Local eateries made the best of a bad situation back in the cold, cold winter months with an excuse to try out all the first-rate dining rooms with the generous deals found during Restaurant Week: Two- and three-course prix fixe meals ranging from $29 to $39 to $59.
The promotion begins Tuesday, January 18, through Sunday, February 13 and, per NYCGo, the deals run Monday through Friday (not Saturdays) and it’s up to each restaurant whether they honor the rates on Sundays. You can read more details at the Restaurant Week site but for your convenience, the following are the participating restaurants below Chambers Street:
Anassa Taverna (104 North End Avenue)
Bareburger (155 William Street)
Batard (239 West Broadway)
Blue Smoke (255 Vesey Street)
Capital Grille (120 Broadway)
Felice (15 Gold Street)
Front & Wall Street (110 Wall Street)
The Fulton (89 South Street)
Gran Morsi (22 Warren Street)
Industry Kitchen (70 South Street)
La Pizza & La Pasta A Colori (101 Liberty Street)
Mad Dog & Beans (83 Pearl Street)
Malibu Farm (89 South Street)
MarkJoseph Steakhouse (261 Water Street)
Merchants River House (375 South End Avenue)
Morton’s The Steakhouse (136 Washington Street)
Route 66 Smokehouse (46 Stone Street)
Sant Ambroeus (200 Vesey Street)
Schilling (109 Washington Street)
Treadwell Park (301 South End Avenue)
Vino e Grano (101 Liberty Street, Eataly NYC Downtown)
We’re sympathetic to those who have not been here for a proper British Tea. We had the pleasure of experiencing a traditional British comfort food restaurant, appropriately named Tea and Sympathy. There are basically two types: “low” tea and “high” tea.
Scone with Raspberry jam and clotted cream
Anna Maria Russell, the 7th Duchess of Bedford and a dear friend of Queen Victoria, can be accredited with introducing the concept of “afternoon” or “low” tea to upper-class households. Her butler at her request, to bring only tea, bread, butter, perhaps even a few scones to her chambers around 5 pm, the time of day when we all feel slightly peckish, but not ready for a full meal. Eventually, the Duchess, enjoyed this on a daily basis, to the point where she invited her friends, essentially creating a new social ritual.
High Tea, the origins of afternoon tea show clearly it was the preserve of the rich in the 19th century. For workers in the newly industrialized Britain, tea time had to wait until after work. By that hour, tea was generally served with heartier dishes, such as meat, fish, egg dishes, substantially more than just tea and cakes. Workers needed sustenance after a hard day of labor, this meal is more often hot and filling, accompanied by a pot of good, strong tea to revive them from a day’s work.
We had the sheer pleasure of pairing our delights with the UK’s choice for sparkling wine from Chapel Downexclusive only to Tea and Sympathy here in New York.
After years of being served at Buckingham Palace (including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding), Chapel Down was introduced to NYC with a partnership with the quintessential British restaurant Tea & Sympathy in Greenwich Village.
Tea & Sympathy has been serving traditional British comfort food to the West Village since 1990. Their traditional menu offers classic British favorites including Afternoon Tea, Bangers and Mash, and even the beloved Shepherd’s Pie. Now customers can pair the experience with a bottle of either Chapel Down’s rose or Bacchus-based Brut sparkling wine.
Chapel Down Rose Sparkling WineScrumptious Fish and Chips from A Salt and Battery
Tea & Sympathy opened its doors in 1990 and has been a staple for Brits living in the US and us American’s who truly love all the UK’s favorite foods. Next door you can find A Salt & Battery one of the best fish and chips shops in all of NYC!
Tea & Sympathy Store
Afternoon Tea
High Tea
In this episode, Sam enjoys a superb British Afternoon Tea. This meal came on a two-tier platter with tea sandwiches including egg salad, chicken salad, and tuna salad sandwiches.
These sandwiches were delicious, comforting, and light.
Sandwiches the British way
This lunch also included various cakes and baked goods like the sticky toffee pudding cupcake and scones with clotted cream. We also had the pleasure of trying Tea and Sympathy’s signature black tea. It was delicious!
Gluten-Free Lunch with Tea
Marley tried the Absolutely Fabulous Salad, one of the gluten-free lunch options at Tea and Sympathy This mixed green salad is complete with chicken, avocado, a hard-boiled egg, bacon, tomatoes, and a delicious vinaigrette dressing.
GF Salad with Chicken, Egg, and Bacon
Tea and Sympathy are currently searching for a new place to purchase gluten-free bread from. They’re hoping to offer a gluten-free Afternoon Tea option soon!
Visiting Tea and Sympathy felt like visiting London. It’s an experience you don’t want to miss. When you visit, be sure to check out the adorable shop next door that sells British treats, teapots, and more.
Sunday dinner Roast Beef and Yorkshire PuddingTea & Sympathy famous car
For the last episode of Downtown Highlights, click here.
Chow Down in Lower Manhattan, there is an immense range of delicious spots to frequent. According to Explorer In Chief Josh Katz, there are five restaurants where you go as soon as humanly possible.
Caravan Uyghur Cuisine
Manhattan’s only Uighur restaurant is located in the heart of Lower Manhattan. Their noodle dishes (above) strike the perfect balance between exotic spice profiles and hearty comfort food. (200 Water Street)
Temple Court
Tom Colicchio’s excellent farm-to-table, American-style restaurant is set within the beautiful atrium and cozy corners of The Beekman Hotel. (5 Beekman Street)
Tom Colicchio Photo by Philippe Reynaud
Temple Court IG
Bao Bao + Suspenders
Bao Bao makes delicious, authentic Chinese food out of an endearingly small restaurant with limited seating. Their pho is fantastic. Immediately next door you’ll find Suspenders, a beloved local watering hole that’s been open for 33 years. For a wonderful experience, take advantage of either spot’s outdoor seating and combine the two. Just ask nicely first! (106 Greenwich Street)
CUT by Wolfgang Puck
Their menu is creative, the presentation is artful, and the meals are scrumptious. While most steakhouses seem stuck in the 19th century, CUT has designed both their menu and interiors with a modern twist, tastefully balanced with a respectful nod to tradition. (99 Church Street)
Makina Cafe
Makina Cafe serves up incredible Ethiopian cuisine from their food truck in Governors Island. While I love the family-style spreads of typical Ethiopian fair, this place has perfected the personal injera plates full of delectable sides like miser (red lentils), Gomen (collard greens), and Tikel Gomen (cabbage with carrots and potatoes). This place is an unbeatable start to a delightful day. (Governors Island)
In this episode of Downtown Highlights, we visited BiCE Cucina, an authentic Italian restaurant that brings together hospitality and Northern Italian flavors. BiCE has two locations in New York City, Midtown and Soho. In this episode, we visited BiCE Cucina in Soho, their newest location.
BiCE Cucina Soho
The Story Behind BiCE
BiCE’s story starts about 90 years ago. It all started with Beatrice Ruggeri, also know as Bice. She shared her talent and love for food with her family and friends while growing up in Northern Italy. Impressed by Bice’s food, her friends and family encouraged her to open a restaurant, or “cucina”. She decided to listen to her loved ones and in 1926, she opened her own Trattoria in Milan with her husband, Gino.
Bice and Gino’s sons, Remo and Roberto, took over the business in 1970. They opened the first location in the United States in 1987. This restaurant is in Midtown, between 5th and Madison Avenue. BiCE quickly gained popularity around the world, opening locations in Palm Beach, Tokyo, LA, Paris, and Chicago over the span of three years. BiCE has even gained the attention of some major clientele such as the Kennedys. The legacy of BiCE continues on through Raffaele Ruggeri, Bice’s grandson.
Here, You’re Family
Raffaele’s goal for BiCE Cucina is clear: to make every guest feel welcome like they’re family. When you visit our restaurant “you’re coming into our home…and when you come into someone’s home, our home, you do everything you can to make sure you take care of your guests,” Raffaele Ruggeri explains to us. This goal is definitely being met, as we felt like we were home while eating here. As soon as we walked in the door, we felt welcome here by Ruggeri and the friendly staff.
Authentic and Light Cuisine
The Tuna Tartare
BiCE Cucina works hard to not only serve delicious food but food that is healthy and light. “We hope to create a beautiful restaurant where the food is really impeccable,” Ruggeri explains. BiCE Cucina has a wide variety of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options so everyone can find a dish that they love.
Everything that we tried at this restaurant was absolutely delectable. The food, including the pasta dishes, was incredibly light. In this episode, we tried three appetizers, the Tuna Tartare, Octopus Carpaccio, and Baked Eggplant Parmigiana, and two pasta dishes, the Tortellini and a gluten-free version of Tagliolini Aragosta. BiCE Cucina is not only a restaurant that serves delicious, healthy food, it is an experience. BiCE truly has something for everyone to enjoy. We will definitely be paying BiCE a visit again soon.
For more Downtown Highlights episodes, click here.
Welcome back to Downtown Highlights on Gluten-Free
The series in which we take the opportunity to “highlight” businesses in NYC, like the dedicated gluten-free Italian eatery, Senza Gluten.
As a result to this unpredictably tumultuous year and a half we’ve had, brick and mortar locations like this one have taken a hit thanks to the pandemic.
It is important to us here at Downtown to make sure that we’re serving the places that serve us.
For this episode of Downtown Highlights, we paid a visit to the esteemed Senza Gluten in Greenwich Village. The name Senza Gluten has Italian origins, of course, and translates to “without Gluten”.
Tiramisu
The restaurant was created in 2014, by Chef Jemiko Solo.
Chef’s goal in opening Senza was simple: to ensure a 100% gluten-free atmosphere. Guests can enjoy a gluten-free meal, devoid entirely of gluten or any risk of cross-contamination. You won’t find a spec of gluten inside the entire facility.
Our own host of Downtown Highlights, Marley Gifford, has celiac disease herself, visiting the facility was a euphoric experience as it is for many visitors of Senza Gluten with gluten intolerances.
Calamari
A Restaurant Made for those with Gluten Intolerances – Gluten-Free
Chef Solo does not have any gluten intolerances himself. However, many of his friends and relations suffer from various food allergies.
Chef made it his mission to help his friends, and all clients enjoying their food, and life, to the fullest.
He dedicates his work to ensure that his guests can again enjoy delicious dishes that disguise themselves as tasting just like the glutinous dishes we know and love.
Having the ability to eat glutinous dishes allows Solo to taste his dishes with an advantage, and gets him closer to the real thing.
The gluten-free possibilities don’t stop at the restaurant. Just down the street from the restaurant is the Senza Gluten Cafe & Bakery, which was opened in 2018.
Shortbread Cookies
This location allows the restaurant to expand its menu of different kinds of bread, pastries, and other baked goods. It is there that they also bake some of their savory dishes, like their arancini and mushroom ravioli, both Senza must-try.
Gnocchi
Pay a visit to Senza Gluten and bring both your gluten-free friends and ones that aren’t. We bet they’ll barely be able to tell the difference.
To see the last Downtown Highlights episode, click here.
On June 26, EnChroma, a lead manufacturer of glasses for those who are colorblind, teamed up with Eataly Downtown for a fun and colorful event. At this event, five color-blind New Yorkers experienced viewing color for the first time. La Pizza & La Pasta A Colori, a restaurant created by the Color Factory and Eataly, provided colorful arrangements of food including wines and cheeses to add to this colorful experience. Some of A Colori’s proceeds will be donated to EnChroma’s Color Accessibility Program. This program donates EnChroma glasses to libraries in New York for color-blind guests.
Expectations of EnChroma Glasses
Many of the guests had mentioned that being color blind makes their classes school or their job more difficult. Steve Brandon, a college student, explained that classes like “Geology in college was definitely a bad experience. Distinguishing the colors of rocks for exams and assignments would always be extremely difficult and I never did too well in the class.”
Also, participants described having difficulty playing certain color based games, being creative, and picking out outfits. Dr. Samuel Fam, a family medicine physician, explained that he loved to draw as a child “but once color blending became a more advanced skill I shied away from being creative because I couldn’t match shades in natural ways.” The participants hoped that the glasses would make them feel more confident and able to relate to the beauty of color that the rest of the community so easily experiences.
Thoughts on EnChroma Glasses
The participants adored the EnChroma Glasses! Bob Brown, NYC firefighter and police officer, explained that “the colors [were] just dancing…[the world] is popping with color!” The participants agreed that the glasses do indeed make a huge difference. Peter Fong, a software engineer, exclaimed that this was “a life changing experience.” Delaney Scheidell, a high school student, explained that she’s “excited to go home and experience a new environment”. Eataly now has a permanent set of EnChroma glasses available at their restaurant for color blind customers.
