AWESOME!!! The bolded ones REALLY grab me. Adding them ALL as bookmarks on Yelp⌠and adding a third night to hotel/airbnb. lol. Man, I need a month to eat through lower Manhattan.
A couple of suggestions based on your list:
-Flatiron Wine. Especially if youâre in the area. Great selection and fun to browse, walking distance from cosme/madison square park.
-if youâre thinking about Brandy Library, and if youâre into craft cocktails, definitely check out Death & Co. By far better than any cocktail place Iâve been to in LA. Will be crowded and youâll prob have to put your name down and wait in the area, but worth it, IMO. On a different levelâŚ
-if youâre going to be in Brooklyn/close to it (itâs by Brooklyn Brewery, etc.), Iâd suggest Duâs donuts, if only for the novelty factor. I went there after reading this hilarious article on Wylie Dufresne:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/01/t-magazine/wylie-dufresne-dus-donuts-food-diary.html
and we actually saw him there! It was a day when there were torrential rains in NY with flash flood warnings, and I think Duâs had just opened up and there were some water leakage problems. Wylie Dufresne was hands-on trying to figure out the cause. I walked in and was so star-struck that I stepped back, unconsciously, and knocked over a yellow âwet floorâ sign. The donuts are cake-style (may not be your thing; I like yeast donuts better) but I enjoyed the coffee, and it was fun trying to surreptitiously take selfies with Wylie Dufresne in the background
-I really liked Peter Luger. A lot of tourists were there but itâs just a unique steak, something that we appreciated even after eating Flannery at home and realizing that a lot of other steakhouses arenât worth it. No corkage, however, though they had a Ridge Geyserville haha. Steak for two, bacon, tomato and onions. They take cash/debit.
Oooops.
If I may say you have are missing many of the special places in NYC, like Blanca which I would go to over a place like Del Posto any day, even if Del Posto was free and I had to pay for Blance. However that is just me and not many people would want to go to a 2 star michelin restaurant and bring their own records.
Some comments in caps in the text above.
Brunched there a few weeks ago. Itâs a hybrid approach; classic restaurant / groupwork / coffee bar. Very open/spacious. Similar themes to the northern food hall in GC which Iâve grown to love. I bike by there every few days. Can definitely recommend, but lots of good options in that vicinity!
Answers in bold
Any opinion on these places I already have bookmarked?
Chelsea / Meatpacking
- Del Posto
- Chelsea Market Los Mariscos is a great easy eat, but fish tacos arenât NYâs forte
- Corkbuzz Chelsea Market
- Buddakan
- Mulino a Vino
West Village - Leffot (Shoes)
- Charlie Bird - Prefer the newer Pasquale Jones in NoLita
- Jacques Torres Chocolate (for hot chocolate) - LA Burdrick (recently moved from Flatiron to SoHo) BLOWS away JT.
- Le Duâs Wines
Nolita - Corkbuzz
- Astor Wines - great store but not a geek store; a combo store
- Gimme! Coffee - solid coffee but thereâs better pourovers like Devocion/Grumpy/BudinBlue Bottle
- Balthazar - itâs an institution, but touristy/crazy/buzzy/expensive for what it is. Canât say no, butâŚ
- C. des Vins Surnaturels
TriBeCa - Brandy Library
- Thalassa
- The Armoury (menswear)
- Chambers St Wines - The best
E. Village / LES - Lois
- Ruffian
- Eddy
- Upstate - Great oyster joint
- Prune
- Katzâs
- Erin McKennaâs Bakery
Brooklyn - St Anselm - Go early, put your name down and bar hop around. Very satisfying both for the cheap hanger or for the lamb saddle or the tomahawk
- Pates and Traditions - Great brunch spot for crepes; cash only
- Parlor Coffee - See coffee suggestions before
- Marlow & Sons - One of the OG farm to tables. You can also eat at their more casual/hipster sister restaurant Achilles Heel in GP
- Peter Luger
- Brooklyn Fare
Flatiron - Gramercy Tavern
- ABC Cocina
- Cosme - donât forget Atla
- Dough
- Bouley Test Kitchen
For a sit down meal Iâd do Cull & Pistol. The fish is all from The Lobster Place next door which is one of NYCâs best fish vendors. Donât get a cooked lobster from TLP, only tourists do that 
. On the other hand I really like their sushi.
However, if you can snag a ledge or an empty table in the hallway or can just bring something back to your hotel you can get great charcuterie at Buon Italia. I love their culatello, the domestic is fantastic but the imported is even better (albeit much more expensive). The bresaola is also great, as are the various parmigiano reggianos. Iâd skip the prosciutto, but get some of the cooked ham. And the porchetta if you have somewhere to warm it up.
Speaking of ham, the smoked ham and roast beef at Dicksonâs butcher shop are both top notch.
Other than Sauvage, which Iâve been to and liked but have had a merry-go-round of chefs, I donât know the neighborhood enough. Like I said, I like the close proximity to the subway stations. What other place do you recommend?
Another GREAT meal at Secchu Yokota. Did the $95 tasting menu and paired it with three Rieslings. Extremely good.
I will be staying in the Upper West Side this weekend. Any recommendations for wine bars and a wine shop?
Albert,
Tangled Vines isnât bad. Selection by the glass isnât great but nice bottle selection. They have specials during the week with percentage off on bottles or theyâll open any bottle and serve by the glass if you buy at least two glasses. I donât have the days memorized on when they do what so you would have to look it up.
Vin sur Vingt has an eclectic list of organic and biodynamic wines.
For stores, Acker is on the UWS but I wouldnât spend a nickel there. Crush is probably the best store in the general area.
hey robert
about how long does dinner take?
trying to squeeze it in
hey robert
about how long does dinner take?
trying to squeeze it in[/quote
For the longer menu 2 - 2.5 hours and for the shorter ~1.5 hours.
Bar Boulud is opposite Lincoln Center at 1900 Broadway 63rd/64th
Bin 71 Wine Bar is at Columbus 71st
Maison Kayser at Broadway and 76th (NW Corner) has a nice lunch/dinner menu and a $0 corkage fee
Sirenetta / Mermaid Inn at Amsterdam and 87th / 88th have reasonable corkage
No wine shops worth seeking out really
My Willy/Greenpoint guide includes (in no discernible order), Meadowsweet, Maison Premiere, Alameda, Mogador, St Anslem (steaks & reds), Lilia, Okonomi (was much better before they 2xâd the brunch), The Commodore (dive bar with amazing fried chicken), Achilles Heel/Marlow & Sons, Paulie Geeâs, Desnuda raw bar, Torst sandwiches and beers, Rabbithole for Brunch, Normanâs Kil for scotch, Selamat Pagi, and brunch by Glasserie & Lighthouse.
My meal at Del Posto on Monday was stunningly good, and the fact that the vegan menu was also stunning made it a real winner in my household. (With our budget, wine didnât keep up with the food however).
Lunch at Marea continues to blow me away. Agern was fabulous too. Le CouCou was very good (other than a dud desert).
so barry, cou cou at very good means pales in comparison to marea?
Thanks Faryan! ESPECIALLY for the coffee recommendations. Budin looks especially intriguing! I am less a pourover guy and more of a huge cappuccino freak! Last time I went to NYC I couldnât find a great cappuccino anywhere. Hoping to find one this time! I would literally consider staying near that place just so I can have a great cap every morning.
Thanks Jay! Itâs very helpful to have particular dishes recommended. Hope we can make it there, as it sounds delicious!
On the Upper West Side:
Crush in the general area?!? Itâs on 57th at 3rd Avenue â very inconvenient to reach from the Upper West Side. Chambers Street Wines is much easier and faster to reach from the UWS because itâs a straight shoot down on the 1/2/3 trains.
I eat at Tangled Vine regularly. I think itâs Mondays that they will open any bottle if you buy two glasses. My only complaint is that itâs pretty loud â hard to hear if itâs more than two of you.
Bar Boulud is the best â excellent, simple French food and the wines by the glass are always interesting. (They turned me on to Guillemotâs Savignys.) Disclosure: The wines tend to be toward the AFWE end of the spectrum.
Iâm not so keen on the wines at Bin 71, and Iâve had mixed food experiences at Sirenetta â one thoroughly mediocre pizza and then a really good one and a good pasta.
Maison Kayser is a great BYOB venue, and their breads and pastries are excellent if your eating at home.
Two nights ago we ate at Bistro 106, on West 106th at Manhattan Ave. Itâs a small Italian place that opened a month or so ago. The menu is interesting â not the typical pasta with pesto or meat sauce. (We had a salad of julienned snow peas with mint and grated goat cheese and housemade prosciutto and mushroom tortellini with a tomato cream sauce.) The wine list is boring, but they have a $20 corkage fee. A very pleasant space and a good venue for wine folks.
As for wine stores, there are a few worth checking out on the UWS:
âGotham (Broadway & 94th): Owned by the family that used to own Garnet and some of the ex-Garnet employees have moved over here since Garnet was sold. Itâs improved a lot in recent years and now has a lot of interesting wines, and the prices are generally excellent â sometimes the lowest youâll find. Iâve bought a lot of Italian wines from them, in particular, in recent years.
âBeacon Wines (Broadway & 74th): This, too, has improved a lot over the last five years. Quite a deep California selection, and a lot of decent European producers that you donât see so often, including from Germany and Portugal. Prices not so exciting.
â67 Wines (Columbus & 68th, confusingly): No one shops here for the prices, but they have a large selection from California and Europe.
âColumbus Circle Wines (Broadway & 58th/59th): An interesting selection (I found a Vajra Langhe Riesling recently). I always stop in when Iâm nearby.
âColumbus Wines (Columbus & 95/96): They have a fairly diverse selection, and a weird sale: something like 15% off on everything between 4 pm and 6 pm every day, or every weekday. I canât remember the exact details, but it means there are some good buys at the right hour. I picked up a 2005 Jaboulet - Dom. Raymond Roure - Crozes Hermitages a year ago for $42 â a wine you rarely see, let alone with age.
âWhole Foods Wines (Columbus & 98th): The emphasis â but by no means exclusive â is on organic/sustainable and NY wines. I rarely buy there, but if you want to check out NY wines, this is perhaps the best place in the city. (A tip: Focus on the Finger Lakes wines and go light on the Long Island ones.)