Fast lunches, chatty dinners and high-roller desserts
Season's greetings from a plush couch in suburbia, where I’m taking a week off from dining out in the city. If you’re staying in town, let this be a reminder of your great luck: It’s the best few weeks of the year to walk into those “impossible-to-get-a-table” restaurants. And for those following along from Not New York, let this be a reminder of how much there is to love and miss about the city: We’ve got requests from a retirees boys’ night out, a beloved and tiny to-go spot, and a request for a satire-inspired dessert that’s worthy of a marriage proposal. Got some asks for me? Send your questions over email to wheretoeat@nytimes.com, as submissions through this form or on my Instagram, where I’ll regularly post story prompts for you.
What would Jack Donaghy do?My girlfriend’s dream is to be proposed to over a dessert like the Lover’s Delight from the fictional restaurant Plunder in the Valentine’s Day episode of “30 Rock.” Where would you suggest I go if I wanted a comparable, over-the-top dessert? — Anonymous I remember it well — all Jack Donaghy wanted for Valentine’s Day was to eat the Lover’s Delight: “Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream in a pool of cognac, drizzled in the world’s most expensive chocolate, Amedei Porcelana, covered with shaved white, black and clear truffles and topped with edible 25-karat gold leaf.” That joke is nearly a beat-for-beat description of a real dessert: the Golden Opulence Sundae at Serendipity 3, which has been priced at $1,000 since 2005. The restaurant claims to still sell “dozens every year,” but I can’t justify trying it for the sake of a recommendation. Just know, dear Anonymous-for-obvious-reasons, that it’s an option. For something that’s still over-the-top but possibly more romantic: a slice of cake in the swanky, low-lit dining room at Carne Mare. You’ll have to imagine this in Donaghy’s voice: Seventeen wafer-thin sheets of chocolate espresso cake layered with chocolate-caramel mousse and topped with an edible gold-foiled cherry — for $18. “Can you imagine anything better?” Jack asks Liz in the Lover’s Delight episode. Her response: “I don’t know, you ever put a doughnut in the microwave?” Serendipity 3, Upper East Side and Times Square Carne Mare 89 South Street (Pier 17), South Street Seaport
Wherefore art thou, ROMEOs?We are a ROMEO contingent — Retired Old Men Eating Out — from our 60s to 80s, maybe $50-75 per. Since Covid our favorite spots are gone, eclectic tastes, not too eclectic, NOT loud, time to shmooze? — Peter G. Peter, I recently had a dinner that will really fit the bill for you. Sure, I was with a group of working women in our 30s, but our goals were the same as that of the ROMEOs: a quiet place where we could sit forever, jabber endlessly and not bankrupt ourselves in the process. Fort Greene locals know all about Black Iris, which otherwise flies luckily under the radar. Order a big spread for the guys to share, including a tender chicken kebab over a heap of fluffy rice, plates of hummus, baba ghanouj, pickles and salads. Then the standout dishes: stretchy pita with a dense spread of za’atar and sesame, and lambajin “pitzaa,” a thin flatbread topped with a smear of spiced lamb, charred in the oven, and, at your request, confetti’d in feta. 120 Lafayette Avenue (Cumberland Street), Fort Greene
And one frequently-asked questionQuick lunch near Madison Square Park? — Riley L. You’re in prime fast-casual slop bowl territory, but I think you should give the Flatiron district location of the delightful Tokuyamatcha & Onigirazu Bar a shot. With 12 more seats than the original Alphabet City location — which is to say 12 seats — you can hope to grab one, or do what everyone else in the area seems to do and take a softball-size onigiri (and a matcha) to go. The “ramen-ish” is a standout, with Chashu-braised pork belly, a boiled egg, wakame and rice that’s been cooked in seasoned chicken broth, garnished cheerfully with two slices of narutomaki. 115 East 27th Street (Park Avenue South), Flatiron district Read past editions of the newsletter here. If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here. Have New York City restaurant questions? Send us a note here. Follow NYT Food on TikTok and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.
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