5 Best Things To Eat at 4Knots

The caprese salad at Acqua is perfect summer fare, and only steps from the 4Knots Music Festival.

[See More 5 Favorites: 5 Cooling Dishes to Beat the Heat | Best Cheap Eats on Eldridge Street]

Tomorrow the second annual 4Knots Music Festival cranks up at the South Street Seaport, with an afterparty to follow at the Beekman Beer Garden Beach Club.

The weather will be decidedly summery tomorrow, and we’re sure you’ll want to get a bite during the marathon festivities. Here are five great things to eat in the immediate vicinity.

5. Pork or Chicken Larb at Bennie’s Thai — Love meat but don’t want to eat steaming masses of it on a warm day? This chill Isaan salad is a do-it-yourself lunch — wrap bits of spicy meat and greenery in the lettuce leaves provided. This dish doesn’t stint on flavor! 88 Fulton Street, 212-587-8930

4. Bratwurst at Beekman Beer Garden and Beach Club — As any Wisconsinite knows (or anyone of German descent), there’s nothing better on a summer day than a grilled brat (pronounced “brahhht” not “brat”), sided with kraut and grainy mustard. The pretzel bun is the beach club’s invention, and quite a good one. 89 South Street, 212-896-4600

3. Coconut Shrimp at Cowgirl Seahorse — This venerable dish is a legacy of famous East Village Caribbean cafe Sugar Reef, and features fried shrimp crusted with a sweet coconut coating. Smoke a spliff, dunk them in the mango dipping sauce, and feel like you’re in Jamaica (but don’t blame me if you’re arrested). 259 Front Street, 212-608-7873

2. Cookie’s Tucker at Nelson Blue — Enjoy this traditional English “ploughman’s lunch” — big enough that you can share it with a friend — at this wonderfully relaxing New Zealand gastropub, with plenty of seating indoors or outside on the Seaport cobblestones. 233-235 Peck Slip, 212-346-9090

1. Caprese Salad at Acqua (pictured at top of page) — Feel like you’re sitting in the cool, darkened interior of a Tuscan farmhouse, and chow down on the city’s most perfect caprese salad. The tomatoes are just as flavorful and juicy as they look in the picture. Wash it down with a glass of Prosecco.21 Peck Slip, 212-349-4433

See further rex from last year’s Our 10 Best Places to Eat at the 4Knots Music Festival in the South Street Seaport