I had two nearly perfect espressos (or espressi) on Sunday within two hours. This may not seem to be of monumental significance, but I assure you that in Manhattan -- island of the $4 shot of bitter, watery, often tepid insult that careless baristi serve and have the nerve to ...

Friday night was just gorgeous, somewhere around 80ºF, sunny and with a light breeze. I met Will in Nolita so we could have dinner at one of our favourite outdoor spots: the garden at Le Jardin Bistro. Le Jardin Bistro is an unassuming French restaurant on a little block called ...

... of restaurants), consists of two rooms. In the intimate dining room in the back, they serve a three...

Screenshot: Le Bateau Ivre After drinks at Mica Bar yesterday evening for a friend’s birthday, Will and I went a few doors down to Le Bateau Ivre , a very French wine bar and bistro on East 51st Street. We had been here once before, on a Saturday afternoon last ...

Screenshot: Lure Fishbar I’ve only been once, because getting out of the office in time for Happy Hour is next to impossible, but the one time I did make it to Lure Fishbar was impressive enough to make me lament this fact. Monday through Friday, 5pm to 7pm, Lure offers ...

The Grandaisy pear tart… Although I had bought their bread at Whole Foods , I had never before been to the celebrated Sullivan Street Bakery down in Soho — and I guess I never will. Sometime this year the partners at Sullivan Street split , with Jim Lahey taking the ...

Will’s father was in town this past weekend and our original plan on Friday night was to have dinner at Artisanal . But our 9pm reservation was a tad late, so at the last minute we changed plans and took him instead to La Goulue, a French bistro on Madison ...

Screenshot: Babbo Over the last couple of years, Will and I have, with a few exceptions, been shying away from big, formal prix fixe dinners, in favor of dining at the bar or ordering à la carte and sharing our food. For one thing, prix fixe meals at top tier restaurants are expensive. Before ... taking their leftovers home. We were seated in the upstairs dining room, a first for me. This room...

... beginning after midnight — and at each point have found the immense dining hall and adjacent bar ... of the room are available. There were tables in the dining room and seats along the bar. We snagged one...

Screenshot: Peasant Ssshhh . On our visit to Peasant last weekend, our waiter told us about their new enoteca in the basement of the restaurant and their specials for truffle season. We resisted the urge to return for the truffles for a total of five nights. On Friday night we ...