New York….New York, What a Wonderful Dining Town! 34 Million visitors to New York City last year can’t be wrong. We’ve always known that New York is a great place to visit-now, thanks to lower crime and cleaner streets-it looks like a good place to live, too. Provided you have a large expense account and a driver. May have to opt for regular visits. From our Mid-town digs, we were poised to spring in any direction during a recent whirlwind 48-hour jaunt to The Big Apple. The hotel game is called, clean, comfortable and get the best rate! Our last trip found us amid literary history at the fashionable Algonquin on 44th near Times Square. This go round, we opted for a more practical business hotel, The Loew’s New York on Lexington at 51st. If we needed plush, we were just across the street from the Waldorf Astoria and within walking distance of the Regency Hotel-home of New York’s biggest power breakfast. We noshed with Tim Zagat to discuss their upcoming online adaptation of the Zagat Restaurant Guide. Now, in our little corner of NY, as in most every other-we found a perfectly fine deli-give me some corned beef, a cool little diner---Manhattan Chili ain’t Texas Red, but it sure it good on a cold cloudy day, and plenty of sidewalk vendors with the famous pretzels and hot dogs---yes, Mayor Guilliani’s “kinder-gentler” New York by enforcement has not driven them from business. Everywhere you turn there’s great ethnic food in New York---From Soho, Little Italy, Tribeca and ChinaTown---where the Mandarin Garden on Mott Street near Canal turns out some of the best Dim Sum you’ll ever taste-to Uptown, where our after concert visit to Lincoln Center and The London Symphony Orchestra took us to Kaplan Penthouse for a symphony patron party featuring some excellent prime rib, pasta, and salad. This is a great space for a private party---just up the elevator from The Juliard School. Our next evening found us dining at one of New York’s favorite restaurants, Picholine. The beautiful little Southern French Restaurant from Chef Terrance Brennan. In fact, Picholine is an olive grown in the South of France. Terry was one of Food and Wine Magazine’s best new chef honorees in 1995. He’s turned his beautiful little restaurant on West 64th into one of the most popular destinations in Manhattan. In fact, they enjoy three bustling types of clientele throughout the evening….the pre theatre and concert crowd, the dinner hour reservations and the late night after theatre diners. In fact, we fit into two categories by having dinner before we headed over to see the new Christian Slater production “Side Man” and then returning after the Broadway show for one of the most wonderful cheese courses you’ll find. Picholine’s Maitre d’ frommage brings the cart around and discusses preferences and then returns with a perfectly developed progression of delightful cheeses from around the world. Phenomenal! We couldn’t leave Manhattan with trying Gotham Bar and Grill, another of New York’s favorites, voted number 3 in the Zagat Guide. Besides, Chef Alfred Portale has been a guest on the show. The Bar and Grill does not disappoint. The Central Village/NoHo location on East 12th is just off Fifth Avenue. Alfred is doing some wonderful things with Fresh Seafood….and his vertical creations are a work of art. His $19.99 Prix Fixe lunch menu is also one of the best deals anywhere. To add to that, Gotham Bar and Grille also does a Prix Fixe wine tasting menu, which allows you to have 3 half-pours of some very pricey wines for only $19.99-a great way to sample various wines with your meal as the flavors change. In the brown food area, perhaps our roasted butternut squash ravioli with oxtail in a light cream sauce can qualify for honorable mention, but the dessert menu at Gotham Bar and Grill certainly takes the Brown Food Award---Everything from Peatnut Butter Coupe, to Gotham Chocolate Cake with toasted almond ice cream, Walnut and Brown Sugar Tart, Bittersweet Chocolate Tiramisu, Pro-fit-a roles in an almond Espresso with hot fudge sauce---oh yeah, that’s my kind of Brown Food. And two other places to mention on our New York jaunt…..in The Chelsea--Flatiron area, one of New York’s most amazing stores, ABC Carpet and Home, like walking through the mansion of some eccentric, well traveled Victorian millionaire, you’ll find the most wonderful quiet space on the main floor called The Parlour Café, with great teas, sandwiches and other treats. It’s on East 19th Street and Broadway. And just for our Metroplex listeners, I wanted to give you a report on the New Eatzi’s in the fantastic Macy’s Store. Follow the signs through the cavernous store and you’ll find Eatzi’s, with the same qualities you’ve come to know and love in Dallas---great fresh bread, prepared meals to take home, fresh deli, cheeses, sandwiches and more. The difference in New York? Much more room. The New York Eatzi’s is about twice the size of the Oak Lawn Location and there’s a large area to dine-in when you visit Dallas’ gift to Manhattan. Be sure to visit if you’re in New York and want a connection with home---or something good to take back to your hotel room. Picholine 35 W. 64th 212-724-8585 Gotham Bar & Grill 12 E. 12th Street 212-620-4020 Copyright © 1998 Inter Active Media Solutions. All Rights Reserved. The interactive components of this site require that you use a current browser version of Explorer; be sure to maximize your window out so you can see the entire page. 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