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New York, New York RESTAURANTS WE LIKE Author: Barbara Hayo www.TrustedTours.com |
New York is arguably the culinary capital of the world. While other cities may be better known for specific specialties, New York has it all – Asian fusion, Pan-Asian, American, Continental French, Indian, Italian, Contemporary American, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Spanish, Mexican, Greek, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern. There are steak houses, Jewish delis, pizza joints; seafood and soul food. If you crave it, you can find it.
Celebrated chefs are drawn to New York City. Some receive top billing in the best restaurants; others, using their star power and sought-after culinary skills to open glitzy restaurants of their own, attract a following with their couture cooking. In a city with a fickle palate, where presentation is an art form and ambience is edgy, the culinary world is competitive business. There are always new restaurants opening and dining trends come and go.
Dining in this epicurean extravaganza is expensive, particularly in Midtown, Upper East Side, Upper West Side and in trendy neighborhoods. Some of the busy, glamorous restaurants have gone bi-level, with fine dining upstairs and street-level casual dining. Off the beaten tourist path, smaller, neighborhood restaurants serve great food at reasonable prices. Numerous publications and websites list, describe and rank restaurants. Regardless of where you go, make reservations well in advance.
No experience in the city is complete without a taste of uniquely New York, treats. Try them as you come upon them, or seek them out.
- Sample a rich, creamy Otto Gelato from pushcart in Washington Square; a soft ice cream cone from the Mister Softee truck, wherever you see it – or hear it.
- Bite into a New York hot dog: a Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog, or one from Gray Papayas in Midtown, Upper West Side and Greenwich Village.
- Have a bagel, soft and warm from the oven, at H&H or Absolute Bagels on the Upper West Side, Murrays Bagels in Greenwich Village.
- Indulge in a slice of pizza, New York style at Grimaldi’s in Lower Manhattan, John’s Pizzeria in Greenwich Willage, Lombardi’s in Little Italy.
- Delight in decadent hot chocolate at Maison du Chocolat in the Upper East Side.
- Sip a martini in Campbell Apartment, upstairs in Grand Central Station – upscale, baronial, with a dress code.
- Have sumptuously elegant high tea at Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon, in the Inn at Irving Place in the heart of Gramercy Park.
- Get fresh bread and pastries at Amy’s Bread in Chelsea Market.
- Try ice cream, exotically flavored at Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, Cones in Greenwich Village, Il Laboratoria del Gelato in Little Italy.
- Savor flavorful dim sum surprises in the Fried Dumpling in the Lower East Side.
- Munch on fabulous fires from a cone at Pommes Frites in the East Village.
- Pile on the pastrami at Katz’s on the Lower East Side.
- Have soul food for breakfast at M&G Diner on 125th Street in Harlem.
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