For the most dedicated viewers of “Couples Therapy,” a Paramount+ show featuring very real couples undergoing very real therapy with Orna Guralnik, there’s life before you watched the show and life after. And for fans who live in New York City, the show’s New York-ness — the B-roll filmed across the city and the sobering realness and neurosis of its subjects — is undeniable.
This is by design: “Couples Therapy” was born over coffee at Café Regular in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where Guralnik has lived for 20 years. So, she seemed like the perfect first subject for the Where to Eat questionnaire, a series of questions designed to delve deeply into an individual’s restaurant psyche. We don’t require respondents to answer every question, just the ones that speak to them. Guralnik’s answers, including the story of her father’s passing at the Vietnamese-French restaurant Bricolage, are every bit as probing and interesting as the woman herself.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
What was the first restaurant you remember eating at in New York City?
Lucky Strike in SoHo. New York was very cool in 1990. It was really grungy. It was also the AIDS epidemic, and that was not cool. There was a lot of activism going on, and the scene was very different — it was less posh, more gritty and cool. I always went to Lucky Strike with friends, and then when my daughter was born we would take her, too. She had a little girlfriend, and they would do gymnastics together very close by. They would take the fries and burn them in the candle. That was their hobby, and it would drive me absolutely crazy.
What New York City restaurant do you miss the most?
Florent in the meatpacking district. First of all, it was open all night. No 4 a.m. All night. And the waitstaff and the people that were there were friends. It was very downtown New York night time. I like places where the people that work there work there for a really long time, which means they’re paid well and treated well.
Most splurge-worthy restaurant?
No such thing. I don’t believe in overspending on restaurants, considering what is happening in the world.
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