Category

New York

  • Ci Siamo

    Ci Siamo

    [From the 2/21/25 Amateur Gourmet Newsletter] On Wednesday night, we met up with my L.A. pals Ryan and Jonathan at another favorite NY restaurant, Ci Siamo. The food at Ci Siamo is so, so, good — it’s the Italian answer to Le V’eau d’Or. Loved having these two restaurants fight over me on my birthday.…

  • Le Veau d’Or

    Le Veau d’Or

    [From the 2/21/25 Amateur Gourmet Newsletter] My birthday dinner was at Le Veau d’Or, where we went once with my parents, but I was eager to go back. We met up with my friend Jenny who you know and love from Dinner: A Love Story and our pal Chris, whose birthday we celebrated in Mexico…

  • The Met Dining Room

    The Met Dining Room

    [From the 2/21/25 Amateur Gourmet Newsletter] I hit the big 4-6 this Tuesday and my gift from Craig was “you can plan the whole day and I’ll tag along.” That’s quite a gift when you’re a control freak like me! The original plan was to have lunch at Café Sabarsky, one of my favorite places…

  • Eel Bar

    Eel Bar

    [From the 3/3/25 Amateur Gourmet Newsletter] I met up with Craig at Eel Bar on the Lower East Side and it was such a buzzy, youthful spot. We felt like old men, even though Craig looks half his age in this picture: The food at Eel Bar was truly excellent. Highlights for me were the…

  • Bangkok Supper Club

    Bangkok Supper Club

    [From the 3/20/25 Amateur Gourmet Newsletter] On Tuesday we went with our friends Henry and Chris to Bangkok Supper Club in the West Village. The food was so good! Zippy and extremely flavorful. The highlights were these chicken wings that had an electric citric acid-like powder on them: The pork jowl that came on garlic…

  • Chez Ma Tante

    Chez Ma Tante

    [From the 3/31/25 Amateur Gourmet Newsletter] On Saturday we met our friends Joseph, J.S., and their friend Whitney (who owns Chez Foushee in Richmond) at Chez Ma Tante in Greenpoint for their famous brunch. What makes the brunch at Chez Ma Tante so famous? One word: pancakes. Frequently cited as the best pancakes in the…

  • Lucali

    Lucali

    [From the 4/7/25 newsletter] In neighborhood news, for the past year and half that we’ve lived in Brooklyn, I’d let go of the idea of getting into Lucali, Beyoncé’s favorite pizza spot. There’s always a line wrapped around the block at 3 PM, and that’s just to get a reservation for later in the night…

  • Oma Grassa

    Oma Grassa

    [From the 4/14/25 Amateur Gourmet Newsletter] On Saturday, we met our friends Jeremy and Jason for pizza at Oma Grassa in Fort Greene. Eric Kim was raving about it the other night at drinks and since I love pizza, it was kind of a no-brainer. (Though I did realize, after I made the reservation, that…

  • Café Brume

    Café Brume

    [From the 6/19/25 newsletter] We recently went with our friend Toby to a new Alpine restaurant called Café Brume in Brooklyn Heights. The food at Cafe Brume comes from the Alps so it’s more wintry fare, but it was a cool cloudy day when we ate it so that worked. Highlights were this cold sausage…

  • Superiority Burger

    Superiority Burger

    [From the 6/19/25 newsletter] On Monday night, I had a reading at an event called Wine and Pine (done in collaboration with Chardongay) that turned out to be a lot of fun. Beforehand, Craig and I met up with our pal Chris for dinner at Superiority Burger in the East Village: Superiority Burger is one…