Best New Find – Bear
If you’re not impressed by the Swarovski crystal chandeliers or Venetian-tiled floors at this showy Long Island City spot, you’ll still be won over by its unique menu of New European food. The offerings change every night, so sit back and put your faith in the hands of the chef. Kickstart your evening with The Vodka Special, which features three small bites like Eggplant Caviar, Ukrainian Lardo, or Red Potatoes with Sunflower and Fresh Dill, plus several shots of vodka. They’ve also featured some great entrees recently, like Veal Dumplings, Buckwheat Pilaf, and a Pork Loin Sandwich. And be sure to ask if they’re serving their Home-Made Chocolate Truffles for...
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Best After Work Drinks – Sweet Afton
From the owners of West Village favorite Wilfie and Nell, this Astoria hangout could be our favorite spot yet in our search for ideal, after work drinks. We love their selection of unfussy cocktails, like the spiked Sweet Tea with tea-infused vodka, honey-ginger syrup, and lemon, but there’s also a great lineup of local bottles and drafts to choose from. And this may be Queens, but when it comes to awesome bar bites, you can’t go wrong with the Beer-Battered Brooklyn Pickles or Sweet Afton Burger piled high with Double Smoked Brooklyn Bacon. They’ve also got a stockpile of terrific cheeses, like Irish cheddar or aged gruyere, that you can (and should) add to just about everything on the...
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Best Date Night – Danny Brown Wine Bar & Kitchen
By now, I’m sure you can tell that we’re serious when it comes to selecting ideal date night choices. And we can assure you, the best place to take your better half out for dinner in Queens is Danny Brown Wine Bar & Kitchen. C’mon, what other restaurant can you think of in Forest Hills that’s been awarded an elusive Michelin star? With its innovative menu and charming atmosphere (not to mention thoughtful roster of terrific bottles) you can’t go wrong here. We suggest starting off the evening with a snappy white, like the Sauvignon Blanc Russian River from Sonoma, paired with the clean-tasting Spanish Mackerel Tartare with crème fraîche, capers, lemon zest & dill. Once you’re both feeling cozy, settle in with a full-bodied red wine (perhaps an Argentinian Malbec), paired with the decadent Ravioli with braised beef brisket, mascarpone,...
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Best Comfort Food – Burger Club
I know it’s called Burger Club, but honestly, I have serious trouble getting past the Braised Short Ribs at this cozy Astoria spot. Short ribs are a prime comfort food in general, right up there with mashed potatoes, spaghetti and meatballs and chicken pot pie, but Burger Club happens to serve them atop a heap of hand-cut french fries and smothered with your choice of cheese. And did we mention that its actually considered an appetizer? If you’re not ready to curl up for a nap in the corner by the time you’re done, be sure to go ahead and try the namesake patties. The Carolina Burger with slow-cooked pulled pork, pepper jack cheese and homemade coleslaw and Frenchy Burger with foie gras, sautéed mushrooms and caramelized onions are both solid choices, followed by a traditional, creamy Root Beer...
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Best Gastropub – The Dog and Duck
This place was the first ever gastropub in Sunnyside, and since opening last year, they’ve become a neighborhood staple. The extensive menu effortlessly combines laid-back pub grub (BBQ Babyback Ribs, Fish and Chips, Ham and Leek Pie), with more elevated, fine-dining fare. Start off your meal with the Mushroom a la Greque, topped with bacon, pine nuts, and shaved parmesan, followed by a terrific Pan-Fried Salmon Cake with ginger-sesame sauce, Pork Bangers with Scallion Mash and Red Wine Jus, or Scallops Gratines with Asparagus and Parsley Potatoes. And don’t even think about leaving without ordering the Deep Fried Brie with Port...
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Talde
Did Talde really open less than a year ago? We feel like we’ve been singing the praises of Pretzel Pork and Chive Potstickers, Korean Fried Chicken, and Crispy Oyster and Bacon Pad Thai for as long as we can remember. And the dinner crowds haven’t even remotely thinned since last January, when chef/owner Dale Talde first introduced his Saigon Crepes, Whole Roasted Branzino in Banana Leaves, and Hawaiian Bread Buns. It’s a testament that—even though he was told to pack his knives and go (twice) on Bravo’s reality show, Top Chef—he’s sure to be a fixture on NYC’s dining scene for many years to...
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Empellón Cocina
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...
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North End Grill
2012 marked the welcome return of chef Floyd Cardoz, whose spice-inflected flavors have been sorely missed since Tabla shuttered two years prior. And while North End Grill‘s menu is grounded in New American, local/seasonal fare (Lancaster Veal Chop with chanterelles, Hudson Valley Foie Gras risotto omelette), you can still find a few welcome homages to his native Bombay. We love the Fricassee of Wild Mushrooms with “Upma Polenta,” and an Elysian Fields Lamb Loin served with baby carrots, turnips, and Indian apricot...
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Pok Pok Ny
Andy Ricker’s Portland, Oregon import made waves when it first landed on an unassuming block in Brooklyn’s out-of-the-way Columbia Waterfront District last summer. Locals, intrepid Manhattanites, food media and more all reported lines that stretched down the cobblestone streets, where only the most determined lasted the two hours it took to finally cram into a tiny table and feast on Ricker’s faithfully rendered regional Thai specialities. You may not have to wait (quite) as long for your Hoi Thawt (broken crepe with mussels), Laap Meuang (minced pork salad), or Kung Op Wun Sen (prawns baked in a clay pot) nowadays, but that only helps legitimize the uncontrived everyman vibe Pok Pok is going...
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Perla
Chef Michael Toscano exercises his gift for nose-to-tail cooking at Gabe Stulman’s rustic Italian bistro, Perla. You can find seldom-seen cuts running through his selection of antipasti (Crispy Testa and Pigs Ear with grilled onions and cannellini beans, Veal Tongue with crispy capers, Tokyo turnips, and tonnato sauce), as well as primi (Garganelli with tripe and prosciutto, Pappardelle with cockscomb stew), although oddly, not necessarily in his hearty assortment of secondi. No matter, Lamb Breast with radicchio and sunchokes, Quail with cauliflower and brown butter sugo, and Saba Glazed Duck with pickled golden raisins and quince are every bit as interesting (and...
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Acme
The name on most restaurant scene-sters lips this year (or the ones that can ably pronounce it, anyway,) was undeniably Mads Refslund. Formerly of the world-famous Noma in Copenhagen, Refslund wove a world of culinary adventure into plates as inauspicious sounding as Radishes (listed on the menu under the heading Raw, and served with an oyster-parsley dip), Farmers Eggs (Cooked), an assemblage of cauliflower foam-filled shells over chicken wire, Salt-baked Carrots (Soil), with sliced lardo and blood orange, and a deceptively straightforward Roasted Bass (Sea/Land), flavored with wild onions, thyme and...
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Battersby
You can’t throw a locally-sourced egg without hitting a seasonally-minded restaurant in Brooklyn nowadays, but Battersby is hardly just riding the coattails of a passing fad. You’ll want to return time and again for well-conceived dishes like Veal Sweetbreads A La Meunière with Caesar Dressing, Hake with Chickpeas, Chorizo and Preserved Lemon, and Pappardelle with Madeira, Taggiasca Olives and Duck Ragu, but this being Brooklyn, their menu changes as frequently as the culinary...
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Atera
Not since wd-50 has a NYC restaurant so aptly justified the use of molecular gastronomy in modern American cooking. Executive Matthew Lightner walks an intriguing tightrope at this ambitious Tribeca restaurant, taking foraged, decidedly back-to-the-land ingredients (sorrel, parsley root, wildflower honey, hickory nuts), and engineering them into unique exercises of form and flavor (fried “lichen” is presented on a wooden box of hot stones, a charred leek is anointed with “hay ash” and dolloped with sheep’s milk...
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Mission Chinese Food
Does “Americanized Chinese Food” conjure up visions of uninspired, overseasoned beef and broccoli in brown sauce, or gloppy, MSG-laden chicken chow mein? Danny Bowien blew those misconceptions out of the water when he opened the first East Coast outpost of his popular San Francisco restaurant this year. What the team behind Torrisi and Parm did for nostalgic 1970s Italian in NYC , Bowien did for throwback Chinese, delighting patrons with Salt Cod Fried Rice, Kung Pao Pastrami, Tingly Tea Smoked Chicken, and of course, Broccoli Beef Brisket with Smoked Oyster...
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Arlington Club
It may be almost 2013, but you can still party like it’s 1929 at Laurent Tourondel’s ritzy steakhouse, Arlington Club. The Great Gatsby-inspired celebration features a prix fixe menu created by the renowned chef himself, and includes a midnight champagne toast and live...
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Jazz Standard
Swing the night away at this world-class jazz club, which will herald in 2013 with a performance by the Grammy Award–winning Mingus Big Band. And don’t worry about eating beforehand…an all-inclusive, $125 ticket also buys a three-course BBQ dinner at Blue Smoke, the award-winning, upstairs...
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Frankies 570
An early seating at this rustic Italian bistro will set you back $85 for four courses, but you won’t be worrying about the price once you feast your eyes on a salad of Chilled Maine Lobster, Black Ink Fusilli, Slow Roasted Lamb Loin, and a Kabocha Squash Torta. Choices double later in the evening, as does the price (well, almost). $125 buys a Crudo of Nantucket Bay Scallop or Braised Artichoke Salad, Grilled Quail, and Creamy Burrata with Chanterelles, plus wine pairings, cocktails, and...
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Eataly
Mario Batali’s massive Italian emporium may seem like an odd place to spend the New Year, but we’re talking about an extravagant buffet at the rooftop restaurant Birreria, not a midnight toast as you shop the aisles for sheep’s milk cheese and pancetta. A $175 ticket includes an all-you-can eat feast of Italian specialties, along with wine, cask beer, top shelf cocktails, and dessert with digestives and...
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Dressler
This Michelin-starred Williamsburg restaurant is offering a fantastic four-course menu for $125 all night long. Who wouldn’t feel celebratory feasting on Wagyu Beef Carpaccio with quail egg and white truffles, Seared Foie Gras with Armagnac French Toast, Millbrook Farms Venison with Gin Au Poivre, and Chocolate Mousse Bombe with a caramel...
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Vinegar Hill House
At $100 per guest, the Late Night Extravaganza at this top-rated Brooklyn restaurant is relatively affordable (this is New Years Eve in NYC, after all). Chef Brian Leth’s four-course menu is based on “La Grand Bouffe,” a 1973 French-Italian film by Marco Ferreri about a great feast. You’ll need adventurous tastebuds for this one – options include Veal Kidney with chocolate bordelaise, Blood Sausage with apples, Wild Boar with chestnut puree, and Quail with currants and...
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