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Big Apple Life | Bite of the Best

Big Apple Life

A collection of posts on Life in the Big Apple along with interviews with foodie friends

Newest Brasserie Cognac Américain, Bryant Park, NYC

Brasserie Cognac Américain has settled into a gorgeous new corner location at 40th Street and Fifth Avenue, directly across from the New York Public Library.  This newly opened French bistro from Serafina Restaurant Group features Chef Michael Lomonaco—acclaimed American chef, restaurateur and television personality—leading the kitchen. I was invited as their guest to sample the fare, starting with cocktails. My dining companion enjoyed a classic Hendrick's gin martini, while I sipped the smoky, spicy and fizzy Napoleon's Dynamite ($19), a blend of mezcal, jalapeño tequila and ginger beer. We opted for the special French Restaurant Week menu ($60), a prix fixe that includes an appetizer, entrée and dessert. (Regular menu [...]

By |2026-07-15T12:22:24-04:00August 11th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Newish Clara, New York Historical, UWS, NYC

Last time I dined at Clara, the restaurant was in the New York Historical Society. Today, the museum dropped "Society" from its name, and the restaurant is now under the direction of Alex Guarnaschelli. I recently met friends there for lunch. I was in the mood for a burger and fries, so I ordered the cheddar-topped one with a side of fries. I couldn't finish the perfectly cooked burger, but easily polished off the small serving of fries.    Others enjoyed chicken paillard over grilled onions and mustard greens ($28),  quiche Lorraine ($21) and an over-dressed salad of fresh peaches with lots of arugula, some mint and very few sugar [...]

By |2026-08-04T08:05:55-04:00August 8th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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A Return to Amalfi Serra by Birreria

We stopped in for Happy Hour and stayed for dinner, deciding to stay on to share the Amalfi Experience again. At lunch it's $26, while dinner is $49—and both are more food than either of us could finish. Since it was Wednesday, bottles of wine were half price, so we ordered the Greco di Tufo DOC "Novaserra" by Mastroberardino from Campania. At $42 instead of $84, it was an easy choice and paired beautifully with our meal. Before our entrée arrived, we were served Carpaccio di Barbabietole—paper-thin yellow beets with whipped ricotta, salsa verde, taggiasca crumble and a white balsamic dressing—along with rustic thick-sliced bread; a housemade potato croquette topped [...]

By |2026-08-04T08:05:44-04:00August 6th, 2026|Big Apple Life, Happy Hours, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Indochine, East Village, NYC

When my friends suggested Indochine, I reluctantly said yes. The service was horrid on my last visit during restaurant week. I reminded myself that on the previous visit, they went above and beyond, sending someone to CVS to buy mosquito repellent for me! I knew service standards were back as the host looked at me, smiled, then asked the person on the telephone to hold a moment and handled my reservation. When my friends suggested Indochine, I reluctantly said yes. My last visit, during Restaurant Week, was marred by disappointing service. Then I remembered an earlier visit when they had gone above and beyond, actually sending someone to CVS to [...]

By |2026-08-04T07:58:03-04:00August 3rd, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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250 Viewing Party @ ofCorsica! Pier 57, NYC

While leading a "greet" for Big Apple Greeters, I stopped into ofCorsica! to show off the location at the end of Pier 57 to my visitors. If you're not familiar with Big Apple Greeters, we take visitors around New York City as if they were longtime friends, sharing stories, local tips and the true joys of living here. One of my guests was using a wheelchair, and since there are a few steps at the restaurant entrance, Katrina, the manager, noticed us and showed us to the small lift. I had met her on a previous greet, so we started chatting. That's when she told me about their upcoming Viewing [...]

By |2026-07-13T15:45:06-04:00August 1st, 2026|Big Apple Greeter, Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Les Dames d’Escoffier After (Fancy Food Show) Gathering, Highball Bar & Lounge at Tempo by Hilton Times Square

Each year after the Summer Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center, another Dame and I host a happy hour for visiting members of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, our global organization supporting women in food, wine and hospitality. This year’s gathering, hosted by Les Dames d’Escoffier New York (LDNY), took place at Tempo by Hilton in Times Square. The hotel provided complimentary platters of charcuterie, cheeses, meats and nuts along with hummus and fresh vegetables, alongside a cash bar. When Dames convene, conversation is lively and wide-ranging—equal parts reunion, networking and spirited exchange on the food world. It was, as always, a wonderful gathering. We’ve already started talking about next [...]

By |2026-07-06T21:44:31-04:00July 30th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Shaver Hall Opens in former Lord & Taylor, Midtown, NYC

Reluctantly, I accompanied my friend to the soft opening of Shaver Hall, a new food hall in the former Lord & Taylor flagship building on Fifth Avenue between 38th and 39th Streets. Named for Dorothy Shaver, the trailblazing president who helped transform Lord & Taylor into a cultural force, Shaver Hall marks the latest chapter in the adaptive reuse of the landmark 1914 building. The 35,000-square-foot, street-level food hall has seating for 1,400 and is home to a diverse collection of food vendors. From what I sampled during the event, here are the places I'd recommend trying. At the center of Shaver Hall is Layaway, an inviting bar serving refreshing [...]

By |2026-07-06T12:00:19-04:00July 26th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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French Birthday Celebration at Eulalie, Tribeca, NYC

Eulalie flies under the radar. Pronounced "Oo-la-lee," the restaurant has no social media presence and isn't on any reservation sites. It's all word of mouth. To book a table, you simply call. Tina Vaughn answers the phone herself and takes your reservation. That personal touch comes as no surprise. Vaughn received the prestigious 2024 Michelin Service Award in New York. I'd dined in this West Broadway space before when it was home to Drew Nieporent's Bâtard and, before that, Montrachet. Today, Vaughn and chef Chip Smith run the intimate, fewer-than-40-seat restaurant, where guests are encouraged to linger for as long as they'd like. We were celebrating a birthday and enjoyed [...]

By |2026-07-06T11:25:24-04:00July 24th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Afternoon Tea at Warren Street Bar & Restaurant, Tribeca, NYC

"'Afternoon tea' for your birthday?" one friend suggested. My last afternoon tea had been at The Veranda, at the Goring, in London during London's Les Dames d'Escoffier event, Edible London, last May. I hadn't had afternoon tea since then, and the memory alone was enough to make me smile. Warren Street Bar & Restaurant's execution, however, did not. Almost immediately, something about Warren Street Bar & Restaurant felt familiar. I looked around at the colors, fabrics and playful patterns. It reminded me of what Kit Kemp created at The Whitby Hotel. Then I spotted the striped No. 2 pencils sitting out for guests to take. Of course, we grabbed a [...]

By |2026-07-22T08:57:30-04:00July 22nd, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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A Return for a Birthday Celebration at Ci Siamo, Manhattan West, NY

My youngest was in town for my birthday, so we celebrated with dinner at Ci Siamo, Danny Meyer's restaurant at Manhattan West. We settled onto the second-floor terrace, sipped cocktails, and caught up on life. He chose an Old Forester Sour ($19); I went with the Calabrita ($19), their Italian take on a spicy Margarita. Next came my go-to: the decadent caramelized cipollini onion tart with its flaky crust, drizzled with balsamic and topped with gooey goat cheese fondue and Pecorino ($22). For our pasta course, we shared the delicate Stracci ($29), tossed with tender rabbit and finished with Parmigiano Reggiano. The sauce was so good that the hostess graciously [...]

By |2026-06-21T11:04:07-04:00July 20th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Altro Paradiso After “Move the Passion,” SoHo, NYC

The media invitation to Move the Passion sounded intriguing. The invitation promised a unique, immersive and progressive EU-funded wine-tasting experience with art and entertainment, featuring wines from 25 Italian wineries at three different locations. Not exactly. The event was open to the public and drew 5,400 attendees, but there wasn't nearly enough food, wine or seating. We left the third venue—crowds at a standstill, no food and no libations remaining—after overheating in the basement of the second venue, which also had no food. We would have stopped after the second venue, but we figured we might as well stay long enough to enter the drawing for a trip to Italy. [...]

By |2026-06-09T18:04:39-04:00July 14th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Other happenings|0 Comments
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Home Kitchen, UES, NYC + 250 Anniversary Tour of the Met

We selected Home Kitchen for our group to grab a bite after we toured the Met with historian Kevin Draper, as the options in the area are slim. What a find! Michael, the owner, set up a table for about 20 of us, where we enjoyed lunch together following our final event before our summer hiatus. The food is good, plentiful, and served with a smile. Many of the group tried the special soft-shell crab over mashed potatoes with fresh spinach ($39). Others had sandwiches, including the grilled chicken ($16) and BLT with slab bacon and avocado ($18), while some enjoyed the chili ($21) or one of the salads ($18–$26). [...]

By |2026-06-09T15:56:42-04:00July 12th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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The New Andrew Steak Society, East Village, NYC

The invitation promised seasonal cocktails, light bites and an elevated outdoor patio experience from 3 to 5 p.m. By the time we visited, however, the publicist had changed the start to 5 p.m. What we discovered upon arrival was something entirely different: no patio, no light bites and instead, Andrew's Steak Society, a new steakhouse specializing in dry-aged prime beef cooked over a red-hot oakwood flame in the dining room fireplace. The aging process og sy least 28 days enhanced the flavor and tenderness. We had a wonderful experience. Just two weeks after opening, with the restaurant still finding its rhythm,  the service and food were impressive from start to [...]

By |2026-06-06T16:30:00-04:00July 8th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Brunch at La Grande Boucherie NYC, Midtown, NYC + Every Brilliant Thing

Every Brilliant Thing, Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe's play about a person creating a list of everything wonderful in the world to help their mother cope with depression, is at the Hudson Theatre. It's a feel-good show that's not to be missed. Lucky for us, we saw it with Mariska Hargitay in her Broadway debut, as we all sat on stage as part of the audience. For those who aren't Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU) fans, she's been the star of the show since it premiered in 1999, more than 27 years ago. That makes her character, Detective-turned-Captain Olivia Benson, the longest-running character in an American primetime live-action [...]

By |2026-06-07T10:52:18-04:00July 2nd, 2026|Big Apple Life, City Bites, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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The Luncheon Sets at Jeong Yuk Jeom, Koreatown, NYC

Something’s new in Koreatown. Jeeong Yuk Jeom has introduced a new luncheon menu built around what they call “sets.” I was invited in to sample these reasonably priced combinations at Jeeong Yuk Jeom — generous spreads of food that could satisfy a lumberjack. My guest and I could barely make a dent in them. We were seated upstairs in the bi-level space, with a BBQ unit built into the table for tableside cooking. We laughed that it left absolutely no room for playing footsie under the table. We started with two unusual cocktails: the Spring JYJ, made with Ketel One and Chambord ($19), and the September Suntory Whiskey Ginger Highball [...]

By |2026-05-29T11:39:13-04:00June 28th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Birthday Celebration at the Authentic Lebanese Au Za’atar, UES, NYC

I was the first to arrive and spotted Nina, the hostess, setting the lone outdoor table. Naturally, I began yakking with her and requested that our group be seated there. She told me she was new to the business, and I complimented her on her welcoming warmth while sharing my favorite hospitality tome, Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, which champions giving guests more than they expect. As luck would have it, we did get that outdoor table for our 120-year birthday celebration — two Lebanese friends each turning 60. The celebrants took charge of the ordering, introducing the rest of us to some of their favorite dishes. Soon the table [...]

By |2026-06-21T08:13:31-04:00June 21st, 2026|Big Apple Life, City Bites, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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A Happy Hour Sampling at the New Mexican Calaveres Social, Upper East Side, NYC

A friend and I stopped by Calaveras Social to check out their covered patio for an upcoming Happy Hour. This new Mexican restaurant comes from a seasoned restaurateur with acclaimed spots (Calaveras and Calaveras Corner) We kicked things off with their spicy margaritas ($10), some creamy guacamole and housemade corn tortilla chips ($16). Next up was the queso fundido ($21), bubbling with melted cheese, topped with savory crumbled chorizo, and served with fresh, warm tortillas. We shared an order of three Birria Tacos ($21), generously filled with slow-cooked, tender brisket and topped with pickled onions. The tacos came with a rich beef consommé for dipping, making each bite exceptionally flavorful. [...]

By |2026-06-09T12:10:54-04:00June 17th, 2026|Big Apple Life, Happy Hours, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Souvlaki GR Midtown, Midtown, NYC + Death of a Salesman

Souvlaki GR Midtown was our stop for lunch and conversation before heading to Nathan Lane's tour de force in Death of a Salesman— a performance that got him a Tony nod.  Laurie Metcalf’s performance was equally compelling, earning her the Tony for Featured Actress in a play. For brunch, my dining partners each tried to finish their Horiatiki (Greek Salad) with diced tomatoes, red onions, crumbled feta, Kalamata olives and enough cucumbers for a couple more meals ($17) with lots of pita to also accompany the melitzanosalata (eggplant, $9.50). I went American-style because I was hungry, ordering their brunch burger topped with an over-easy egg, bacon, Cheddar and caramelized onions, [...]

By |2026-06-14T10:46:22-04:00June 14th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Jose Andres Mercado Little Spain, Hudson Yards, NYC + Big Apple Greeter

We kicked off our Greet outside the Whitney Museum and then strolled to the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway to start my visit. A "greet" is when a Big Apple Greeter (that’s me!) proudly takes visitors around the city as if they were longtime friends, sharing stories, local tips and the true joys of living in New York City. This time,  I welcomed a mom and one of her sons from the Midwest. We saw the beach, wandered the hills of Little Island, strolled through Pier 57 and ended at OfCorsica, the newest addition to their food offerings, which opened last fall. After walking the High Line to Hudson Yards, we [...]

By |2026-06-12T09:20:21-04:00June 12th, 2026|Big Apple Greeter, Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Amazing New Orleans Brunch at Maison Premier, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

I don’t usually rave about a restaurant, but after an amazing New Orleans–style brunch at Maison Premier, I have to. Aside from an odd greeting at the door — “I can’t find my iPad” — the experience was perfection straight through dessert. We were seated outside on one of those long-awaited days when dining al fresco finally felt possible again. Colin Glensora, the service director, introduced us to absinthe through storytelling, show-and-tell and, of course, libations. He first brought us inside to see the bar area, where a beautiful four-spouted absinthe dispenser sat prominently at the front bar. Rather than serving us there, however, Colin recreated the ritual tableside with [...]

By |2026-05-23T16:18:23-04:00June 10th, 2026|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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