New and Trendy

Greg Asks:

“i want to know your 3 favorite new restaurants that you would send me to with a few friends…one criteria is it is downtown…the other 2 criteria is of course the food and the other is trendiness…good looking crowd…weight those 2 criteria 50/50 interested to see what you come back with thanks”

I really like Scarpetta, on 14th and 9th Ave. It’s just the right amount of trendy and sexy with some fantastic food to back it up. The spaghetti with tomato and basil might be the most perfectly executed in the city… and he gets the more complicated dishes down fantastically, too. The duck and foie gras ravioli were incredible and so were the scallops. The crowd was young and chic without being too… meatpacking.

Another idea is to check out one of the Momofuku restaurants. I absolutely love ko, but given their crazy online reservation system.. Ssam Bar on 2nd ave and 13th st is great, too. The waits can get really intense but the minimalist vibe is fun and so is the crowd. The steam buns are great and of course so is the ssam. This week, they rolled out a full drink menu and it looks pretty wild.

My last suggestion is probably pushing the idea of “trendiness” but it’s one of my favorite new openings. The newly reopened Minetta Tavern on MacDougal and Minetta Lane is a beautiful reconstruction of the 1937 restaurant and it might be the most classic-looking restaurant in NY now. The crowd, on the other hand, is pretty young and sexy… and the food is fantastic — classic French bistro. If you can get yourself to order it, the roasted bone marrow is incredible and so are all of the steaks that I tried. If you can manage it, the grand marnier souffle was light and delicious.

Sorry for the delay but I hope I was of some help!