Payard's
My father has a way of making everything unforgettable. He’s loud, temperamental, incredibly passionate, and a romantic to the core. So it seemed completely natural to me when he took me to Paris for...
View ArticleCarmines NYC
My new best friend, Laraine Newman, recently took me to Carmines here in Los Angeles, an old school Italian joint that was once the stomping grounds of the Rat pack. From what I heard, there was quite...
View ArticlePrune, My Kinda Retro
The East Village is, was and always will be my hood in the big apple. Sure, I now stay on the Upper West Side and much to the dismay of my husband, I gravitate downtown. He will often say “downtown...
View ArticleCzeching In
“I just need to get out of the apartment.” I whined to my friend Blaine on the phone. “It’s raining.” He replied. I looked out the window. It was just drizzling. “I don’t care. I need to do...
View ArticlePizza by Certe
Would you eat there On a lunch break? Would you eat there For the earth’s sake? I would surely eat there on a lunch break I would surely eat there for the earth’s sake. How could you resist—green walls...
View ArticleCasa Mono
I have yet to go on a date in New York without breaking into a mental sweat. When scouting for potential mates, I have learned pretentious is better than shallow, irritatingly intelligent better than...
View ArticleAntojéria La Popular: Mexican Street Food Debuts in Soho
Nestled under a nail salon, down just a few stairs, there lives an outpost of delicate seafood, with a touch of unexpected spice. The thing most people will have heard of from Chef Andres Figueroa’s...
View ArticleRestaurant Prune
Did I read Gabrielle Hamilton’s Blood, Bones, and Butter? Yes. Is it why we went for dinner at Prune? Yes. Am I glad we did? Absolutely! Our taxis slowed down on a narrow street in NYC’s East Village...
View ArticleBalthazar
I have always wanted to eat at Balthazar. After many years of fruitlessly trying to go to Balthazar, I finally succeeded. Maybe it was the way the restaurant teased me over these past few years that I...
View ArticleBirreria at Eataly
We finally got up on the roof at Eataly for a German-Italian- American-style lunch at Birreria. Like most things at Eataly it did not disappoint. Birreria is a stunner — a wide open rooftop with views...
View ArticlePainting the Town Red
I’m obsessed. There’s no way of getting around it. I’m a walking Jackie Mason routine. At lunch, no before lunch, I’m deciding where we will go for dinner. At dinner, I’m wondering if the dessert menu...
View ArticleMomofuko in the Wasteland
The Upper West Side just joined the world. Move over East Village; now us UWS Jews can sneak out of synagogue on the High Holy Days and chow down on steamed pork buns without leaving our own...
View ArticleReuben, Reuben, I've Been Thinking
“Have you ever been to Eisenberg’s?” This question from my daughter, Alison. “Shannon and I went after the gym the other day,” she says. “Best Reuben I’ve had in a long time. You should check it out.”...
View ArticleThe Best Pork Dish in America
That’s a loaded statement so let me describe the dish before we go any further. It’s a pot of clam chowder — with a light cream base — with succulent, dinner-sized hunks of pork, rosy-pink and tender...
View ArticleCode Ko
I was lucky enough to snag a seat at the hallowed (and reservation demented) Momofuku Ko in New York in early October because someone had (oh my god!) cancelled and I was quick enough to grab the...
View ArticleAn Artful Dinner at The Modern in NYC
Working on an article for Bespoke Magazine about multi-course upscale dining, I interviewed Chef Gabriel Kreuther at MoMA's The Modern. We talked on the phone for half an hour during which time he told...
View ArticleKampuchea
Alex and I have been dating for almost four months now. We have shared several meals and conversations together beyond Casa Mono. As our relationship has settled into a ‘monogamous’ place, we have...
View ArticleBlue Hill
A friend of mine says that all the restaurants in New York City are good. Her belief is that is that with so many options, only quality survives. I’m not one to put her theory to the test as I have...
View ArticleNathan's
My dad was a two job guy. We lived in a representative, working class neighborhood in Brooklyn, which was to me, the paradise of the world. Representative I learned years later meant not just Jewish...
View ArticleKajitsu
To celebrate my vegan’s birthday, I called Kajitsu on 9th street in the East Village and made reservations. Actually, I had serious reservations. Kajitsu is Shojin cuisine, which means we’d be eating...
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