This summer we did a lot of traveling, and we showed you some of our recommendations for all the cities and towns we visited, but in this new season we’re going closer to home.  Today we’re going to feature two restaurants from here in New York – specifically, from the Upper East Side.  These places are less than half a mile from each other, but their location is the only thing they have in common.  One is an old school spot rooted in the Upper East Side’s past immigrant heritage, while the other is a newer restaurant serving up a much different cuisine.  Both were places we enjoyed, and we’re going to show you some of the great food we got, but you should be warned that there’s one image of meat here.

We first went to check out Heidelberg, on 2nd Avenue and 85th Street, which (as you might be able to guess) is a German restaurant.  It’s been around for more than a hundred years, reflecting the fact that the Upper East Side used to be a hub of German immigration.  While we were there we decided to go all out and do the käsefondue, which is made from gruyere and emmenthaler cheeses simmered right at your table with Riesling wine and Kirsch brandy.  It’s a meal for two so we split it – it’s served with raw vegetables, apple slices, cubed bread, and some sausage (it’s a good idea to ask that they put the sausage on a separate plate).

Since this is a pretty big meal in itself, we decided to try just one other thing – the potato pancakes, which come with a side of applesauce.

Now if you head over to 3rd Avenue and 80th Street, you’ll come across Parma Nuova, which is a new iteration of Parma, a restaurant that was an Upper East Side staple for several decades.  Here you can try some Italian food, specifically from the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.  We were happy to discover that we could put together an entirely vegetarian meal, so we started with an order of the cucuzielli fritti – these thin, crispy strands of fried zucchini.

We also shared the insalata parma, made with arugula, endive, radicchio, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, and roasted peppers, all topped with slices of shaved Parmesan.

Then we tried two different pasta dishes:  the mezzi rigatoni alla norma, with tomato sauce, eggplant, and shredded ricotta salata …

… and the gnocchi di parmigiano e tartufo, in a Parmesan cheese and black truffle sauce.

We’ll admit, we don’t get out to the Upper East Side often – the neighborhood has a reputation for being a little snobby, and that extends to the restaurant scene there, where many people wonder if there’s good food or just fancy food.  We think these two places show that there’s some interesting and creative things on offer, where you have your choice of cuisines and can dine in old or very new spots.  We liked getting some fondue in a very classic space, and we also liked trying all-vegetarian Italian offerings in a newer restaurant.  We have a few more Upper East Side spots on our list of places to check out, and we’ll report back on what we find!

Where We Ate: The Parlour Room & Peachy Keen

We’ve been traveling a lot this summer, but during the times we’ve been home we’ve made it a point to scope out some cool restaurants around New York.  Today we’re featuring two of the places we visited recently, which were both new to us.  These spots are in Midtown Manhattan, which can sometimes feel like a wasteland for good food – there’s a lot of mediocre places there that caters to tourists, but if you do your research you can find some gems.  We think these restaurants fit that bill, so read on (but just be warned that some non-vegetarian food is featured here).

First up, The Parlour Room on West 36th Street.  This place focuses on whiskey, and we got some whiskey flights to accompany our meal, but they’ve also crafted a menu of elevated American food that pairs well with the spirits on offer.  We started our meal there with some homemade French onion dip, paired with chips …

… plus a mushroom tart, with a side of spicy aioli.

Then Miriam got a slice of the vegetable lasagna, which comes with a tomato and cabbage slaw on the side.

And Cyril had the house cheeseburger, topped with raclette and served with hand-cut fries.

If you head a little bit north to West 44th Street you’ll find Peachy Keen, which has the ambience of a 50s diner crossed with a disco.  They’ve got all kinds of cool drinks – like a rum punch served in a glass that glows at the bottom – but there’s also a menu of comfort food, like this fried burrata served with a pomodoro sauce.

Here’s what that burrata looks like on the inside:

And here’s their tater tots, made with gravy and cheese curds (sadly, they’re not vegetarian):

We also shared the truffle mac and cheese, topped with fried mushrooms …

… and the peachy greens salad, with almonds, red onions, goat cheese, and peaches in a champagne vinaigrette dressing.

These were both really good finds for us:  at The Parlour Room, we got to sample some whiskeys paired with upscale dishes, and at Peachy Keen we had some cool drinks and tasty classics while bopping along to the music.  The Parlour Room is tucked away among a bunch of office buildings, while Peachy Keen is right near a bunch of Broadway theaters, so it might be easy to overlook them both – but don’t, because they offer some good experiences in a place where restaurants can be kind of bland.  If you happen to be out and about in Midtown and want something unique and tasty, these are two spots that go beyond your typical restaurant menu and offer pretty interesting dining.

Where We Ate: More of the Best Food at Yankee Stadium

As lifelong Yankees fans, we both enjoy getting out to games at least once every season, and in fact we’ve written before about some of the great stadium food you can get at a game.  Due to the pandemic, we hadn’t been to the stadium in a few years, but now that we live pretty close to the Bronx we decided it was a perfect time to visit again.  We went recently on a very warm evening, sweated it out through the first seven innings, got rained on briefly, but stayed to see the Yankees beat the Royals 11 to 5.  And of course we snacked our way through the game – each year some of the food stands at the stadium change and new things are introduced, so we’re always on the lookout for interesting food, and especially vegetarian options.  Here’s our recommendations for what you can get to eat at a Yankees game, but just be warned that there are some meat items here.

First let’s start with some traditional stadium food – burgers and fries.  This year we got seats right near Bobby’s Burgers, which is Bobby Flay’s chain of fast casual restaurants.  All of their other locations are in Las Vegas, but we were glad they had an outpost at Yankee Stadium (near section 132) because they have a really good veggie burger:  it’s this crisp-fried patty topped with cheese and special sauce.

Cyril went with a more traditional burger – this Crunchburger, with potato chips and lots of cheese.

And we also got a side of sweet potato fries.

Hot dogs are also what people love to chow down on during baseball games, and while you can get a basic dog almost anywhere in the stadium, we decided to head to Sumo Dog, which originally started as a Japanese-inspired hot dog spot in Los Angeles but has now migrated across the country to a stand in Yankee Stadium (next to section 201).  Here’s what we had there:  on the left is their classic sumo dog, topped with chopped onions, pickled jalapeños, a wasabi relish, spicy mayo, and nori flakes.  On the right are the sumo tots, which usually come with chili but we asked them to leave it off to make for some vegetarian tots – they’re smothered with cheese sauce, pickled jalapeños and peppers, chopped onions, a spicy mayo and teriyaki sauce, and some wasabi seasoning.

We also had to stop by Grand Slam Shakes in section 125 – we actually went there when it opened back in 2018, but they’ve since introduced a few new flavors of crazy shakes so we thought we’d sample one.  This is the Little Italy, made with vanilla ice cream (you can also opt for chocolate) and chocolate sauce, stuffed with cannoli, and topped with sprinkles.

And finally, for something that’s at least nominally healthy, we went to the Toyota Terrace for some Bronx street corn – it’s a take on elote that features corn topped with a cilantro mayo, cotija cheese, and crumbled Takis.

Our favorite of all these foods was the veggie burger – it was a good, simple meatless option that had all of the trimmings you need for a good burger.  But we also enjoyed getting some loaded tater tots, a creative take on elote, and a fun milkshake as a dessert.  It was great to have some interesting things to nosh on during the game, and we’re glad Yankee Stadium is being thoughtful to offer plentiful vegetarian options.  So if you’re thinking of heading down to the stadium this year, give some of these stands a look and know that there’s plenty to get beyond the usual hot dogs, peanuts, and Cracker Jack.

Where We Ate: Rowdy Rooster, Simò Pizza & Mission Sandwich Social

Today we want to highlight some good lunch spots we’ve discovered recently in New York.  These are all counter service places where you can get a quick bite on the go, and they’re pretty reasonably priced.  They also represent a wide variety of different foods, and we enjoyed what we got at each restaurant so we wanted to share these cool spots as recommendations.  Almost everything we had was vegetarian – though we do have one image of meat here, as a warning – so there’s plentiful options for delicious food at these three spots.

Let’s start in Manhattan:  we first decided to try Simò Pizza over in Chelsea, which specializes in quick-cooking Napoli-style pizzas.  Each pizza is individually-sized, so we decided to get two and split them.  This one is the Tre Gusti, which is three pies in one – it’s a margherita pizza on the left, a pesto and pecorino pizza on the right, and in the middle is a white cacio e pepe, made with both mozzarella and pecorino cheeses.

We also got this burrata and pomodoro pizza, topped with arugula, garlic, and basil.

And we finished up with some pistachio-dipped cannoli.

If you head directly east to the East Village, you’ll come across Rowdy Rooster.  As you might be able to guess from the name, this place specializes in chicken – specifically, fried chicken in the style of Indian street food.  But because India is home to such a large population of vegetarians, there’s also veggie options on the menu.  Miriam was able to get this vada pao, made with a fried potato patty with a spicy chile and chutney sauce, all on a potato bun.

But Cyril definitely wanted to try the chicken, so he got a Big Rowdy, made with a piece of spicy fried chicken (you can choose your spice level – he went all the way to a 4), plus a yogurt mint sauce and pickled onions.

And we also split an order of the fried eggplant pakora.

Now if you want to go over to Brooklyn, you can find Mission Sandwich Social in a storefront in Williamsburg.  They’ve got a fairly extensive menu of San Francisco-style sandwiches made on the city’s famous Dutch crunch bread – and not only do they have several vegetarian options, but you can also make some of their meat-based sandwiches into vegetarian versions by asking them to swap in tofu, eggplant, or Beyond Chicken.  So we decided to get two sandwiches and share them:  first, here’s the Vegan Barbacoa, made with Beyond Chicken tenders doused in hot sauce and chili powder, vegan chipotle mayo, lettuce, tomato, onions, and jalapeños.

And here’s the vegetarian Four Horseman, with Beyond Chicken (instead of a regular chicken cutlet), sharp provolone, barbecue sauce, ranch, lettuce, and tomato.

And for your viewing pleasure, here’s a close-up of that Dutch crunch bread.

It’s pretty amazing that in a city filled with high-end, world-renowned restaurants, you can also find some pretty great and unique cheap eats.  Wanting a quick and less expensive meal doesn’t mean you have to settle for fast food – there are so many interesting local options all over the place.  We got to try some Indian street food, some pizzas, and some sandwiches from the opposite coast.  We really enjoyed hunting down all these places and choosing some good things to eat, and we hope we’ve inspired you to try these spots or search out some good food for yourself.

Where We Ate: Nonna Dora’s & All’antico Vinaio

It’s been a great spring for us so far because (among other things) we’ve gotten to try some new and interesting food spots around New York City, and so we’d like to share with you again the places we’ve been to lately that we’d recommend.  Today we’re featuring two Italian places in Midtown Manhattan, but they come from opposite ends of the restaurant spectrum:  one is a traditional table service spot, while the other serves up much more casual fare.  We enjoyed the unique and delicious food we got at both places, so read on to see what we had the chance to try – but just be warned that there are some images of meat here.

First, if you’re looking for a classic Italian restaurant experience, you can head over to Nonna Dora’s in Kips Bay.  This place has been getting a lot of press since it opened earlier this year – including a glowing review from the New York Times last week – because the food comes from a real life Italian-born nonna.  When we went to visit, we decided to start our meal there by sharing the melanzana, which is Nonna Dora’s version of eggplant parm.

The restaurant also has a very extensive pasta menu, including a number of vegetarian choices, so Miriam got one of the specials of the day:  this pansotti, filled with ricotta and buffalo mozzarella, in a butter, ramp, and morel sauce.

Cyril, meanwhile, decided to try the pasta flight, which starts with this cavatelli in a broccoli rabe and toasted almond pesto …

… then moves to the orecchiette, in a tomato sauce studded with rabbit meat …

… and ends with malloreddus in a sausage and tomato sauce.

Now if you’re looking for something more quick and casual, but also authentically Italian, you can head across the island of Manhattan to 8th Avenue, where you’ll find an outpost of All’antico Vinaio.  This sandwich spot started in Florence, moved on to open a branch in Milan, and more recently debuted an outpost here in New York.  They serve up nothing but sandwiches, except they’re not just any sandwiches – these are made on schiacciata bread, which is a kind of flattened focaccia.  There’s a couple of vegetarian options you can get, and Miriam went with the L.A. Fadeaway, made with arugula, sundried tomato, spicy eggplant and zucchini, and a gorgonzola cream sauce.

And Cyril had the L’inferno, stacked with porchetta, arugula, veggies, and a nduja cream sauce.

We’re really glad we got the chance to try these two spots:  one that comes to New York directly from Italy, and one that comes from the culinary creativity of an Italian immigrant.  And we also liked that we got to try not only a bunch of Italian pasta in a nice sit-down setting, but also some quick and easy sandwiches.  Both were great experiences, and both are spots that we’d recommend if you’re looking for some interesting and authentic Italian food in the city.