American Cuisines
Season’s Eatings at Park Avenue Autumn
Most legitimate restaurants regularly change their menus with the seasons, to reflect the ever-changing bounty of local farms and greenmarkets. But restaurauter Michael Stillman? He remakes his entire establishment. That would be the inventive, 22-year-old stalwart, Park Avenue, which he recently moved to a new downtown location, just in time for a fall relaunch. And (until just after Thanksgiving, at least), the spot will be known as Park Avenue Autumn…
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The Back Room – Reviewed
Hello gorgeous… Talk about a looker: The newly installed, 90-story Park Hyatt is a knockout; the kind of ultra-glamorous hotel New York has needed (I’m tempted to splurge on a staycation in one of their hotel rooms for a night!). The ceilings soar in this sexy spot, bedecked with beige marble walls and large picture and floor to ceiling windows at every turn…
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Q & A with The Fourth’s Marco Moreira and Jason Hall
What could be better than having one, wonderfully talented chef in the kitchen? How about having two? The Fourth’s Marco Moreira, also the driving force behind the terrific Tocqueville, and sushi mecca, 15 East, recently took on Jason Hall as his second in command. But Hall is hardly your run-of-the-mill assistant. Alfred Portale made him his own chef de cuisine at Gotham Bar and Grill all the way back in 2009…
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Raising the Bar (Food) at The NoMad
French Fries. Hot Dogs. Burgers. While these are standard issue dishes when it comes to bar food or pub grub, you wouldn’t expect to find them in the utterly opulent The NoMad Hotel. Especially considering that the culinary programs offered in a series of rooms are overseen by EMP greats, Daniel Humm and Will Guidara. This is killer pub grub with a high end twist. Case in point: Chicken pot pie, laced with foie gras & truffes…
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Q & A with Mas (farmhouse) & Almanac’s Galen Zamarra
Although highly respected in the industry, Galen Zamarra doesn’t make the news often. Ever since winning the James Beard Award for “Rising Star” at Bouley early on in his career, he’s essentially kept his nose to the grindstone. Until now that is, with the opening of his super seasonal, new eatery, Almanac…
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Q & A with The Gander’s Jesse Schenker
It ain’t easy to reinvent the wheel, but Jesse Schenker has done just that with his inventive, American fare at West Village sleeper hit, Recette. Well, he’s at it again with a new venture, The Gander, with the likes of Buffalo Sweetbreads and Fries with Beef Aioli…
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Q & A with Beautique’s Chef Craig Hopson
When you work for a place as legendary as Le Cirque, it can be hard to find ways to convey your own culinary point of view. “There is obviously so much history with that restaurant, and a lot of standards that Sirio Maccioni keeps in place,” admits Craig Hopson, who served as executive chef for the seminal, Midtown spot for five years. But now that Hopson has just opened his own, modern American eatery, Beautique…
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Zuni Cafe
I have to admit that I didn’t have high hopes for Judy Rodger’s New American, Zuni Cafe. For starters, they had an attitude every time I called for a reservation. And all anyone talked about was their famous Brick Oven Roast Chicken. Was it really worth fighting for a reservation for chicken? The answer surprisingly is yes. The Chicken is that good. It’s cooked in their Wood-Fired Oven ’til the skin’s crispy, sliced up and served over a warm bread salad with pine nuts, currants and garlic to sop up all of the delicious juices, then topped with a fistful of vinegary greens. And while I normally discourage people from spending time on the raw bar at a destination restaurant known for other things, the oysters here are some of the best I’ve had to date on the West...
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Q & A with Rosette’s Executive Chef Nick Curtin
At the recently opened Rosette on the Lower East Side, Nick Curtin is fully committed to making approachable, craveable fare at a truly accessible price point. “There are a few basic ideals that we’re trying to adhere to at Rosette, like ‘flavor is king,’ Curtin says. “Our other mantra is technique over technology. We’re not about water baths and gels and things like that. We want to make food perfect the old fashioned way.”
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Telepan Local: First Bite
Ever been to Telepan on the Upper West Side? If you have, you remember those pea green walls. Now, I’m a food girl (not a looks girl), but it was hard to get pass those oddly colored, downright distracting walls and focus on the terrific Greenmarket cooking. While it’s practically obligatory now, Bill Telepan actually was one of New York’s first chefs to isolate and extol the virtues of ingredients and seasons. His upmarket menu uptown bragged of Farm Eggs, Hen-Of-The-Woods Mushrooms, and Heritage Pork when everyone else was serving plain old pork and tomatoes all year round…
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Rich Table
This cozy corner spot in the Hayes Valley part of town looks more like your local neighborhood bistro than a destination restaurant, but as we all know, looks can be deceiving. In fact, Rich Table was nominated for a James Beard Award for best new restaurant. While the setting, with its open kitchen, long communal tables, and buzzy bar, may seem laidback, the food is innovative and pedigreed. Owners and husband-and-wife team, Evan and Sarah Rich, have worked at Bouley, Coi and several other praised eateries. While the cooking here is much more casual, it’s still exciting. Just sample the Sardine Chips, listed under “Bites,” a homemade potato chip skewered with a perfectly fried sardine, served with a spunky horseradish cream. Don’t see snacks like that these days. Or how about a Dried Porcini Doughnut, a warm puff of...
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Rosette – Reviewed
Why aren’t more people talking about Rosette? New Yorkers can’t seem to get enough restaurant gossip, especially when it comes to openings (though we love a good chef shuffle, too). Yet, Rosette has barely scratched the surface of our collective radar. Which is good for the rest of us until word gets out to the foodie set. And I’m pretty sure it will…
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Dover – Reviewed
In a city like New York, it’s easy to get lazy about dining out. That’s why neighborhood joints exist; so you can roll out of your apartment and have something you love to eat on a regular basis. To me, that’s the definition of a neighborhood restaurant – a place with food you want to eat often. I can think of plenty of restaurants I loved where I ate something unforgettable, but that doesn’t mean I want to eat it all the time. Those are more like destination restaurants, the kind of spots you’d go out of your way for. Dover is both…
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Narcissa – Reviewed
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting for John Fraser to open another restaurant for six years now. Fraser first solo debut, Dovetail, opened at the tail end of 2007 to pretty sparkling reviews (aside from some pokes at the dull decor, myself included). In fact, many called Fraser a pioneer, one of the first pedigreed, young toques to trailblaze his way to the once sleepy Upper West Side, where so many have followed suit over the years. But he’s finally and smartly taken his talents downtown to the funky East Village to take a stab at a somewhat haunted space in André Balazs’ Standard Hotel…
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Q & A with Luksus’ Chef Daniel Burns
You may not immediately recognize the name Daniel Burns, but the soft-spoken chef is more than ok with that. Besides, when you have a resume that includes Senior Chef de Partie at The Fat Duck in England (which earned its third Michelin star during his time there), René Redzepi’s lauded Danish restaurant, Noma (he actually created and ran the pastry program), and three years as Head of Research and Development for Momofuku’s test kitchen, there’s not really much else to prove…
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The Clam – Reviewed
There’s nothing worse than a great, new neighborhood restaurant that opens in someone else’s neighborhood. That always happens to me. And it happened again just two weeks ago when The Clam quietly flung open its doors in the West Village (right near another great newcomer, Piora). They had me at a Parker House roll, individually baked for every diner, warm, pillowy & fresh from the oven welcome. If you had any doubts about what’s on the menu exactly, chowder’s muse is indeed the inspiration…
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Dish Spotting: Fish and Chips at The Elm
Paul Liebrandt may be British, but you’d hardly associate the exacting, Michelin-starred chef with Bangers and Mash, Yorkshire Pudding and Steak and Kidney Pie. In fact, he’s best known for coupling contemporary French fare with a uniquely modern, graphic presentation while at Corton in Tribeca, and Liebrandt has remained true to his signature style at The Elm, a sleek new eatery housed in the King & Grove Hotel in Williamsburg…
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Q & A with Kingside’s Marc Murphy
While much of the country knows Marc Murphy as a judge, on the popular Food Network show, Chopped, New Yorkers are lucky enough to know him through his restaurants. There’s the elegant and ambitious Landmarc, a contemporary bistro boasting two sprawling locations in both Tribeca and the Time Warner Center. There’s the infinitely more casual Ditch Plains, a slew of beachy seafood shacks (Murphy is an avid surfer). And now, there’s the recently opened Kingside in Midtown’s Viceroy Hotel, a snazzy, 104-seat brasserie featuring…
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Q & A with Joe & Misses Doe’s Joe Dobias
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.
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