Tribesmen and women city-wide are frantically polishing off the last crumbs of their chametz and stockpiling matzo in preparation for Passover. April 2-10 is a torturous time for many and, though crispy potato kugels and nutty bowlfuls of charoset may soften the blow, there’s still a grim specter that hovers over Gothamist’s Passover table. We’re referring of course to gefilte fish, that jellied quenelle-like bitch of a dish whose nuances are often lost on the... [continue]

Generally speaking, Gothamist isn’t moved by most of Greenpoint’s many Polish restaurants. Perhaps owing to some early scarring experiences at a fading Borsht Belt resort, we’re seldom inspired to board the G Train and make the long haul north for a plate of boiled cabbage. Still, Krolewskie Jadlo, or “King’s Feast” piqued our interest. Chef Krzysztof Drzewiecki (formerly a chef at Nobu as his website repeatedly portends) traded maki for herring to open “a restaurant... [continue]

In keeping with our affection for offbeat bites, Gothamist trekked out to Ridgewood this week to get a taste of Sietsema-sanctioned "Balkan Burgers." Bosna Express is a dismal little place tucked beneath the subway rail at Forest Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens. Its neighbors include a Montenegrin social club and a sprawling basketball plaza dotted with the occasional deflated ball. It's not a scenic place, or even a particularly inviting one, but it has something that... [continue]

The name might smack of molecular gastronomy but at Alchemy, a new Park Slope gastropub, there’s nary a TeppanNitro to be found. In fact, owner Kevin Read’s formula is a simple one—fine ingredients, delicate, but not precious preparations, and a convivial environment reminiscent of Alchemy’s London counterparts. Read confirmed that Chef Jared King (Peacock Alley, Oceana) who opened the space has since left. “He helped us open as a consultant,” he said. “His leaving was... [continue]

From beastly brisket sandwiches to Bruni-sanctioned shrines to pork, Brooklyn has established itself as a dining destination worthy of a restaurant week all its own. Now in its fourth year, Dine in Brooklyn (Monday, March 19, through Friday, March 30) offers an opportunity to sample nearly 200 of the borough’s best at $21.12 (honoring Brooklyn’s zip code, ‘112’) for three courses. Participating restaurants range from perennial favorite and harbinger of sustainable cookery Applewood to Park... [continue]

Despite a recent triumph for Carroll Gardens, an area that once hosted one of the city’s most concentrated Italian communities, there are few remaining vestiges of the neighborhood that was. Among them is Sam’s Restaurant, a quintessential red sauce joint and pizza destination helmed by Louie Migliaccio, the self-named “Son of Sam.” Though the place isn’t exactly bustling, it is without the sense of doom that lingers over so many neighborhood relics that feel... [continue]

The vagaries of a properly made Tortilla Española have plagued Gothamist for years. A thick egg based dish, a tortilla has a more robust structure than its slutty cousin, the omelet, and is traditionally made with only potato and egg. The addition of other vegetables (peppers, peas, chives and onions most frequently) or other leftover foodstuff--from noodles to ham--is also common in the Spanish home. Having first encountered the bonne bouche in its native environs,... [continue]

There’s no home in the Hamptons for poor, old Gothamist. No bungalow on Fire Island, not even a shack on the Jersey Shore. No, Gothamist prefers (and by “prefers” we mean “has no other option than”) to summer in Coney, in Brighton or Rockaway or waiting on line at Shake Shack. And though we spend the balance of most summers huddled around our puttering air conditioner, we’re feeling a touch nostalgic for those balmy... [continue]

When Rafael Hasid shuttered neighborhood standard Hill Diner, it seemed that the promise of a proper Israeli breakfast was retreating ever further into the horizon. Hasid reopened the spot this month as Miriam, a second location of his modern-Israeli concept, which has held court in Park Slope since 2005. The Israeli breakfast survived the switch unscathed. Gothamist credits Miriam with breaking the falafel autocracy to which most Israeli restaurants in New York have resigned.... [continue]

While our comparatively well-paid proxies jetted off to enjoy their three-day weekends in the sun, Gothamist stayed home and indulged our sorrows with what we imagined (wrongly, as it happens) would be a journey into the bleakest corners of the former Soviet Union—Vostok, a traditional Bukharian restaurant deep in the heart of Boro Park. For the uninitiated, the term Bukharian refers to a community of Central Asian Jews originally coming out of the city of... [continue]

After our disappointing foray into the world of Park Slope picnic fare, we scoffed at the neighborhood's promise of a gourmet hotdog. But Willie's Dawgs, the Technicolor lovechild of husband and wife team Ellen Lutter and Tom Anderson, may well have turned the tides. The menu features Karl Ehmer all-beef natural casing dogs ("Mutts") as well as a grass-fed "Pedigree" beef dog, Turkey and Chicken dogs and two vegetarian options. The pair have cooked... [continue]

On the hunt for a lunch/brunch spot whose griddle cook we don’t know by name, Gothamist headed to the newish Cheryl’s Global Soul, a cozy little eatery from Food Network personality Cheryl Smith (of Soul Kitchen). The restaurant’s comfort is encapsulated by Smith herself whose long plaits and almost cherubic grin made us forgive the spotty climate control (Cheryl’s vacillates from bitter cold to dry heat). In fact, her warmth nearly had us forget that... [continue]

Last year, after suffering through a painful prix fixe at a shall-remain-nameless eatery on the Upper West Side, Gothamist was felled by a distinctly unromantic case of Valentine’s Day food poisoning. The year before, after preparing a feast fit for Saint Valentine himself, we suffered the indignity of being dumped while the bourguignon over which we had so tragically labored scalded our Le Creuset. But this year, things will be different. We’ve got a... [continue]

Book-ending 85th street in Jackson Heights, Mama’s Empanadas and Papa’s Empanadas caught Gothamist’s attention on a recent food-finding mission to the borough. Separated by mere yards and boasting suspiciously similar storefronts, our minds—driven as they are by block lettered tabloids—turned instantly to scandal. Oh, the delicious rivalry we conjured! Wars fought over family recipes, secret ingredients leaked to sources undeserving, bitter enmities born of pockets of dough! An angry pair of merchants courting Jackson... [continue]

Gothamist has a thing for cook-offs. There’s something about the sincerity of it all—just a bunch of honest folk sharing their love for chili, casseroles or, in the case of Sunday’s event, winter squash. This weekend’s Great Squash Cook-Off drew twenty amateur cooks to Park Slope’s V-Spot restaurant to compete before a panel of local food authorities (among them KalaLea of organic café and wine bar Smooch, Vikas Khanna of Tamarind and Isa Chandra... [continue]

Ugh. Gothamist had a long night last night. There was liquor. There were dancing girls. There might have been someone named Thomas (call me!!). Today there’s a headache, light sensitivity and dry-mouth to alarm the most devoted stoner. We need coffee and, while we’re loyal to our favorite haunts, we’re in no mood for innocuous conversation with our (rather handsome, incidentally) barista. We want a deep, almost bottomless vat of big, bold, black coffee consumed... [continue]

Hungry for some good gluten, Gothamist booked it to the three-month-old Kate’s Brooklyn Joint in Williamsburg, an outpost of the East Village mainstay. Despite its vibrant grafitti façade, Kate’s is a dismal sort of place. The restaurant’s gloomy flooring and rhythmically flickering lights recall the lesser charms of an auto body shop. It’s aggressively without frills but that’s fine by us—the food, for Billyburg vegans anyway, makes decent work of picking up the slack.... [continue]

As the Carroll Gardens of yore fades into the Smith and Court Street song and dance it’s ever more difficult to track down an authentic Italian experience in a neighborhood still populated as much by well-heeled Manhattan transplants as it is by Marys on the half-shell. When the Cammareri Brothers Bakery (Moonstruck!) closed years ago, it marked the exodus of these sort of joints. Relics of the early 20th century, their legacy was one... [continue]

One year ago, Gothamist boarded a ferry bound for Uruguay to spend the day exploring Colonia del Sacramento. We dreamt of renting a Vespa and speeding along the Rio de la Plata, racing through the Portugese Barrio Historico at speeds of 10, even 15 miles per hour. We rented that Vespa, more of a ramshackle Ninja actually, and speed we did—through the crumbling Plaza de Toros, the abandoned port, the sleepy artisan markets and the... [continue]

Residentially speaking, Gothamist is blessed with rather ample proportions. We’ve graduated from the grimy hovels of our youth to a humbly appointed dwelling which, owing to the block’s somewhat tawdry reputation, takes only a modest toll on our wallets while allowing enough space for the occasional fete. It’s that very real estate-fueled confidence that convinced us recently that our home would be the ideal space for a 20-person dinner party—a decision made in spite... [continue]