Happy Thursday, my friends! Have you been eating well this summer? I’ve been trying to, as much as I can between weekend trips, and my friend Luke certainly has been. As much as I hate to tear you away from him for the week, it’s time for my great joy: answering reader questions.
This week we’ve got inquiries from a parent hoping to impress their nonchalant teens, a reader with an urgent need for a hot dog and fries (the successor to Caesar salad and fries?), and one hungry, hungry wine drinker.
Got a question for me? Please send it over via email at [email protected], as a submission to this form or via Instagram, where I regularly solicit reader questions in my Stories.
What on Earth do teens want?
Places to impress my teens (13 and 14)? — Marlena
Googling “What are teens into right now?” didn’t prove very fruitful, and it’s been a minute since I was a teen, but I’m going to do my best here. They might find a bustling dining room with red neon lighting cool, right? Gochujang-glazed popcorn chicken in an old-timey striped popcorn bucket feels like a shoo-in, as do potato wedges with truffle mayonnaise and a cheesy tomato Hot Pocket served in an oil-soaked paper wrapper. All of the above can be yours at C as in Charlie in NoHo.
I’m also confident that they’ll be into the photogenic trompe l’oeil desserts, like “Charlie’s deli bagel,” an ice cream sandwiched between two wafers that kinda looks like a bagel, or the “B as in Banana” pudding, which comes with a frosting tube, encouraging you (or your teens, rather) to doodle a design on top.
5 Bleecker Street (Elizabeth Street), NoHo
Hot dog days of summer
Recently, I was in Lower Manhattan with an extreme hankering for a hot dog and fries. Where can I find that? — Meredith B.
I’m going to read between the lines here and assume you want a classic dog, straight up-and-down, when that craving hits. So I won’t suggest a bacon-wrapped BLT dog from Crif Dogs (wonderful) or the once-viral potato-and-Cheetos covered corn dogs at Two Hands. (News alert: The lines are gone!).
For a great, completely regular dog, don’t overthink it. Go to Fanelli Cafe in SoHo, sit with a Diet Coke, or a flawless martini, or, hell, a dirty Shirley, and wait for perfection to arrive: a toasted bun, a charred Pat LaFrieda beef link, sauerkraut, and ketchup or mustard to your liking.
94 Prince Street (Mercer Street), SoHo
Hungry, hungry hipsters
Wine bar in south Brooklyn with small plates that will ACTUALLY fill you up? (I’m a hungry girl.) — Burake T.
How does steak au poivre with a big pile of fries sound? If the answer is, at minimum, “pretty good,” allow me to direct you to Liar Liar, which fits all of your criteria. It’s a wine bar with a small menu that goes beyond the ubiquitous wine bar selection of olives, tinned sardines and sourdough. There’s a perfectly solid Caesar, a $16 sandwich with sweet, lacquered fried chicken and a mountain of pickled onions, but the steak frites with peppercorn sauce is the pièce de résistance. They run a special where you can get a bottle of red — their choice — and that steak for $69, which in this economy is a pretty reasonable date night move.
But wait, there’s more! As Luke and I seem to be in perpetual lock step, he just wrote last week about three more wine bars with food worth seeking out. The hive mind is strong.
285 Nevins Street (Sackett Street), Gowanus
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