Spice Market, where Jean-Georges Vongerichten has been reinterpreting Southeast Asian street food since 2004, has become a mainstay in the over-populated Meatpacking District. Vongerichten may own many restaurants now, but he is still the guiding force in all his endeavors. And that’s no exception in Spice Market’s kitchen. It’s clear that Vongerichten has influenced pastry chef Stuart Tarff, who’s taken to his own interpretations: at Spice Market classic desserts are given an Asian twist, while some traditional Asian desserts are given an American twist, as evidenced in the green tea sundae, spiced pumpkin cake, Thai jewels and white chocolate and yuzu pavlova.

The Fifth Avenue location of Andaz, a high-end boutique hotel from Hyatt, (the first New York City location is on Wall Street), opened in the summer of 2010 and it’s fast becoming an haute dining destination. The hotel’s restaurant, named simply, “the shop” serves seasonal farm-to-table food and many local delicacies from such stores as Murray’s Cheese Shop and Russ & Daughter’s from the open kitchen.

Who doesn’t love desserts? And if you’re so inclined to bake (or you simply have a sweet tooth) then you’ll want to tune into a new cooking show that recently launched (Oct. 24) on Food Network: Dessert First with Anne Thornton. Newcomer Anne Thornton (she’s worked as a pastry chef at Waverly Inn and Hotel Griffou) demystifies and simplifies the world of pastry and dessert by showing viewers the “ins and outs to no‐fear baking.”

Synonymous with glitz and glamour since its doors first opened over 100 years ago at the edge of Central Park, the luxurious Plaza Hotel is still an icon. The Plaza’s dining options are varied, from the concourse-level food hall (a Todd English production) to the fabled Palm Court. But it’s The Oak Room that remains the grand star. Originally a bar only for men, it reopened in 1934 as a restaurant, and it’s been a legend ever since.

Glamour, glitz and hi-balls…Mad Men fans have the perfect place to convene this Sunday: The Oak Bar, once a men’s-only club, at The Plaza Hotel will be serving quintessential cocktails from the Sixties while the Mad Mad finale airs on wide screen TVs.

Over the summer I attended the Crayfish Festival at Restaurant Aquavit: a crayfish smorgasbord plus a pound of peel & eat crayfish all paired, naturally, with aquavit made for an haute Scandinavian lunch. Now that fall is here, I will be returning to enjoy Chef Marcus Jernmark’s Scandinavian cuisine that’s both traditional and contemporary: duck pastrami with poached stone fruit, house aged venison salad with västerbotten cheese and black truffle, hazelnut crusted arctic char and Berkshire pork with succotash, poached figs and foie gras broth.

Butter is the sort of place that’s a destination for both a get-together over cocktails or a serious dining experience with an award-winning wine list. And with chef Alexander Guarnaschelli at the kitchen’s helm, the food is indeed the star. Consider her seasonal, market-driven menu: from the mixed homemade charcuterie plate (coffee-rubbed bacon, duck mortadella and veal pate) to the grilled octopus with meyer lemon confit, from the braised lamb shank to the fall green ravioli, Guarnaschelli’s American cuisine is infused with her classic French training and imaginative twists.

On my recent visit to erbaluce, chef/owner Charles Draghi held court in his airy dining room, explaining an Italian red during one of his special wine dinners. Diners were captivated as they enjoyed Draghi’s well-executed, herb-infused Italian cuisine that’s influenced by his roots in Piedmont, Italy. And indeed, I was, too. The sunflower appetizer, on […]

Coffee…it’s an obsession with New Yorkers. We seek out coffee shops in search of the next best cup, and we marvel at outrageous espresso machines (like the $18,000 slayer at RBC NYC in Tribeca) or on-site coffee roasters (housed at The Roasting Plant) — whatever it takes to keep our senses amused and our adrenalin high. And if there’s anyone who’s on board with our penchant for a spectacular coffee experience, it’s John Moore. Moore, the vice president of Dallis Coffee in Queens, is one of the rare few Q Graders, i.e. top-tier coffee experts in the world. His knowledge of coffee, from agriculture through roasting and tasting, is encyclopedic. He is trained to detect more than 300 different aromatics in any cup of coffee — blindfolded! — in order to properly grade the coffees, detect defects and profile beans for different roasting qualities.