Tell me some good, not too expensive restaurants for after Broadway theater.
Dear PP in Chicago,
When the Road Food warrior and I have a theater curtain near 43rd or 44th Street, we always reserve at Esca, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich’s fine seafood house run by the colorful and obsessed chef David Pasternak. I wouldn’t call dinner here “inexpensive" but when it’s supper, we might order from the daily changing crudo offerings and share a pasta or share the sensational razor clam crudo and order 2 pastas. With a glass of wine and a beer, the bill is affordable. Click for more about Esca.
When our theater is closer to the mid forties, we might slip into the quiet back room at Blue Fin. Or head for Toloache on West 50th for three or four savory tacos (Click here for my Toloache review). It’s a bus or taxi ride north but I love Bocca di Bacco on Ninth Avenue at 54th – especially the fava bean soup, the octopus and the gorgonzola pasta (dishes to share at that hour). For more specifics click here.
We might eat too much guacamole at Toloache while waiting for our tacos. Photo: Steven Richter
I fell in love with the original Brooklyn Diner on 57th for great burgers with frizzled onions, splendid chicken soup and the Chinese chicken salad that is much too big to finish. But there’s a newer seedling just steps from Broadway at 155 West 43rd street. For more on the finer diner click here.
The new Aureole hopes to fulfill all cravings. It’s just steps east of 7th Avenue on 42nd Street. The smaller, serene back room is set aside for expensive chef’s tastings. But there’s a great range of options on the bar-lounge menu. They can even sit at the bar for oysters and a glass of champagne or order the house burger and a big burst of the marvaelous papas fritas in a paper cone. Read my recent report.
I haven’t had a peep of complaint yet from anyone I sent to Five Napkin Burger except that there might be a half hour wait. Click here.
Walking distance from their hotel on East 12th Street is the Strip House, home of our favorite sirloin. It’s not exactly what you’d call inexpensive but at that late hour neither of us can eat a whole steak. We share a New York strip, rare of course, and spinach or a potato side (hash browns or the duckfat potatoes with minced raw garlic) with red wine by the glass. If dessert is required, go for the notorious chocolate cake. It too tall and too rich for just two, but they can take what’s left home and stash it in the minibar for breakfast. See my ode to Strip House.
Really fun and noisy though not near the theater or their hotel is Daniels's new DBGB with sausages to share, the very good Piggy Burger and a proud beer list. If your friends want to see what’s hot, it’s a long cab ride downtown to the Bowery but a short hop afterward to the hotel. Click here for the scoop.
Break an egg,
Gael
About Gael Greene
Photo: Steven Richter
In her role as restaurant critic of New York Magazine (1968 to January 2002) Detroit-born Gael Greene helped change the way New Yorkers (and many Americans) think about food.
"Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ice Cream But Were Too Fat To Ask," "The Mafia Guide to Dining Out." and " Nobody Knows the Truffles I've Seen" were early pieces. In more recent years her annual roundup of New York City's dining favorites, Ask Gael, was a gourmand's collectible for many years and she continues to write a weekly Ask Gael column for NYM. Earlier she worked at the New York Post.
As co-founder with James Beard and a continuing force behind Citymeals-on-Wheels as board chair, Ms. Greene has made a significant impact on the city of New York. Citymeals, the largest public/private partnership in the country, has raised $200 million in its twenty-six-year history to help feed the city's frail elderly shut-ins.
Ms. Greene's memoir, "Insatiable, Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess" was published April, 2006. Earlier non-fiction books include "Delicious Sex, A Gourmet Guide for Women and the Men Who Want to Love Them Better" and "BITE: A New York Restaurant Strategy." Her two novels Blue skies, No Candy" and "Doctor Love" were NY Times best sellers.
Gael Greene
Articles used with permission of Gael Greene, Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Steven Richter's photographs may not be used without permission.
Gael Greene's New York City Restaurant Reviews and more....
Archives
The NYC Insiders Guide
for women who aren't kids
Gael Greene
The NYC Insiders Guide
for women who aren't kids
Home / Archives / Experts / NYC Nightlife / NYC Shopping / NYC Restaurants/ Food&Recipes / Reviews / Events / Books&Movies / About Us
 | ||||
