Many thanks to everyone for your great feedback and links, and for your ideas on tech features I should add to the site. Coming soon….To reach me for comments of any kind, see Contact. I’ve just added new blurbs to some neighborhoods, as I’ll be doing on a regular basis—while always keeping the lists short and quick. Check back for new additions; you’ll keep finding them. The Queens section will be up soon too.
Meanwhile, a few standouts from a week of wandering/eating/drinking. Unintentional theme: seafood.
1) File this under “Restaurants where you won’t see Rod Blagojevich.” I had insanely delicious, Sardinian-style gnochetti with saffron, crab, and sea urchin at Convivo in Tudor City—the leafy, hard-to-find little midtown nook that sparks feelings of “where the F am I?” Worth the detour for Michael White’s ingenious food: white-tablecloth Italian with a country soul. Good place to bring parents and clients, unless it’s a client needing maximum public face-time; not so great place to bring a hot date (a little too sedate), unless you have a vested interest in secrecy.
2) Spicy tilapia po-boy at Marshall Stack bar: juicy, nicely charred tilapia and spicy mayo on a French roll. This is the perfect beer snack. It takes guts to name a sandwich a “po’boy” in NYC. Our city makes many delightful things, but po’boys are not among them. Generally speaking, let’s leave that to New Orleans. But this tilapia-wich rocks.
3) Asian lobster roll at Xie Xie, my favorite new cheap (ish) Hell’s Kitchen stop. Generous heap of lobster mixed with tangy-sweet Japanese kewpie mayo, with fried shallots and tarragon on a buttery roll—for $14. Certainly not dirt-cheap, but not bad as lobster rolls go. The other Asian-esque sandwiches here (Vietnamese bbq beef, sweet glazed pork, et al) run $8 or $9.