As someone who is often asked where should we eat and as a community service, to help highlight what where to spend money on good food, we are putting together a list of where to eat in the West Village. These are not meant to be the most expensive places but the best in terms of experience and value. New York is a town of great food so we are lucky to live in what is considered the best place to eat in the United States, according to the DailyMeal.com. In a recent listing, 9 of the top 16 restaurants in USA are in Manhattan and another is Blue Hill at Stone Barnes.
Curiously, having recently been in Las Vegas, much of the city mimics New York in its life and style; the closest aspect to my heart being the food. My 5 star hotel had three restaurants that are New York City branches and that does not include the casino resort that is called, New York, New York. NYC is everywhere there.
I look at many books and websites, finding Zagat to be pretty reliable over the years. However, recently published Where Chefs Eat (Phaidon, London) explores where chefs like to eat during their time off and where they recommend. This book covers the world but does have many New York City listings that include local chefs and local places to eat, some of which include:
- April Bloomfield / The Spotted Pig – recommends Kunjip (Korea Town)
- Bruce Bromberg / Blue Ribbon Brasserie – recommends Barbuto, Congee Village and Wo Hop (Chinatown)
- Daniel Boulud / Daniel – recommends Thelewala and Pastis
- Harold Dieterle / The Marrow (see below) – recommends Daddy-O, The Little Owl, and Minetta Tavern
- Peter Hoffman / Back Forty – recommends EN Japanese Brasserie and Morandi
- Gabrielle Hamilton / Prune – recommends Barbuto and Del Posto
- Anito Lo / Annisa recommends – L‘Artusi, Tertulia, and Pearl Oyster Bar
- Zakary Pelaccio / Fatty Crab – recommends Great NY Noodletown along with East Corner WonTon (Chinatown)
- Marcus Samuelsson / Red Rooster – recommends Minetta Tavern and La Taza de Oro
It might also fun be to keep track of all the new places which I plan to include in the WestView Picks. A selection of recent openings include:
Cole’s, 118 Greenwich Avenue – Replacing the short lived Lyon, which replaced the long lived Café Bruxelles; higher end American, nicely decorated.
Swine, 531 Hudson Street – Neighborhood restaurant and bar with more than just pork, offers high quality, well priced casual food.
Chez Sardine, 183 West 10th Street – The latest addition by the Gabriel Stulman family and self-described by the chef as unabashedly unconventional Izakaya or casual Japanese bar food.
The Marrow, 99 Bank Street – Once home to the Paris Commune and now home to Harold Dieterle of Top Chef fame, celebrating his family heritage in food; German and Italian.
Now it will be our turn to come up with places that are our picks or favorites in the West Village that we want to patronize as well as encouraging our community to eat well and stay on the top of the eating game. If you have suggestions please email me at David@CMBFFM.com. WestView looks forward to sharing your community food favorites.
A little about me…
Before signing a lease in 1996 for 20 years here in the Chelsea Market and creating this business, I worked at Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s in varying capacities including Corporate Buyer for Specialty food and gifts. I have had a lifelong passion for “inspired specialty foods” along with an eye for tastefully designed gifts.
