I’d go for the Golden Barley 17% soju except they don’t sell it by the bottle and $18 for a 2-oz. shot is absurd given that San Ho Won charges $42 for a 375 ml. bottle.
Chateau Simone blanc is always a treat.
That’s a really nice list, albeit skewed toward the high end.
Ugh, so I failed a bit and didn’t get to L’industrie. My nyc report is a follows:
Cote: dragged here by a friend who claims it’s her favorite restaurant on earth. I liked it, though wasn’t stunned, and given she’s lived in la for a half decade I’m surprised she found it better than most things in K-Town.
King: was in love with this spot. Big recommend. The waitress described it as French-Italian flavors through a British lens, lol. Really great vegetable cooking but also a fantastic pork chop and a great pasta. wonderful desserts, great wine list. If I were richer, this is the type of place I’d go to once a week.
Ursula: this is New Mexican food, and I maybe failed by not ordering a breakfast burrito. Fried oyster mushroom Sando was tasty enough, and I quite liked a ground beef and peppers stew. Good marg, too. Hard to legit recommend though.
Greenpoint Fish: liked a lot, not too different than like a Found Oyster, but cheaper. Delightful fish cakes from hake. Good oysters too.
Had a bad cocktail weekend, honestly. Lolol, went to margaritaville in Times Square with a bunch of New Yorkers who were ironically mourning its imminent death. Had a great rum cocktail there that beat all the cocktails I had at hip Brooklyn bars.
Los Mariscos: stopped to get outta the pouring rain on Saturday. It’s a really great spot, it was spicy! Proper Mexican food in nyc. I was reminded of why I went so often when I lived there.
Didn’t eat enough bagels or pizza.
I’m going to ny in 2 weeks my goal is to eat a lot of pizza and bagels if I get the chance lol.
Nice to hear about King. Stissing House, upstate and same chef, was way better than expected.
Yeah, I read this cooking diary a few years back and it stuck with me. And King was an affirmation that she cooks how I want to eat–not much adornment, ingredient-focused, tiny menu, etc.
Also, since Pete Wells put it in his NYC top 25, this has become a much tougher table. Interestingly enough, he gave the King team’s newest restaurant Jupiter only one star. (FWIW a buddy of mine who knows food liked it well enough, so might still be worth a shot if you’re on the UWS.
What’s the best pie to get at John’s on bleecker also do they do half and half’s?
My order there is sausage, mushroom, onion, and garlic (SMOG), aka a Chubby Vesce plus mushrooms.
Half toppings are on the menu but I don’t know about specials.
So funny everybody loves John’s of Bleecker Street. My wife who lived there, albeit 14 years ago, was back in New York like six months ago, ate at John’s and said she’s happy not to go back LOL !
Her personal favorite is Juliana’s though when she lived there she liked the original Grimaldi’s as well.
plain cheese! 
Plain cheese or pep is the move when you go to any of the well known NYC pizza places. You can do half pep and half cheese. If you are going to places like L’industrie or Mamas Too I think it’s good to get a simple one and something a little more fun like the fig, jam, bacon at L’industrie.
You’re back in NY?
Juliana’s alao has a coal oven so could be better for that style. I haven’t been in a few years but John’s didn’t used to source particularly good toppings, so room for improvement.
Old pictures
a couple of other pizza places to consider:
best pizza (bestpizzawilliamsburg.com) (the owner is a pizza nerd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bz1Ko5ZDzQ)
sauce pizzeria (https://www.saucepizzeria.com/) they were a topend slice pre-pandemic, haven’t heard anything about them since though…
i would schedule my itinerary around getting a pizza from lucali. their calzones are also pretty good…
Anyone have any tips for the way north end of Manhattan? Have probably ~1 meal in the city, staying with family up near the cloisters/fort tryon/inwood. Might be able to get out a little bit but not to eg Brooklyn. Looking at Kismat, Cachapas y Mas.
Cold brew at Buunni coffee is good!
I always enjoyed Bono Trattoria at like 151st and Broadway. Great space on a great stretch of street. Cachapas y Mas is a good chance to try Venezuelan food. I liked it but only went once. Very casual iirc, not a place to really hang out?
