New York City (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [203]
Perry St.
$$$ | NEW AMERICAN | Pay no mind to the cars whizzing by on the nearby West Side Highway; inside, the clean lines of this austere dining room with its gauze-swaddled wraparound windows and straight-back cream banquettes get you to focus on the main event on your plate. Owner Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s son Cedric is manning the stoves, turning out memorable dishes like black-pepper crab dumplings plated with snow peas. Fried chicken is served with mushroom spaetzle and ginger vinaigrette, and a retro char-grilled cheeseburger is lavished with Russian dressing and crispy onions. Vongerichten’s restaurants can be pricey, but give the man credit for offering value-oriented prix-fixe specials at lunch and dinner: $26 and $38, respectively. | 176 Perry St., at West St., West Village | 10014-2384 | 212/352–1900 | www.jean-georges.com | AE, D, MC, V | Subway: 1 to Christopher St./Sheridan Sq.
FLATIRON DISTRICT
Some of the city’s most popular restaurants are in the area northwest of Union Square, called the Flatiron District. The neighborhood is also a hot shopping destination, with plenty of refueling spots like City Bakery, a gourmet deli and sweets spot that’s a standby for many New Yorkers.
Fodor’s Choice | A Voce.
$$$ | ITALIAN | Executive chef Missy Robbins has a passion for Italian cuisine, and it shows. The American-born Robbins honed her Italian chops in northern Italy at the highly acclaimed Agli Amici restaurant in Friuli. For five years before joining A Voce, she was the executive chef at Chicago’s Spiaggia. Her menu is inspired and represents regional dishes from all over Italy. The pasta is prepared fresh every day, and Robbins’s fish and meat dishes are exceptional. The agnello in due modi entrée is especially well prepared, with tender lamb chops and a flavorful vegetable soffrito. For dessert, try the Tuscan bomboloni doughnuts with dark-chocolate dipping sauce. The attentive staff also help to make the dining experience here a real pleasure. A Voce’s atmosphere is warm, and the 90-seat dining room has a retro Italian feel to it—walnut floors, pale green leather-top tables, and Eames chairs. There’s additional seating on the patio when weather permits. | 41 Madison Ave., between 25th and 26th Sts., Flatiron District | 10010-2202 | 212/545–8555 | www.avocerestaurant.com | AE, MC, V | Subway: N, R to 23rd St.
Fodor’s Choice | ABC Kitchen.
$$ | AMERICAN | Jean Georges Vongerichten’s latest New York City restaurant is a winning love letter to greenmarket cuisine. Attached to posh housewares emporium ABC Carpet and Home, this eatery makes for a great shopping break and much, much more. In the front bar area, snack on shards of Martin’s pretzels from the nearby Union Square Greenmarket and enjoy herb-infused cocktails like the Green Kitchen, made with tarragon syrup and grapefruit juice, on corrugated-cardboard coasters. In the dining room many of the items, from the bread plates to the servers’ checked shirts, are vintage or secondhand finds. Underneath the exposed concrete beams a chic crowd devours fresh, flavorful appetizers like the roasted carrot salad with avocado, crème fraiche, and toasted pumpkin seeds or candy-sweet baby Maine shrimp with a sprinkling of sea salt and horseradish. There are pizzas with whole-wheat crust (try the clam or trumpet mushroom versions) and substantial entrées like a well-charred