Welcome to the nether-period between Thanksgiving and the holidays, when the weather is bleak and the obligations are abundant. To brighten our week, we’re back with our favorite type of newsletter: Answering your questions! We posted on our Instagram story a couple of weeks back to ask for your highly specific requests, and now we’ve got some highly specific recommendations.
Want to send in yours? We’ve got a few ways to get our eyes on your request: There’s this dedicated form that’s linked at the bottom of this all future newsletters, and you can always reach us at [email protected].
Leisurely lunch with the extended family
Weekend lunch with in-laws near Bryant Park? — Tori
This one’s a layup: Café China, a Midtown lunchtime favorite among our staff — easy to walk in, and not too pricey nor too loud, which I think covers the dealing-with-in-laws component. As for the food, you’d be hard-pressed to find something disappointing on the menu, but I always end up with the excellent ma po tofu, spicy cumin lamb and the dan dan noodles that are so good we had to get the recipe.
Also, I haven’t been yet, so this is more of a favor to ask of you: The new Grand Brasserie in Grand Central looks so epic, with big red booths and a mega-long menu, I need to know if the food is any good. If you go that route, report back? BECKY HUGHES
Sandwiches, tout de suite!
Best takeaway sandwiches in Brooklyn? — @doonsles
Oh, sandwiches you say? I know a thing or two about sandwiches. Here are two that require no wait at all: Whenever I go to my vet in Clinton Hill, I always drop by Otway Bakery for their dead simple ham sandwich with thinly sliced white Cheddar, Dijon mustard and cornichons. I also recently had an incredible smoked chicken salad sandwich from Thea — an offshoot of Miss Ada and Theodora in Fort Greene — with shredded chicken swathed in garlic aioli and mustard stuffed into plush pita bread with arugula, pickles, onions, cucumbers and enough dill to power a pickle factory. NIKITA RICHARDSON
Let’s get the gang together
Good tacos, big group, lots of drinks. — Heidi
That’s the most gratifying combination of words I’ve seen in a minute. I’ve had some of the most joyful group meals of my adult life at Panzón in Greenpoint, one of those high-energy restaurants that just makes you happy to be alive. (OK, I may have a flair for the dramatic, but stay with me.) They’ve got tacos, all right: smoked chicken tinga with avocado salsa, rich beef birria, Modelo-battered cod with pineapple pico, and roasted sweet potato. They also have sticky chamoy and tamarind wings that I froth at the mouth for. As for drinks, the El Panzón — a creamy, mezcal margarita made with avocado, cucumber and grapefruit — graces most tables, but my favorite is their version of a Last Word made with mezcal. BECKY HUGHES
Steakhouse anniversary? Don’t be so obvious.
Anniversary spots that aren’t a typical steakhouse or Italian? — Kennedy W.
Yeah, when did major milestones become synonymous with porterhouses and pasta?! You might consider Libertine in the West Village, where dining is like going to Paris without the price of going to Paris. The duck deux façons — succulent duck served two ways — will cost you a pretty penny, but hey, this is an anniversary. Plus, the restaurant is way easier to get into than it was a year ago. Or if you want to avoid Western cuisine altogether, try Sawa, an attractive Lebanese spot in Park Slope that our interim critic Melissa Clark described as “Beirut by way of Brooklyn, but via the local” in a recent review. Like her, I’m obsessed with the fattoush with peaches and sumac, and the delectable lamb chops, though whatever you get will be as special as the occasion. NIKITA RICHARDSON
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