Big Apple Life

A collection of posts on Life in the Big Apple along with interviews with foodie friends

Dan Leader

Daniel Leader may not be a household, but Bread Alone, his family organic bakery might be. The bakery, which began in the 80s, sold wood-fired loaves at their Catskills bakery. They currently do so through farmers markets in the area. Their fermentation process creates bread that is "better for you, tastes great and lasts plenty long—without preservatives." Dan is a James Beard Award-winning visionary, whose groundbreaking books Bread Alone and Local Breads are both IACP Award winners. His 2019 book, Living Bread, brought home a James Beard Award. He's just published A Slow Rise: Favorite Recipes from Four Decades of Baking with Heart by Daniel Leader with Lauren Chattman. The heart [...]

By |2025-03-22T07:15:54-04:00March 21st, 2025|Big Apple Life, Foodie Interviews, NYC Restaurant Reviews, xyz misc|0 Comments
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Morgan Library Cafe, Murray Hill, NYC + “Imitation of Life”

"Imitation of Life" with Sandra Dee and Lana Turner is one of my all-time tearjerkers, even more so than "An Affair to Remember," whose theme song starts my waterworks. That's the 1959 remake of the Claudette Colbert one, screened at The Morgan Library, whose personal librarian, their first Director, Belle da Costa Greene, also passed. Before the showing, we stopped in the glass-enclosed casual cafe for a bite. We shared a bottle ($60) of Whispering Angel Rosé, Provence, France, to enjoy with our two shared entrees. The Everything-Spiced Crab Cobb ($34) layers Maryland crab, tomato, Maytag Blue cheese, avocado and egg in a round. We requested the bacon on the [...]

By |2025-03-15T12:20:32-04:00March 18th, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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**Happy Hour at Café D’Alsace, Upper East Side, NYC

Most everyone loves traditions. That's what we were hoping to start when we met at Café D'Alsace on the first Wednesday on the month. A few of us showed up enjoyed their discounted cocktails during happy hour. I sampled their refreshing Hugo Spritz made with St. Germain, fresh mint and sparkling wine ($12) and with that I indulged in their housemade truffle fries ($6). Screenshot Screenshot I'd recommend a top in for their happy hour. **Happy Hour details as of 02.05.2025 Hours: 5 to 7 pm, daily What’s happy? $12 specific cocktails, $7 beer, $10 wine & bubbly, plus 3 small plates.  Charcuterie, $14, Cheese selections [...]

By |2025-02-27T11:28:26-05:00March 10th, 2025|Big Apple Life, Happy Hours, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Café Paradiso, Lincoln Center, NYC + The New York City Ballet

If you haven't discovered Café Paradiso at Lincoln Center to grab a bite before your performance, I highly recommend. It's a gem. The restaurant is conveniently nestled in Lincoln Center on the campus, next to the Film at Lincoln Center screening room.  The owner, restaurateur Shelly Fireman, owns Cafe Fiorello across from Lincoln Center, Trattoria Dell'Arte,  Bond 45 and more. The food blends Italian and American foods with love; Fireman spent 35 years living in Italy and was raised in the Bronx. We started with one of their refreshing spritzes. My dining partner had a Paradiso Spritz with Aperol, passion fruit and Prosecco ($15). I ordered a regular Aperol one without the [...]

By |2025-02-24T10:39:56-05:00March 2nd, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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The Opening of Joomak in Maison Hudson, West Village, NYC

The friend of my friend's son invited us to the friends and family opening of the 27-seat restaurant upstairs in the luxury hotel Maison Hudson, his company's—16” on Center—newest restaurant in the West Village. The official opening date was January 29th.  Weather permitting, additional seating will be available in their outdoor dining area. We were treated to the cooking of  Jiho Kim, who hails from seven years at The Modern as Executive Pastry Chef and whose first iteration, Joomak Banjum, received a Michelin star. In Joomak, Kim offers a New American cuisine with Korean influence. His experience as a pastry chef comes through in the detailed presentation of each course. [...]

By |2025-01-27T10:30:16-05:00February 22nd, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Restaurant Week Lunch at Four Twenty Five, Midtown, NYC

One of my friends always likes to sample high-end restaurants during Restaurant Week. Smart lady. That's why the three of us ended at Jean-Georges's newest midtown restaurant Four Twenty Five that opened about a year ago. Like all Jean-Georges' locales, it didn't disappoint, starting with the flavorful amuse bouche of a chickpea cake topped with miso mixed with hummus and topped with yuzu. A burst of flavor. We each chose the delicious restaurant meal lunch for $60, all three of us starting with the Butternut Squash Soup with caramelized squash, the unusual kohlrabi sauerkraut and pumpkin seed tapenade, giving it more texture. I ordered the pan-roasted hake with a jalapeño-hakurei [...]

By |2025-01-24T12:24:40-05:00February 20th, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Alison Restaurant, East Harlem, NYC + Museum of City of New York

After our amazing tour at the Museum of City of New York with our ex.expats of New York group, seeing the "New York at its core —400 Years of NYC History" amazing exhibit brought to life by our engaging tour guide Gabe Tennen, we headed in the neighborhood to lunch. With twenty of us hitting Alison, a small neighborhood restaurant on Lex and 104, at one time, their service — obviously — was off.  Slow, but pleasant. We sampled lots from their lunch menu, include sandwiches ($18 grilled chicken and grilled salmon), a faro bowl with kale, roasted cauliflower, feta, pickled onions & avocado ($18), huevos rancheros with a fried tostada, [...]

By |2025-01-24T12:17:46-05:00February 18th, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Tarallucci e Vino, Union Square, NYC

It was my first time at Tarallucci e Vino for lunch. I've been for happy hour and dinner a few times, but not midday, when I met a friend. We were both doing dry January, so our beverage of choice was Pellegrino ($9). We asked that our dishes be served as courses, beginning with the octopus ($28), which had shrunk since I last enjoyed the cephalopod at Tarralluci e Vino. Talk about shrinkage. This time, we got one charred tentacle with roasted potatoes and the most delicious salad of paper-thin fennel and sliced green olives over arugula. About a year ago, I had twice the octopus and much fewer potatoes [...]

By |2025-01-24T12:16:28-05:00February 16th, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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New Coffee Service at Holiday Cocktail Lounge, East Village, NYC

A group of Dames — members of Les Dames d'Escoffier New York (LDNY — met at Holiday Cocktail Lounge to sample their new coffee offerings, introduced late last fall starting at 8 am daily. The service includes coffee, espresso beverages with coffee from local Superlost Coffee, tea, and juice. We all wanted to support LDNY's President, Barbara Sibley, who is Creative Director of Holiday and  Chef/Owner of  La Palapa Restaurant Group. La Palapa, her authentic Mexican restaurant is right next door.  Also available are freshly made pastries, breakfast items, and sandwiches. While there, we sampled plain and chocolate croissants, lemon squares, large pretzels and pasteis de nata — the Portuguese [...]

By |2025-01-22T14:34:51-05:00February 12th, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Unique Coffee Shop: Ariston Flowers & Cafe, Chelsea, NYC

Need a place to meet for coffee?  My current favorite is Ariston Flower's & Cafe where the aroma of coffee mingles with flowers as you walk through the flower shop to the cafe in the rear. In addition to the Devocion farm-fresh specialty Colombian coffee selections, Ariston Flowers & Cafe offers pastries, sandwiches, salads and other breakfast offerings. On my last visit, my friend enjoyed their egg & bacon on a brioche roll ($9.50) and coffee while we sat and yakked while sitting in the aromatic location. I highly recommend this coffee shop Ariston Flowers & Cafe Union Square 78 5th Avenue New York, NY 10011 646-759-1963 aristonflowers.com

By |2025-02-08T13:25:41-05:00February 10th, 2025|Big Apple Life, City Bites, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews|1 Comment
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Brunch at Mark’s Off Madison, Gramercy-Flatiron, NYC

We met at Mark's Off Madison for brunch to celebrate a friend's birthday. The restaurant is from New York native Mark Strausman, of Freds at Barney's New York pre-pandemic. Mark's is quintessentially New York, serving traditional Jewish foods of Mark's upbringing. Portions are enormous. Service is attentive. You will need a reservation as it's always packed. Order the appetizing. It's the Jewish word for the foods you eat with a bagel—at least according to Russ & Daughters, one of the last remaining appetizing shops in the world. Four of us shared their huge Straissie's smoked fish platter ($38) with house-cured lox, nova, sable and whitefish salad garnished with a tomato [...]

By |2025-01-21T15:02:08-05:00February 8th, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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A Return to the Vegetable-Focused Dirt Candy, Lower East Side, NYC

After our cocktail at Tigre, we continued our birthday celebration at Amanda Cohen's love affair with veggies at Dirt Candy, a few blocks away. They offer only a tasting menu ($110) per person with an optional wine pairing ($55), which we also did. Our thank you for coming, served in a special tin containing seaweed caviar with crème fraîche, avocado and cucumber. The meal continued through many courses including the mushroom one with mushroom croissant with portobello mushroom mousse pears, plums and micro-thyme with a mushroom cappuccino with the plate decorated with cherry, peach and ginger puree. Incredible dish from the puree dots to the soup. We also liked Dirt [...]

By |2025-01-24T14:59:18-05:00February 6th, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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**Happy Hour at Sagaponack, Flatiron, NYC

We were interviewing a potential new New York Ex-Expats group member who was meeting a friend at Sagaponack for $1 oysters and bubbly during their happy hour. I was unfamiliar with the restaurant, even though it was in my hood. I had to try it. You might recognize the name as an affluent town in the Hamptons, a fact that came up while playing a trivia game about the Big Apple. I recently met friends there to sample their fare. Love that their I-495 happy hour runs from 11:30 am until 6:30 with a  tagline, "Drink, but don't drive through the I-495!" From those offerings, I partook in a $5 [...]

By |2024-12-27T16:53:01-05:00January 31st, 2025|Big Apple Life, Happy Hours, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Raeanne Sarazen

I met the amazing Raeanne Sarazen, a newbie Dame, at the then-annual Les Dames d'Escoffier conference in Phoenix last fall. She—like me—is a registered dietitian. She's also a classically trained chef, food writer, editor and consultant. Her first book, The Complete Recipe Writing Guide: Mastering Recipe Development, Writing, Testing, Nutrition Analysis, and Food Styling, a "one-stop resource for developing, writing and producing recipe content for print, digital and social media platforms," was honored by the International Association of Culinary Professionals with the 2024 book award in the reference & technical category. Having spent most of my life writing recipes, I applaud her book's comprehensive guides. Her book is a master [...]

By |2025-01-27T16:29:09-05:00January 27th, 2025|Big Apple Life, Foodie Interviews, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Chinese Tuxedo, Chinatown, NYC: Third Stop on Doyer Street Crawl

Chinese Tuxedo was our third and last stop on our Chinatown, Doyer Street birthday crawl. We were seated upstairs, which was quieter and overlooked the noisy dining room. The birthday girl started with a glass of Perrier Jouët ($28) while I sipped the Kremstal Gruner ($17).  Since we had enjoyed our apps a few doors away at the dim sum restaurant Nom Wah Tea Parlor, we just ordered two entrees. We split the Cantonese-style tender and delicious half-a-roast duck ($58) and the Johny Fried Rice Char Siu ($28) with shrimp, chunks of pork and scallions. We skipped dessert as we were happily satiated from our three stops on our Chinatown [...]

By |2024-12-16T17:33:18-05:00January 23rd, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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A New Chef at Le Rivage, Theatre District, NYC

Chef de Cuisine David Cámara, a veteran of Vin Sur Vingt, has recently taken over the kitchen of Le Rivage, and I was invited to sample his cuisine. We arrived one December night at a tastefully decorated dining room. From 4 pm to 7:30 pm, Le Rivage offers a three-course prix-fixe dinner ($70) To join in the festivities, we ordered some bubbly. When they served the Pommery POP Extra Dry champagne ($25) in individual splits, I asked for straws, recalling a press event where they had served it that way. Do try it, as the effervescence is more intense. While sipping the sparkling, we devoured the piquillo peppers ($18) stuffed [...]

By |2025-01-17T11:21:33-05:00January 17th, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Baar Baar, Lower East Side, NYC + Wicked

My friend asked me to join her for comp cocktails and a meal at Baar Baar, an Indian gastro pub with a modern yet rustic approach to contemporary Indian cuisine. The restaurant is walking distance from where we saw Part I of  Wicked at the local AMC with their comfy reclining chairs! We began sampling their unusual cocktails, with my friend sampling their Anarkali made with gin, Aperol, housemade rose cordial and Prosecco and the Hera Pheri with clarified Mezcal, orange liqueur and spicy guava chutney. We nibbled the assorted papad and crisps, along with three homemade chutneys including mango and tomatillo chundo, chili and peanut and mint cilantro ($15). [...]

By |2024-12-15T14:51:25-05:00January 15th, 2025|Big Apple Life, City Bites, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Other happenings|0 Comments
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Holiday Luncheon at Central Park Boathouse, NYC

Our ex-expat planning team always gets together for a festive holiday luncheon to enjoy each other's company at one of New York's festively decorated restaurants. This year, we enjoyed the lake views from the glass-windowed room at the Central Park (formerly Loeb) Boathouse. We nibbled on the olives, cucumbers and hummus while we perused the wine list and menu. We each ordered a glass of wine to accompany our meal ($17 - $20); two of us selected the crab cake ($40) and another the branzino ($38). Fry-lovers, we added one serving we all shared ($12). I highly recommend visiting the Boathouse for a peaceful escape in the heart of New [...]

By |2024-12-15T14:06:31-05:00January 13th, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Restaurant Reviews|0 Comments
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Pete’s Tavern, Gramercy, NYC + Bryant Park Ice Skating

One chilly day this winter, we walked around the shops at Bryant Park before bravely donning ice skates for a few spins around the rink. We then walked downtown to the oldest continuously operating restaurant and bar in NYC. It opened in 1864. At that time, Pete's was a “grocery and grog store,” the first drinking establishment on the main floor of the Portman Hotel. Today, it's a popular tavern that goes overboard with festive holiday decorations. We thankfully were in the back room to enjoy our food while being able to hear each other. Instead of ordering a full meal, we picked some apps as they had nibbled at [...]

By |2024-12-15T14:50:47-05:00January 11th, 2025|Big Apple Life, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Rambling|0 Comments
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**Happy Hour at Haven Rooftop, Theatre District, NYC + Left on Tenth

I had a crazy day, with a funeral uptown to picking up a friend after their medical procedure on First Avenue, so instead of heading downtown to my home, I stopped in Haven Rooftop for a glass of wine before meeting my friend at "Left on Tenth."  Julianna Margulies is on stage in Delia Ephron’s memoir about reconnection and love. I recommend. Lucky me, it was happy hour from 4 to 6 pm. I sipped a glass of their cabernet ($9) and enjoyed the slider ($6) and the cauliflower bites ($12) both of which   I would recommend. Skip the bready spring rolls ($12) Happy Hour details as of 11.26.2024 Hours:  [...]

By |2024-11-30T13:29:10-05:00January 5th, 2025|Big Apple Life, Happy Hours, NYC Best Bites, NYC Restaurant Reviews, Rambling|0 Comments
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