Whether you realize it or not, you’ve probably eaten a ton of Sullivan St. Bakery’s bread. Over 250 of New York City’s restaurants and markets serve this fine yeast, from Babbo to Dean & Deluca to Murray’s Cheese. When you dominate NYC’s dough scene, why not start a pizza joint? Co. (aka Company) is the hip, quasi-new addition to the Sullivan St. Bakery monopoly, and features a more complete menu than other next level pizza-throbs like Motorino and Keste. While the pizza is damn tasty, it’s not of the traditional variety. It arrives in awkward shapes and plays out more like awesome bread with toppings than actual pizza…which is by no means a bad thing.
Looking for the perfect downtown sushi spot to take people when you’re not the one paying the bill? Blue Ribbon is your joint. This slick, modern style sushi restaurant is one of New York City’s signature sushi establishments. I love the anonymous exterior, with little to no signage which signals to me that the food speaks for itself. It’s a great place to go for a late dinner (they’re open until two in the morning), but avoid it during prime time Thurs.-Sat. nights because it gets really packed. If you dare, we highly recommend grabbing a drink at the old-New York haunt Cub Room around the corner. I’ve always had great meals here but I’ve also noticed that the prices just keep going up. To conquer this generous menu, you really don’t want to hold back, so prepare yourself for eighty to ninety dollars a head if you’re really hungry. As we discussed in the beginning, the perfect place to go when you don’t have to pay.
Like most people, the idea of gourmet Mexican is a bit foreign to us. Our south of the border cravings are usually accommodated by cheap tacos and a couple cans of Tecate. Needless to say, we were skeptical going in. $16 margaritas? $28-30 entrees? $21 for guacamole and two salsas? No offense Crema, but we could eat at Mercadito Cantina for a whole week at these rates. When spending our hard earned cash on expensive food, it’s usually not going to be on Mexican. Outrageous prices aside, Crema was a nice surprise. They impressed with a fancy New York take on traditional Mexican. Dishes like their big eye tuna burrito had pretty damn good flavors, textures, and presentation.
Let’s talk scene for one moment – Chelsea is not known for their restaurants so we’ll excuse the wacky clientele. On Infatuation’s recent stop at Crema, here’s what we were working with. To our left, what appeared to be an eHarmony first date between older bridge and tunnel hopefuls, rocking matching his and her bedazzled Ed Hardy gear. To our right, another date. This time, a rather large man, making a mess of himself while making ga ga eyes at his date from across the table. A date that, without a doubt, had at on point in her life, been a dude. Awesome.
Respect. We’ve got a lot of it for Old Town, a straight forward burgers, beer, and whisky kind of place. Over a century of Big Apple history lies within these walls, saturated into their prohibition-era marble bar and stained all over their vintage urinals and toilets. Old Town’s no frills formula has been working for generations. It’s all about the company you keep and beer you drink. It worked back when my grandfather used to come here for a game of checkers. It worked when my father used to come here with his law school buddies, and it works now when I want to grab a low key burger and beer with friends. Old Town is a true throwback. One of the few old-New York bar/restaurants that still exists in its original form from the 1800’s, unfazed by NYC’s always changing trends and fads.
Old Town sports a full menu of salads and sandwiches, all of which I’m sure are relatively tasty in their own right. I wouldn’t know though, because I come here for one reason and one reason only: burgers. Stick with what they do best and you’ll be just fine.
Wow. How did we not know that Kingswood is such a scene? There are so many single ladies circling that bar that it feels like a perfume-laden shark tank. There’s blood in the water and I’m scared.
A restaurant like this is the entire reason that we created a category for Action at the Bar, and we’re also going to tag this one with Drunk Hook Ups, because that’s precisely what’s going down post-meal in Kingswood’s basement bar. Now, a restaurant with a crazy scene usually means mediocre food (Abe & Arthurs), but a meal at Kingswood can actually be pretty great – though everything is a bit too expensive and i’m still not exactly sure how it’s Australian. I certainly didn’t see any Bloomin’ Onions on the menu. The burger is killer, some of the appetizers are excellent, and brunch is good, but at the end of the day, Kingswood is built for one thing – mixing it up with strangers. There’s a large communal table that makes up a good deal of the restaurant’s seating, and the bar in front is a rectangle, perfect for scoping and being scoped. We’ve had a few meals at the bar and have been lucky spectators to a many a game of “slam your wine and go talk to him”. This must be where they find all the girls for The Bachelor.
Feature: Infatuation TV: P.O.S.
