at The Out NYC (and sister to the Hell’s Kitchen hotspot Eatery), is a delicious new fixture on West 42nd Street. Smooth white chairs dot the spacious bar-room at front and glassy counter stools line the bar. The candle-lit dining-room has a more private feel to it, with a neutral toned palette and dark leather booths. The place is … Continue reading KTCHN: Now Open on West 42nd Street
Steve Gallo and Michael Forrest’s Galli of SoHo specializes in Italian comfort food, but actually offers much more. There’s something for everyone, and your options are equally crisp, fresh, and unadorned with emphasis on pure flavor; flavor, it seems, is deeply respected in this kitchen. Classics like chicken marsala and pasta bolognese are abundant alongside popular options such as grilled salmon … Continue reading New Italian Restaurant, Galli, Now Open on Mercer Street
It seems that everyone loves Foodswings, one of the most classic vegan staples in Williamsburg. Bikers, hipsters, everyone in between flock there to indulge in serious comfort food: milkshakes, burgers, heroes, caesar salad, mac ‘n’ cheese, donuts- they’ve truly got it all. In fact, they have so much that it’s easy to have too much … Continue reading Foodswings: Vegan Food Can Be Comfort Food
A little market on a random block in Williamsburg has been thriving for years, now. The place was a dream come true: the finest cheeses, meats, and dry goods from around the world, all in one little place a block from the water. Rough and homey, the corner shop, Depanneur, runs on fine goods and … Continue reading Depanneur of Williamsburg
RedFarm turns away hundreds of hungry would-be diners every night. Many of these people return, not only because that which is hard-to-get is all the more enticing, but because the guy they meet upon entering that automatic sliding door up front will assure them that the place wants them to get in - if not today, some other … Continue reading RedFarm Continues West Village Dominance
Herbs are not nearly as appreciated in North American cooking as they should be. Basil, mint, sage, and cilantro are popular in areas where so-called “ethnic” cuisine is valued by the consumers of this fast-food nation (and over this, my foodie heart cries). At Amali, restaurateur James Mallios’ newest venture, the menu is spiked all over … Continue reading Farm to Plate at Amali in Midtown East
"You came at the perfect time! Empanada Mama- this is the real feeling of the place. Enjoy!" Indeed- Empanada Mama is a tiny, railroad cafe full of delicious eats and close-contact chatter. New Yorkers -particularly Manhattanites- often develop very creative ideas about space, because we don’t usually have any. And life goes on. We collect … Continue reading Go Wild at Empanada Mama!
Owning a restaurant in Manhattan is, to say the least, a precarious business. Starting a restaurant off a blank page is a daring venture in such an unpredictable place. After a fairly mind-blowing meal in restauranteur Kyle Saliba’s new specialty beer and tapas bar, I developed a whole new appreciation for daredevils. He explained how La Cerveceria came … Continue reading Classy Beer & Peruvian Fare at La Cerveceria
Stepping into The Leopard at des Artistes from the chilly, quiet sidewalk is a serious New York experience. The lively scents, the bustling and confident white-shirts, the candlelight with the classic peeking nudes resident Howard Chandler Christy painted in a luscious garden of earthly and earthy delights- that is The Leopard at what once was Cafe des Artistes. I … Continue reading Hunger at The Leopard
Crème brûlée with a hint of lavender, cornmeal-crusted calamari, moules frites with garlic aplenty- what says sun like the fruits of the sea and cream spiced with flowers? Cafe du Soleil is very much about maintaining an air of fresh air and sunlight. I know this because I tested it out on an overcast, bone-cold Manhattan night, and … Continue reading Bright Night: Cafe du Soleil
I haven’t had a real reason to go to the East Side from the West Side more than occasionally for years. One surefire way to lure me somewhere I normally would not go (without a definite and good reason) is with the promise of amazing food- I am simple like that. The Upper West Side … Continue reading IL Tesoro: Gustatory Treasures
The Chocolate Room in Cobble Hill Brooklyn is the kind of cafe you can enter comfortably in a group of ten, as a couple, or solo. The menu is centered around chocolate, as one would expect, but more than just being made of chocolate, the recipes ate inspired by the ingredient. A prime example is the … Continue reading The Chocolate Room is Heaven & You Should Go There
While Taim is super tiny and you usually can’t get a seat at peak hours (which is most likely when you will go), walking and eating an amazing- and I by that I mean AMAZING - falafel sandwich is not that difficult. It is hand-held food, after all. No matter the wait, no matter the lack of … Continue reading Taim: ‘Delicious’ is right
Mama Mexico is consistently fun and full of good eats. It is now common to order guacamole and have someone come over to the table and prepare it before your eyes. At this place, though, the guy (I’ve never seen a woman prepping there) will actually make the activity look interesting- putting visible effort into the … Continue reading Mama Mexico Raises Delicious Food in Manhattan
The food at Good Enough To Eat is well-proportioned, “All-American,” and satisfying to all senses. There’s a little extra something to each dish. Take the turkey club as one example. I have never in my life been tempted to order a turkey club. One day I went to Good Enough to Eat and was devastated when the … Continue reading American Comfort Food That’s ‘Good Enough To Eat’
Sarabeth’s Kitchen on the Westside of Manhattan is a place of extremes. For weekend brunch, it is packed to the brim from opening to close, but weekdays after 2 p.m. you can enter and take over any table you want for an indefinite period of time because it is totally barren of people (though mostly not … Continue reading Sarabeth’s West Offers Rural Fare in an Urban Setting
I ran into Tazza when I got lost in Brooklyn Heights on a cold, rainy day. It seems that many of the best taste-related experiences are had on cold, rainy days, and on one of these dreadful days last winter, I walked into Tazza in need of a warm drink. I walked to the counter soaking wet … Continue reading Serenity in Brooklyn at Tazza Cafe
*** Sadly, Palmyra closed for good in 2011. Over the summer, I happened upon a little cafe called Palmyra whilst strolling down Atlantic Avenue with a friend, waterfront bound. I smelled fresh pita bread- which is not too random in that area, but I hadn’t really explored too many cafes along the avenue and we … Continue reading Brooklyn’s Finest: Palmyra of Atlantic Avenue
Down around Union Square, there is a restaurant with a waiting area, full of chocolate. The idea is that you can support the Bald Man’s chocolate factory while waiting to consume the chef’s creative, chocolatey bounty. Max Brenner’s menu is as pricey as it is mouthwatering. The creative presentation of the food is mainly in the cookware: pressed sandwiches … Continue reading Max Brenner Presents Chocolates with Loopy Presentations
Khyber Pass is fun because you can sit in the window seats cross-legged and watch people walk down the street on the coldest, most intolerable days without feeling the chill yourself. The food is warming and the decor is inviting (though it has become a bit of a grunge-fest in the past three years). I … Continue reading Afghan Food on St. Mark’s at Khyber Pass
Magnolia Bakery is known for its cupcakes. The little cakes are beautiful, with plentiful, colorful frosting. The cake itself is quite nice, but I am not a fan of the frosting, so I often skip to the real stars of the show: the assorted muffins and the banana pudding. A fact of life that too many … Continue reading Top Picks at Magnolia Bakery
Rosa Mexicano has three locations in Manhattan- Lincoln Center, Union Square, and Midtown east. The Lincoln Center location has this gorgeous wall of falling men: art. It is grand, with blues and reds and high ceilings. While the place is visually stunning, no thing of sight can compare to what your tongue will experience if … Continue reading Ice Cream & Bliss at Rosa Mexicano
For tea, you need time. There should be a process of inhaling, sipping, tasting and breathing out that informs the tongue and the mind that it is time to slow down. Whether a tea shop is downright bustling or you’d startle if a pin dropped / glass clanked, the experience of tea should be physically … Continue reading Top 3: Tea for Tea Lovers
There are three things about Le Monde of Morningside Heights, Manhattan, that draw crowds: cream, liquor, and meat. Everything else is an accessory (no worries: there’s no shortage of excess here in the land of French flavor). I have written about their soup bowls of hot chocolate, a creamy, brain/body melting elixir, and now I feel compelled … Continue reading Le Monde of Manhattan
I love cupcakes so much that a couple years back, my coworkers started calling me Cupcake. It stuck (I allowed it…) and now I proudly refer to myself as “Cupcake” when I think that it is appropriate. Aside from my love of cupcakes as a creation, I have a very particular taste that few cupcakeries … Continue reading The Top 3 Cupcake Shops in NYC
*** Very sadly, Popover Cafe close earlier this year, 2014. You'll forever be in my heart! Popover Cafe is an establishment on the Upper West Side. On the average weekend morning, you will find that the population is not touristic, though the place has a good reputation. Instead you will encounter grandparents, kids, and their … Continue reading The Coziest Nook: Popover Cafe
NOTE: this article was written a month and a half before Edgar’s closed their main location on West 84th Street. Their flag is down (literally - they had a flag over the entrance) after twenty years as a late night staple of the Upper West Side. I tend to be out late. If I have … Continue reading R.I.P: The Original Edgar’s Cafe
