Restaurants Archives - Page 4 of 5

Can you keep a secret?

It’s a fact, we’re not really good at keeping secrets. A confidential address on a quiet street in Clinton Hill, a speakeasy bar hiding behind a coffee counter in Chelsea and we instantly feel the urge to share it with you. So when we heard chatter about a restaurant concealed behind a Japanese butcher shop whose phone number is jealously kept secret, our curiosity was piqued. Bohemian works only by word-of-mouth: to make a reservation you have to be recommended by a regular. They will…

The sushi master

We proceeded methodically: we listed all Japanese canteens in Manhattan and tested a good number of them. Guess what – you can stop looking. We (eventually!) found the best sushi bar in NY. It’s named Kura and it’s nestled right next to Tompkins Square Park in the East Village. In Japan, when you say “Omakase” (お任せ) to the chef, it means “I leave it up to you”. The chef is then given free rein for selecting the menu and surprising his guests. So…

Gem alert in Brooklyn

In the galaxy of cozy and intimate restaurants, our latest find is called Battersby. It’s a little Brooklyn gem with 6 tables, a long mahogany bar and an open kitchen in the back. A total of 22 seats and not one more. A prowess in this bandbox-size restaurant where the concept of space optimization takes its full meaning. Chefs Ogrodnek Joseph Walker and Stern engage in a game of gastronomic Twister behind the Battersby counter. They perform acts of contortion just a few inches from…

In the intimacy of Elise & Anna’s kitchen

Take Root can be summed up in 3 figures: 12 seats, 2 employees, 1 Michelin star. It is the pet project of a couple, Elise Kornack and Anna Hieronimus. Elise cut her teeth at Spotted Pig and Aquavit. But the girl had other ambitions and quickly decided to go it alone. Or rather as a duo. She and her partner started organizing a supper club in their apartment. But their landlord eventually discovered the subterfuge and they were forced to relocate. They found their current premises in 2013 on a discreetly charming street in Carroll Gardens. At just 26, the two young women are managing a restaurant on…

Christmas Spirit

Left picture: Baita; Top right picture: Miracle on 9th st; bottom right picture: Rolf’s. New York is pulling out all the stops for the holiday season: oversized Christmas trees, shiny ice skating rinks, store fronts adorned with gold and glittery bells. Few destinations crystallize fairy fantasies and embody Christmas spirit as fully as New York. To help you get your bearings among all the festivities, we selected three spots that will give you a real taste of Christmas. 3 places, 3 neighborhoods, 3 atmospheres: The…

Russian nights

If you thought Monday night was your one night to relax during your typical bacchanalian NY week – you were wrong. The best parties are on Monday, they are Russian, and they are named Mari Vanna. If you do not hum the Kalinka with a rabbit fur ushanka glued to your head, it could be difficult to penetrate Mari Vanna’s dacha. On Monday evenings doors close at 9pm. To enter, you have to ring and show your credentials or have your own set of keys…

Dinner with Woody Allen

One of NY’s small privileges is the opportunity to randomly bump into one of your favorite personalities while out wandering – whether you end up on the same ferry to Brooklyn as Leonardo DiCaprio, or at the table next to Sarah Jessica Parker in a Nolita restaurant. But if you do not want to rely on fate alone, we suggest you visit the Carlyle Hotel on Monday evenings to have dinner in the company of Woody Allen. We all have our favorite version of Woody Allen. Whether he plays an inveterate…

It’s Christmas before time

It’s one of the life’s little delights. It’s like securing the last piece of chocolate pie at Kayser, seeing the new Woody Allen movie or being smiled at in the street. This guilty pleasure is the discovery of Michelin’s selection of New York restaurants, which published its 2016 edition last week. Verdict: few changes and surprises compared to last year among the 2 and 3 stars – only The Modern got upgraded with the arrival of the Chef Abram Bissell and entered the very private club of double decorations….

My Top 3 “Farm to Table” restaurants

Left picture: The Fat Radish; Top right picture: Locusts-on-Hudson; bottom right picture: Blenheim In the homeland of McDonald’s, in the kingdom of industrial fast-food, where calories rise to the rank of national allegory, was born the dissident concept of “farm to table”. “Farm to table” restaurants advocate a return to the roots and simplification of the production chain: from the farm directly to your plate. The particularity of a “farm to table” restaurant is that they are supplied by local surrounding farms. Maybe you…

Entrées, sides & concert

It is a dilemma that divides all music lovers in New York, a perpetual interrogation among socialites: shall one eat before or after a concert? Knowing that in NY most shows begin at 8pm, having dinner before is irrefutably too early (no way – even though US restaurants start to fill at 6pm). And eating after brings the risk of having bags under your eyes for the rest of week. Julia Villagra found the solution. This vivacious thirty-year-old, who graduated from Boston University with a degree in…