chris’s guide to NYC
I’ve got friends visiting NY this week while I am here in Dubai, and so I was compiling this list of places for her to go WITHOUT ME, and realized I should probably post it. Here is my take on the very best of NY, or at least my favorites.
Best Italian
Dear god, you must go to
Giorgione
Owner’s Giorgio DeLuca (of Dean & DeLuca) and George (sorry, forgot his last name), Chef Alex, waitress Lisa (my sister), put together any absolute orgy of great Italian food. Pizza is fantastic, but ALWAYS try the specials. Gorgeous interior, great music, excellent date place. Tell them I sent you. Trust me.
Spring Street, all the way west near Greenwich St.
Best Vietnamese
Bao 111
Excellent, excellent Vietnamese food, great beers, wine, sake, and specialty drinks. Owner’s Chris and Chris are great friends of mine. It will be in your best interest to tell them I sent you. Both Irish white guys, one speaks fluent Japanese and is a sake somalie (sp?), and the other knows wine better than anyone I’ve ever met, and can drink us all under the table and back again. There’s also a rumor that Chef Michael Bao is about to appear on Iron Chef America.
East Village, 7th & Ave. C
Best Australian
Sunburnt Cow
Outstanding Australian Bar / Restaurant, great music, excellent food, dark lighting, open-air backyard. The owner, Heath is my good friend. I went to his wedding. Tell him I sent you and he’ll treat you right.
East Village, 9th & Ave. C
New Fish & Chips
Bondi Road Fish and Chips
This is the same Heath’s Fish & Chips shop, it’s brand new, and I have never been there before. But knowing Heath, it’s good fun, reasonably priced, and the food will be great.
Lower East Side, Rivington & Suffolk
Best Pizza
Goodfella’s
Staten Island (1718 Hylan Blvd)
Seriously worth the trip out there. But if you can’t get out to Shiaolin, then you’ll have to settle for…
Lombardi’s
Really, really, really good pizza, by the whole pie only, no slices. Old school, NY, brick oven at its finest.
SoHo, Spring bet. Mulberry & Mott
Best Sushi
Blue Ribbon Sushi
Hand’s down, my absolute favorite sushi. Expect a wait (no reservations), and steep prices, but seriously I would take this over Nobu any day.
SoHo, Sullivan bet. Prince & Spring
Best Steak
Peter Luger
A must-have trip out to Brooklyn for the best steak you’ve ever wrapped your expansive jowls around.
Brooklyn, NY, 178 Broadway @ Driggs St., right under the Williamsburg Bridge.
Best Irish Pub
Do not miss
Puck Fair
The best of Danny McDonald’s 3 awesome bars (Ulysses and Swift are the others). The most fun, and Irish Whiskey, that can possibly be absorbed in a night. It’s so good, I stopped going. Seriously. Don’t ask about me. Pretend you don’t know me. They also have excellent food.
SoHo, Lafayette, just south of Houston
Best French
Balthazar
One of my all-time favorite restaurants. Difficult to get in at primetime on Th, Fri, or Sat., a bit expensive, but stunning. You must have the grand tower from the raw bar. Dear god.
SoHo, Spring & Crosby
Best Chinese
Shanghai Cafe
Do not miss the Crab and Pork Soup Dumplings. To. Die. For.
Chinatown, Mott bet. Hester and Canal
Best Tourist things to do
If you MUST do the tourism thing, I still recommend the top of the Empire State Building if it’s a clear day out. NY City MUST be seen from the air to fully appreciate it. Of course, Central Park is a must, but for real people watching, Union Square is better. On Tuesday Monday nights they show free movies in Bryant Park. And you must see Times Square at least once in your life.
OK, well that’s about it. Now my secrets that are not-so-secret are out. Anybody else have any advice for my friends?
Would a visit to the Soup Nazi rank on best Tourist things to do in keeping with the theme?
Good list! Quick correction: Bryant Park movies are on Mondays.
Dim sum at Sweet-n-Tart. It’s got a good variety and it’s clean (key). On Mott. There’s two, go to the larger one, the address I believe is between 15-20.
Coincidently, Chris has pulled his balls out at all of the above mentioned.
Oh, if you’d like a mid-town contact, please let me know. Friends of Chris are friends of mine.
Gray’s Papaya hot dogs on 72nd and Broadway.
Riding the Staten Island Ferry out and back (take a snack and a camera).
Walk along the West End from 59th street to 79th street overlooking the Hudson River (go nearing sunset), and eat at the crazy half outdoor/half indoor ‘beer garden’ at the boat marina at 79th street.
Shakespeare in the Park (if time and tastes allow).
At least one museum (Guggenheim, Met, Cloisters, MoMA).
Washington Square Park on the weekend (for people watching).
5th Avenue Apple Store (might as well check it out when you’re at Central Park).
Walking the Brooklyn Bridge is pretty fantastic.
What about Best Kosher?
i too just made a list for a friend going to new york (also without me). some things to add;
- top of rockefeller centre, better view then top of empire state, as you get to SEE the empire state
- lenox lounge off 125th. authentic harlem jazz club. brilliant music and atmosphere. book table for 9pm show. don’t eat there. eat at Ginger, on E116th and 5th. organic chinese food, very good. http://www.lenoxlounge.com
- tribeca grand hotel for apple martinis
- brandy’s piano bar, E85th. very cheesy, but very new york. sing-a-long around a piano, wait staff take it in turns to sing show tunes.
- http://www.dailycandy.com for designer sales, goings on, latest bars, etc
- $10 manicures, pretzels, sunbaking in central park, yellow cab rides, grand central buskers, remember to look up
After a hard day’s worth of site seeing, go to myopenbar.com and see if there are free drinks for you anywhere. drink, be happy. and since this is NYC we don’t have to worry about designated drivers, we have them all over the place, they all drive yellow cars and take you to the end of the world.
This is great I am actually going to NY for the first time this week as well. We’re staying in Brooklyn. We were planning on going to Coney Island among other things. Does anyone know where the Seinfeld diner is?
the almighty google can tell you at http://home.earthlink.net/~asena/srny.html where the seinfeld diner is