NYC, Here We Come

Anthony Parsons

Well-known member
Any suggestions on good places to see, eat, etc... whilst in NYC? We're coming over for a holiday end Nov...

Staying near central park on Madison Avenue... so if anyone knows good places around there to eat, please do tell, would be much appreciated.

Is the twin towers memorial now open to the public?
 
If you can handle spicy food, do check some Indian restaurants. There are many. TBH, by saying spicy, I mean **spicy** :-)

Well, personally I didn't like NY. Too much crowd and bad traffic. :-)
 
The BEST Italian food outside of Italy (and better than most inside Italy) can be found in Holbrook, just north of Long Island. Its about an hour drive from your location, but worth it.

its called Momma Lombari's: http://www.mammalombardis.com/MammaLombardis/index.cfm

I highly recommend the Zuppa di Pesce

Being an Italian and one that has enjoyed home cooking, travelling the world and back to Italy I will simply have to disagree that a handful of Italians living in NYC produce better food than most of those that live inside Italy or other countries :) To be perfectly honest, Italian restuarant food anywhere, is not a patch on homecooked Italian food, it is catered for the mass market much like every type of restuarant.

I'll give you an example of a traditional Italian get together (generally I attend once a month):

Lots of you turn up around 12pm, sit down in the kitchen, start chatting, drinking and eating the first course. You are still there at midnight but on your final and quite possibly 12th course. Also anyone that knocks on the door is invited to join the rest at the table. There is no such thing as 3 courses when at an Italian feeding :)

Sorry for the offtopic.
 
Isn't it kind off irrelevant what country you physically cook the food within, if your heritage is your heritage? Don't you take your heritage with you, regardless of country? Not sure why an Italian family dinner would be any different from having it in Italy itself, if that same heritage and culture is taken to the residing country!

Just my two cents.

I get what you mean regarding commercialised food, though even Italian food in Italy from a restaurant, I would guess is not equivalent to the home cooked family meal and culture that it entertains within an Italian family, regardless of physical location.
 
Isn't it kind off irrelevant what country you physically cook the food within, if your heritage is your heritage? Don't you take your heritage with you, regardless of country? Not sure why an Italian family dinner would be any different from having it in Italy itself, if that same heritage and culture is taken to the residing country!

Just my two cents.

I get what you mean regarding commercialised food, though even Italian food in Italy from a restaurant, I would guess is not equivalent to the home cooked family meal and culture that it entertains within an Italian family, regardless of physical location.

I kind of disagree, over time if you are a minority culture you could dilute the heritage and allow the majority culture to influence you in some form over a period of time. I see that happening when I visit friends/family in England vs family still living in Italy. The dishes they cook have changed ever so slightly, especially of those who do not make frequent trips back to their homeland.

Back on topic, when I visited New York I asked many of the locals where they eat (to stay away from the tourist places) and I got to sample some diners filled with New Yorkers and I did enjoy the food. Unfortunately I cannot remember the names!
 
Being an Italian and one that has enjoyed home cooking, travelling the world and back to Italy I will simply have to disagree that a handful of Italians living in NYC produce better food than most of those that live inside Italy or other countries :) To be perfectly honest, Italian restuarant food anywhere, is not a patch on homecooked Italian food, it is catered for the mass market much like every type of restuarant.

I'll give you an example of a traditional Italian get together (generally I attend once a month):

Lots of you turn up around 12pm, sit down in the kitchen, start chatting, drinking and eating the first course. You are still there at midnight but on your final and quite possibly 12th course. Also anyone that knocks on the door is invited to join the rest at the table. There is no such thing as 3 courses when at an Italian feeding :)

Sorry for the offtopic.
Thats exactly why I love the place. The food is authentic, and its not just dinner, its an experience. You get there around 6 and if you leave before 1am, you've left early.

Food will show up that you didn't order. maybe an olive plate here, or a main course for everyone to share. You ask about it and get, "the Chef is thinking off adding it as a special and wanted to see if you'd like it".

Its all fresh made, and the menu changes with the season to reflect seasonal, local ingredients - with one notable exception. The only tomato that goes into a tomato dish is a San Marzano tomato. I think you would be pleasantly surprised.
 
Yer... I agree, culture can dilute, does dilute, to a degree across borders over longevity... just not sure how much that pertains to food!!! Because my goodness... some Greeks here, as an example, love their Greek food, and make it all authentic using the same ingredients they would use in Greece... lots of pastry based foods. Some though... less Greek food, more Aussie culture.

Absolutely... dilution occurs, though I don't think we should paint every family that migrate across borders with that brush, as some just simply will not change their cultural values, heritage, food, ways of life... hence how we endup with semi-communities within communities nowadays, with often strict parts within that community that are extremely cultural.
 
Thats exactly why I love the place. The food is authentic, and its not just dinner, its an experience. You get there around 6 and if you leave before 1am, you've left early.

Food will show up that you didn't order. maybe an olive plate here, or a main course for everyone to share. You ask about it and get, "the Chef is thinking off adding it as a special and wanted to see if you'd like it".

Its all fresh made, and the menu changes with the season to reflect seasonal, local ingredients - with one notable exception. The only tomato that goes into a tomato dish is a San Marzano tomato. I think you would be pleasantly surprised.

Great stuff, so it is run like a family home instead of a mass market, quickly in and out restuarant. Next time I get to go to NYC I will certainly make my way over there.
 
Great stuff, so it is run like a family home instead of a mass market, quickly in and out restuarant. Next time I get to go to NYC I will certainly make my way over there.
There are tons of restaurants like this all over the place. I don't remember the name, but years ago when I went to San Francisco, there was a similar restaurant. The food was amazing and the atmosphere represented the culture of the family who owned the placed.
 
Great stuff, so it is run like a family home instead of a mass market, quickly in and out restuarant. Next time I get to go to NYC I will certainly make my way over there.
Oh yeah. And when you go there enough that they know your name... The apps just show up because they already know what you like and you eventually get around to dinner in an hour or two.
 
Let me know when you'll be here - there is everything here and the question is to know where to find it.

Regarding the WTC memorial... I believe it's open but has no bathrooms so keep that in mind (I'm not joking.) I haven't gone there since it's more than a memory to me. Maybe I will make it over there eventually. Century 21 nearby is great for shopping.

There are probably many more interesting things to see and I can name a few right off the bat:
1. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
2. Top of the Empire State Building (long lines, costs too much but tourists love it.)
3. Staten Island Ferry / Cable Car Commute to Roosevelt Island: Excellent view and costs nothing if you have an unlimited 7 day metro/subway card - which you should buy.
4. Central Park 72nd Street Concourse, walk to Delacorte Theatre then to Belvedere Castle and go up to SECOND level to view the park. Afterwards, walk to the reservoir.
5. Riverside Park, walk to W.67th St. area and walk along the pier that extends into the Hudson River.
6. Times Square (everyone goes there, don't buy anything) - then walk to Bryant Park on W40th and Sixth Ave.
7. Meat Packing District and the High Line Park - get good food (but expensive) and see another very unique park in the new "hip" area. Plunge is on the top of the Gansvoort Hotel - great views by walking around the place and a "hip" place to be. If you go on a weekend, prepare for a wait. Try not to go prime time and you'll love it.
8. Grand Central Station - it's famous, it's in numerous movies, it's a spectacle worth seeing.

I could go on. This will take you a LOT of time so plan accordingly. Food... too many choices. Some interesting ones:

1. Koreatown - W.32nd and Sixth Ave/Broadway. Conveniently located and unique. Hangawi is awesome vegetarian and great ambiance.
2. Little Italy - Not so convenient to go but does have many unique items there. Truth be told, you can find Italian restaurants everywhere in NYC.
3. Jean Georges restaurants, some are better than others - try Spice Market in the meat packing district for something very different.

Too much to talk about. Contact me if you want.
 
The best advice I can offer is to plan out your trip. NYC is actually a fairly big place and it might be best to group certain activities together based on the area you will be in.

NYC has a lot of great museums including the MET, the MOMA and the Museum of Natural History among other smaller and unique ones like the Museum of Radio and Television and the Museum of S-x. You find the museum pass useful:
http://www.newyorkpass.com/index_attractions.aspx?aid=8&gclid=CNP-3O_lrKsCFUW-zAodxg158A

NYC also has great shows on and off Broadway including Wicked and Blue Man Group

Central Park itself is beautiful with many sites like the Delacorte Theater and Belvadere Castle like Michael mentioned.

You may also want to take a trip down to the south street seaport and walk over the Brooklyn Bridge. Right over the bridge is a small park that's great to sit around in, Grimaldi's Pizza and an icecream shop whose name escapes me at the moment but weather may not be appropriate for it anyway.
 
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