I travel to New York for a whole host of reasons. But whatever my reason for going to the Big Apple, whenever I go, I try and visit as many restaurants as possible, including whatever is new on the scene.
All the places below are personal choices, but if you have your own restaurant experiences or recommendations you’d like to share, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
BLUE HILL AT STONE BARNS
Not many people know this restaurant, which is about 50 minutes out of town by cab in Stone Barns at a ranch that was, interestingly, built by Rockefeller in Pocantico Hills area. Here, they grow all kinds of organic vegetables and raise pigs, chickens, and small cows. I don’t generally deign to eat eggs, but I definitely did here. Everything looks good, smells nice and tastes even better, probably because of the fodder they use. All the meals, apart from the fish, are prepared with the freshest of ingredients that are produced right on the farm. Blue Hill’s chef, Dan Barber, has been in charge of the kitchen since day one. You can enjoy a dinner at Blue Hill six days a week, while there is also an additional lunch service on Saturdays and Sundays. This being the United States, dinner begins as early as 5:30 p.m., so I recommend you make a reservation for as early in the evening as possible. More than that, try and go an hour early, because it’s a lot of fun to spend time both in the town and on the farm. And don’t be tardy about planning your trip to Blue Hill either: Reservations are a big problem at the restaurant, but if you send an email at least five or six weeks in advance and are flexible about time, you’ll get results. A spacious and calm place with 10-meter-high ceilings, Blue Hill can host 50 people. Thankfully, the tables are spread out from one another, allowing you to chat comfortably. Blue Hill also has a splendid wine menu, which has offerings from all over the world at a good price.
At your typical fine restaurant, the wines are priced at a wholesale price multiplied by around four; at Blue Hill, however, they only multiply this price by two, even though it’s a top restaurant. More than that, you can order wines by the glass, giving you the opportunity to taste a different wine for every dish if you plan to try five or six different things. On top of that, all the waiters at Blue Hill are very knowledgeable about food and wine. And while most New York restaurants typically have a high circulation in terms of waiters, almost all of Blue Hill’s wait staff has been there since the opening. Barber made it onto Time’s “Time 100” list in 2009. The influential chef’s farmers decide what’s on the menu that day: “I shape a menu based on the products that the farmers bring. I can also prepare personalized menus for guests,” says Barber. There’s another Blue Hill in Manhattan with a similar menu, but I recommend the one in Stone Barns.
JUNGSIK
Jungsik is a Korean restaurant that my friend brought me to one day. I loved it so much that I went to visit it again the next time I was in the Big Apple. This time, though, I had to make a reservation; in the intervening two years, they had picked up two Michelin stars, giving them a tremendous boost in popularity. I don’t have a vast knowledge of Korean cuisine, but Jungsik’s fare was quite different from what I’ve had before in South Korea. It’s clear that they’ve made a fusion – and a perfect one at that – of Korean and Western cuisine, to the degree that if the waiters weren’t Korean, you might not know that this is a Korean restaurant at all. Adapting one cuisine to another is a challenging thing to do; that’s why we often see interpretations. A great alternative for fine dining, Jungsik is a modern restaurant with a top-notch wine menu. Besides the à la carte menu, they have two tasting menus, one of which is larger than the others. I recommend you try at least one of these tasting menus. If you have ingredients or dishes that you’d rather not have with the tasting menu, they change them as requested.
LE BERNARDIN
One of the first places that comes to mind when you say food and New York is Le Bernardin. Gilbert and Mathilde Le Coze opened the famous fish restaurant first in Paris in 1972 before raising the curtain on the second branch in New York 14 years later. Gilbert, who was also the chef, passed away shortly after the opening, giving way to Eric Ripert, one of his associates. Although the cuisine is French in origin, it is quite Americanized today. In my opinion, Le Bernardin is the best fish restaurant in New York – everyone should eat there at least once! If you go there for lunch, you can have a beautiful fish menu in a very comfortable environment for a lower price than usual. Normally, I don’t like the service of three-Michelin- star restaurants because of their attitude, but Le Bernardin is one such restaurant with three Michelin stars that has great service. Try to make reservations one week in advance.
LE COUCOU
Le Coucou’s been the talk of the town for a couple of years. Daniel Rose is the American Chef who got trained and worked in France for over a decade. His very French spot at Lafayette Street serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner in very comfortable seating with linen table clothes facing an open kitchen. The great wine list and perfect dessert menu compliment the classical French dishes, which earned a Michelin star very quickly. Le Coucou is open seven days a week.
LOCANDA VERDE
An Italian-American restaurant, Locanda Verde is located inside a hotel in Soho, although it has its own entrance as well. Open from noon to night, Verde can become a bit crowded around 8 p.m. when it gets busy for dinner service, but reservations aren’t much of a problem otherwise. They have a very simple and modern menu consisting of at least 40 dishes. They also offer a good service.
MAREA
A popular haunt for businessmen, Marea is another Italian restaurant overlooking Central Park’s southwest corner on Columbus Circle, where New York’s best restaurants are located. I can confidently say that Marea is the best Italian restaurant outside Italy, with everything done to Italian standards. If you visit Marea in October or November, you can find seven or eight dishes –- including eggs – prepared with white truffles. When you’re at Marea, you truly feel like you’re dining at a high-quality restaurant in Rome. The place has two Michelin stars, but it’s a question of when, not if, it gets a third. Marea is an expensive restaurant, but it’s worth shelling out for a meal. They also have a nice bar that’s great for a few drinks before dinner. And as with many other New York restaurants, you can eat for a lower price at lunch – meaning it might be a good idea to go there at midday, even if the menu is a bit more limited. Still, don’t forget to make a reservation, just in case. If you’re just visiting New York for a couple of days, you’ll surely want to experience its food scene. If you have a few more days and you’re hankering after a proper taste of Italy – then look no further than Marea. If you want to survey all the beauty that is Central Park, it’s best to head to Marea for lunch.
NOBU DOWN TOWN
A huge chain with 30 branches around the world, Nobu serves up delectable Peruvian-Japanese fusion cuisine. The New York branch was Nobu’s second following the one in Los Angeles. Observing the place’s success, the restaurant opened a second branch right next door called, appropriately enough, Nobu Next Door. In the end, what started as a simple Japanese restaurant has now spread worldwide, offering the highest quality from London to Cape Town. Last year, however, Nobu closed down the NY Downtown and Next Door branches, opening a single new branch on the entrance floor of a historical building called Nobu Downtown. I only found out about the change by coincidence, but I sure did love it, thanks to its high ceilings, spacious environment and thoughtful decoration. There’s a bar and small tables at the entrance, as well as a sushi bar. They have a wide menu, although the menu on this floor is comparatively limited – that’s not to say you won’t enjoy your meal though! The main restaurant is below. Personally, I didn’t like this level too much because the ceilings were too low; it feels like a punishment to hang out in this place when there’s such a wonderful atmosphere above. Besides, it’s pretty hard to find a place, as it gets crowded between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. since it’s close to the business area. Perhaps the best idea is to spend an hour on the entrance floor and enjoy what’s on the menu with a glass or two of good wine.
PER SE
Thomas Keller’s French Laundry, a place with three Michelin stars, is as famous as himself. But when Keller wanted to open a restaurant in New York, Per Se was born. Located in Time Warner Plaza, Per Se has a superb view of Central Park – thanks in part to its one elevated area. Per Se has seating for 75 people, as well as tables that can sit a maximum of six people each. Keller prepared the menu, although another chef cooks in the kitchen. It’s open every evening, while it also serves lunch from Thursday to Sunday. Note that the menu isn’t à la carte. Menu A, for instance, has 10 types of food, from seafood to meat, while Menu B is prepared specifically with vegetarians in mind (both menus have the same price). Now, Per Se is a pretty expensive place, but it’s still hard to find reservations, so you might wish to opt for lunch, which is slightly cheaper.
POLO BAR BY RALPH LAUREN
Polo Bar is the restaurant to see and to be seen, especially early in the evening during the week. Very fine American contemporary kitchen with a guest-friendly wine list, Polo Bar is open seven days a week for dinner in the basement of a flagship Ralph Lauren store on Fifth Avenue & E 55th Street. The menu is diverse, from a burger to Dover Sole, and you can also have one of many vegan and vegetarian offerings. Do make a reservation, as walk-ins are almost not possible. Polo Bar has siblings in Chicago, London and Paris again in Ralph Lauren stores; but the New York one is a notch above the others.
SUSHI of GARI
There are three Sushi of Garis in New York, all of which I believe are wonderful. Nevertheless, I suggest you head to the first Sushi of Gari, in Northeast Manhattan. Founded by a Japanese chef named Gari, this authentic and reasonably priced restaurant is now a chain in which each branch can host 30-40 people. I always like to eat at the sushi bar. After all, real Japanese sushi experts work at the counter before you, serving you as soon as they finish. And if you’re lucky, you might even find Gari himself working in the kitchen as well. One of the major reasons why I love this place – besides the excellent sushi and sashimi – is the hot sushi designed by Gari himself. Now, this isn’t something you would get away with in Japan: I once went to a good sushi restaurant in Japan and asked the chef if he could prepare something with avocado. His reply? An angry retort of “Go to America.” But at Sushi of Gari, you can find many types of sushi prepared with avocado or different ingredients. For example, the tuna nigiri with tomato sauce is bedazzling: The tuna is cold, the rice is warm, and the tomato sauce is hot. Sushi of Gari serves up seven or eight types of hot nigiri. And if you like avocado like me, try Gari’s salmon skin salad with avocado.
UNION SQUARE CAFE
Union Square Cafe used to be a small restaurant run by a woman chef. A famous chain in New York, the cafe took its name from its own neighborhood. The Union Square Cafe is reasonably priced from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. with different menus for lunch and dinner. It also had a good and broad wine menu. And although it had low ceilings, I loved the place. Alas, it eventually closed. Fast-forward to February 2017, when I learned that it had reopened with the same name in the same neighborhood, but this time with an even better location: a corner building that has high ceilings, which pervades it with so much more light. Adding it up, it’s the same menu and same chef, but with a stronger atmosphere. It’s often impossible to find a place at this restaurant, but you might find yourself in luck at about 3:30 p.m. Although the menu at this hour is limited, you’ll still find some delicious food. You can also try the same menu at the bar, where you don’t require a reservation.