Requests: NYC Restaurants

P, who shares my interest in NYC restaurants and hatred of Frank Bruni, requested that I name my top five NYC restaurants.

Below is a list of my top five, as best as I can make it. It's about my taste, not what I take to be the best overall restaurants ever in the history of the world. Basically, I said to myself, "If you had an unlimited budget and five more dinners to have in NYC, where would you eat?" It's basically five American cuisine restaurants, which is not suprising. I love French bistro fare and especially Italian favorites, but they don't compare to great American food. So that's my list!

Following the list, I have some "Honorable Mentions" to showcase other eateries I love for one reason or another. I would encourage you to follow the links and check out the menus, where available.

(These are listed in alphabetical order )

Craft
This place, believe it or not, makes it on one meal. Not that I won't get back there soon. It joins three other top-five choices (Sparks, USC, and Gotham) in the "straightforward American food" cuisine category. Hey, what can I say, I love straightforward American food. Craft is a restaurant version of Build-a-Bear. Some beef here, a pork there, this side dish here, that side dish there.

You mix and match orders and tastes and come away with a great meal. I went with Ms. Poon and another couple, and I think that's the minimum you should have there -- that way you get four people ordering four different things and you can order a bunch of sides to all try. A winning wine list as well.

N.B.: Some of Craft's sides bring to mind the wine critic Robert Parker describing the 1997 Pride Merlot as "liquified viagra". I've had the '97 Pride, and it was sublime. But if we're talking liquified viagra, it can't touch Craft's pureed potatoes. Probably the best side dish I've ever had.

Gotham Bar & Grill
Gotham is routinely mentioned as one of NYC's very best restaurants, and it deserves all the praise it gets. It's just a great restaurant with fabulous food. I really don't think I can pick out the one thing I love most about it -- I just always walk out of there desperately hoping I'm back there soon. I have a theory on this one: I think it's the desserts. When you think "Gotham" you think "fancy restaurant" which means "excellent desserts". I think Gotham's are even better than that, which is probably why I leave so happy.

If you haven't been there, go. It's the whole shebang: ambiance, service, and food. (The downside, if there is one, is that the wine list is a bit pricey and limited. Then again, if you're going there, you're blowing a fat wad of cash anyway.)

Mesa Grill
This was the last of the five that I chose. I was thinking about what the fifth restaurant was, and I thought, "where do I love to go eat?" Now, writing these blurbs, Mesa might be as high as third on my list.

For those that aren't familiar with it, it's TV chef Bobby Flay's flagship restaurant, serving Southwest-influenced American fare. To quote Aaron Burr, "Some dishes there are downright un-frigging-believable." (Really - if they ever take the New Mexican Spiced Pork Tenderloin off the menu, I'm writing an obituary.)

More importantly, it has a really unique feel: it's a hip bar scene and a fun (and loud) multilevel restaurant. It has vibrant colors and vibrant people and vibrant food. It's just, well, shockingly enough, a vibrant experience. Although you'll love it dead sober, I actually think part of the experience is the alcohol. I love margaritas, which of course match the fare nicely. They've also got a wonderfully-chosen wine list -- it's all American, keeping with the theme of the place -- that complements the food well.

It's not cheap; none of these top five are. But it's the expensive restaurant in New York City that I'm most likely to suggest for an impromptu nice dinner. Can't get enough of it.

Sparks Steakhouse
Steakhouses are my favorite restaurants, and Sparks is my favorite steakhouse for several reasons. First, their specialty is sirloin, which is my favorite cut. They make the best in the city. Second, they have an expansive wine list that is also very affordable, especially for a restaurant. Third, it's a great, clubby atmosphere that reeks of "Paul Castellano got gunned down here". Fourth, it's preposterously consistent: I've been there many times and never had a bad steak. Not once. I've been to many of the top NYC steakhouses multiple times, and I can't say that about any other joint. Seriously. Fifth, and most importantly, it's in Manhattan. Which gives it the slight nod over the sublime and even more unique Peter Luger's.

Union Square Cafe
USC, Gotham, and Gramercy Tavern usually rotate in the top spot in Zagat's "Most Popular Restaurant," which means a USC reservation can be hard to come by. It's a worth waiting for.

I think if I had to pick one restaurant that I knew I'd like before ever going there, it would be USC. USC has perfected my favorite thing about the high-end traditional American restaurant: the pasta appetizer. Too often I go to a restaurant and think, "Wow, that steak/chicken/etc. sounds great... but so does that pasta." What to do? Pasta appetizer. A pasta appetizer and a meat main course makes me really, really happy. And they're so damn good, too. (The pasta appetizers shine at Gotham as well.)

What I really have come to appreciate about USC is its ambiance. It can't be pinned down -- it's not casual, it's not fancy, it's not loud, it's not quiet. When you're at USC, you know you're having a special experience because it's UNION SQUARE CAFE and you waited three weeks for that Saturday night reservation. But the ambiance tricks you: while you arrive at your table with a jittery expectation of a "WOW!" meal, five minutes later you've forgotten about that and you're enjoying your conversation in a nice-but-not-to-nice restaurant. That is, some restaurants take you to a far away land; USC takes you to Nice Restaurant, USA.

And all the better, because it lets you focus on the great, simply-prepared, excellent food.


HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Best go-to little Italian place: al Dente. On Amsterdam Avenue, in the 70s and 80s, there are like 1,000 anonymous little Italian places. Most are relatively inexpensive, don't seat that many, and have a large variation in dish quality. One time Ms. Poon and I randomly chose al Dente, and we loved our pastas. And now we go there when we need a pasta fix. The Penne Norcina (parmaggiano, italian sausage, and light cream) is worth eating once a month just to remind myself how much I love eating it. Bonus: I'm slightly out of their advertised delivery range, but I tried delivery once and they agreed without complaint.

Best place to get hammered: Cite, of course. Sunday through Friday, after 8pm, it's a prix fixe dinner. With all-you-can-drink wine service. Giddy up.

Best place to take Ms. Poon: Ms. Poon has her favorites too. In addition to some of the places I've already written about above, she likes Fiorello and Tao. (Incidentally, she took me to Tao for my birthday this summer. Had a Mariano Rivera sighting. Cool.)

Best place to grab a bagel: H&H for bagelry, Ess-a-Bagel for sandwiches. (Ess-as have that crunchy-ish outside that works with turkey.)

Best meal at a seafood restaurant: Seafood makes me ill, which is why I end up grabbing a steak at most seafood restaurants. There's nothing but seafood at Le Bernadin. Except for one or two dishes, which are "upon request". Kinda snooty, but we're talking the undisputed champion of NYC seafood here. Both times I've gone I've had the lamb, and it's been ridiculously good. And I'm not much of a lamb guy. Hella good.

Best obsession: Beard Papa cream puffs. I'm obsessed with these pastries. If there's a heaven, it involves Beard Papa. I'd quit tomorrow and work there for a living, but I think you're only allowed to work there if you're a petite Japanese woman. (Not joking.)

Best return engagement-to be: Crispo and Triomphe are two restaurants I've tried in the last six months that I definitely want to try again. I liked them enough to start immediately recommending them to friends. Crispo is a solid, popular Italian place in the Village with to-die-for prosciutto-based appetizers. Triomphe is a higher-end French bistro that does things right.

Best place to get really drunk on margaritas: Lots of places qualify, but I end up dining at Mama Mexico a lot. Great, fun margarita atmosphere. (For romantic, higher-end, sit-down Mexican fare, Ms. Poon and I like Rosa Mexicano and Cafe Frida. I assume she'll like Dos Caminos, too, once I get around to taking her there.)

Best penne vodka that I eat all the time when working late: Blake and Todd. It's there, it's good, it works. Had it last night, in fact.

Best place to get engaged to Ms. Poon on October 2, 2004: Sarabeth's, of course!

(And no, Ms. Poon and I don't eat out at such nice places every day! These days, we only see each other on the weekend, so we like to do one nice place at least every two weeks, if possible.)


UPDATE: Feel free to tell us your favorite/make suggestions in comments.