'wichcraft

'wichcraft is a great little sandwich place in the village. I went there with Matt, a friend visiting from out of town. The restaurant is part of the "Craft" collection of restaurants (recently we also went to CraftBar). The menu is pretty simple with about a dozen sandwich choices including hot and cold sandwiches. I ordered the grilled gruyère with caramelized onions on peasant bread. It was grilled on a panini press and was quite crunchy on the outside but not to hard to bite through. The cheese was flavorful, though I thought it could have been a little stronger or saltier.

There are several more sandwiches on the menu that I'd like to try. Overall this is a great place for a great but quick and casual lunch. You walk though a line to order but your order is brought to your table once you find your seat. The prices are a little high for a sandwich, but the quality equals or exceeds the price. (now that I live nearby) I'll definitely go back!

Bubby's

Bubby's is the top place to get home cooking and great pie in lower Manhattan. On a Saturday night, we had to wait about ten minutes for a table, and it was easily worth it. The atmosphere was fun and family oriented. It was decorated as an old farm house might be with lots of trinkets and old photographs. The service was friendly though it wasn't always prompt.

We really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when we sat down. Clark just had to try the chicken and waffles, and his only complaint is that it wasn't greasy enough. I tried the macaroni and cheese, and a side of spinach, and my only complaint was that it was too much food. Everything we tried met our standards for great home cooking. Due to the huge portions, we didn't have any room left for dessert, but someday will try Bubby's out just for the pie.

Written by V

Spring Street Natural

Spring Street Natural Restaurant was founded in 1973 in the heart of SoHo. The Restaurant quickly became a neighborhood fixture, serving up fresh, healthy cuisine at affordable prices to local denizens.

We went to Spring Street Natural because we couldn't get in at nearby Balthazar. It was a cool space, very open and light and also very crowded. Unfortunately we weren't that impressed with the food. I ordered a shrimp and mushroom risotto which seemed more watery than creamy. V had the Mayan eggs which included two eggs on a yellow corn tortilla with black beans, Monterrey Jack cheese, guacamole, lettuce, and ranchero sauce. She was disappointed because it wasn't as salad-like as she expected. I guess that doesn't mean it was bad, it just didn't meet her expectations.

Overall it is a really cool restaurant, with pretty reasonable prices and a neat atmosphere. Maybe we'll try a something else next time, because there's a lot of good looking stuff on the menu.

Café Gray

A world of elegance, gracious hospitality and superior food

— the world of Café Gray

After our dining experience at Café Gray, I'd say this description on their website is apt. V and I went to a fancy dinner here at the Time Warner Center to celebrate Valentine's Day. That saddest part of the experience is knowing now that the restaurant is closing.

Our meal was amazing, and the culinary highlight was the house specialty mushroom risotto. It was just so creamy and with a great mushroomy flavor. The second course that really amazed us was the short rib, which was served with grits and a mustard sauce.

Besides the food, the service was great, with a very formal dining style. The wine list was impressively pricey, I think we picked one of the cheapest bottles - at around $60! But it was a very good bottle of wine.

Finally, the other amazing thing about the restaurant was the view: windows looking out over Central Park and Columbus Circle. And before that is the kitchen - out in the open in the restaurant. So through the meal I was able to see the chefs preparing dishes, with a backdrop of the city at night. It was really a treat. At the end of our meal we also got a private tour of the chef's table, which is tucked in a corner of the kitchen. I think it too would be a bit pricey to reserve, but if I ever had a chance...

It was a great meal, and though the restaurant is closing, there are rumors that a new location will open soon near Times Square, which may be a good move, as I'd say Café Gray is a great pre-theatre choice.

PDT

PDT stands for Please Don't Tell. It is a speakeasy hidden away on St. Marks Place. You have to get in by going into a hidden phone booth with a secret door. Generally reservations are required, but if you get there early enough and you're a small party (e.g. 2) you can generally get a seat at the bar.

Really the place is all about the cocktails which run from $12 to $22 and are created by a mixologist. The food on the other hand is served on paper plates $6 for a hot dog and $3 for tater tots or waffle-cut fries. I guess you can see where their priorities are. The place is next door to Crif-Dogs, a hot-dogs-only restaurant (which contains the secret entrance) and which also provides the food, through a secret pass-through window at the back of the bar.

Sitting at the bar is the best place to be as far as I'm concerned because the process of making each cocktail is fairly elaborate. I've been to PDT two or three times and my favorite cocktail is the Bacon-Infused Old Fashioned. It has a great taste and is nice to sip.

The hot dogs aren't anything plain either - there is a specialty hot dog called the Chang Dog (named in honor of the chef David Chang - whose restaurants I have yet to go to, though they are about a block away). It is a deep-fried hot dog wrapped in bacon and smothered with Chang’s own Momofuku Ssäm Bar red kimchee purée. I was a little afraid of that though I hear it is amazing. I went for the everything bagel hot dog which has cream cheese and the everything bagel seasoning mix. Very good. And I'd say it went well with my twice-as-expensive cocktail.

The atmosphere is really cool, dark and manly, with wood paneling and mounted animals on the walls, and dark red leather booths. I think it only seats about 20 people and they don't allow anyone to stand around the bar. All together it comes together well. I feel a little embarrassed going into the phone booth, kind of like a tourist, even though I'm 'in on the secret' but I'll definitely bring people back to PDT, and keep it at the top of my list for special occasions.

Pigalle

Gastronomically, you are in an area where goose and duck dominate, often cooked over wood smoke, where fresh river salmon and trout grace the tables of the open air café culture. Dishes from South West France that make use of ingredients which the region has in abundance, such as wild mushrooms, truffles, duck, foie gras, walnuts, chestnuts, hams, cheeses and wines and armagnac.

This is Pigalle, a French restaurant in the theatre district. I've been twice, and definitely enjoyed the food and the atmosphere. The description above, from Pigalle's website, may be a little over the top, but the food is definitely well considered and prepared. Perhaps it is victim of the culture/neighborhood to which the restaurant must cater being one block from dozens of theaters means the restaurant is inundated from six to eight each evening with a diverse-but-casual crowd who may not even know what they're walking in to when the step inside. Unfortunately, this leads the servers to focus more on getting the food out on time and less on other aspects of service. I can say though that V and I came in at practically the last minute before a show, and were able to enjoy soup and appetizers with time to spare to head over and find our seats at Grease.

I can't say that I've actually had much French food, besides my semester abroad in Belgium (and of course lots of French fries). Still, I was duly impressed with the food at Pigalle. The Pigalle Cassoulet, a white bean stew with confit of duck, pork, garlic sausage and smoked bacon, was rich and flavorful, and just made me happy. Appetizers including escargots, an "olive cake" with goat cheese fondue, and crab cakes with a pimento mayo are rich and unique, while not being too large as to spoil the diner. The French onion soup was classic: delicious, cheesy, salty. V had the black bean soup that was also very good (in fact it inspired me to make black bean soup of my own).

Overall Pigalle is a nice pre-theatre restaurant, and a great choice for reasonably priced (good) French cuisine. I liked it well enough that I went back, and I would again, too. There's one thing on the menu I really want to try too: absinthe!

Patsys Pizzeria

After church one Sunday, V and I stopped by Patsys Pizzeria on the Upper East Side (we intended to go to California Pizza Kitchen, across the street, but it was closed). So Patsy's had to do. The pizza was probably more authentic than CPK, or at least a more authentic style. The atmosphere was warm and inviting, with brick walls and a crowded dining room filled with a wide range of people - couples, families, groups, parties, etc. We started with an appetizer of fried zucchini and squash. It was well seasoned and not overly breaded. The pizza we shared was good, not too big. We chose toppings to make our own pizza, they didn't offer any special/particular combinations. Onions, mushrooms, sausage made for a good combination. I don't have much else to say, except that Patsys was reasonable, comfortable and affordable. I'd probably not go out of my way to eat there, but, if I was in the neighborhood, it would definitely be a good choice.