There’s “nowhere to eat” in the East 60s, a culinary “wasteland.” Or so say “most people” according to writer Kate Betts in Travel + Leisure magazine.
These people never heard of Daniel Boulud, whose four-star flagship Daniel proudly stands at 60 E. 65th St. Nor can they be familiar with JoJo, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s romantic bistro going strong after 20 years, or David Burke’s Townhouse and Fishtail, great steakhouses Post House and Park Avenue, power-Italians Primola and Scalinatella . . .
You get the idea. As a dining district, the Upper East Side — as large as all the neighborhoods south of 14th Street combined — gets no respect.
It might seem ridiculous to defend it while storm-ravaged downtown and Brooklyn places have been shuttered or damaged, and deserve all the love we can give them.
But while the UES suffered nothing like the havoc elsewhere, it’s taken such a public-relations beating lately, I must stand up for the eating paradise I call home.
Yup, paradise. Within a few blocks of my place on First Avenue in the 70s, I can eat not only American, Italian and Japanese, but also Belgian, Czech, Afghan, Burmese, Thai and Turkish. Much of it’s ridiculously good if not precisely “authentic.”
But many food writers haven’t a clue. Most of them live downtown or in Brooklyn. Had the flood ruined restaurants uptown as it did farther south, there surely would have been sympathy for lost livelihoods — but not near-hysterical grief over a supposed death blow to the nation’s culinary future.
Creative energy is obviously higher downtown with its younger population. But chefs avoid risk-taking uptown because the media won’t take it seriously even if locals fall in love with it.
Asian-fusion Dragonfly imploded after three months on Third Avenue in the 80s. Had it launched where Pig and Khao did on Clinton Street, the blogs would have gone bananas long before it opened.
For those who don’t know better, here’s my Upper East Side 101:
THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE.
Café Boulud and the Carlyle and Mark hotels stand within a block of each other along Madison Avenue between 76th and 77th streets.
Café Boulud is a great three-star restaurant where I’ve had some four-star meals. The Mark is home to Vongerichten’s glam Mark restaurant. The Carlyle boasts a plush, classic-French dining room, Café Carlyle (super-energized these days) and Bemelmans Bar.
Scene-making downtowners flocked to them when their power went out. If they have any sense, they’ll come back.
POWER SCENES FOR THE MASSES. Not all of the UES “society” cafes cost a fortune. Nor are they unfriendly to nonregulars. At Bistro Chat Noir (22 E. 66th St.), L’Absinthe (227 E. 67th St.) and John DeLucie’s clubby Crown (24 E. 81st St.), beautiful habitues types cheerfully share the room with first-timers.
The day after the storm, Swifty’s (1007 Lexington at 73rd) bustled with families and kids. Chef Stephen Attoe’s American dishes are dull only to those who’ve never been there.
LOUD AND BUZZING. Those who crave a high decibel level but think UES places are library-quiet haven’t been to ear-busters like beautiful brasserie Orsay (1057 Lexington Ave., at 75th) and trattoria Sette Mezzo (969 Lexington Ave., at 70th).
But if one place defines Upper East Side stylish casual — catering neither to penny-pinchers nor the rich — it’s T-Bar
Steak & Lounge (1278 Third Ave., at 73rd), where the noise level is slightly lower but the energy just as high.
ITALIAN HEAVEN. No section of Manhattan has anything like the Upper East Side’s abbondanza of high-quality, high-buzz Italian eateries like Campagnola, Caravaggio, Lusardi’s, Sistina. They range from stodgy to sensational, just like downtown.
Of this year’s recent and imminent big-league Italian openings, most are here: Il Mulino, Sirio, Salumeria Rosi Parmacatto, and (in January) Michael White’s uptown edition of Morini.
An Upper East Side location doesn’t always rule out risk-taking. Alloro, the adorably unconventional place from herbal-oriented Salvatore Corea, has thrived for years on East 77th Street despite snarky reviews (except mine).
ASIAN REVELATIONS. The original Sushi of Gari (vastly better than its clones) and Kenji Takahashi’s omakase-only Sasabune are surely the city’s two best sushi restaurants so near to one another.
Wa Jeal (1588 Second Ave., at 81st Street) serves the fearless brand of Szechuanese that went out of style 25 years ago. It’s thriving despite subway construction, six early months without liquor and a virtual news blackout.
FRENCH BLISS. The West Village’s cramped bistros can’t lay a glove on the roomier, atmospheric ones all over UES avenues and cross-streets — an arrondisement boasting Le Veau D’or, Charlot, Le Bilboquet, Le Magnifique, Quatorze Bis, Cafe D’Alsace, Jacques and Brasserie Julien.
ETHNIC DISCOVERIES. Every neighborhood has exotic cuisines. But rarely are they as good as at Persian-inspired Persepolis (1407 Second Ave., near 73rd) or Julian Medina’s modern-Mexican Toloache at 166 E. 82nd St. MenuPages.com lists one Burmese spot in all Manhattan, cozy Cafe Mingala (1393 Second Ave., near 73rd).
“Ethnic” can mean many things. Jones Wood Foundry (401 E. 76th St.) isn’t a gastropub. Chef Jason Hicks knew that British pub classics like kedgeree and salt cod mash would taste a lot better made in a modern kitchen using fine ingredients.
The result is as exotic in its own way as anything inspired by a downtown chef’s six-month tour of Southeast Asia. And the wine and beer are grand.