I love NY for the diversity of its food and was not disappointed after eating at Esperanto, a Latin restaurant located in Alphabet City that is celebrating its 17th Anniversary. This place has a neighborhood latin café feel that I always like to find, far from the famous places where there is no soul. It is not a big place, but it benefits from having space outside for a few tables, so patrons can enjoy the last bit of good weather before winter comes. Esperanto is not a big place; it is colorful and warm, with a rustic feel.

When temperatures start to go down, I am always looking forward for ramen. I was really looking forward to try Mentoku in Hell's Kitchen. I saw that place while walking down the street and noticed their spicy ramen with...whipped cream. Not that I was going to try it as it seems to be really spicy, but still, I was a bit curious. We went on a Saturday to this small cash only place that was not as crowded as Totto Ramen that we passed by few hours later. 

The last time I went to Fogo de Chao was few months after this upscale steakhouse opened, back in December 2013. I even went to one of their locations in Sao Paolo that I found of lesser quality than their sister restaurant in the big apple. Well, the location itself is amazing with its three floors and I cannot imagine the rent they pay a month. 

Meaning Sir Lala, Lala Sahab is the new venture of Executive Chef and owner Lala Sahab that I met few months ago at Surya, where he not only treated us with a sublime meal, but also made a demonstration of the use of the tandoor oven.

I heard about Haandi, a fast casual restaurant serving Pakistani and North Indian cuisine: it is apparently a favorite spot for taxi drivers and the line of taxis in front of this place when I arrived seemed to confirm this, although when I entered the joint, it was not that crowded and the customers who came later seem to be business people rather than cabbies. 

I will not surprise anybody by saying that Empanadas Café serves mainly...empanadas. If you want to eat something else, you are going to be very, very, very, limited. I was excited to go there, not only because I love empanadas, those little pockets of deliciousness that are either baked or fried, but also because they offer a wide variety of them, away from the classic beef or cheese ones.

As I was in the Financial District all day, I decided to check some fried chicken places (I admit: I craved it). It was a bit early and there were not that many people in the restaurant, besides couple of people at the bar. 

People always talk about John's Pizza, Grimaldi's or XXX, but there is a little gem on Bleecker Street that I highly recommend: Kesté Pizza and Vino. Serving sublime Neapolitan pizza, one of their best credentials is that their owner, Roberto Capiruscio is the president of the US branch of the Association of Neapolitan Pizzaiuoli (APN - Association of Neapolitan Pizza Makers), that ensures that Neapolitan pizza are made following strict guidelines (water temperature, specific flour, etc. ). 

I admit that at first, I did not intend to go have dinner at Georgia's Eastside BBQ with my friend Benny. No, we wanted to go get some fried chicken at Sweet Chick located a block away. Unfortunately, and despite the info I got on the Internet, the place was closed for "staff appreciation day". Nice thing in retrospect, but at that point, I was more thinking about "client appreciation day"! So, the other alternative was Russ and Daughters on Orchard and it is while walking towards it that I noticed Georgia's Eastside BBQ.

I passed so many times in front of Rice 'n' Beans in Hell's Kitchen, thinking it was a takeout place and not realizing that, first it is a Brazilian place (I could have by simply looking at the flag, but did not pay attention because, again, I thought it was a takeout place), and second, that it is serving a pretty good food, beyond the simple casual feel the place gives.

Finding Adrienne's Pizzabar, a restaurant located in the Financial District, is like finding a needle in a haystack. You definitely need a GPS to find this amazing place and, once you do, you will be blown away. First of all, the area where it is located, Stone Street, has a European feel with its cobblestones as well as multiple tables and benches installed in the street by the various restaurants. Except that the day we went, it was raining cats and dogs and only few courageous patrons dared to eat or grab a drink outside. 

With its casual yet trendy decor, Kurry Qulture is the kind of restaurant you wish you had in your neighborhood. Serving authentic Indian cuisine, the dishes there are of the quality of some of the best restaurants in New York, but for reasonable prices, in part thanks to the differential in rent between the Big Apple and Astoria. Well, it might be also because Sonny Solomon, who, with his wife, opened this place a year ago, has an impressive resume, having worked at Devi and Tulsi, two renown Indian restaurants crowned with Michelin stars, thanks to the collaboration with Chef Hemant Mathur who helped create the menu of Kurry Qulture.

Food and wine are two components that, with good company, contribute in making a meal a great experience. So, when a renown wine maker celebrates 80 years of wine making with a celebrity Chef, you can expect an amazing experience. And it is what I witnessed at Todd English Food Hall at the Plaza Hotel. I admit that I did not know when I arrived that Chef Todd English would be there and was surprised to see him talking to his staff when I entered in the restaurant. That place is beautiful, spacious, with a bit of a brasserie feel.

Alright people: listen up! If you love bacon, you cannot miss this week end's event called The Great Big Bacon Picnic in the Old Pfizer Factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. There, you can taste bacon, bacon, as well as bacon, in many different ways. This bacon-palooza features so many restaurants that I ended up with a bacon coma at the end of our visit. They are there the entire week end, so check them out at: http://greatbigbacon.com

As its name indicates, Jun's Macaron Gelato serves...macarons and gelato. In fact, I mistakenly thought that they even serve a macaron gelato sandwich, but I guess I was close to reality...It is a small shop that opened in August 2016 and proposes a wide variety of gelato: chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut, cookies and cream, etc...

If you are looking for a great lunch deal, you should stop by Room Service, a Thai restaurant located in Hell's Kitchen (who would guess with that name that it is a Thai joint?). It has been a while since we wanted to try it, but it seemed to be always packed for dinner, so, one Saturday, we decided to try it for lunch, without knowing that they propose one of the best lunch prix-fixe I have seen so far. And it is not only the price ($8.50), but also the quantity that makes it awesome. So, for that $8.50, you get an appetizer and an entrée. For $1.50 more, you can add a Thai iced tea or a Tom Yum soup. 

I love steaks and I am always curious to try non classic steakhouses. This time, we went to Bistecca Fiorentina, a Tuscan steakhouse located in Hell's Kitchen. I admit that I was not sure what to expect when we arrived: it was not that crowded and the person standing outside trying to convince people to come eat there was a sort of warning that they were dying to get patrons, at least it was my interpretation. Well, I was wrong: we had a pretty good dinner there.

We were looking for a less traditional steakhouse, following our dinner at Prime and Beyond, a Korean steakhouse, few months ago, when we stumbled upon K Rico, a South American steakhouse located in Hell's Kitchen. I was definitely curious to see how this Latin flair would translate in the cooking of meat. And I was not disappointed. 

So, there is a new pizza joint in uptown Hoboken and they are up to a good start. As soon as Urban Coalhouse Pizza and Bar opened, that place has been packed with crowds overflowing into the sidewalk. For sure, it is a good addition to the north part of the city, replacing Puerto Spain that closed several months ago. 

Street food is a big thing in India, but I admit that when I travel there, I am always careful with what I eat, especially avoiding this kind of food, my westerner's stomach not being used to it. So, I enjoyed it in restaurants either in Mumbai few years ago, or in New York City. So I was excited when Dilli Junction opened a month ago in Hoboken, replacing Fresh Tortilla Grill, a Mexican restaurant not unknown to us. 

Yesterday, we got invited at an event called Death in the afternoon at Raoul's, a French restaurant located on Prince St in Soho. This event is an interesting concept: inspired by classical art salons, Ward 8 founders, Fay Leshner and Andrew Ousley, bring together various artists in a single location around one theme. Death in the afternoon, makes you travel to the prohibition era, a time that, as a Frenchman, I have always seen as unique, fascinated by the stories and related movies or TV series such as The Untouchables or more recently Boardwalk Empire. It is a period that I cannot imagine happening in France. Yes, it was interesting to see such event in a French restaurant, considering that trying to impose some ban on alcohol there would have resulted in riots, if not another revolution, apéritif or a glass of wine during a meal being sacred there!

When looking for an authentic restaurant, I often ask people native from the cuisine I want to eat what places they would recommend. For Chinese cuisine, I asked my colleague Victor and ended up at Shanghai Asian Cuisine in the heart of Chinatown. When we arrived, we thought that all the people in front of us where going to that place, but it was not the case. They were going to Jing Fong, a spacious place that serves Hong Kong style dim sum. So, needless to say that we got a table in couple of minutes in that little place that is Shanghai Asian Cuisine.

What better place to eat amazing Greek food than Astoria, aka Greektown because of its large Greek population? That is where I got the opportunity to try Jimbo's, a family restaurant conveniently located a couple of minutes from the train. Their philosophy: cut out the middleman and offer quality food (large portions) at reasonable prices, from fish to meat. They are apparently known for their steaks, but I admit that I wanted to taste some of their Greek recipes. 

Taking its name from Ko Samui, an island in Southern Thailand (Ko means Island), Samui is one of the most unexpected restaurants I went to in New York. When I received the invite to try their food, I did not imagine to find such a place, off the beaten path in Fort Green, that opened two weeks ago: from the vibrant yet elegant decor to the fantastic food, this is the kind of restaurant I would definitely go back to, even if I have to walk 6 blocks from the train station. I cannot comment on the authenticity of the food, but, considering that the Executive Chef, A Napadol is from Thailand and grew up learning how to cook with her grandmother, I would think that this is fairly authentic, although, as you will see, the Chef added her own touch to some dishes.

This week, I was invited for a blog dinner at The Malt House in the Financial District, where I had the pleasure to dine with my fellow bloggers The Restaurant Fairy, Johnny Prime's and The Cake Dealer. The Malt House is not unknown to me as I went to their first location in the West Village at the beginning of the year. But I was excited to go to their outpost in the Financial District (aka FiDi) as I heard it is amazing. And for sure, I was impressed. This place is huge and the tour we took with one of the owners, Darren, took a bit of time as, each time I thought that was it, he showed us another room, like being in a labyrinth, where each room had its own atmosphere.

My last post about our trip to San Francisco is in fact the first meal we had there. We arrived late and had no energy to walk around to find a place, especially as we did not know the area where our hotel, The Pickwick, was. So, we ended up in the hotel's restaurant, like many other tourists who were staying there (note that it was not that crowded anyway).

If there was another item I wanted to eat in San Francisco, it is donuts. So Jodi's cousin, Rebecca suggested that we go to Dynamo Donut + Coffee. There are two places in the city and we went to the location on 24th street. Interesting decor for sure, with the donut with legs and boots on the roof, as well as the various paintings representing donuts (sometimes with a panda) from Alexandra Blum that were for sale.

One of the restaurants recommended by Rebecca, Jodi's cousin, was Ideale, an Italian restaurant located in North Beach, that serves Roman dishes. When you enter that place, you would think that it is small, but, in fact, they have a second dining room, in the back. I like observing what is going on in restaurants and quickly realized that many patrons are regulars, some of them speaking Italian, that is always a good sign.