Writing about food since 2004.
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F&F Restaurant and Bar
Would you believe me if I told you that one of my favorite restaurants in New York is a pizzeria? In the city that brought us Franny’s (RIP) and Roberta’s (still going), it shouldn’t be such a revelation. But for outsiders visiting the Big Apple, it may be hard to comprehend that a place that…
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TsuruTonTan
Sometimes you need a fast, reasonably priced place to eat in Union Square; sometimes that place serves Udon. On Friday, I met up with my pal Diana at TsuruTonTan on 16th Street at 11:30 AM and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Spoiler alert: the portions are huge! We each ordered the Sukiyaki…
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Union Square Café
When it comes to New York City restaurant institutions, there are just a few that remain as bright and shiny as they did the day that they opened and Union Square Café is one of them. It’s pretty remarkable that a restaurant that opened in 1985 can still be firing on all cylinders; can be…
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Carbone
There’s only one situation in which you’ll want to find yourself at Carbone in Greenwich Village and that’s a situation where someone else is paying. It’s one of the most preposterously expensive menus in New York. $34 for a small Caesar salad. $47 linguine with clams. Shrimp scampi that’s $42 a shrimp. But if you’re…
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Café Mars
[From the 8/28/23 newsletter] On Saturday night, we went to a hot new restaurant, Cafe Mars, in Gowanus with our pals Mark and Diana. I first heard about Café Mars when Helen Rosner wrote about it in The New Yorker. The dish that got me hooked was this starter of Negroni jello shots with a…
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Le Bernardin
[From the 9/11/23 newsletter] Last night I went with my parents to Le Bernardin, not only one of the city’s great restaurants, but one of the world’s. It’s funny that my parents, who prize value and lack of pretentiousness, like Le Bernardin so much (it’s not only expensive, but very formal) but we all contain…
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La Mercerie
[From the 9/18/23 newsletter] I met my friend Diana for lunch on Friday at La Mercerie in SoHo, a chic/store restaurant where Ina Garten is said to eat lunch. We sat outside on a perfect fall day and ate daintily and exquisitely, like the ladies that we are. Diana had the quiche (would you believe…
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Frenchette Bakery at the Whitney
The other day I went to an elaborate lunch with Jenny Rosenstrach of the essential newsletter Dinner: A Love Story. Our destination? The new Frenchette Bakery at The Whitney Museum. A Magical Space I love this space so much. I remember when The Whitney first opened downtown and there was a restaurant in this same…
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Raku
On Thursday last week, I met up with celebrated food writer Susan Spungen for lunch at Raku in the East Village. That’s a spicy crab salad that we shared as an appetizer. For my entree, I had the tantan hot udon with spicy pork, which was just what the doctor ordered on a rainy day.…
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The Gramercy Tavern
On Saturday night, we continued Craig’s birthday celebration with our pals Mark and Diana at The Gramercy Tavern, Craig’s favorite NY restaurant. It really is the perfect NY restaurant. Grand in a way that most restaurants in most cities couldn’t emulate; but also rustic and casual. There’s a chef cooking in front of a fire…
