Food & Drink
New York Pizza Joints
Like yellow taxis, pinstripes and bagels with shmeer, pizza is a very New York thing. It’s an Italian import, of course, and other American cities have their own takes, but the classi... Read More »
Bars for an Internet Date
Online dating has come a long way since piña coladas and getting caught in the rain. Now approaching de rigueur status in N.Y.C., the process comes with its own piques and pratfalls. T... Read More »
Burgers for Regular Joes
As simple pleasures go, charred beef bookended by a fresh bun will always be right up there with sunny days in Central Park and snagging a seat on the morning F train. Not that New York... Read More »
Midnight Meals
It’s not that New York never sleeps, we just keep erratic hours. We work hard, play late and eat later. Fortunately, for night owls after more than pub grub or a sandwich from the cor... Read More »
Wine Bars
Cabernet franc with notes of tobacco. Citric Portuguese vinho verde. Sardinian Sibiola rosé. Wine bars—and lots of them—are adding a suave layer to New Yorkers' drinking h... Read More »
See all Observer Top 10 Food and Drink Lists >>
Bar of the Week(end): Brandy Library
Top 10 Bars for Sampling New York's Cocktail Renaissance, #6
When Hemingway wrote about a man needing “a clean, well-lighted place” for drinking, he probably didn’t have a spot as plush as Tribeca’s Brandy Library in mind, but this spacious lounge is bright antidote to the typical low-lit drinking den. Table lamps provide a warm glow off a reflective ceiling, as top-shelf bottles dazzle like objets d’art inside impeccable wooden shelves. One thing is sure: this is the sexiest reading room you’ll ever come to. A heavily male clientele characteristic of the Financial District comes to unwind and nose into the classics—the kind that come in cocktail glasses, that is. Papa Hemmingway would have found plenty to like among the lengthy selection of small plates and cocktails. Well-read bartenders steer drinkers to the bar’s specialties, classic brandy-based drinks like a Sidecar or a Brandy Alexander. More nouveau palates can sample original fare like the Peanut Butter Cup, a confection of cream and liquor served with a shortbread finger. Sure, there are plenty of places in N.Y.C. to brush up on the cocktail canon, but few write the book as well as Brandy Library.
25 N. Moore St. (at Varick St.); 212-226-5545; brandylibrary.com
Restaurant of the Week(end): Zaitzeff
Top 10 Burgers for Regular Joes, #3
Zaitzeff goes about as far out on the low-pretense burger limb as possible without toppling into haute. The restaurant is classy and minimal, black chairs against white walls. Wine and Champagne fill the shelves above a long wooden bar. Candles are lit for dinner service. A jazz soundtrack plays when reggae, oldies or electronica aren’t mixed in. Two beef burger offerings are the main draw, organic Kobe and sirloin in quarter- and half-pound iterations, with a heartiness that dispels any flirtation with preciousness. The Kobe is the more refined, with a super-smooth patty, although its flavor doesn’t stray too far ahead of the regular sirloin, which has ample character of its own. Coarse-cut fried onions and a Portuguese muffin add hints of sweetness, in counterpoint to the savory meat. For additional richness, avocado and a creamy white cheddar are available as toppings. Ingredients are fresh and the dill dusting the salads aside the burgers adds even more brightness to the flavors. The Idaho fries are solid, hand-cut and cooked in an iron skillet, but eclipsed by a sweet potato alternative. Lighter bites form the menu’s balance, with seven salads and tuna and chicken sandwiches. As a final check-in with humility, breakfast is served all day.
18 Ave. B (near 2nd St.); 212-477-7137; zaitzeffnyc.com
Battered Manhattan Sinks into Pillows of Gnocchi
On my way into Allegretti the other night, I passed a young woman who was shouting into her cell phone. “Everyone I know in New York is, like, on suicide watch!” But the financial meltdown hadn’t made much of a dent in the number of customers dining at the new French restaurant, just west of the Flatiron district. Many of them looked as though they had come here for the occasion (I counted six men in striped shirts), and appeared undeterred by the prices ($38 for halibut, $36 for veal steak). They seemed right at home.
And why not? The small dining room, with its teak blue bar, navy banquettes, low ceiling and white-paneled walls, feels like the inside of a yacht. read more »
Restaurant of the Week(end): Hi-Life Bar & Grill
Like something out of a John Waters flick, Hi-Life’s kitschy Americana-inspired décor is matched only by its zany menu. Flooding this retro-fab décor are gaggles of girlfriends, laid-back daters, and carefully scruffy Upper West Siders looking for quirky takes on steaks, chops, and sushi. Past a large aquarium at the front entrance, less lively piscine pleasures are proffered from an Airstream-chic, aluminum-paneled raw bar. But not everything is peculiar: Juicy 8 oz. burgers come piled high with American standard bacon, cheese, and fries. The entrée offerings detour into pad Thai and sashimi salad territory, but also reward late-night appetites with hearty bar-and-grill classics like crab cakes, Cobb salad, and grilled salmon. read more »
Bar of the Week(end): Xicala
At Xicala, a Nolita tapas bar a hair smaller than the average Manhattan living room, sangria isn't just an afterthought. It's the specialty. Preparation is careful—not ladled from a sludgy jug of leftover table wine and fermenting fruit. Wine is studded with fresh strawberries, which add in a layer of sweet and tart flavors. The signature drink is echoed in the bar's deep red walls, the color field brightened by glittering mirrors and glass tiles. A handful of rough-hewn wooden tables and benches anchor the cozy, rustic vibe. On warmer nights, French doors open wide onto sidewalk tables, where couples and nabe professionals nosh on Spanish small plates like fat marinated olives, salty slivers of prosciutto and tender chicken meatballs. read more »
Single Person's Movie: The Player
It's 2 AM and you awake with a jerk, alone in your fully-lit apartment and still on the couch. On TV, the credits of some movie you've already seen a billion times are scrolling by. It feels like rock bottom. And we know, because we're just like you: single.
Need a movie to keep you company until you literally can't keep your eyes open? Join us tonight when we pass out to The Player [starting @ 11 p.m. on IFC]
Why we'll try to stay up and watch it: Every single time we see The Player, we are reminded at how amazingly good it is. read more »
Bar of the Week(end): Huckleberry Bar
Top 10 Bars for Sampling NYC's Cocktail Renaissance, #10
Tuck yourself into the Huckleberry Bar and you might feel the Manhattanization of Williamsburg is complete. The space is well-designed, with plenty of low-lit booths perfect for unwinding, both indoors and out. A carefully considered menu pays heed to the neighborhood's changing demographic-where there's a local void for grown-up drinks and gourmet nibbles, Huckleberry aims to fill it. Although plenty of classic gimlets and Gibson-type drinks make the menu, the list of "seasonal cocktails" finds inspiration in unconventional ingredients. The Grass of Fanfir is comprised of gin, tarragon, and blood orange juice, while the Tina Modotti adds spiced pear syrup and dash of chili salt to mescal and tequila. read more »
Restaurant of the Week(end): The Grocery
Top 10 Greenmarket Restaurants, #2
With The Grocery’s debut in 1999, Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens—once the land of lawn chairs and “social clubs”—had its culinary coming out party. Chef-owners Sharon Pachter and Charles Kiely, late of Savoy, brought a Manhattan finesse to then-barren Smith Street, and enterprising foodies braved the F train for slow-rendered duck breast. Despite the neighborhood’s sea change during the intervening years, this shoebox-size 30-seater has managed to stay true to its vision of dressed-to-impress farm fare. The menu may be as trim as the moss-colored space—only 12 items are offered—but the ambition is evident in dishes that refuse to settle for bare-bones simplicity. read more »
Travertine Breaks 'Curse' at 19 Kenmare Street
"I think we've broken the curse," said Dustin Cappelletto, co-owner of the forthcoming Travertine restaurant at 19 Kenmare Street, after a divided Community Board 2 narrowly voted 17 to 14 to support the eatery's liquor license during a contentious meeting on Thursday night.
"It's a dream come true," added his teary sister and partner, Danae Cappelletto, who hoped to open the two-level, 2,800-square-foot Mediterranean restaurant in January.
The Cappellettos are the fourth proposed operators to take a crack at the embattled former site of Little Charlie's Clam House.
Hollywood impresario Ivan Kane had initially intended to open an East Coast version of his Forty Deuce burlesque club in the space more than a year ago, before read more »
Bar of the Week(end): The Monday Room
Tucked among Nolita’s fashion-forward boutiques, this chic jewel box is where you go to try on a few fine wines. An annex of next-door Australian-ish restaurant Public, The Monday Room's offerings are esoteric and worldly, served in every imaginable size from the half-glass pour to the full bottle. The endearingly threadbare décor—raveling rugs, hand-detailed gold stencils climbing the high black walls—complements the effortlessly styled shop girls lounging on low leather couches, sampling regional whites from Greece. Opportunities for unusual geographic mash-ups abound: Perhaps Moroccan Syrah followed by a New Zealand Pinot Noir, topped off with a Lebanese Chateau Musar? Arranged by price, customized pairings and flights ease the anxiety of choosing among the sixty-some options. read more »
