Eating Out

Le Midi Bistro: Adieu, Karaoke!

Now it's Bergman and Bordeaux in the East Village

Olive Oil on Tap at Le Midi; Not Everything's Awful at Bill's Food and Drink

Tejal Rao took a break from professional eating this week, but our own Robert Sietsema kept at it by checking in at Le Midi Bistro. Located in a former East Village Woolworth's building and karaoke den, Sietsema notes in his review of Le Midi that the restaurant "is one of those old-school bistros w ... More >>

The Exquisite Torture of Tasting Menus

If you think chefs are going too far with their rigid tasting menus and impossible reservation systems, you'll love Corby Kummer's description in February's Vanity Fair of ambitious young chefs as "an army of fresh-faced Stalins" torturing us with their too-long, expensive tasting menus. I've endur ... More >>

Bon! Asian Spice Cafe Opens in Bushwick and IHOP Opens in West Village

Bushwick got an Asian fusion restaurant, Bon! Asian Spice Cafe. The menu features gyoza, yakisoba ramen noodles, pork belly buns, and other dishes that blend ingredients from all over Asia. They also offer Asian style brunch with entrees like bulgogi omelets and waffles with Japanese-style fried chi ... More >>

Our 10 Best Hot Booze Cocktails in New York City

You've survived another holiday season. Have you ever had better reason to settle into a dark bar with a stiff drink? I didn't think so. But, as we battle through the next few long john-wearing months, now feels like a good time to order up a strong, warm drink -- with a whole lotta booze. Here a ... More >>

10 NYC Restaurant Trends for 2013

Many crepe shops opened in 2012, but about half are already closed. French pancakes simply weren't the next big thing. Will 2013 turn out to be more of the same, restaurant-wise? Not on your life! Here are 10 trends FiTR expects to see in the coming year, some yawningly predictable, others nearly ... More >>

Carry a Big Steak at Midtown's Bill's Food and Drink; Wave Goodbye to Lesbians and Hello to Pork at the West Village's Swine

Our own Tejal Rao reviews Bill's Food and Drink, a "flashy John DeLucie joint." Bill's Food and Drink is the recently revamped former speakeasy that once held Bill's Gay Nineties. The Midtown restaurant is "cluttered with maps, Victorian portraits, and taxidermied animal heads... it can feel like th ... More >>

Bar Chord Opens in Ditmas Park; Burger Bistro Opens in Upper East Side

Ditmas Park will get a new bar and music venue on Cortelyou Avenue. Bar Chord will open in La Nueva Union Bakery's old location and will serve draft beers and bar snacks. The owners told Ditmas Park Corner that patrons can look forward to a jukebox and a regular event called "Wings and Strings" with ... More >>

Swine: Farewell, Dear Lesbians...

The former Rubyfruit space on Hudson Street gets a new incarnation

Waiter, Bring Us Our Bill's

John DeLucie takes over a Prohibition-era gem

Where To Take a Middle-School Spanish Class for a Field-Trip Lunch?

The pozole at Tacos Cachanilla could easily feed two hungry students. Whitney D. asks: I am a middle school Spanish teacher taking my class on a field trip. I was hoping we could stop afterwards to taste the cuisine of a Spanish-speaking country. The restaurant must be open during the weekday and ... More >>

The Best Things We Ate in 2012

It's been such good year for eating in New York! Here, the Fork team looks back at some of the very best things we ate in 2012, from rice porridge with uni in the West Village, to dreamy cheese fries upstate, and homemade bread pudding. Share your best bites in the comments or tell us about them o ... More >>

Support Sandy Stricken Restaurants on New Year's Eve

No doubt about it, New Year's Eve is stressful. There are so many options, yet none of them seem like they'll live up to the hype New Year's Eve is supposedly all about. But this year, there's hope! All over the city, restaurants that were devastated by Hurricane Sandy are back and ready to throw ki ... More >>

December's Openings and Closings

In New York City, only the strong restaurants survive. Or the ones with amazing food, cult followings, lots of great press, and a whole slew of other factors. For those keeping tabs, here's a list of restaurants that opened and closed in December.

London Calling Brooklyn at Dear Bushwick; Chinese by Way of Peru at Chifa

This week, Tejal Rao checks in at a "spot of warmth" on the otherwise gloomy Wilson Avenue, Dear Bushwick. Having previously honed her skills at Goat Town, chef Jessica Wilson offers "English-inspired dishes with American ingredients" and assures us that "this is the sort of simple, seasonal food th ... More >>

The Marrow Open in West Village; Runner & Stone Open in Gowanus

The Marrow opened on Bank Street with an Italian and German inspired menu from Top Chef winner Harold Dieterle. Find duck schnitzel, cuttlefish with garlic bread, uni-topped beef bone, and a wine list with over 300 options. Dieterle and partner Alicia Nosenzo set a flag in the West Village with Kin ... More >>

Zak Pelaccio's New Restaurant Fish & Game in Hudson, NY -- Exterior Views

Located in Hudson, New York, Zak Pelaccio and Jori Emde's new restaurant is still a few months from opening. Veteran of Chickenbone Cafe, Five Ninth, and the Fatty empire, Zak Pelaccio fled the city with wife Jori Emde last year to settle in Old Chatham, NY, up in Columbia County. This region of r ... More >>

Commander in Chifa

Peru meets China in Queens

It's Blighty Brooklyn at Dear Bushwick

Jessica Wilson cooks a spot of English for Bushwick

Fresh Salt Reopens Near South Street Seaport, Randazzo's Clam Bar Reopens in Sheepshead Bay

Two Sandy-stricken restaurants are back on their feet after a brutal few months of rebuilding. South Street Seaport has been barren since the hurricane but Fresh Salt on Beekman Street will be cooking its regular menu on Thursday, after being able to serve only drinks for the past week. Randazzo's ... More >>

Q&A: Michael Lomonaco of Center Bar on Steak Tips and Christmas Specials

Michael Lomonaco is passionate about his beef. He has to be: He's the chef of Porter House, an Upper West Side steakhouse serving up beef since 2006. The New York veteran chef also recently opened Center Bar, located in the open atrium adjacent from Porter House. With only 52 seats, the bar boasts a ... More >>

Crab Spot Opens in Park Slope; Fairway in Kips Bay

Crab Spot in Park Slope opened this week and is serving seafood pots and surf and turf. According to their Twitter, the grand opening special is Maryland Blue Crabs. Free drink with your entree, they promise. 33 Union St.

2012's Most Challenging Dishes in NYC

Welcoming the whelks! Some dishes you dig into without hesitating - you know the terrain, and keenly anticipate the execution. These sorts of dishes make eating pleasurable and worry-free. Other things you like the idea of, but once the dish arrives the fork hesitates over the plate. Either the ap ... More >>

Munch an Ugly Duckling at Jeepney

A Pinoy throwback cracks open in the East Village

Unhatched Ducklings at Jeepney; Smoking Up Meat at BrisketTown

Our own Tejal Rao visits the East Village's Jeepney, the latest venture from the Maharlika family, to try the unhatched duckling eggs at the "modern Filipino gastropub" in her review of Jeepney. She offers some guidelines for enjoying the small bites: "Think of the impossibly pure broth you get when ... More >>

Is Bunny the New Bird in NYC?

Gee, it doesn't quite look like fried chicken, does it? Fatty 'Cue's fried rabbit with spicy vinegar dip Is rabbit the new chicken? Well, probably not! But Fork in the Road has been encountering rabbit all over New York menus in the last few months, and it seems to be more than a fluke. It all sta ... More >>

Q&A: Julieta Ballesteros of China Latina, Part 1

Julieta Ballesteros is a huge advocate for fusion foods. It's not often you see the words "Szechuan Beef Wonton Tacos" strung together on the same line, but innovative dishes such as these are what Ballestros is promoting at her newest venture, China Latina. The eatery opened up in October and ser ... More >>

Eat Latkes Out: Mile End's Hanukkah Super Duo, Second Avenue Deli's Instant Heart Attack

Making latkes is hard in a small apartment kitchen. The brave cook ends up with oil burns and will probably find crusty potato shreds on the floor come Passover. So we don't blame the Hanukkah-celebrating folk for venturing out to eat potato pancakes, especially when served with chopped liver or a h ... More >>

Fast-Food Japan Is All Yours on One Midtown Block

L'Apicio Hosts Your East Village Prom Night

The nabe gets a new Italian outpost

Japanese Fast Food on Madison Avenue and Dreamy Gnocchi at L'Apicio

This week, Tejal Rao tries the pasta and polenta boards at L'Apicio, the new "glassy cathedral" on the Bowery from partners Gabe Thompson and Joe Campanale, where Rao says if you added a parking lot "it could be that one restaurant in every American town where the people with money come." While she ... More >>

Q&A: John Meadow of LDV Hospitality On Making It In New York, Part 2

John Meadow is co-founder of LDV Hospitality, the restaurant group behind Scarpetta, Lugo Caffe, Lucy's Cantina Royal, and various projects across Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Miami. Yesterday we got his tips on first getting into the restaurant scene. Today, we talked to Meadow about the differe ... More >>

Our 10 Best Restaurants Near Brookyn's Barclays Center

The Velveeta double burger at No. 7 is perfect pre-sports fare. One of the first impressions you'll get of the Barclays Center is how stunning the exterior of the building is, and how proud you feel exiting the subway and seeking out the front doors. But once inside, you'll find a cramped interior ... More >>

Q&A: John Meadow of LDV Hospitality On Italian Food and Opening Your First Restaurant, Part 1

John Meadow has a very impressive resume. The New York native opened his first restaurant at the age of 24 and his first job out of college was the Food and Beverage Manager position at The Plaza. Since then, he has built up a restaurant empire with business partner Curt Huegel in the form of LDV ... More >>

Uzbek, You Bet, at Nargis Cafe

Grab your post-Soviet bib in Brooklyn

Tejal Rao at Cocoron; Robert Sietsema at Nargis Cafe

This week, our own Tejal Rao found the beauty in buckwheat at Nolita's Cocoron. Of the restaurant's signature soba, she writes that "the noodles here have soul and bite. A massive pot of water rolls in the back of the kitchen, sending up a clean, perfumed steam." This second location for husband an ... More >>

What's Happening: Big Brooklyn Holiday Toy Drive and Mission Chinese Sandy Relief Fundraiser

Monday, December 3 Five Ambassadors of the New York City Culinary Experience: Join the owners of Russ & Daughters, Danny Bowien of Mission Chinese, and Amanda Hesser from Food52 as they talk about food and its place in history and community. New York Times' Sam Sifton will moderate the discussion at ... More >>

After Sandy: Gargiulo's, Steve's Key Lime Pies, Mark Joseph Steakhouse Repoen

For 105 years, Gargiulo's Restaurant in Coney Island hosted banquet-sized parties and served Italian food that at one time deserved three stars from The New York Times. On Saturday, the family restaurant opened for the first time since Hurricane Sandy. "Thank god we had a good weekend," said Nino ... More >>

10 Best Restaurants to Book for Christmas Eve Dinner

Walking around Lower Manhattan these past few nights, it is clear that something is in the air. Literally. Take a deep breath in and find your lungs greeted by wave of pine from the tightly wrapped trees that now seem to line every street corner. By next week, it will be impossible to dodge the ho ... More >>

Greenpoint's Lobster Joint Plants Flag On Houston Street

Greenpoint's Lobster Joint has officially commandeered 201 Houston St., the former home of semi-outdoor Lina Frey. Bob Levitt, one of the owners, said they should be up and running in the middle of December.

Q&A: Num Pang's Ratha Chaupoly and Ben Daitz on Partnerships, Chef Collaborations, and Their Favorite Sandwiches, Part 2

Yesterday, Ratha Chaupoly and Ben Daitz of the popular Cambodian sandwich shop Num Pang sat down with Fork in the Road to talk about personal success, culinary traditions, and their pesky 'no substitutions' policy. Today, the friends and business partners continue the conversation and discuss their ... More >>

Updates from NYC Restaurants Still Closed After Sandy

From the Seaport to Staten Island, we'll be checking in with restaurants all over the city that were hit by Sandy and updating you on their struggles and recoveries. Email us to tell us more about your reopening or rebuilding efforts. Puglia by the Sea sat right on the water in Staten Island, and a ... More >>

Q&A: Num Pang's Ratha Chaupoly and Ben Daitz on Success, Traditions, and Substitution Policies, Part 1

A Jewish New Yorker and his Cambodian-born college friend walk into a sandwich shop. No, this isn't the beginning of a bad joke, it's the story behind Num Pang, the much loved sandwich cafe with locations in Greenwich Village and Midtown. Ratha Chaupoly and Ben Daitz met in college, but reconnecte ... More >>

It's Bollywood for Your Tongue at Chote Nawab

Curry Hill gets a great Indian newcomer

Top Chef's Leah Cohen Brings Pinoy Comfort to Clinton Street

A house party with pig's head

Tejal Rao at Pig and Khao; Robert Sietsema at Chote Nawab

Our own Tejal Rao visits former Top Chef contestant Leah Cohen's Lower East Side South Asian restaurant, Pig and Khao, and finds the outcome boisterous and inconsistent. While Cohen's ability to cook is evident in the noodle curry khao soi which is "full of quality crunch and chew," the crispy pata ... More >>

Rosemary's Now Serving Breakfast in West Village

When Rosemary's opened during the summer, one of the biggest draws was its rooftop garden. But now that the weather has taken a turn for the sludgy, the West Village trattoria is enticing diners with a new daily breakfast menu.

How Good Are Brooklyn's Japanese Noodle Spots?

The ramen ride

Masten Lake to Gowanus Canal at the Pines

Angelo Romano and some pheasant hit Third Avenue

Tejal Rao at M. Wells, Robert Sietsema at Sabor a Mexico Taqueria

Our own Tejal Rao welcomes the return of the Mountie-chic M.Wells Dinette at PS. 1 in Long Island City. The menu,"full of fatty odds and ends, slippery bits and bobs," includes "rustic, respectable dishes done right, like the warm tongue salad with cornichons in a creamy tarragon dressing." Also a ... More >>