We were looking for a Middle Eastern restaurant close to Union Square and found Salam Café, a family owned restaurant located in the West Village, that has served customers for more than 30 years.

I like the place, its decor that seems authentic, as well as the layout of the restaurant: the entrance looks like a café, with its beautiful round tables decorated with mosaic, a private room that gives the impression you are in a tent, and its large dining room where we got seated. 

Taking its name from a Province of the Persian Empire with its main city being Persepolis, Pars Grill House was the choice of restaurant from Jodi for her birthday. She wanted to have Persian cuisine, and, thankfully, we realized that Persepolis, on the Upper East Side, was only offering a slimmed down menu for lunch. After a quick web search, we found Pars Grill House and, looking at their menu, we decided to change our reservation and try it. 

What I love about Brooklyn is that there are plenty of restaurants that are true neighborhood gems, thinking more about giving back to the community than making huge profits. The Brooklyn Tree is one of them. Inspired by the book “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” written by Betty Smith, which is set in East Williamsburg, Chef Patrick Quinn crafted a menu with dishes that are a nod to the book, such as meatloaf, pickles or iced coffee. 

Located on Bleecker in the heart of Greenwich Village, Romagna Ready 2 Go is an amazing restaurant where Chef and owner Lorenzo Lorenzi serves authentic Italian food straight from the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy. Chef Lorenzi designed the restaurant, that is divided in two main areas: the dining room, with its brick walls and various tools hanging there, as well as the covered garden interestingly decorated with things like his grandfather’s original racing bicycle painted with the colors of the Italian flag, an every day reminder of his home country and his family.

Beauty and Essex is for sure an interesting place. You would think, looking from outside, that it is a pawn shop, but the door in the back opens up to an incredible space were multi ethnic food crafted by Chef Chris Santos. Yes, the dining room is spacious and elegant. 

Last Friday, I was walking on 44th street toward 8th Avenue when I noticed Sammy's House of BBQ, a new restaurant in the heart of Times Square. I love BBQ so I could not resist and convinced Jodi that we needed to go there for lunch the next day. I thought the place would be busy, even if we went at around 1:30pm, as Times Square is always packed with tourists, but was surprised to see that place fairly empty. It is a big place with three main dining rooms: one in the front, one in the back and one upstairs. The bar was not yet busy as they did not have yet their liquor license that should, apparently, be granted soon.

Tonight, I got invited to a Bayou Bash with Top Chef contestant Isaac Toups and Heluva Good! This event that took place at Bourbon Street Bar & Grille was the perfect occasion to meet Chef Isaac Toups who was a contestant in the last season of Top Chef on Bravo TV. We not only talked about his experience on that show, but also about the food in Louisiana as well as New York, where he went to places like Gramercy Tavern or Roberta's for pizza, but also to some Indian places. I always appreciate successful Chef’s that are still modest and passionate about what they are doing. I could also see his love for Louisiana that translates into his food. 

Caviar is an interesting product: reserved to only a few years ago and symbol of luxury and gourmet; it is now more and more popular and often present in restaurants dishes, more often used as a topping than standing on its own. Well, this may change and if you want to discover the many variety of caviars that are available, Olma Caviar Boutique & Lounge is for you as they offer various ways of tasting these luxurious eggs at good prices. Of course, the higher the quality, the pricier it will be, but imagine that, unless you go for caviar tasting platter shown below, priced at $55, you can try caviar on egg for as little as $5 a piece, up to $32 for a Beluga.

I am sure you are wondering why I would eat in a diner considering all the options New York City offers in term of food. It is definitely not because of the prices, this place not being as cheap as one thinks, but rather the folklore that, as a Frenchman, I attach to a diner. Understand that this type of restaurant does not exist in France, but, during my childhood, I kept seeing TV series and movies where the characters would end up in diners, having some eggs, pie or coffee.

So we made it to Delmonico's Steakhouse, the famous restaurant in the Financial District that gave us the Delmonico steak as well as the Delmonico potatoes that I saw few times on restaurants' menus. This old school steakhouse is an institution and steak lovers cannot miss trying it, similarly to going to Peter Luger. Delmonico's is located in an amazing building on Baxter St, and when you enter inside, you are mesmerized by the decor that can seem heavy, and gives the impression the atmosphere will be stuffy.

Bruno Pizza is quite an interesting place in many ways: first of all, they mill their flour that had a whole grain color and taste, and then, their pizzas are not your classic pies. They may look like it, but they have a twist, like the standard margherita made with fermented tomatoes. Another particularity of this place is that prices include tip, providing I guess a fair compensation to all staff, following the path of Chefs like Danny Meyer. 

For my birthday, I had to pick the restaurant where Jodi and me would celebrate. I decided to go to BLT Prime that has been on my list for a while. Few years ago, I went to BLT Steaks, their sister restaurant, and I was disappointed: the steaks were overcooked, an issue that was not isolated to just us, but also to the patrons seating close to our table. But, it could have been an off night and it was a different location.

Turntable Chicken Jazz is a very interesting place. First, it is hard to be found, like a hidden gem that people keep secret. It is on the second floor of a building, in Koreatown, with a very discrete sign outside, to the point that my friend Benny was waiting for me in the wrong restaurant...

I have heard about Utsav so many times, my Indian colleagues liking this place and mentioning it very often when discussing the various Indian restaurants Midtown. So, I finally went there for lunch, benefiting from their buffet that, although pricey ($22) is still a good deal for the quality of food, especially since Balucci's and its 50% discount for lunch closed. Their dining room is quite big and I liked the fact that it was bright, but it definitely misses some charm, looking more like a restaurant you would find in a hotel.

Hoboken has a new restaurant in the W Hotel that is worth knowing. Replacing Zylo, a pretty good Italian steakhouse, this new restaurant called Halifax (it opened two weeks ago) will surely make its marks in the mile square city. First, the location is perfect: few minutes from the path train, it is on the river front with its stunning views of the New York City skyline.

Going to Philadelphia and not going to the Reading Market is like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower. I mean, it might be touristy, but it is worth it. 

I love that place with all these merchants, a sort of paradise for foodies, with a majority of unhealthy choices, such as the cheesesteak that I could not miss. I decided to try Carmen's Famous Italian Hoagie, convinced, maybe wrongfully, that the huge line wrapped around the booth was a good sign.

I do not think there was ever one time or one dish that was disappointing whenever we went to Morimoto, the eponymous restaurant of Acclaimed Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. We went few times to his New York location and I was excited to try the one in Philadelphia as it is his first location. And I was again not disappointed, the whole experience being fantastic, from the vibrant decor to the service that was on point, without forgetting the amazing food.