New York Eats

Plant-based fine dining Flatiron $$$$ · tasting menu ~$365

Daniel Humm's three-star dining room in the MetLife building is New York pageantry: soaring Art Deco space, meticulous service, and a fully plant-based tasting menu that still divides and dazzles. Whether you love the vegetable era or debate it, EMP remains a defining New York special-occasion table — book it for the room as much as the plates.

Signature dish

The evolving plant-based tasting menu in the landmark Art Deco room

Booking tip

Reserve about a month ahead online; weekday seatings clear slightly faster than weekends.

French seafood fine dining Midtown $$$$ · tasting menu ~$300+

Éric Ripert's Midtown temple has held three Michelin stars by treating seafood with monastic focus — barely cooked fish, exact sauces, zero clutter. It is formal, flawless, and still the seafood benchmark against which New York judges itself. Choose the tasting menu for the full arc, or the lounge when you want the craft without the ceremony.

Signature dish

Almost-raw fish compositions with surgical sauces

Booking tip

Book 3–6 weeks ahead; the lounge menu is a smarter mid-spend entry.

Modern Korean tasting menu NoMad / Murray Hill $$$$ · tasting menu ~$350

Junghyun and Ellia Park's counter is New York's most sought-after Korean fine-dining seat: a tightly paced tasting menu explained with beautiful course cards, ferocious technique, and warmth that never feels corporate. Two Michelin stars, fourteen or so seats, and a meal that makes the city's older French temples look a little stiff.

Signature dish

Course cards and Korean techniques at a chef's counter

Booking tip

One of NYC's toughest tickets — book the moment the calendar opens; Atoboy is the casual sibling.

Coal-oven pizza Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn $$ · pies ~$24–$32

Mark Iacono's candlelit Brooklyn pizzeria is the pizza pilgrimage that still feels like a neighbourhood secret even when the queue wraps the block. Thin crust, fresh mozzarella, scissors on the table, and a BYOB policy that turns the sidewalk wait into a party. This is New York pizza as craft, not spectacle.

Signature dish

Thin-crust pizza with fresh basil and pan-roasted garlic

Booking tip

No reservations — join the list when doors open; BYOB makes the wait civilised.

Classic New York pizza Midwood, Brooklyn $$ · slices & pies ~$5–$30

The Midwood institution that taught a generation what a New York pie could be: blistered crust, puddles of mozzarella, basil snipped over the top like a blessing. It is a trek from Manhattan and entirely worth it for pizza historians. Order a whole pie; slices are for tourists who underestimate their hunger.

Signature dish

Square and round pies finished with snipped basil and drizzled oil

Booking tip

Expect a wait — go off-peak weekday afternoons; cash policies can vary, bring a card and cash.

Jewish appetising / bagels & smoked fish Lower East Side $$ · brunch $25–$45

The appetising-shop dynasty's sit-down cafe is the civilised way into New York's smoked-fish religion: bagels, sable, whitefish salad, and coffee that respects the morning. For pure takeaway theatre, the original Russ & Daughters counter still reigns. Order more fish than feels polite, add pickles, and call it breakfast. Either way, this is bagel culture with a century of receipts.

Signature dish

Classic bagel with smoked salmon, whitefish and pickles

Booking tip

Cafe takes reservations; the original Houston Street counter is walk-in for takeaway.

Jewish deli Lower East Side $$ · sandwiches $25–$35

The pastrami sandwich that launched a thousand imitations, still carved to order in a fluorescent hall of fame. Katz's is loud, chaotic and non-negotiable for a first New York food checklist. Split a sandwich, add a pickle, guard your ticket like a boarding pass, and accept that the photo line is part of the folklore.

Signature dish

Hand-carved hot pastrami on rye

Booking tip

Walk-in — go early or late; keep your ticket or you pay twice (seriously).

Italian trattoria West Village $$$ · dinner $60–$100

Jody Williams and Rita Sodi's West Village trattoria is the neighbourhood Italian room everyone else tries to clone: superb salads, pastas that taste like someone's Tuscan aunt got a Michelin stage, and a no-reservations crush that somehow still feels worth it. Come hungry, order the green salad, and settle in.

Signature dish

Insalata verde and seasonal pasta

Booking tip

Notoriously tough walk-in — join the list early evening or try lunch; no easy online path.