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For Frites’ Sake! Frenchette’s Bistro Boys Shine in Tribeca
For weeks after chef-owners Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson opened Frenchette this spring, getting to the host stand required besting a daunting gauntlet of New York’s well-dressed and well-heeled. Reservations were all but impossible to come by, waits could be taxing, and even early birds hoping to preempt the crowds were met with a queue of fellow […]
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Nicaraguan Noshing and Nightcaps at Chicha in Bushwick
“RUM,” promises the blazing-red neon sign announcing Chicha Cafetín and Cocktail, a splashy new Nicaraguan-inclined party hangar that opened in May near the Jefferson L stop. The letters cast a glow onto this quiet stretch of Randolph Street that recalls pre-revolution Havana or the best of Art Deco Miami. Thankfully, it’s no mere ornament. The […]
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Old-World Fressin’ at 2nd Floor Bar & Essen
In July, Yorkville landmark Glaser’s Bake Shop will close its doors after 116 years spent plying the neighborhood with striped marble cakes, poppy seed horns, and arguably the most celebrated black-and-white cookies in all of New York (which, of course, makes them arguably the most celebrated in the world). The storied German bakery’s voluntary shutter […]
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Style Meets Sustenance at Bessou in Nolita
Order the grilled romaine ($13, YOLO) at Bessou and a sea of eyes stares up at you from the plate. They’re the dumbstruck peepers of jako, tiny dried baby sardines that pull double duty moonlighting for the usual anchovies and croutons in chef Emily Yuen’s play on Caesar salad. Fried crisp and heaped onto the charred […]
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Taste Soul Food’s History and Future at Butterfunk Kitchen
Spaetzle, the Swabian egg noodles most commonly associated with German cuisine, aren’t confined to any one shape or size. They can be long and skinny like spaghetti, twisted into short and stubby spirals, or pinched into imperfect knots. At Butterfunk Kitchen in Windsor Terrace, chef Chris Scott fashions his spaetzle into bite-size pillows with a […]
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Sibling Revelry: Uncle Boons Sister Serves Unparalleled Thai Takeout
Unlike their first restaurant, the perpetually packed, Michelin-starred Uncle Boons, Ann Redding and Matt Danzer’s sophomore effort, Mr. Donahue’s, wound up being more novelty than neighborhood fixture. The neo-retro lunch counter, named for Danzer’s late grandfather, was briefly the city’s coziest destination for culinary Americana like crab imperial, fried onions with ranch dressing, and nostalgically idealized […]
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Five Valentine’s Day Dinners That Don’t Suck
Like love itself, dining out on Valentine’s day can be a complicated, messy affair. There are those who go for special menus, big-deal gifts, grand gestures, and heck, maybe even a proposal (though personally, a commercialized holiday about love feels a bit … on the nose for us), while some would rather keep things a […]
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At Uchu on the Lower East Side, a Tale of Two Counters
Beyond the tantalizing aromas emanating from the kitchen, scent can be a powerful tool for restaurants. For decades, the foyer of chef David Bouley’s now-shuttered eponymous Tribeca flagship made a memorable first impression with its towering shelves of fragrant apples. Vespertine, Jordan Kahn’s avant-garde fortress of sensorial dining in Los Angeles, sends people home with […]
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Ancient Roman Pies Delight. Just Don’t Call It Pizza.
Centuries before bread-baking Neapolitans first thought to futz around with tomatoes and mozzarella, pinsa, pizza’s predecessor, was born in the hearths of Ancient Rome. Kneaded into wonky ovals and topped with herbs or garum, an anchovy-based fish sauce, the sturdy multigrain flatbreads were once so ubiquitous that the poet Virgil wove them into his epic […]
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At Sen Sakana, Peru’s Hottest Cuisine Gets a New York Showcase
At Sen Sakana, the classic Peruvian recipe of boiled yellow potatoes smothered in yellower creamy pepper sauce, called papa a la huancaina, is reconfigured as a parade of cheesy croquettes ($12) made with cassava. The crispy golf ball–sized snacks have a brittler crunch and denser bite than tater tots, and the pool they wade in […]