Eleven Madison Park
“Ran by my good friend Daniel Humm (winner of this year’s World’s Best Restaurant award), Eleven Madison Park is an upscale restaurant in Manhattan and the cuisine is out of this world. Everything about this restaurant is special — the food, the service, the setting, the wine. It all comes together to create one of the most memorable dining experiences, not just in New York, but in the world.”
Through 9 June, 2017, Eleven Madison Park is serving an 11-course retrospective tasting menu, highlighting some of the restaurant’s most significant dishes in its 11-year history. The tasting menu costs $295 per person, excluding drinks and tax.
Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare
“This is another of New York’s extraordinary restaurants. Located in Brooklyn Heights — a picturesque neighbourhood full of tall brownstone townhouses — this three-star restaurant is headed up by the genius that is Cesar Ramirez. The restaurant is set around a chef’s table (hence the name!) and offers a communal dining-style with an intimate ambiance. The food is outstanding — seasonal dishes, made up of largely shellfish and seafood, that are shaped by Japanese cuisine and French techniques. Is there anything better?”
The tasting menu at the Chef’s Table costs $330 per person, including tax, excluding drinks. Brooklynfare.com
Le Coucou
“This classic French restaurant, by chef Daniel Rose and restaurateur Stephen Starr, is in the heart of Soho. The idea is quite simple: seasonal, fresh ingredients, cooked well. Although Rose is American, this is actually his first US restaurant, with his other establishments located in France, where he’s spent most of his professional culinary life. Dishes are perfect — warm oysters, veal terrine, sweetbreads, and lobster tail — and the Dover sole with grapes, champignons is divine. Extravagant comfort food at its very best!”
Dishes are priced individually, and range from $12 for hors d’oeuvres to $52 for a poisson et viandes dish. Lecoucou.com
Pasquale Jones
“Another Soho restaurant, this small wood-fired joint only accepts a small number of reservations (there’s no point looking for a phone number for reservations, either — there isn’t one.), so you may find there’s a short wait for a table. But it’s worth it! The menu is varied and the wood-oven dishes, such as the black sea bass and green asparagus, are among my favourite. If you’re a fan of pork, try the pork shank for two. It’s served with lardo, fennel & black pepper, and it’s utterly delicious.”
Roberta’s
“Its Google pin says it all: ‘Hipster Italian dining plus takeout.’ Roberta’s is in Williamsburg, in Brooklyn, naturally, and does some of the finest pizza in the city — and there’s a lot of excellent pizza in this city! I’d also recommend diving into the wood-fired vegetable dishes, accompanied by a pasta dish (or two!). Pizzas are seasoned to perfection and Roberta’s Famous Original remains one of my go-to dishes when in Brooklyn.”
Pizzas from $12. Robertaspizza.com
Bars
Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grog
“Dead Rabbit has become somewhat of a New York institution since opening in 2012, by Irish lads Jack McGarry and Sean Muldoon, and often tops the World’s Best Bar list. Inside, the space is divided into The Tap Room, which is more traditional pub, and The Parlor, which focuses on cocktails. It’s a modern interpretation of an Irish bar — full of warmth and conversation, with a vast array of liquor stacked up behind the bar.
If you’re a whiskey fan, there’s an excellent Irish variety, but the cocktails are the stars. The flavour combinations are stunning and presentation is pared back, in an elegant and classic style.”
Cocktails all priced at $16. Deadrabbitnyc.com/
Nomad Bar
“This is one of my favourite Midtown spots for a good, classic cocktail or a glass of wine. It’s intimate, stylish and embodies everything that a fashionable New York bar should be. Its drinks are also overseen by bar director Leo Robitschek, who happens to know a thing or two about cocktails! Even the ‘soft cocktails’, the menu’s non-alcoholic cocktails, are fun and creative, such as the Peter Piper — which includes pineapple, black pepper, pickled passion fruit and lime — while The Gentlemen’s Exchange — featuring rye whiskey, Suze, Foro Amaro liqueur, Vermouth di Torino, cold brew coffee, absinthe and angostura bitters — has more of a kick to it, for when you’re in the mood for something stronger!”
Soft cocktails from $10; aperitifs from $17. Thenomadhotel.com
Sunday in Brooklyn
“You guessed it, this spot is best enjoyed on Sundays. Preferably over breakfast or brunch and with a Sunday, Bloody Sunday — the bar’s interpretation of a Bloody Mary — in hand. It contains Mezcal, their house ‘Bloody Mix,’ and Sambal hot sauce. There’s also a Sundae Coffee — featuring cold-brewed coffee, aged rum, allspice dram and vanilla cream — which is a tasty alterative for the sweet-toothed!”
Sunday morning pick-me-ups from $11. Sundayinbrooklyn.com
McSorley’s Old Ale House
“It’s as much about the history as the drinks, here. Now in its 163rd year, it’s said that everyone from Abraham Lincoln to John Lennon has drank in this East Village spot. Even during prohibition period, the ale flowed freely! And there’s only one type of drink on offer: Ale, of course!