Twenty years ago, I asked the restaurant critic of The New York Times why there were so many restaurants in his city. His answer is as relevant today as it seemed perspicacious then. "Unless you earn a significant amount of money here, you simply can't afford an apartment with a dining room," he said. "And without one you are more than likely to eat out most of the time or enjoy a takeaway." Since then, rents have only increased and although TV cookery shows have proliferated in the US, so too has the widespread interest in chefs and all that they get up to in their kitchens. Here are four of my NY favourites.
RED ROOSTER
310 Lenox Avenue, +212 792 9001, redroosterharlem.com
Marcus Samuelsson, a hugely talented chef who was born in Ethiopia, grew up in Sweden and made his mark in New York originally with Aquavit, opened Red Rooster on Lenox Avenue, Harlem six months ago. It has already been the location for a Democratic Party fundraising dinner attended by President Obama. Samuelsson has so far achieved two of his ambitions: to start to restore Harlem to its former glory and to help generate jobs for those who live there. His other aim is to create a really fun restaurant for, as he puts it, "7 to 97 year olds". And Red Rooster's menu packs a lot of fun. The weekend brunch menus feature pecan waffles; lamb hash; red grits with shrimps; and gospel singers. At lunch and dinner fried yard bird (chicken to non Southerners) with hot sauce features alongside blackened catfish and Helga's meatballs with lingonberries. Feet-tappingly good food.
BLUE SMOKE
116 East 27th Street, +212 447 7733, bluesmoke.com
A hundred blocks to the south, on East 27th Street, Blue Smoke offers a similar combination of food and music that will appeal to families of all ages but with perhaps a more defined approach: Jazz Standard in the basement is a magnet for all jazz aficionados while its menu will excite any barbecue lover. The challenge with this menu is almost to decide what not to order. Appetite no object, I would start with a can of North Carolina peanuts, some shrimp corn dogs with an avocado dip and devilled eggs with almonds as a prelude to an order of the rib sampler. With this particular dish, chef Kenny Callaghan allows a comparison of back ribs, spare ribs and beef ribs as smoked in Memphis, Kansas and Texas. And always a slice of key lime pie to finish.
EATALY
200 5th Avenue, +212 229 2560, eatalyny.com
Eataly is only a short walk away, on Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street, but in spirit it is thousands of miles away. This 50,000sq ft building is devoted to the food and wine of Italy but its façade is misleading, merely two canopies which proclaim Eataly Caffe and Eataly Gelato. Inside, however, Eataly opens up to reveal a vast food hall interspersed with several different restaurants. There is La Piazza, a series of standing only tables where plates of salami, cheese and flights of good wine, are brought to you; Il Pesce and Le Verdure, specialising respectively in fish and vegetable dishes, where tables are allocated on a first come, first served basis, the same system that applies at La Pizza & Pasta. Manzo takes reservations and concentrates on Italian meat dishes using US ingredients cooked by Michael Toscano. Eataly is fun, wherever you sit.
PRUNE
54 East 1st Street, +212 677 6221, prunerestaurant.com
Located downtown on East First Street, Prune is the creation of Gabrielle Hamilton, who has recently set down her culinary memoirs in a riveting book, Blood, Bones & Butter. With an open bar, open kitchen, cast iron columns and tables cheek by jowl, the restaurant is reminiscent of a small Paris bistro except that it is even smaller than most, with just 24 seats on the ground floor and one table for six in the basement. The menu is packed with such interesting dishes that the final choice is extremely difficult. Will it be a Parmesan omelette, roasted bone marrow and parsley salad or grilled shrimp with anchovy butter to start? Chicken and salsa verde or poached cod in beurre blanc as a main? A chocolate pot or ricotta fritters to finish? There is an excellent wine list too.
British Airways flies to New York from London City, Gatwick and Heathrow airports. Visit ba.com
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