Tag Archives: bars
Ca Va
While the number of new restaurants opening this fall is exciting, it’s also a little worrisome. Can top chefs and restauranteurs still maintain a hands-on, personal approach while building out more and more new places? Unfortunately, one of the most notorious examples in the negative has been Todd English, the chef who had all of Boston swooning with his enchanting Mediterranean place Olives in the ’90s, then fell flat with the bland W hotel version of the same in 2000s New York.
The latest addition to his cadre of projects does little to rectify that situation. While the French-Mediterranean food at Ça Va is solid and the atmosphere an improvement on almost everything else in the theater district, as a whole the restaurant comes off as slick and corporate, like a fragrance that’s been focus-grouped into the generic. Even the name betrays a certain tone-deafness: “ça va” can be loosely translated as “it’s okay,” versus “ça va bien”: “it’s going well.” (more…)
Posted in food, French, Midtown West, New York restaurants, restaurants
Tagged bars, New York, Todd English
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Atria, Martha’s Vineyard
There’s no shortage of fancy restaurants on Martha’s Vineyard – the only problem is choosing just one when you only have a few nights on the island. Alchemy is a perennial favorite, but if you want to get away from the hoi polloi in the center of Edgartown on weekend nights, head to Atria for its patrician atmosphere.
At Atria, whitewashed Adirondack chairs spot the gracious side lawn, where you can settle in for drinks or dinner outside, and inside there’s a dining room hung with antique fish prints and furnished with dark spindle chairs, plus a downstairs pub, Brick House, that serves up burgers, beer on tap and live music. It’s the sort of place you can imagine the Kennedys going (but that may be just because several people in the clubby dining room that night actually looked like Kennedys). (more…)
Posted in food, Martha's Vineyard, restaurants
Tagged bars, beer, Martha's Vineyard, travel
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Vapiano
This first branch of this rapidly-expanding Italian “fast casual” chain in New York, Vapiano fills a void left by Dean & DeLuca when that panini and coffee shop closed just a couple blocks down on University Place, and it will probably become to the neighborhood what Dean & DeLuca was: a go-to place for a simple lunch or dinner. What will keep it from closing like Dean & DeLuca did? Vapiano has a liquor license, a spacious bar and a knack for marketing.
The light-filled interior, with soaring ceilings and sleek Italian design throughout, sets the stage for what’s actually a very back-to-basics dining experience, though at first glance it seems high tech. After picking up a key card at the door, you take a tray and collect your meal yourself, selecting panini, salads, pizza and pasta from various food stations, where they prepare each dish in front of you and scan the card. If your college dining hall went gourmet, this is what it would be like. (more…)
Posted in food, Greenwich Village, Italian, New York restaurants, restaurants
Tagged bars, beef, lunch, New York
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The Lion
The Waverly Inn may be one of the most celeb-packed restaurants in the city, but some of us actually went for the food. Sure, the scene is thrilling – particularly the time that Owen Wilson came out from the back room to mix with us civilians at the bar – but the thing that made the aggravating attitude at the door tolerable was the reward of those flaky, golden, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits. Without fail, they would be plopped down on your table as soon as you sat down, a light at the end of the tunnel.
Turns out I must not be alone, because many patrons of the Waverly Inn have followed chef John DeLucie here to the Lion. Mick Jagger caused a stir on a recent night there, and now the flashbulbs of paparazzi outside the door greet anyone vaguely famous-looking. Alas, the Lion’s democratic touch that enraptured Jay Cheshes at Time Out is already fast disappearing, and you may find waits of two hours or more now for one of those walk-in tables in the front room.
Posted in American, food, Greenwich Village, New York restaurants, restaurants
Tagged bars, gastropubs, New York
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Ninth Ward
A “destination store” is one that inspires shoppers to make a special trip there, either because of specialized merchandise or deep discounts, but also arising in the city right now are destination bars – though they get the term for a different reason. If your summer vacation plans don’t include a trip to Polynesia, you can always hit up one of the many rum bars gaining a foothold in the city, like Painkiller. Or just stop by Mayahuel or Cienfuegos in lieu of that jaunt to Mexico or Cuba.
Ninth Ward is the latest bar that aspires to take us away, this time to New Orleans, though once you arrive, you may think you boarded the wrong plane. As far as the controversial name goes, “Ninth Ward” is really not the same as “Ground Zero.” This New Orleans neighborhood has a rich history of jazz and Creole culture that came about way before Hurricane Katrina. (Watch Treme for the full story.) But the similarities between the actual Ninth Ward and this new bar end at the name and the cocktail list. (more…)
Eleven Madison Park
The democratization of the food world is in many ways a good thing. An appreciation of taco trucks, Chinatown pastry shops and country barbecue stands has trickled up from the populace to food authorities like the NYT and Food and Wine Magazine, which expanded its circle of “Best New Chefs” to include not just Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller (both class of ’88) but Roy Choi of LA’s Kogi Korean Barbecue trucks (class of ’10). A more level playing field has encouraged restauranteurs and chefs to strive for greatness, no matter how small or casual the venue.
But what’s been lost in the transition from “gourmand” (farewell, Gourmet) to “foodie” (hello, Yelp) is an appreciation of truly excellent food and service. When seeking out the latest “it” food, be it a pig roast or a roving dessert truck, diners are now willing to endure long lines for bad cuts of meat while Josh Ozersky snacks in the background. Just as it’s important to study the cut and feel of designer clothing to see what H&M should approximate, you have to visit a four-star place like Eleven Madison Park every once in a while to understand what lesser dining experiences lack. (more…)
Posted in Flatiron District, food, New York restaurants, NoMad, restaurants
Tagged American food, bars, Daniel Humm, French food, New York
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Hot Bird
On a forlorn stretch of Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill, parking lots and gas stations give way to this unexpected gem of an outdoor bar, Hot Bird, so named for the yellow painted signs that linger on several buildings across Brooklyn. The old BBQ chicken chain is long gone, but this new bar keeps the grungy spirit we imagine Hot Bird BBQ once had. Almost a dozen varieties of bourbon line the shelves on the back of this garage space, done over with dark-grouted subway tile walls and vintage Americana. Local craft beers are on tap.
The real draw is the spacious, laid back patio that somehow feels miles away from it all, even though it’s just a few feet away from the traffic of Atlantic Avenue, beyond a wood slat fence. (more…)
Tribeca Terroir
In theory, staying in New York City on a summer weekend when everyone else is away should mean you have access to plenty of restaurants, free concerts and barbecue real estate in the park while everyone else fights for a parking space in the Hamptons. In reality, the city is just as crowded as ever. Why? So many New Yorkers had the same idea.
So don’t head to Brooklyn on a summer weekend expecting to get a table at a popular place in Red Hook, Carroll Gardens or Williamsburg – they’ll be taken by locals. The best strategy on summer Saturdays is to target the areas where titans of industry live, where it would be horribly unfashionable to be seen in town, missing charity events galore in the Hamptons. In short, head to Tribeca. (more…)
Posted in American, food, New York restaurants, restaurants, Tribeca
Tagged bars, New York, tapas
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Galatoire’s, New Orleans
Life is grand at Galatoire’s, the century-old restaurant in the French Quarter, where ladies in hats and men in white linen jackets gather under the ceiling fans in the sunny, tile-floored interior for a lunch that stretches into the afternoon. An oasis of air-conditioned civility on rowdy Bourbon Street, Galatoire’s still requires men to wear jackets, even if the mercury’s pushing 95. It’s one of many ways that Galatoire’s hews to tradition, even as the rest of the world constantly changes.
One of the best windows into New Orleans food, Galatoire’s specializes in the remoulades and etouffees that give Creole cuisine its particular French-Southern twist. The crowd is largely local, and there’s lots of table hopping on the main floor. Service is genteel, efficient but unhurried. A recent lunch here began with a cocktail proffered up on a silver tray. Cocktail hour seemingly never ends in New Orleans: the bar here was full by 2 in the afternoon. (more…)
Corsino
CLOSED
One good thing about the chain-ification of New York restaurants: you pretty much know what you’re getting into before you even walk in the door. The thing to know about new casual Italian spot Corsino, located in the old Frederick’s Downtown spot, is that it’s backed by Jason Denton of ‘ino, ‘inoteca, and ‘inoteca Liquori. Cue crostini, pasta, small plates, good cocktails and a lively scene.
The menu has its ups and downs, but if you have any favorites from the other ‘inos, chances are you can order them here. A crostino with cannellini puree and artichokes ($2.50 per crostino) was the best crostino we ordered that night, the creamy beans playing off the acidity of the artichoke. But the olive tapenade, middle, was overly salty – a problem that plagued several of Corsino’s dishes, and the shrimp and arugula crostino tasted like it had been made with tinned shrimp. With so much variety on the menu here, it’s easy to stumble. But a recent dinner at ‘inoteca Liquori makes me believe that the delicious ricotta and orange honey crostini and the solid mushroom and taleggio crostini would also be good bets at Corsino. (more…)
Yerba Buena West
A restaurant that serves food from a variety of different but interrelated countries is usually one you should avoid. Sushi and bibimbop and pad thai? How do you know which one the kitchen can actually do well? But if chef-partner Julian Medina at Yerba Buena West had stuck to just Mexican or Cuban food, the diners would have been the ones missing out on the variety of stimulating dishes and cocktails this place has to offer.
Not just Mexican or Cuban but also Argentinian, Peruvian and Chilean, the menu at Yerba Buena West touches down on ceviches, arepas, empanadas and grilled meat. Here everything feels a little less trendy and more grown up than the original Yerba Buena in the East Village. An antique bar frames one side of the room, and the vibrant blue lighting of the East Village spot has been ditched for the traditional look of cream-colored upholstered chairs, black and white tile floors, exposed brick and cream colored walls and minimal decorations. Senor Swanky’s this is not. (more…)
Posted in food, Mexican, New York restaurants, restaurants, West Village
Tagged bars, duck, New York
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ABC Kitchen
Jean-Georges Vongerichten, one of the few big-name New York chefs who has not gone full speed ahead into locally-sourced, organic cuisine, finally throws his hat into the ring with ABC Kitchen. The result could be called Fusion Cuisine 2.0: Send a talented French chef trained in Asia to the Union Square Greenmarket, where American sugar snap peas, Latin peppers and artisanal meat all vie for your attention, and you never know what new creation will land on the table.
Behind the minimalist exterior, the restaurant space itself, on the south side of the giant ABC Home store in the Flatiron district, is wonderfully inviting, slightly formal in an aristocratic country-home sort of way, but not at all stuffy. Mismatched china, antique silverware grace the simple white lacquered tables under the old exposed beams overhead. The buzzy but low-key atmosphere was just sceney enough to be interesting but not distracting. (more…)
Posted in American, Flatiron District, food, New York restaurants, restaurants
Tagged bars, foie gras, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, New York
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The Bodega
We originally went out to Bushwick for Northeast Kingdom – but if we went back, it would be for new wine and beer bar The Bodega. This Spanish-inspired spot is owned by a local couple, Gina Leone and Ben Warren, who’ll help you navigate the rotating menu of hard-to-find beers, many of them Belgian. (You can find the full menu here.) Wine lovers are not left out of the equation though – this is one place where the owners are equally well versed in both.
D. went for the unusual Cuvee Renee Lambic beer from Belgium, which was a hit. Sour and apple-y, it had an almost cider taste. (more…)
Pulino’s
CLOSED
What are you willing to do for pizza? Travel far and wide for the perfect slice? Line up in the rain on 14th Street? How about wait two and a half hours in platform heels, with only the air-kissing at the door and jockeying for position at the crowded bar to entertain you? If you’re willing to do the latter, then we’ve got the place for you.
It’s not really Keith McNally’s fault that his new pizza place Pulino’s is so insanely popular – he’s a popular guy. And we found out belatedly that Pulino’s does take reservations. Make them, and do not attempt to just show up on a Thursday, even if you put your name in before 7pm as we did. Glad-handers and downtown scenesters with reservations will just pass you by. At least the guys at the door, familiar faces from McNally’s other endeavors, will treat you kindly, and the restrictions they mete out – no one can wait at the bar, because there’s literally no more room in there – are meted out democratically. (more…)
Hecho en Dumbo
If you’re opening a Mexican restaurant in New York, do you set out to please the general Tex Mex diner who expects chips and salsa to land on the table at the beginning of every meal? Or do you go the authentic route and offer things like cactus and rajas?
Hecho en Dumbo, which just arrived on the Bowery in the old Marion’s space, toes the line between the two schools of Mexican food, offering amazingly good, deeply spicy, traditional Yucatan cuisine—but also a number of fun cocktails and some tortilla chips for the type of person who says “Let’s go out for margs!” When “authentic” can mean not just “truly Mexican” but true to anyplace that has adopted Mexican food (like those Mission-style burritos at Dos Toros), this approach seems like the best route to success for a new style of Mexican restaurant. (more…)
Posted in food, Mexican, New York restaurants, Noho, restaurants
Tagged bars, beer, New York
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