NYC Restaurant Reviews

Our New York City restaurant reviews

Sala Thai, Upper West Side, NYC + Birthday Celebration

We all met at Sala Thai to celebrate my sister's birthday; I was also considering it for the Patron program for The Public. We shared everything. Not going to the Upper West often, I hadn't realized this was right next door to Mimi Cheng's, a women-owned dumpling house that's been on my radar. I'll have to return. Our apps included the veggie-filled cold summer rolls ($10 for 6); the chicken and potato-filled curry puffs ($12 for 4), grilled skewers of marinated chicken in a peanut sauce served with grilled brioche ($12 for four skewers) and my favorite, their Pla Muk Tod, crispy coconut fried calamari ($12) with a roasted bell pepper-peanut vinaigrette [...]

By |2021-11-21T08:46:15-05:00November 21st, 2021|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Hard Rock Cafe’s “Pinktober” Raised $70K

In October, Hard Rock Cafe had their 22nd annual PINKTOBER campaign that raised over $70,000 for their charitable partners at the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the Carol Keating Foundation. Last month at participating cafes nationwide and in Europe, Hard Rock donated $1 every time they sold one of their limited-time burgers — the Mushroom & Bourbon Onion Burger, The Ultimate “Pub” Burger or their Blue Cheese & Bacon Burger – or the limited-edition merchandise, other foods and beverages. Those burgers — one I sampled at the Hard Rock Times Square event celebrating the giving of the check — will be added to their permanent menu in January 2022. We [...]

By |2021-11-21T08:44:55-05:00November 19th, 2021|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Michelin-starred Rezdôra, Birthday Celebration, Gramercy-Flatiron, NYC

To get a reservation for my friend's birthday, I found out how far in advance Rezdôra booked on Resy then grabbed the date I wanted and walked over to the restaurant to ask for the time we preferred. It was worth the effort. If you're not familiar, Rezdôra is Stefano Secchi’s Italian restaurant with one star from Michelin, three stars from Pete Wells (New York Times). We opted for their regional 5-course pasta tasting ($95 each) along with the wine pairings ($55 each). To start the celebration, we each sipped a refreshing Aperol Spritzer ($15) while nibbling the amuse-bouche of mini-cannoli filled with Swiss chard and Parmigiana cheese sprinkled with [...]

By |2025-03-04T10:38:45-05:00November 16th, 2021|NYC Restaurant Reviews|1 Comment
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Return to Jones Wood Foundry Post-COVID, Upper East Side, NYC

Three Upper East Side friends and I met at the classic British food-driven pub, Jones Wood Foundry, on 76th just off First Avenue. When there in the past, I had always indulged in both their irresistible humongous Yorkshire pudding plus the creamy chicken and foie gras parfait. Sadly the large hollow popovers are only available on weekends! We four started by sharing the parfait, which amazingly costs $2 less than it did PreCovid! The pate comes with two slices of toasted brioche halved, grape chutney and cornichons ($15) that was perfect for the four of us. It was good; just not as good as in the past. I sipped a [...]

By |2021-11-23T08:27:04-05:00November 9th, 2021|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Fellow Dame Surbhi’s Restaurant Opening: Tagmo, South Street Seaport, NYC

My friend and fellow Dame, a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier, Surbhi Sahni recently opened her first solo restaurant Tagmo in South Street Seaport. At Tagmo, she serves a variety of her favorite homestyle dishes from India. By the time this posts, the small shop in the front of the restaurant will be selling her sweets, South Asian cookbooks, chai and spices. Surbhi's no stranger to NY Indian fine dining; she worked at Michelin-starred Devi and Tulsi. She also was the Creative Director of Saar Indian Bistro. One friend started with their Roohafza Spritz ($8), a blend of Campari, prosecco, Indian botanical syrup and lime. The others shared a bottle [...]

By |2021-11-12T11:30:52-05:00November 4th, 2021|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Rambling|0 Comments
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Return to Riverpark, Kips Bay, NYC

It's back. Riverpark, one of Tom Colicchio's restaurants, is now open Monday through Friday from 4 pm - 9 pm for what they call light bites and a bar menu. If you haven't been, this modern American restaurant using seasonal ingredients is located on a garden plaza at the east end of 29th Street with views of the East River. While sipping the Domaine Anne Gros & Jean-Paul Tollot La Cinso Cinsault, 2016, ($68), we shared the fritto misto ($16). It included crispy calamari, shrimp, cod, zucchini strips and mushrooms with a spicy green sauce. The dish was so plentiful that we could have stopped there. We didn't. My dining [...]

By |2021-11-04T13:11:14-04:00November 1st, 2021|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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VisaVersa, Hell’s Kitchen, NYC + Letters of Surresh

Before heading to our matinee at the Tony Kiser theatre, we stopped at VisaVersa on 51st for brunch. We loved that we could order one of three cocktails — a mimosa, bellini or bloody Mary — and get refills for 2 hours for $20. I had a bloody Mary, my friend the mimosa. Our attentive waiter also placed their housemade focaccia and sliced Italian bread with softened butter on the table after serving our drinks. I ordered their poached eggs atop a crab cake ($22) with the hollandaise on the side. That platter came with lemony dressed fresh arugula. Those same greens were the base for my friend's grilled chicken [...]

By |2021-11-04T13:13:17-04:00October 30th, 2021|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Rambling|2 Comments
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Boqueria West 40th, Midtown, NYC + Spectacular Costumes

We headed to the immersive pop-up "Spectacular Costumes From Stage and Screen" exhibit in Times Square featuring more than 100 of the industry’s most beautiful and complex garments. This exhibition offered close-up looks at Hamilton, The Lion King, The Marvelous Mrs. Mazel, Moulin Rouge and more. The proceeds from this exhibition raised money for the Costume Industry Coalition Recovery Fund, an alliance of over 50 NYC-based independent artisans and small businesses.  If you missed it, keep an eye out for next year's opening of the Museum of Broadway. After the exhibition, we walked a couple of blocks south for lunch at Boqueria for some Spanish fare. We sipped their Sangría [...]

By |2021-11-04T13:15:41-04:00October 27th, 2021|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Other happenings|0 Comments
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A Special App at Rosa Mexicano, Gramercy-Flatiron, NYC

A local friend asked me to join her for dinner at one of her favorite haunts in our hood, Rosa Mexicano on 18th Street. From the dishes we ate at that meal, only the Tacos de Jefe Ceviche tacos are worth discussing. We cherry-picked that dish from their special "Tour de Mexico" monthly menu, one highlighting their chefs' seasonal favorites. The crispy corn tacos ($11 for 3) came filled with whitefish cubes, sweet potato chunks, aji Amarillo peppers, diced bacon and pickled red onions. Not a raw seafood eater yet an official taster I took a small bite: flavor nice, texture not so — at least for me. One small [...]

By |2021-10-29T11:34:06-04:00October 25th, 2021|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Rambling|0 Comments
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A Return to Cafe Fiorello, Lincoln Square, NYC

I'd been to Cafe Fiorello before. I wondered if the antipasto (5 selections for $27.75) would be as yummy and whether they'd offer their freshly baked cookies. During my past visits, the manager walked around the restaurant carrying a cookie sheet filled with just-baked goodies straight from the oven to offer gratis to patrons. We started with cocktails. My friend asked for a Hugo ($17), a new refreshing drink combining prosecco, sparkling water, Elderflower liqueur and lots of fresh mint and I tried their Old Fashion ($19). Both drinks were good. We ordered our antipasto: cauliflower Milanese, broccoli rabe with garlic and olive oil, cumin-scented heirloom carrots, eggplant caponata and [...]

By |2021-09-18T08:11:53-04:00October 21st, 2021|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Zia Maria, Chelsea, NYC + The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

"The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain" recounts the story of an African American veteran killed during a conflict with White Plains police officers who were sent to check on him when he accidentally set off his medical alert device. I recommend this hard-to-watch movie. It won the audience and the critics' awards when it premiered at the Austin film festival in 2019; it just opened in theaters. Faison's haunting performance of Kenneth Chamberlain deserves an Oscar nod. With the buzz it's creating, the White Plains District Attorney is reviewing the case. After the screening and talkback with actor Frankie Faison and actor-producer Enrico Natale, we headed across the street to Zia Maria [...]

By |2021-10-29T11:34:18-04:00October 19th, 2021|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Other happenings|0 Comments
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Another Location of Bice Cucina, SoHo, New York City

I was looking forward to sampling the Italian fare at the new Soho location of Bice Cucina. This restaurant originated in 1926 when Beatrice Ruggeri, known as Bice, opened a restaurant in Milan. Now her children and grandchildren run her restaurants around the world, including two in New York City. Bice Cucina SoHo is owned by Beatrice’s grandson, Raffaele Ruggeri, and his long-time friend, Peter Guimaraes. We met Raffaele when we dined. My friend started with a pinarita ($18) made with tequila and pineapple juice, I sampled the Bice Old Fashion ($17) made with Angel's Envy, brown sugar, bitters and soda ($17), garnished with a dried orange slice. I'd crown [...]

By |2021-10-23T11:13:14-04:00October 17th, 2021|NYC Restaurant Reviews|3 Comments
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L’Adresse, Midtown near Bryant Park, NYC

A friend who moved to Florida during the pandemic was in town. We met midtown at L'Adresse, an American Bistro serving seasonal fare located by Bryant Park. We settled in at an outside table as the weather was balmy. As our attentive waiter placed my L'Addresse Old Fashion ($16) on the table, he also served us two thick slices of black bread and soft butter. So delicious that we figured what followed would be tasty. We were right. In the mood for eggs, I ordered their shakshuka with the eggs baked in a spicy tomato sauce along with spinach and feta. Large slices of Italian bread accompanied the baked dish [...]

By |2021-10-23T11:15:51-04:00October 15th, 2021|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Pool Bar: The Rockaway Hotel, Rockaway, Queens

A trip to Rockaway Beach via the ferry had been on our radar all summer. We made a res at the Rooftop of the new Rockaway Hotel midafternoon, as we thought we'd have something to eat after a day at the beach. The weather didn't cooperate so we headed to lunch early, ending up at the Pool Bar, as the Rooftop doesn't open until 2. We all were in the mood for a lobster roll. That seafood mixed with mayo and lemon stuffed in a brioche roll hit the spot. New York City is really a small town. Seriously. We ran into my friend and cookbook author Rozanne Gold, who [...]

By |2024-07-21T11:12:55-04:00October 11th, 2021|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Rambling, Rooftop|0 Comments
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Altesi Downtown, SoHo, NYC

After helping my friend out at her SoHo apartment, we headed down the street to Altesi Downtown for an early — delicious — dinner. We started with their Indivia e Pera salad of julienne of endive, pear batons, gorgonzola chunks and orange supreme ($15) plus their wood-oven pizza al diavoletto with tomato, mozzarella and spicy sausage ($20). That could have been enough for me, but we kept going. I was glad I did as the ravioli filled with porcini mushroom in black truffle puree ($23) is worth the visit as is the sauteed branzini (also known as Mediterranean sea bass) with leeks, shiitake mushrooms and blood oranges ($36). We stopped back [...]

By |2021-10-14T10:45:59-04:00October 7th, 2021|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Dinner at Mark’s Off Madison, Gramercy-Flatiron, NYC

I had heard the Chef Mark Strausman, formerly of Freds at Barneys New York and Campagna, had opened a place in my hood on 26th Street serving a variety of foods including some of the traditional Jewish foods of his upbringing in New York City along. As of this writing, the restaurant is open Wednesday through Friday for dinner from 5 to 10 pm, Saturday serving brunch and selling bagels from 10:30 am to 10 pm and Sunday only until 5 pm. Their "Bagel Take-Out Counter" opens at 9 am on weekends**. Coffee is also served. I met a friend there for dinner recently and plan to head over one [...]

By |2021-10-06T07:55:35-04:00October 5th, 2021|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Dinner with Dames at Veranda, Soho, NYC

When a Dame friend visited from Chicago, we decided to support Veranda, another Dames' restaurant, with chef George Mendes formerly of the now-closed Aldea. With George at the helm, we knew to expect some Portuguese touches. Dames, by the way, are members of Les Dames d'Escoffier, a philanthropic organization of women leaders in the fields of food, beverage and hospitality. The narrow restaurant is on the second floor just above Grand Street in SoHo. It's designed in a greenhouse fashion with a retractable ceiling. I started with their unusual and nicely flavored margarita made with reposado tequila, muddled charred shishito peppers, wasabi syrup & togarashi salt garnished attractively with a [...]

By |2021-10-11T16:23:33-04:00October 3rd, 2021|NYC Restaurant Reviews|1 Comment
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Lunch with UES Friends at Due, Upper East Side, NYC

I met some friends at Due, a classic Italian trattoria on the Upper East Side for lunch recently. We sat outside at a white-tablecloth-covered table in their spacious structure. I followed the lead of my friend, as this is one of his haunts, figuring he'd know what was good. He was right. The veal in my piccata — (Scaloppine di Vitello Picatta $31) was pounded thinly enough so all it needed was a quick sauté in lemon, white wine and capers. I washed mine down with a glass of their house Montepulciano ($17).  In addition, I enjoyed their broccoli sautéed with lots of whole garlic cloves ($11). My other friend [...]

By |2021-10-31T09:33:47-04:00October 1st, 2021|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Rambling|0 Comments
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Lunch with Friends at Seamore’s, Chelsea, NYC

Met some friends at the corner of 18th and Eighth Avenue at Seamore's for lunch recently. We started outside in their covered area until the sun came out and we felt like we were baking in a sauna. We happily moved into the air-conditioned restaurant after we showed our proof of vaccination. One friend ordered their East Coast oysters (6 for $18) mignonette with a side of their cauliflower rice tabouli ($8), another had their kale and avocado salad with sweet potatoes and the daily catch ($22). I sampled their "reel deal" of simply grilled fish over sumac carrots + pickled mustard seeds, cauliflower rice tabouli and ginger-garlic spinach. I [...]

By |2021-10-07T06:53:22-04:00September 27th, 2021|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Return to Boucherie, Flatiron-Gramercy, NYC

Funny that we chose Boucherie on Park Avenue and 18th as that was the first place we met when the restaurants opened in NYC and my friend felt safe enough to venture out. We veered from our usual burger and fries to more traditional French foods. Their tender octopus came garnished with crispy Bayonne ham on a bed of flavorful white beans in a Basque piperade sauce. With that, we sipped their Cabernet Franc, Domaine P. Buisse, Chinon Loire  Cabernet Franc 2017 ($15/$60) Having ham with our octopus, I didn't miss it in their mushroom Croque version, topped with grated gruyere then baked. The Champignon Croques —  neither Madame (topped [...]

By |2021-09-24T08:13:34-04:00September 24th, 2021|NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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