RESTAURANT-101
Eldridge Street, on the Lower East Side, has changed yet remained mainly the same for as long as many of the longtime residents can remember. The neighborhood is mainly comprised of Chinese and Dominican families, combined Chinese and Spanish grocers, and underground nightclubs that only locals can spot. Slowly, with the opening of a few art galleries and other day-businesses the neighborhood has begun to change. Nestled among residential buildings on Eldridge Street between Delancey and Broome is the small specialty bakery, Panade Puffs & Pastries and we mean SMALL—the bakery is a whopping 250-square feet.
When deciding where to go in New York City, many factors influence your decision. What are you in the mood for? Want to go somewhere fancy or casual? Are you trying to impress someone? Sometimes, we just want to eat good food. Danny Meyer’s restaurant empire gives us many options and you know wherever you go, service will be fantastic and the food will be produced to satisfy. If you want to sit in the park and have a burger, you can go to Shake Shack or if you are looking for some live jazz and barbeque with an urban feel, you could visit Blue Smoke.
80 Wythe Ave. at N. 11th Brooklyn, NY
Located in the Wythe Hotel, Reynards just opened and is now serving breakfast, lunch and dinner from their wood-fired oven and grill. From the same people that brought you Marlow & Sons, Andrew Tarlow and Sean Rembold, Reynards is a bigger space than their other restaurants. Come watch the cooks prepare your food from their open kitchen.
In Spanish Harlem there may not be a shortage of Mexican food, but those who serve authentic food with a distinct flavor are still low in numbers. Which is great, because that's what makes El Paso a memorable dining experience.
The place certainly has authentic character and style. Mexican death dolls line the room and skulls of cow’s heads hang over the fully stocked bar, accented by solid wood decorative chairs. Dark lighting, earthy colors on the walls, and mosaic blue table-tops set the mood for tequila shots, sharing a plate of crispy nachos, and practicing your Spanish with the friendly and helpful waiters.
The golden mosaic tiles of the pizza oven of Donatella Arpaia’s namesake restaurant, Donatella, acts as a beacon calling to diners, “come inside, you look hungry. I’ll cook something for you” just as countless Neapolitan mothers have done for centuries. Once you’re off the busy streets of Chelsea, sit down at one of Donatella’s marble topped tables, drink a glass of the finest Italian Campanian wines, and snack on a plate of crostinis while you painstakingly decide which of the pizzas you plan to try. Keep in mind though; Donatella’s is not your typical New York City Neapolitan pizza-focused restaurant. Donatella Arpaia, who is a recurring guest judge on the Food Network’s “Iron Chef” series, a contributor to NBC’s “Today Show,” as well as being behind a number of successful restaurants, such as Kefi and Dona, feels that Donatella is her most personal endeavor to date. Her goal for Donatella was to capture the traditional foods she enjoyed while summering in Naples during her childhood and bring them to New York. By using authentic and fresh ingredients (We mean fresh as in picked up from customs that very morning.) Donatella celebrates not only the famed pizza of the region but the pastas, desserts, and wines as well.
We’ve all seen subway ads portraying a beautiful beach somewhere in the Caribbean or Hawaii. Everyone is barely dressed and smiling, and there’s a tagline on it somewhere saying “You could be here,” or “Need a vacation?” Juxtapose this against the passed out drunk homeless guy desperately in need of a shower and the overall drabness of a mass of underground travelers, and you might find yourself saying, “Maybe I do need a vacation…”
But who really has the time or money for a vacation to someplace tropical? The next best thing has to be the drinks at the SOHO cocktail lounge known as Lani Kai. Once inside, you may feel like you’ve just stepped in off the surf for some beachside nightlife. The tropical plant-covered deck leading up to the bar will make the cars driving by on Broome street sound like waves crashing on the shore. Lani Kai, roughly translated as ‘Heavenly Waters,’ is a Julie Reiner creation. Reiner is known in the New York cocktail world for the famous Flatiron Lounge, and the newer Clover Club in Brooklyn. This place, however, is closer in resemblance to her home state of Hawaii.
As no-jacket weather approaches, many look to dine outside in the fresh air- especially during brunch time. With limited space in the city, places tend to fill up rather quickly. At Savann, not only do you have the chance to dine al fresco but you get to do it with Turkish-style.
After 15 years of Savann being established, Chef Galip Ozbek decided to mix things up and began to cook traditional food from his country by request of his devout customers. Getting rid of the French cuisine Savann was once known for, Ozbek changed his concept by adding cozy colors to create a warm, quixotic ambiance and a new Turkish menu to set the mood.
187 Orchard Street New York, NY (212) 460-5300
Blue Ribbon has added another location to their empire in the Thompson LES Hotel on Orchard Street. Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya is bringing you more upscale food including their fried chicken with wasabi honey and eight different choices of fried rice. The fish is fresh and imported daily from Japan. Plates range from the small style bbq yakitori plates to large dishes including 16-piece pork ribs.
There's something about Banh Mi sandwiches that puts them on the top of the food chain when it comes time to eat. Maybe it's the pickled carrots and daikon or maybe it's the chili mayo. Whatever it is, when it's all working together- it's magic. Xe May, located on St. Mark's place between 1st Avenue and Avenue A, tries to break the mold from the traditional Banh Mi and bring a little pizzazz to an otherwise overdone, yet tasty, menu item. Unfortunately, Xe May ends up missing the mark.
You'll probably walk by the store several times before you actually see it. The spot is tiny, mainly for take out, though it does have a seating area that can probably fit no more than 10 people. There's 7 choices of Banh Mi sandwiches to choose from, including the Banh Mi tacos we were very interested in. So, we gave it a shot. We ordered the Fresh Basil Soda Limeade, Super Cub Classic, The "Hog", Lemongrass chicken taco and the beefsteak taco. The Super Cub Classic is pretty much a classic Banh Mi with the pork, pate and headchease while The "Hog" is grilled pork with fried shallots. While the other five all seemed interesting and all offered something different from the normal Banh Mi, like the DUC (meatball, provolone and tomato sauce) or the Lam'bretta (coconut curry lamb), we figured that we'd get something a bit more traditional to test out the quality of their cooking. After all, if you can't the basics right, then usually there's not much hope for the rest of the menu. Sadly, the basics here just weren't impressive.
Prima, a hidden gem in the East Village (58 East 1st Street) is what results when a Rat Pack-esque group of five restaurant biz friends join forces to create a seafood focused café and bar. Prima is owned and operated by Hamid Rashidzada, Greg Seider, Ken Nye, Mathieu Palombino, and David Malbequi, who runs Prima’s kitchen fulltime. The friends wanted to open an eatery with seamless service giving guests a place to eat when many other restaurants are closed in between lunch and dinner service. Prima opens at 8 a.m. for coffee (provided by Nye’s Ninth Street Espresso) and pastries, so no matter the time, they’ll be there serving up their delightful dishes.
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