The Best Restaurants In New York, According To The Tastemakers

“The Four Horsemen is a favorite. I was just there very recently and I am now trying to perfect their celery, date, walnut, piave vecchio salad at home. The music is always great and the staff are so knowledgeable and passionate about every wine and ingredient. I also love Clemente Bar, the stunning inlaid woodwork on the floors and walls, the handmade light fixtures and Francesco Clemente’s insane murals. The Clemente martini is my go-to drink.

“Cosme is another favorite – I am obsessed with any restaurant by Enrique Olvera. Cosme has so many excellent vegetarian options like their mole de la casa and carrot tlayuda. And Frenchette is my neighborhood go-to for a great cortado. Their egg with greens is an outrageously delicious savory pastry for a decadent breakfast treat. Their breads are crazy good, too.”

“I love Altro Paradiso in Soho for lunch or dinner. Order the juiciest olives and a pasta for lunch, and swap out the olives for fresh oysters in the evening. I love sitting outside to people-watch during golden hour – the whole ambience captures the dog days of summer. I also have to have an Asian restaurant on docket that’s more low-key. Fish Cheeks in Noho delivers the spiciest and most authentic Thai food (careful with the spice level you order!). Then there’s also MáLà Project in the East Village, on 1st Avenue – Chinese dry pot with dim sum is my comfort food to the max.”

“La Mercerie is the prettiest spot in Soho, and I especially love it for lunch. It’s run by a woman chef (always a bonus for me) in a mixed-use space where you can also shop for beautiful homewares. I often have the soft-boiled egg with whipped cauliflower and tofu, or the buckwheat crepes, and sit in a side booth for prime people-watching.

“These days, Brooklyn is where you’ll find all the edge and innovation in cooking. Celestine is another gorgeous light-filled dining room, in the heart of Dumbo, with a modern, Mediterranean-inspired menu. Get a table by the window and gaze out at the Manhattan Bridge for that New York feeling.”

“My favorite is New Ivoire, on 76 E 119th St. The only downside to living in New York City is that I don’t have any family here. I’m not able to go ‘shopping’ in my parents’ fridge or enjoy the traditional food from Mali that my father cooks, which takes too long for my patience to handle. So, on days when I feel extra-homesick, I go Uptown to Harlem to eat at my favorite West African restaurant, New Ivoire. They are often out of many dishes, but, I promise that whatever you order will taste like you are in my father’s kitchen. Try the peanut-butter stew, the fried fish and the salad. There’s nothing like a West African salad – it tastes the same no matter where you go.”