Upper West Side

Q&A: Dovetail's John Fraser on Mixed Martial Arts and Vegetable-Forward Cooking

When much-lauded chef John Fraser isn't tending the pass at Dovetail, the acclaimed Upper West Side restaurant he opened in late 2007, he's living a lifestyle that includes vegetable-forward eating and practicing Muay Thai, a form of Mixed Martial Arts known also as Thai boxing. His personal diet ma ... More >>

10 Best Dive Bars in New York, Readers' Edition

When we recently shared our 10 Best Dive Bars, including classics like Sophie's and the Times Square hole Jimmy's Corner, we also asked readers to nominate their own choices, via hashtag #vvdivebars and comments. Dive bars are personal -- every neighborhood has a great one, and every New Yorker has ... More >>

10 Great Ways to Cater Your Passover Seder in New York

Joan Nathan would never cater her Passover seder. The famed cookbook writer known for her Jewish-American recipes usually cooks everything for the holiday, which starts on Monday, March 25. She even hosts a gefilte fish-making party for a few friends at her home in Washington, D.C. "If I didn't have ... More >>

The Upper West Side's Strangest Sandwich?

Wrap your lips around this meaty strangeness. A fixture right on Broadway on the Upper West Side, Big Nick's Burger Joint has been around since 1962 -- just about the time West Side Story came out as a movie, immortalizing the neighborhood for the nation. Big Nick's is a product of that merging of ... More >>

What Do Chefs Eat at Work? From Pig-Head Pozole to Cheese Steaks, Notes on Restaurant Staff Meals

This week's review is of Cocina Economica Mexico on the Upper West Side, where Pedro Hernandez Perez was put in charge of a Mexican kitchen after winning over David Bank and the Land Thai team with the family meals he prepared, inspired by his hometown of Puebla. To celebrate good family meals (the ... More >>

Leather Bar Rawhide Will Close in Chelsea; 5 Ninth Shutters in Meatpacking District

Saigon Grill brought Vietnamese food to the Upper West Side, but after two closures due to health-code violations, its doors have shut for good, West Side Rag learned. A note dated February 26 hung in a window and said, "Restaurant official closed. We're sorry for inconvenience with you." 620 Amster ... More >>

Cole's Greenwich Village Opens, Sen Launches Lunch

Cole's Greenwich Village is the newest restaurant from David Rabin of the Lamb's Club and Jimmy, and is now open for dinner and drinks. Cole's features three rooms: a dining room, cafe, and bottle room, complete with a drink list from a mixologist's wet dream. The dinner menu features American dishe ... More >>

Anonymous Sex In Steam Rooms: An Inside Report

This just came in from reader Jason Wise. Stretch. That's what 9 out of 10 personal trainers will tell you to do after a good workout. And somewhere warm. I'm a dancer, which means aside from stretching AFTER a work out, I have been scarred into stretching BEFORE a work out, in fear of getting in ... More >>

Qi Thai Grill Opens in Williamsburg, American Flatbread Opens in Tribeca

Williamsburg got a new thai spot from Pichet Ong and Sripraphai Tipmanee. Qi Thai Grill opened last week on N. 9th Street and the menu features a combination of small plates from Tipmanee's Woodside restaurant Sripraphai, and savory specials and desserts from Ong. Think Chiang Mai sausages and beef ... More >>

Simit--'Turkish Bagel'--Invades the Upper West Side

The simit tastes pretty good, but is it actually a bagel? Above: the whole wheat simit A neophyte chain called Simit Smith has introduced a new sort of bagel to the Upper West Side. In Turkey, it's known as a simit, but there are a half-dozen other names for it in the Middle East, Greece, Romani ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg Opened Homeless Shelters On The Upper West Side. Gasp!

The U.S. economy currently is in the shitter, and with that comes high unemployment, which, naturally leads to more homeless people. So, in response to the spike in homelessness, Mayor Mike Bloomberg has setup homeless shelters in some of New York City's pricier neighborhoods.And who lives in New Yo ... More >>

Live: Rock And Roll Shape-Shifts And Settles Into The Ding Dong Lounge

Strapping Fieldhands w/Escape By Ostrich, Harpoon Forever, Aaron Rosenblum Ding Dong Lounge Saturday, July 28 Better than: Being in the maze. There aren't many people actively watching the bands at the Ding Dong Lounge on Saturday night, though the music doesn't get ignored either. In one part of ... More >>

$1 Empanada Cart at Havana Central

[See More Events: Cooking Channel's Summer Eats Pop-Up | Food Vendors Announced for Catalpa Music Festival] Cheap pizza, hamburgers, ice cream... what's next? Empandas, apparently. Havana Central will be bringing out a $1 empanda cart from July 18 to August 31 outside the restaurants' storefronts. ... More >>

Say Goodbye To Friend House, Nuela

​​It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. Know of any restaurants or bars opening or closing? Drop us a line. Amid a bankruptcy filing, lawsuits, and mounting debt, Friend House in the East Village has shuttered. [The Local East Village] Nuela (43 West 24th Street) is not coming back and in its ... More >>

Historic Jazz Site in Harlem Rehabilitated, Houses Formerly Homeless New Yorkers

At a time when social services are facing sometimes difficult cuts, one organization is celebrating the funding it received from the city to rehabilitate a housing project in Harlem that provides homes and services to the chronically homeless. Housing and Services Inc., or HSI, -- an organization t ... More >>

Helen Rosenthal Fundraises for City Council Bid in a Competitive Upper West Side Race

It's the most wonderful time of the year -- when aspiring politicians across the city start to discuss their bids for public office and the large amounts of money they've already raised. Runnin' Scared is hoping to catch up with eager pols across the city in upcoming weeks and we thought we would st ... More >>

Chicken Waffle Wings All Over the Web

The result (left) and the process (right) Thanks to San Francisco correspondent @tracyjane and Upper West Side bon vivant Justin Kennington for clueing us in to this snack food newly invented by the website Dude Foods. Looks like a pretty nifty idea, except maybe you don't want your Teflon waffle ... More >>

With Slightly Oliver, Opening Thursday, Craft Cocktails Inch Their Way Past Midtown

Not entirely Oliver​Looks like the Upper West Side is getting more than just a locavoric farmhouse. It's also getting a new craft-cocktail lounge, manned by an all-star team of chefs and bartenders, to boot.

Dorothy Parker Fan Attempts to Save the Writer's Childhood Home

DorothyParker.com​Sad news today for the old(er) New York includes Cooper Union denying St. Mark's Bookshop a lower rent to help keep them in business. And in other news of historic import, Dorothy Parker's childhood home, a 1890s limestone row house at 214 West 72nd Street, is slated for poss ... More >>

Signage Is Up at the New Sunburnt Calf BK

Chantal MartineauAnother shrimp on the BK?​ While the rest of us kicked back and enjoyed the long weekend, the folks from Sunburnt Cow were busy at work, as evidenced by the signage for the new Sunburnt Calf in Brooklyn that went up on Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights.

Robert Sietsema at Papaye, Uptown African Restaurant and Accra; Lauren Shockey at Tenpenny

This week in the Voice, Robert Sietsema goes West African at Papaye, Uptown African Restaurant, and Accra. Lauren Shockey finds fun and value in Midtown at Tenpenny.​ Sam Sifton discovers the reason Brooklyn Heightians are staying close to home these days, awarding Colonie one star: "Long and ... More >>

16 Handles Set to Spread, Contagion-Like, Along the East Coast

16 Handles​When 16 Handles opened in the East Village in 2008, it appeared indistinguishable from the glut of frozen yogurt shops that at the time were colonizing storefronts across the city. But now it appears that the store's name, so oddly evocative of adipose tissue, will soon be familiar ... More >>

Open & Closed: Say Hello to 61 Local, Goodbye to The City Grill

Restaurants and bars, they come and they go. Here are a few making their debuts and bowing out this week. La Taqueria in Park Slope has closed completely after downsizing from sit-down restaurant to takeout joint in October. [Eater] East Village vegan café the Little Bird appears to be closed and ... More >>

FishTag's Mussel Men of the Upper West Side

Ryan Skeen joins Michael Psilakis to cook up some water creatures

New York Tops Writers' Best Meals of 2010

Who doesn't love NY?​ No one needs to tell us that The Big Apple tops the charts when it comes to eating. But for additional proof that it's the best city for dining, Gadling has rounded up some food and travel writers' best meals from 2010. New York takes the cake!

Open & Closed: Say Hello to Eton Vanderbilt; Goodbye to The Corner

Restaurants and bars, they come and they go. Here are a few making their debuts and bowing out this week. Tribeca mainstay, Columbine, is closing after 13 years of operation. Owner Barbara Stratton is planning to relocate nearby. [Tribeca Trib via Grub Street]​ The Corner on the Upper West S ... More >>

Open & Closed: Say Hello to Lani Kai, Goodbye to Silk Road Palace

Restaurants and bars, they come and they go. Here are a few making their debuts and bowing out this week. It looks like Village Tart in Nolita is, in fact, closed for good. The shutter's been down for a month, and now former employees have graffitied their grievances on the window. [Eater] Silk Ro ... More >>

Fairway to Open Branch on UES

In the biggest Fairway news since the shop's cafe in the UWS branch was given a new lease on life, the Time's FloFab reports that the Upper East Side will get a Fairway at 240 East 86th Street. Fairway partner Howard Glickberg told the Times that the branch will open in about six months and stret ... More >>

Open & Closed: Say Hello to Gazala, Goodbye to Bon Vivant

Restaurants and bars, they come and they go. Here are a few making their debuts and bowing out this week. Bon Vivant, a Greek diner on Broadway near 12th Street, appears to be closed. The gate is down and the phone is going unanswered. [EV Grieve]​ Gazala Halabi of Gazala Place is opening he ... More >>

Rachael Ray Pissed at Good Housekeeping; Marcus Samuelsson Takes Top Chef Masters

​ Michael Psilakis is looking for locations for his next venture in four different Manhattan neighborhoods: Midtown East, Upper West Side, the East Village, and the West Village. Plus, his Williamsburg project is still a "work in progress." Busy man. [Grub Street] Rachael Ray called out Good ... More >>

Say Hello to Leona's; Goodbye to Pinch & S'Mac

Restaurants and bars, they come and they go. Here are a few making their debuts and bowing out this week. Lucy Browne's, the restaurant that replaced Steak Frites last summer, has closed. The owner, Andrew Silverman, filed for bankruptcy in February. [Eater]​ Pinch & S'Mac, the Upper West Si ... More >>

This Week's Voice: The Hold Steady, Flying Lotus, Daddy Yankee In Space, and the Return of the Jazz Rent Party

Flying Lotus, yet another outstanding cultural accessory to smoking weed. Photo by Timothy Saccenti​In this week's Village Voice, Rob Harvilla writes the definitive piece on the Hold Steady's newest, Heaven Is Whenever, while Mike Powell explains the omnivorous electronic headphone music of L. ... More >>

Chatting With Luke Holden: Con Edison, $30 Lobster Rolls, Maine Pride

Photo courtesy of Luke's LobsterLuke Holden​Luke Holden is loathe to call himself a chef -- "I am no chef" were his first words after he picked up the phone to talk to us -- but he inarguably knows a thing or two about how to make a superlative lobster roll. The son of the owner of one of Main ... More >>

Tangled Vine Adds Brunch & Cocktails, Eyes Expansion

Caleb FergusonTangled Vine spreads its roots.​Tangled Vine Wine Bar & Kitchen, with its Evan Spingarn-curated list of organic, biodynamic, and sustainable wines, already has its sights set on a second location. Owner Bruce Kravetz recently revealed that has has looked at potential locations on ... More >>

Mario Batali Accused of Labor Violations; The City's Best Restaurant Breads

​The final episode of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC had mediocre ratings, earning less less than 4 million viewers and losing to Dateline and a repeat of Medium. [NY Post] Asian carp are reviled by fishermen in the North, but in the South, they're being rebranded as Kentucky tune: "a ... More >>

Bike Blessing Ceremony Spurs Brief Interest in DIY Blessings

​The Cathedral of St. John the Divine is hosting the 12th annual blessing of the bikes this Saturday at 9:30 am, we have learned from West Side Independent. The Reverend Canon Thomas Miller will sprinkle holy water upon the bikes in attendance, and cyclists who gone up to the big bike path in ... More >>

Possible Preview of the Preview of Fatty 'Cue on New Year's Eve

​Could this double-smoked pork belly be half a special Fatty 'Cue dish being served at Fatty Crab on New Years Eve? A friend and I were hanging out at the uptown Fatty Crab a couple of evenings ago, with the ostensible purpose of comparing the food at the uptown and downtown branches. (Inquir ... More >>

A Possible Preview of a Preview of Fatty Cue at Fatty Crab(s)

​Could this double-smoked pork belly be half a special Fatty 'Cue dish being served at Fatty Crab on New Years Eve? A friend and I were hanging out at the uptown Fatty Crab a couple of evenings ago, with the ostensible purpose of comparing the food at the uptown and downtown branches. (Inquir ... More >>

Calgon, Take Us Away

Beauty products that transport—if only temporarily

The History of the Bohemian Fashion World, Part One

Letters

The Best Votes Money Can Buy

Facts and figures of the most expensive election campaign in U.S. history

Matchmaking 2.0

Worth the Splurge

Letters

Gods and Monsters

Studio Apartment In Mid-19th-Century Brownstone

Like a Flame—Fame!

Mobile Homeless

For many of New York City's dispossessed, the safest place is on wheels.

Borough Perk

Daniel Talbot Is Brooklyn Bound