New York help

My wife and I are going to New York for a weekend in late January and have at least one evening available for a nice dinner. I'm on overload just reading about the possibilities.

Here's what we're looking for. Nice, creative cuisine, but not overly extravagent. I don't want to pack a jacket or tie. Chicago equivalents might be Blackbird, Spring, Green Zebra or North Pond.

Thanks,
Jonah

Jonah wrote: I don't want to pack a jacket or tie.

I think "jacket" should just be pre-emptively banned from this site Here's hoping we don't get another flame war.

Park Bistro
414 Park Ave

Lupa
170 Thompson St

Bouley
120 W Broadway

Have fun,

trixie-pea

Check out the recent post on Tabla--I think it fits your description.

It's so ten years ago, but Mesa Grill stil manages to please me on my visits.

Tabla and Mesa Grill are both excellent suggestions. If you're looking for very creative (and not dressy), I'd also definitely recommend WD-50.


WD-50:
http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t= ... light=wd50

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Jonah

Craft would be the place I most wanna go to right now in NYC, at least in that price range.

As a recent transplant from NYC, let me weigh in with some thoughts:

* Ditto to Craft and Bouley. Bouley consistently gets pulled as one of the best fine dining experiences in Manhattan.

* Lupa can be very good, but it can also be insanely mobbed and loud, and in those situations servers will try to end your meal 20 minutes after it began. Go at lunch or early on weeknights.

* Or, if you want innovative Italian, try Scott Conant's places L'Impero or Alto. I loved L'Impero - Batali without the mob scene (note: Alto is one of about 5 places in Manhattan that might try to make you wear a jacket).

* Skip Mesa or Park Bistro. They're just fine, but you can eat better here. I have similar feelings about Tabla, although the space can be very romantic.

* Some other suggestions would be to look for some of the smaller, more intimate places that New York seems to specialize in:

- Wallsé for suave Austrian in a beautiful West Village location (www.wallserestaurant.com);

- The Harrison, not the most innovative food you'll ever eat, but one of best combinations of excellent cuisine, wonderful space and warm welcome (http://www.theharrison.com/harrison.html).

- Hearth in the East Village (http://restauranthearth.com). I never loved that space (kind of cold), but the food (from a Craft alum) is excellent.

Have fun!

Fillay

I agree with Craft.

However, my first choice for the dinner that you suggest is Annisa. I've posted on it. It is such a pleasant, smart, delightful restaurant.

I also would recommend Aquavit. Perry Street and Blue Hill would also be good choices in the mold of Blackbird.

I think that you would be very happy with any of these. I had a sublime meal at Aquavit, but it may be a little too formal. Annisa and Blue Hill would be perfect.

Perry Street is a recent Jean-Georges Vongerichten spot (of Jean-Georges fame). It also has a quiet elegance.

Bouley is probably more formal that what you want (and more expensive).

Thanks GAF. I've enjoyed reading your posts on NY dining, and it's nice to see you sum up what you think meets my needs.

Jonah

Thanks to GAF, my wife and I had a lovely dinner at Annisa this past weekend. Annisa is run by Chef Anita Lo, who some may recall unaimously defeated Mario Batali in an Iron Chef America episode. As for the restaurant, it's a delightful, sleek, small spot in the heart of the West Village. The food, while perhaps not dramtically innovative, is just plain delicious. There were at least two dishes where we literally used our fingers to get every last drop of sauce. Here are the highlights of our five course tasting menu:

Soup dumpling with foie gras: This signature appetizer is pretty much as described. It's one large soup dumpling (more a wonton) with a meat and fois gras filling and two tiny strips of seared foie gras on the top. There is a reduced black vinegar for a bit of sauce. This brought to mind and held its own with Trio truffle explosion.

Trout with marcona almond sauce: A take on the old trout almondine, but lightened up. The skin on the trout was the ultimate in crispiness.

Squab with a chestnut puree, a red wine reduction and a honey gastrique. Once again, incredibly crispy skin and three sauces that melded to make a complex dish.

Bread pudding with meyer lemon and poppy seed sauce. The bread pudding had some crunch to it (it's clear the chef likes that) and the sauce tasted like lemon curd. It's the best dessert I've had in quite some time.

Annisa is well thought of, but not one of the "hot" places like Craft or Babbo. If you don't want to fight for a reservation, and just want a delicious meal in great atmosphere. try it. It's also a great value. Our five-course (you also get an amuse and an extra dessert) was $68.

Thanks again to GAF and to this board, which just flat out never fails.

I also just spent a weekend in NYC, and based mostly on recommendations from GAF, enjoyed some lovely food.

Started with Hangawi - http://www.hangawirestaurant.com/.
Korean vegetarian tasting menu, with a number of very interesting, maybe even other worldly, flavors. The daughter and I went for the big bang tasting menu, starting with porridge - a sweet gruel with corn, spinach flavors to ground it. The vegetable soup was delightful, a light broth with an ample variety of vegetables adding flavor and texture. The emperor's rolls were fun - little flavored pancakes (there were 3 types, green, red and white, but I forget the flavors, maybe spinach, taro, and ???) with little matchsticks of ingredients to roll up in them, and a tangy/sweet mustard sauce for dipping. And the grilled todok with ginger soy was quite tasty, too.

Beautiful room, excellent tea and beverage service (I worked from a giant bowl of nongju - slightly sweet, milky rice wine - pretty low alcohol content, I think, since I drank a lot with little effect).

I had not really tried much Korean vegetarian cuisine and found this very good.

The next day we went to lunch at Aquavit, pre-theater. They had a $20 three course prix fixe lunch in the Cafe, so we went with that. Started with the Herring sampler platter, which was blissful along with a flight of flavored Aquavit (Cucumber - subtle and wonderful; Orange/Lemon - sweet and simple; Mango/Lime/Jalapeno - no heat, a little sugar, interesting but not what I hoped for). Four little mounds of herring with a daub of creme fraiche - lime, horseradish, regular, and an earthy type that is from Sweden. Really great. Farro risotto had its creaminess provided by goat cheese, and a nice touch of wild mushroom. The dessert was a mango/goat cheese parfait - a frozen cylinder of goat cheese ice cream with a core of mango. Impossible to eat until it thawed a bit, and we had to rush to the theater after a taste or two. My sister stayed and finished it, and enjoyed it very much.

Aquavit
65 E. 55th St., New York, NY 10022
at Madison Ave.
212-307-7311

Funny aside - the current chef at Aquavit (not to be confused with the Executive Chef, who has not changed) is an Ethiopian orphan, raised in Sweden. I know this because everyone I ran into the first evening shared this with me, from my sister to my dining neighbors at Hangawi - and I did not even ask. Apparently his unusual origin has garnered him a lot of attention.

Between the snow and the short time there, I did not get to satisfy either my deli or NY Pizza cravings (tho I can say there is a very passable pizza place at the Islip train station, tho the crust is a little thin and crisp to be what I consider true NY pizza), so I must go back soon. On the other hand, I did enjoy Avenue Q, and particularly the explicit puppet sex.

And I think I should take up making flavored Aquavit at home.

dicksond wrote:Funny aside - the current chef at Aquavit (not to be confused with the Executive Chef, who has not changed) is an Ethiopian orphan, raised in Sweden. I know this because everyone I ran into the first evening shared this with me, from my sister to my dining neighbors at Hangawi - and I did not even ask. Apparently his unusual origin has garnered him a lot of attention.

No that's Marcuss Samualsson, the long time Executive Chef, and founder of Aquavit.

It's a place I've always wanted to try. Thanks for the review.

Really, Marcuss is the Ethiopian? Guess I figured the name would be a little less Swedish. Need to do my homework better next time.

Marcus also runs Riingo, which is Japanese. Go figure.