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 wine at high noon without apology, tuck into slow-cooked coq au vin and relax over lunch … Read more A Crozes-Hermitage With That Burger, Please
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 town. Despite the increase in crowds and traffic, the world leaders, diplomats and international policy influencers … Read more Craving Ceviche and Other Delights During the UN General Assembly? A NYC Foodie Guide
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 for its catering at prisons and baseball stadiums, replaced silverware with plastic and got rid of all trays, … Read more The UN Headquarters’ Incredibly Shrinking Dining Choices
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 offers simpler, more straightforward fare, in a sliver storefront on Third Avenue near 39th Street. The … Read more At The Pho 5, Vietnamese-Style Tacos and Slurpy Noodles
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: incendiary spice blends that make your mouth sting and eyes tear up the moment you plant … Read more Little Tong Noodle Shop, Packing the Heat and the Crowds
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. But that may no longer be the case, thanks to an increasingly impressive collection of Midtown … Read more Jasmine: Authentic Chinese Food Now Starring in Midtown Manhattan
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 restaurant for solid cooking and pocket-friendly prices. These days, that’s no small thing. It is minutes … Read more Peak Thai, a UN Neighborhood Star
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 were banished in the 1970s and the space has been at loose ends ever since, used … Read more The Danes Shake Up Dining Choices at Grand Central Terminal
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 can take a break and get a good meal within easy walking distance of the General … Read more Five Places to Eat a Quick, Tasty Lunch Near the UN
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 the big deal about a bowl of broth with noodles? Well, how about if the guy … Read more Momosan: Ramen Specialties Cooked by an Iron Chef
Entering Sons of Thunder, past pictures of surfboards and surfing, you might think this Murray Hill restaurant is dedicated to the thundering of waves. In a sense it is. The top dish here is poké, derived from a Hawaiian snack based on marinated raw tuna. The name, however, derives from the Bible: among the 12 … Read more Poké, a Hawaiian Import, Makes Big Waves on 38th Street
Foxy John’s calls itself an Irish bar, and it’s true that Guinness and Jameson flow there freely. But the place looks like a sports bar, feels like a neighborhood watering hole and dishes out food that is more Cajun, Mexican or Italian than Irish. So don’t bother stopping by for lunch or a midafternoon break … Read more Foxy John’s: A Flat-Screen Jungle, Volume Turned Low
In the beginning, chefs created amazing food in Manhattan, and the critics said their restaurants were good. Then the darkness lifted over the waters of the East River, and chefs began creating amazing food in Brooklyn, and New Yorkers flocked to Brooklyn, by bridge and tunnel and yeah, even by subway, and some critics soon … Read more The Best Bets at UrbanSpace Vanderbilt, a New Food Hall Near Grand Central
It’s a balmy summer evening, but the United Nations neighborhood has few places where you can grab a beer and a burger or a salad under the glow of office towers. So it was a pleasant surprise to be invited by old friends for drinks at Tuttles Bar & Grill, where two well-concealed outdoor terraces … Read more Ah, Wilderness: Escaping to Tuttles’ Backyard
It started out as a health food store. Maybe you never went inside, but it was easy to spot for its eye-catching sidewalk signs touting Bladder Control Tea. Then a tiny lunch counter appeared, displacing a few of the shop’s bright-green racks piled high with vitamins. The menu: sushi, smoothies and noodle soup. UN staffers, … Read more Serious Sushi Tempts Customers to a Restaurant With No Name
Tres Carnes, a New York mini-chain with a new branch in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan, touts its food as a marriage of Tex-Mex and Texas-style barbecue. The wedding may spice up your lunch hour, but the pairing does not dazzle. While some of the dishes stand out, it’s mostly just Mexican fast … Read more Tres Carnes: Barbecue and Tex-Mex Hook Up
Alidoro is the sandwich shop of my dreams, and that’s a problem. Other people seem to feel the same way. Drop by between 11:30 and 2:30 and you may get so hungry waiting in line to order your lunch you’ll be tempted to put in a call to Domino’s. Situated on a nondescript stretch of East … Read more Eating Like an Italian at Alidoro
Fusion is the fashion these days, but the concept is fairly fuzzy. It can just mean that an Italian and an Argentine got married and decided to share a stove. But if you’re lucky, it will really mean that some great minds with good cooking skills have pooled ingredients and techniques from different parts of … Read more Asian Fusion That Shines With Star Power
If you didn’t know it was there, you could easily walk right by the new Luke’s Lobster, just east of Third Avenue on East 43rd. Scaffolding next door has left the double glass doors at the front of the restaurant in the dark, and there’s only a small blackboard sign to let you know you’re … Read more Luke’s Lobster, Offering Seafood Alfresco
Should you go to a health-food restaurant just because the food is good for you? No, you should go there because the cooking is healthy and tastes great. Now, a related question: If you call your place “Kale” and add chopped bits of it to nearly every dish on the menu, will they come? To … Read more Hearing a Call for Kale? A New Spot for Aficionados
