UN EATS
- Deborah Baldwin and Irwin Arieff
- • May 5, 2022

Everything about Montagu’s Gusto is unexpected, from its name and the size and sweep of its menu to its location, on a nondescript stretch of Second Avenue near 35th Street, sandwiched between a reflexology salon and a Chinese takeout…
- Categories: UN EATS
- Deborah Baldwin and Irwin Arieff
- • December 28, 2021

Once upon a time, self-appointed food critics tasted a dish and gave it thumbs up (or down). These days it has to pass a different test. Is it ready for its close-up? Don’t blame restaurants for tuning in. As…
- Categories: UN EATS
- Deborah Baldwin and Irwin Arieff
- • October 14, 2021

The next time you pass by a florist who is pulling shots, pull over. It’s not often you get to inhale the heady perfume of freshly brewed coffee, hand-tied bouquets and artfully potted flowering plants. Remarkably, you can have…
- Categories: UN Diplomats, UN EATS
- Irwin Arieff and Deborah Baldwin
- • November 21, 2019

Second Avenue near the United Nations is not exactly expense-account row, which makes Château 49 something of an anomaly, in more ways than one. There aren’t many spots in this area where you can order two glasses of red…
- Categories: UN EATS
- Sonah Lee-Lassiter
- • September 20, 2019

New Yorkers know full well to avoid East Midtown Manhattan around mid-September. During those few weeks, when the United Nations General Assembly opens its annual session, multiple street blocks go into a major security gridlock in this part of…
- Categories: UN Diplomats, UN EATS
- Irwin Arieff
- • July 11, 2019

Six years ago, hungry staff members at the United Nations’ New York headquarters thought big changes were afoot in the cafeteria, and not a moment too soon. Toward the end, the provider, Aramark, a publicly traded firm best known…
- Categories: UN EATS
- Irwin Arieff
- • May 24, 2019

Sure, you could check out The Pho 5 for its oversized bowls of beefy pho, its slurpable vermicelli and its tempting summer and spring rolls. But don’t snub the tacos. As slick nouvelle-Vietnamese cooking is trending, The Pho 5…
- Categories: UN EATS
- Irwin Arieff
- • February 14, 2019

Little Tong wants you to fall in love with its rice noodles, known as mixian in Yunnan province, their place of origin. But don’t ignore the big draw at this diminutive Turtle Bay restaurant — as if you could:…
- Categories: UN EATS
- Irwin Arieff and Deborah Baldwin
- • April 27, 2018

Some people at the United Nations remain in mourning since Matisse shut down in February after serving as the corner cantine to hungry diplomats and their friends and neighbors for nearly nine years. If you are still feeling a…
- Categories: UN EATS
- Irwin Arieff
- • January 18, 2018

Per conventional wisdom, it’s a big mistake to go out for Chinese food in Midtown Manhattan. For great Chinese dishes in New York, make your way to Chinatown; if not the one in Manhattan, then in Brooklyn or Queens….
- Categories: UN EATS
- Irwin Arieff
- • June 2, 2017

Peak Thai is hidden on a side street — East 49th — and easy to miss. It may never win a Michelin star. But there’s a reason lines form around noon: you can count on this quiet, efficiently run…
- Categories: UN EATS
- Irwin Arieff
- • December 15, 2016

During New York’s bad old days, Vanderbilt Hall, the waiting room at Grand Central Terminal, was a vast public space populated by homeless people napping on heavy wooden benches alongside some hardy souls actually waiting for trains. The benches…
- Categories: UN EATS
- Irwin Arieff
- • September 18, 2016

Diplomacy is hard work, and you can easily work up a fierce appetite at United Nations headquarters, whether you’re an actual diplomat or just there to watch. Here are five spots — in no particular order — where you…
- Categories: UN EATS
- Irwin Arieff
- • August 3, 2016

It’s an unforgivable cliché, of course, to say that good things come in small packages. But hey, in this case, it is true. @ The Spot is about as small as a place can get and still count as…
- Categories: UN EATS
- Irwin Arieff
- • June 9, 2016

It started out as fast and filling food for impoverished students. Now ramen is a huge commodity and restaurants are ladling it out all over New York City, often with haute cuisine pretensions and prices to match. So what’s…
- Categories: UN EATS