Txikito, NYC

Txikito features Spanish Basque cuisine. Linda and I went for dinner on March 11, 2024.

Alice, NYC

Alice opened two years ago in the West Village. Jim joined Linda and me there for dinner on January 6, 2023. We had a table at the end of the narrow front dining room with a view back to the front door.

Our table may have been the only one with enough light to take photos. The other diners were a lot younger than we are.

Shuko, NYC 2

Although we had enjoyed Shuko in 2015, I had not been back until Blair and I went for dinner on September 2, 2022.

Ilili, NYC

Ilili was founded fifteen years ago by a family of third generation restauranteurs from Beirut.  But we had never been until Linda and I met Tom and Kathy there for dinner on February 24, 2022. It is a large restaurant, seating up to 200 diners. It seemed to be full when we arrived and when we departed. The noise level was deafening.

Craft, NYC

Tom Colicchio co-founded Gramercy Tavern with Danny Meyer in 1994 and was its executive chef. In 2001 he started Craft, which is still his flagship of several restaurants.  Amanda and Kent joined Linda and me there for dinner on September 11, 2021.

Les Trois Chevaux, NYC

 Les Trois Chevaux opened in July 2021. Linda and I went for dinner on August 18, 2021. Its website says:

“Named for her family name, Les Trois Chevaux is owned by acclaimed chef and proprietor, Angie Mar. In Chinese, ‘Mar’ represents the noble steed. When they were young, she and her two brothers were nicknamed by their beloved father and uncles “The Three Horses”.”

Sarashina Horii, NYC

Sarashina Horii was established in 1789 in Tokyo. Its soba making tradition stretches back over 230 years to a small shop in Tokyo, where it now has three restaurants. The New York restaurant, opened in July 2021, is the first outside Japan. Linda and I went for dinner on August 8, 2021.

Joomak Banjum, NYC

Joomak Banjum, which means “tavern” and “Chinese restaurant” in Korean, opened in June 2021. Its website says its cuisine is a Korean-Chinese fusion executed with French technique and expressed through New York culture. Kristin joined Linda and me there for dinner on August 4, 2021.

Gramercy Tavern, NYC 8

On August 19, 2020, we ordered a meal for delivery to our apartment from Gramercy Tavern, which has been a stalwart fixture of the New York dining scene for twenty-five years and one of our favorites. 

Gotham Bar & Grill, NYC 3

Alfred Portale was synonymous with Gotham Bar and Grill as its chef since the 1984 opening until his surprising  recent departure. Victoria Blamey was been hired to update the menu, which had hardly changed for thirty years. (That was okay with many diners, including me.) So we were curious when Maggie, Becky and Chuck joined Linda and me for dinner there on February 29, 2020, to celebrate the end of Becky’s birthday week.

Bouley at Home, NYC

We have enjoyed going to David Bouley’s restaurants for many years. He has been in several different lower Manhattan locations over that time. Our last experience was a spectacular event at Bouley’s Test Kitchen for my big 75^th Birthday Party. But that building was demolished and he closed his nearby restaurant, Bouley. He reopened on West 21^st Street, but we did not get back until February 25, 2020, when Linda and I went for lunch.

Hyun, NYC

Hyun opened in April 2019. It features Korean cuisine, but its star attraction is “barbecue” of Japanese A5 Wagyu beef. Hyun imports whole carcasses and does the butchcring, so there are different cuts available at different times and for different uses. Linda and I went for dinner on January 28, 2020. 

Gramercy Tavern, NYC 7

On November 30, 2019, Russell joined Linda and me when we returned to Gramercy Tavern for dinner. We had a nice table in the far back, where it is a little quieter. We started with glasses of  Vincent Couche, Elégance, Brut Champagne. We chose the “Seasonal” Tasting Menu.

Casa Mono, NYC

Casa Mono, opened in 2003, is part of Joe and Lidia Bastianich’s B&B Hospitality Group, which includes Del Posto and Babbo. It has a Michelin star.  Linda and I went for dinner on November 26, 2019.

o d o, NYC

Executive Chef Hiroki Odo, a veteran of Kajitsu, the acclaimed NYC shojin ryori zen vegetarian restaurant, opened o d o in December 2018, west of the Flatiron Building. It is entered through a door hidden in the back of a compact bar named Hall. Chef Odo reasons that, since kaiseki tradition calls for freshness and seasonality of ingredients, it is more logical to use local produce, rather than the Japanese imports generally used in New York kaiseki restaurants. Linda and I went for dinner on September 4, 2019.

TAK Room, NYC

TAK Room opened last spring in the new Hudson Yards complex. Its website says it serves “Continental cuisine in an atmosphere of throwback style and glamour. A place where we pay tribute to the restaurants of a bygone era.” TAK stands for its celebrity chef, Thomas Aloysius Keller, who has many restaurants, including 25-year-old The French Laundry in Napa Valley and Per Se in NYC, which have received a lot of acclaim. Blair joined Linda and me at TAK Room for dinner on August 21, 2019.

Hearth, NYC 4

Jim joined me for dinner at Hearth on March 20, 2019. I  had not been there for three and a half years. The dining room was full and vibrant on our arrival.

Atomix, NYC

Atomix opened in late May of 2018 with a creative Korean menu which has received a lot of favorable commentary since then. It was awarded a Michelin star on November 6, 2018, the evening when Linda and I went for dinner. The chef, Junghyun Park and his wife Jeungeun, were absent at the awards gala.

Eleven Madison Park, NYC 9

We have described Eleven Madison Park in previous blogposts over the last ten years as “our favorite New York restaurant” and “New York’s best dining experience.” This was true even after Danny Meyer made it more accessible with less “gastronomic” tasting menus. But after he ceded EMP to its chef and General Manager, we did not enjoy the direction it was taking. Our last meal there, about four years ago, was disappointing and I did not make a blogpost on it. We did not return until Linda and I went for dinner on January 9, 2018.

Le Coq Rico, NYC 2

On December 13, 2017, Linda and I returned to Le Coq Rico. Linda arranged for us to be seated at the right end of the counter near the pass, as we were the last time, giving us plenty of opportunities to chat with Executive Chef Guillaume Ginther.

Okuda, NYC

Chef Toru Okuda has two highly rated restaurants in the Ginza in Tokyo. He has opened another in Paris and in November 2017 opened Okuda on West 17^th street near the High Line in New York. It replicates his Tokyo restaurants in décor, accessories and menu. All of the staff comes from his Tokyo restaurants.

Le Coq Rico, NYC

Le Coq Rico is a creation of Alsatian chef Antoine Westermann. He started his own restaurant in Strasbourg in 1970, gained his first Michelin star in 1975 and his third in 1994. In 2007 he abandoned all that and embarked on various ventures, which now include four Parisian restaurants. His first bistro Le Coq Rico opened in Montmartre in 2012.  Le Coq Rico opened in New York in March 2016.  Linda and I went for dinner on April 11, 2017.

15 East, NYC 5

It had been almost five years since our last visit when Linda and I returned to 15 East with Amanda and Kent on April 8, 2017.

O Ya, NYC

O Ya is the New York offshoot of a successful Boston restaurant. It is sort of a faux-Japanese concept. Elaborate non-Japanese ingredients and flavors are added to traditional Japanese forms. Linda and I went for dinner on March 21, 2017. 

Union Square Cafe, NYC 2

Union Square Cafe, opened in 1985, was Danny Meyer’s original restaurant, but its rent on 16^th Street became oppressive and so he closed it in December 2015, re-opening it a year later on 19^th Street. Karyn and Blair joined Linda and me for dinner there on February 7, 2017.

Cagen, NYC

Chef Toshio Tomita opened Cagen in the summer of 2013, in the site that had just been vacated by Kajitsu. Cagen received a star in the 2016 Michelin Guide.  Its website says:

“Cagen [加減] means ‘just right’: it speaks to an unwavering commitment to striking the perfect balance between classic and contemporary, between bowing to one’s roots while bending and shaping one’s own path…”

Kent, Linda and I went for dinner on August 14, 2016.

Teisui, NYC

Teisui opened in March 18, 2016. Its parent is a ryokan with the same name on a mountain in Akita, an isolated region of northwest Japan. There are decorative touches meant to evoke the ryokan, but the décor is mostly industrial modern. When Linda and I went for dinner on April 6, 2016, we were seated at the long counter enclosing the grilling and assembly area.

Cosme, NYC

Enrique Olvera is the chef at Pujol, generally regarded as Mexico City’s best restaurant. It is now rated #16 in the world on the San Pellegrino list. Its ratings improve dramatically every year. When Linda and I went to Pujol in 2009, it was not even at the top in Mexico. It was behind Biko, which Linda and I also preferred at the time. Olvera owns five other restaurants in Mexico; in September 2014, he opened Cosme in New York.  It was immediately a smash hit. It received a rave review from Pete Wells in The New York Times. Ryan Sutton in Eater wrote a piece titled: “Six Reasons Why Cosme Is One of NYC’s Most Relevant New Restaurants.”  Although reservations are very hard to get, Linda and I snagged one for the evening of February 2, 2016.

Kat & Theo, NYC

Kat & Theo is named after the Greek parents, Katerina and Theodosios, of its co-owner. It opened in September, 2015. When Linda and I went for dinner on November 24, 2015, its entrance on 21st Street, just west of Fifth Avenue, was covered in renovation scaffolding.

Hearth, NYC 3

Hearth is now twelve years old. Pete Wells in The New York Times explains: “It thrived not because it cruised along in the tail winds of a nomenclature fad, but because it diligently looked the other way as fads came and went.” On August 24, 2015, I returned to Hearth for dinner with Kent and Russell.