I had to do a quick overnight trip to New York for business on Thursday night and arrived, miraculously, in time for a little dinner.

Due to my current dietary restrictions, I can eat Pizza, but only about a small slice at a time. Having had lots of good experiences at John's Pizza in midtown and not wanting a reheated slice, I ventured over for one of their small pies with sausage and pepperoni. John's had been one of my favorite places during the time I lived there.

This place has really slipped. Gone was the thin, bendable, but blistered crust of years gone by. My pie was a little on the doughy side indicating that the brick oven was well below temperature when my pie entered it. I ordered a side salad which I ate only a bit of.

In all I spent $27 for a few bites of salad, a slice and a half of John's thin crust pie (which left me stuffed) and a glass of water. Granted, I ate small portions due to the size of my stomach. But, I probably would have stopped short anyway due to the declining quality of that pie that I ordered.

The room still fascinates me with its New Deal era wall mural of Manhattan.

Needless to say, I'm glad to be back home.

Thank you, Steve Drucker, for your great post! I go to NYC about every 2-3 weeks for business, and am always looking in here for recommendations. Many of your recommendations are within walking distance from our corporate apartment (8th Ave bet 52nd and 53rd), so I will be printing this out and taking it with me.

Pucca, I'll have to try out that LiveLocal thing you mentioned, so I can have my NYC map with me when a canceled appointment or client lunch catches me unprepared.

Janet C, is the Japanese tea house you heard about on Martha Stewart Cha An (230 E 9th Street bet 2nd and 4rd, upstairs) by any chance? I went there with a Korean friend, and noticed that everyone there was speaking in Japanese. They had lovely teas and tea beverages as well as traditional Japanese desserts.

Please keep the recommendations coming!

YourPalWill - Thank you for the downhill alert at John's. It was on my list to hit since it is near my hotel. I will try to hit Nick's or Lombardi's instead.
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So is it worthwhile to hit one of the cupcake bakeries? I seem to recall reading somewhere that Magnolia's cupcake is kind of dry. How do you think that the NYC bakeries compare to those in Chicago? Thanks.

Cupcake Cafe on Ninth Avenue and 39th Street is the place to go IMHO.

They are works of art.

Pucca, do go have a drink at John's and see the mural in the main dining room since you're stying nearby. It is worth the visit itself. They have a nice little bar with beer, wine and mixed drinks.

I started getting a cold the day we arrived, which definitely prevented me from enjoying the full flavors and aromas of everything we ate.

Our first stop upon arrival was Chinatown. We had lunch at Congee Village, and ordered two kinds of congee: 1) sliced fish with lettuce and 2) beef. The beef congee was the better of the two. The fish came in very small bite size pieces that contained bones and scales. The fried dough was cold and disappointing since we arrived only minutes after opening. We expected them to be fried fresh to order. It was a disappointing start after a starving walk.

Next, we stopped at Egg Custard King Cafe. We tried the almond and strawberry flavors. The egg custard was so warm and the crust was buttery and flakey.


After a little shopping, we went to Joe’s Shanghai for their legendary xiao long bao. We ordered both the crab & pork and the pork dumplings. Wow! The skin was just as thin and delicate as I remember in Hong Kong. The dumplings burst with so much soup! Check out gravity working on these delicate little pouches. I only wish there was something in Chicago that came ½ way close to these delicate little packages.



Before departing, we went to the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. I had a taste of the taro but couldn’t decipher much flavor so I went w/the almond cookie. There were chunks of almond cookie mixed in w/the dough. It was pretty good, but made it a chewy type of ice cream – although not as chewy as Turkish ice cream.

For dinner, we went to Hearth. I went in with pretty high expectations. The room felt like a broiler. I was wearing a short sleeved thin shirt, so I couldn’t even strip myself of any layers to cool myself down. This discomfort definitely contributed to a less than ideal experience. I’m sure this was only worsened by being sick. I ordered the winter salad of mixed greens and candied walnuts topped with a sherry vinegrette. For my main, I had the pan seared skate w/ roasted winter vegetables garnished with pomegranate seeds. I just didn’t really feel like anything I ate was special. Service was attentative.

For dessert we decided to go to Magnolia Bakery. I picked a yellow cupcake w/vanilla frosting. The cupcake was a little dense but also light – not moist but not dry. The frosting was a little more sugary than the buttercreams to my memory. It was fine, but nothing to write home about. Service could be improved.


On our second day, we lucked out with being seated immediately at Baltahazar w/o reservations for breakfast. I had the roasted pepper and carmelized onion quiche with mixed greens. My fresh squeezed orange juice was so fresh and sweet. The quiche was delicious w/melted gruyere cheese in every bite. The busboys were great and on top of things, but our server was absolutely clueless. The computer system was down, and she seemed so disoriented without it. Even the busboys were getting frustrated with her. We were dressed in our coats and waiting for change when a new order of food was starting to be placed on our table b/c our server was messing up orders and table numbers. I bought a chocolate croissaint next door, and it was deliciously buttery!

For a late lunch we went to Lombardi’s. We ordered a house salad, calzone, and small margherita. The pizza was the highlight of the meal.


The San Marzano sauce, fresh mozzarella, and crust were a divine combination. I am still dreaming of it now. We had such a big, late lunch that we didn’t have dinner.

On our last morning, we headed over to H&H Bagels to pick up some bagels to bring home w/us. We went to Zabar’s to pick up some more goodies for bringing home w/us. I could’ve spent hours there! I bought a potato knish, chocolate babkas and cinnamon rugalach. The chocolate babka was my favorite. I had no idea what to expect, and it was phenomenal.

We went to Popover Café for lunch. We ordered a basket of 3 popovers served with strawberry butter. They were huge! I liked the inside. I hadn’t eaten in 20 hours, so I ordered a burger that was overcooked. I think their breakfast fare looked better than the lunch options.


All in all, I had a great time. I wish I wasn’t sick and that the weather could’ve been a little milder. Thanks for all the tips!

The Popover Cafe is definitely a place to go for breakfast rather than lunch. The French toast there is fabulous...

This weekend, Hearth served one of the finest local/ seasonal restaurant meals I've ever had. One of the chef's "things" seems to be pairing different cuts of the same animal on the same plate: Sliced, roasted lamb steak tops braised ribs; braised veal breast joins crispy sweetbreads; smoked pork belly rests underneath roasted pork loin; etc, etc. In every case, both preparations of meat are done beautifully, and paired with outstanding seasonal vegetables. The lamb gets bright green, tender fava beans; the veal gets morels and spring onions; the pork is joined by roasted early-spring turnips.

The ingredients are the stars, but the perfectly executed cooking techniques do nothing but make them shine even brighter. Though Hearth is primarily an ingredient-driven restaurant, the talented chef occasionally employs modern culinary trends, such as serving a delicious roasted beet salad with a fruit-rollup-type thing made with beet juice and stuffed with creamy, sharp, gorgonzola. It’s tasty, but - to be honest - I thought the cutesiness was an unnecessary, though minor, distraction.

Service for our party of 6 on a Friday night was professional, casual, and flawless. Servers at Hearth wear jeans, but don't let that fool you into thinking they don't take their work seriously. Our server was full of terrific, descriptive wine recommendations and a deep knowledge of the food being produced by the kitchen. On a typically busy Friday night, we never once felt rushed to turn over the table.

Hearth is a comfortable, relatively casual place with food that's as good as it gets.

Hearth
403 East 12th Street
New York, NY 10009
(646) 602-1300