Latest news with #EaterNewYork
Eater
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
Tracking the NYC Restaurants in ‘And Just Like That...' Season 3, Episode 8
is a born-and-raised New Yorker who is an editor for Eater's Northeast region and Eater New York, was the former Eater Austin editor for 10 years, and often writes about food and pop culture. And just like that, HBO Max's Sex and the City sequel series returns for its third season. And Just Like That... brings back our long-time New Yorkers Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis), as well as relative newcomers Seema (Sarita Choudhury) and Lisa (Nicole Ari Parker), to our televisions and laptops. What is summer without our gals talking candidly about sex, making bad puns, and dining and drinking around the city? Like previous seasons, Eater will be tracking where the gang is eating across New York City, from brunch sessions to romantic dinners to cocktail dates. This guide will be updated weekly when each episode airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m., leading up to the finale. And we're saying it now: there will be spoilers ahead. Episode 8, 'Happy Ever After It's Aidan's turn to visit Carrie, and he's staying with Carrie for a couple of days. He's clearly jealous of the downstairs neighbor, whom he still calls Dunkin' Donuts. Carrie is adamant that the couple doesn't hang out with Duncan, her guilt from the previous episode seeping into this one. Miranda questions her sobriety over a special bottle of Ungava gin from Quebec, but ultimately decides she doesn't want to drink. Charlotte's prepping for an art show that depicts what happiness is at various ages, and discovers her vertigo is back. Lisa is work-flirting with her hottie editor, attempting to coin the phrase 'flirking.' There's also a scene where ripe papaya and kale salads are stand-ins for hot and boring sex. Seema is having fun with Carrie's gardener, but realizes they are very different. 118 Greenwich Avenue, at West 13th Street, West Village Seema goes out for a pre-art gallery opening date with Carrie's hot gardener, Adam, at this New American restaurant. While they sip their espresso from their table in the middle of the dining room, they watch in horror as someone at a booth puts on deodorant out in the open (that's what restrooms are for?). Seema learns that Adam is very hippie and that his last name is Karma (for real). Eater NY All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Eater
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
In ‘Materialists,' Restaurants Say Everything About Dating
is a born-and-raised New Yorker who is an editor for Eater's Northeast region and Eater New York, was the former Eater Austin editor for 10 years, and often writes about food and pop culture. What do L'Abéille, Joseph Leonard, Birdy's, Nobu, and Altro Paradiso have in common? The New York City restaurants and bars say volumes about the taste of the characters in the Materialists, a modern romantic dramedy from writer and director Celine Song, starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans. Materialists centers on a trio (Song is fond of exploring love triangles): matchmaker Lucy is caught between her paramour, debonair private equity partner Harry, and her ex, struggling actor-slash-cater waiter John. Her suitors' economic statuses are starkly different: one woos her with expensive peonies and takes her to omakases; the other intuitively knows her go-to drink order of a Coke and beer and prefers halal carts. Eater interviewed Song about her film, NYC restaurants, and dating culture. The economic contrasts between the two men are best seen through restaurants, Song explains. The perfect first date restaurant is somewhere conducive to talking, not necessarily the best new restaurant. 'I've been to hot, cool restaurants, but I've not enjoyed myself because I can't hear the person I'm there with, and we have to shout, and then my voice is gone,' Song says. 'It should be a place where you can have a conversation.' While the quality of the food is important, what trumps that is a setting conducive to connection. 'An ideal restaurant is where the food is fucking awesome,' she says. 'If you're on a first date, you might even want to sacrifice a little bit of the food for a quieter room.' That's why Harry and Lucy's first meal together takes place at Altro Paradiso, 'an amazing restaurant that's a great place to go on a date,' Song says. 'The vibe is important, but the more important thing is how good the food tastes. I don't care about restaurants where the food isn't good.' Lucy, for her part, is seen meeting clients at Joseph Leonard, an easygoing oyster bar in the West Village. Lucy walking in Manhattan. Atsushi Nishijima Those restaurant choices show a person's core: For Pascal's character development, Song knew he'd do so much research on knowing everything about dining out, especially because he can afford it. 'Harry's somebody who will read the New York Times best restaurants list or even Eater,' Song says. His predilections veer lavish, which shows in the rest of his dates, including French Japanese tasting menu L'Abeille, and the two-person omakase at Sushi Ichumura. On the other hand, Evans' character is more savvy and smart with his limited funds. 'John is somebody who will just know where he can get a really good meal for a certain budget level,' Song says. 'He'll know all of the deals in his neighborhood. There's a banh mi place where he can get something for 12 dollars, and it's awesome. He knows the places that are really delicious and very no-frills.' In one scene at the afterparty for John's play, the group, including Lucy and Harry, goes back to Birdy's, an if-you-know dive bar in Bushwick. She has her two love interests in one space, requiring her to navigate her two sides at the same time. During the shoot, Song and location manager Joseph Mullaney had to balance selecting restaurants that were good while also showing how luxe they were through film. 'Some restaurants are more photogenic, and some restaurants are better when you're just there in person,' she explains. 'You walk into some amazing space, but then you put a camera on it and it doesn't shoot well. It's because it's the energy that you can't feel in film. You have to feel the textures and the depth, or that color doesn't quite read in the way we want it. Some spaces are really photogenic. It just has to make sense as a character, but also has to look good.' One of Song's favorite places is Italian restaurant I Sodi, where she, Johnson, Pascal, and Evans had what could be called their first dinner date before rehearsals. 'It's an amazing restaurant,' she says, but 'you cannot enter into every shot and explain what the menu costs or what Eater said about it.' There have to be visual cues to show how fancy these places were. 'It's a balance of what photographs well and where somebody would taste would take you,' she added. Lucy and John (played by Chris Evans). Atsushi Nishijima So while the team didn't film at I Sodi, they selected high-end Japanese restaurant Nobu to film a scene that was crucial to Song. Lucy and Harry are having a conversation where she asks him if a romantic date needs to be expensive, and he answers, 'Doesn't it?' She breaks the fourth wall and looks at the camera, which then pans to the deluxe setting. To Harry, these four-dollar-sign category restaurants are an everyday occurrence, but Lucy is not used to it. s. The juxtaposition points out how out of place she inherently is because she's more practical. 'We needed something in a clear way to express luxury,' Song explains. 'Then that joke works because the interior is so spectacular. It's always a balance of what's actually a classy place that a rich person goes to and photographs well in a way that's going to be understood.' There's also the New York of it all, and needing a restaurant to read well in a high-level city way. 'I think about this all the time,' Song says. 'Because of The Bachelor and these reality TV shows, luxurious restaurants have a certain look that we're all used to: a lot of space, everything's a little shiny.' But that doesn't necessarily make for an interesting setting. She gives Italian restaurant Via Carota as an example. It's a well-known celebrity magnet that is widely known, but it doesn't show up well on camera. Dining and drinking together is a through-line in most romantic comedies, but the setting doesn't matter. 'Some of my favorite dates have been at diners, McDonald's, or bars,' Song says. 'The point is to eat together and talk and eat. That's really what the most romantic thing about it is.' Eater NY All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Eater
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Tracking the NYC Restaurants in ‘And Just Like That...' Season 3, Episode 7
is a born-and-raised New Yorker who is an editor for Eater's Northeast region and Eater New York, was the former Eater Austin editor for 10 years, and often writes about food and pop culture. And just like that, HBO Max's Sex and the City sequel series returns for its third season. And Just Like That... brings back our long-time New Yorkers Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis), as well as relative newcomers Seema (Sarita Choudhury) and Lisa (Nicole Ari Parker), to our televisions and laptops. What is summer without our gals talking candidly about sex, making bad puns, and dining and drinking around the city? Like previous seasons, Eater will be tracking where the gang is eating across New York City, from brunch sessions to romantic dinners to cocktail dates. This guide will be updated weekly when each episode airs on Thursdays at 9 p.m., leading up to the finale. And we're saying it now: there will be spoilers ahead. Episode 7, 'They Just Wanna Have Fun' It's party time: Carrie is throwing a big birthday shindig for Charlotte to help distract her from Harry's cancer diagnosis with catered burgers and layer cakes. Miranda gets way too into the party with cringy encouragements to karaoke. Seema gets an eye infection from getting her eyelashes done at a salon that also serves coffee (it's not a real place), and eventually gets it on with Carrie's hot pleb gardener, Adam. Anthony is dealing with meeting Giuseppe's mom (played by Patti LuPone), who very much does not like him because of their age gap. And more importantly, Carrie subconsciously flirts with downstairs neighbor Duncan — she literally takes sips out of his glass of Scotch while he smokes a pipe and praises her historical fiction chapter. Leave Aidan already! 425 Park Avenue, at East 56th Street, Midtown The sole restaurant in this episode is this massive space from chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Carrie is on a lunch date with Giuseppe's mom, Gia — Carrie graciously sits in the chair while letting Gia sit on the plush banquette. Carrie is eating some huge lettuce thing while they talk about dating someone with kids. Gia tells Carrie to be herself, which means Carrie should date Duncan, no? Eater NY All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Eater
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Find Glorious Pakistani Chopped Cheeses at This East Village Restaurant
is a born-and-raised New Yorker who is an editor for Eater's Northeast region and Eater New York, was the former Eater Austin editor for 10 years, and often writes about food and pop culture. The chopped cheese sandwich is a New York City bodega mainstay. Burger patties are chopped and grilled together with spices, onions, and American cheese, turning into a glorious gloopy mess, paired with tomatoes, lettuce, and mayo, and placed in a hero or kaiser roll. And now there's a new restaurant aiming to offer a South Asian spin to the classic city sandwich, as first reported by EV Grieve, swapping a burger patty for chapli kebab. Nishaan will open in the East Village at 160 First Avenue, between Ninth Street and 10th streets, sometime this summer. Owner Zeeshan Bakhrani's approach to building Nishaan's halal menu stems from his upbringing. 'Looking at the dishes I enjoyed growing up as a Pakistani kid and an American kid,' Nishaan says, and figuring out how to 'combine them in a way that honors both dishes and it's not just two dishes slapped together,' he says. Take the star of Nishaan's halal menu: He didn't just want to take a chapli kebab and place it into a burger bun. He thought about the DNAs of the patty-shaped kebab and a chopped cheese, taking the chapli kebab spices like adobo and cinnamon, cooking the meat on a griddle, mixing in pepper jack and American cheese, and dropping it all in a hoagie. (He thought about swapping in a paratha, the flaky South Asian round bread, but decided it would be too much.) In addition to the chapli kebab chopped cheese, he's making a Buffalo chicken iteration with tandoori spices. The bihari barbacoa tacos at Nishaan. Nishaan 'I like combining cultures,' Bakhrani says. He explains how cultural dishes have morphed into something different because a main element wasn't available, or there are other ingredients that work better. 'The invention of the dishes themselves is through some sort of limitations,' using what is available, he says. Bakhrani is also making bihari barbacoa tacos, for which the tender, smoky shredded beef is cooked with bihari spices, topped with a tamarind salsa, resulting in a 'smoky chipotle taco,' he describes. And his elotes chaat combines Mexican and South Asian snacks. He tops corn with tamarind chutney, chaat masala, a lime-cilantro sauce, bhel (crispy rice), and cotija. It's 'the greatest thing I ever made,' he says. The forthcoming restaurant will also offer loaded fries, like the Noom Dhoom masala with an achari mayonnaise and a chopped cheese iteration. Bakhrani isn't stopping at savory items. He's riffing on a viral dessert with the Dubai chocolate paratha. He plans on creating what he describes as a 'funnel cake-ish' version where he will deep-fry the paratha, add powdered sugar, pistachio sauce, hazelnut sauce, and kadayif (shredded crispy filo). It's 'nutty, chocolatey, flaky,' he says. 'We describe it as a flash croissant.' There are drinks too. He's making a gulab jamun cold foam, a take on the syrupy South Asian dessert. His comes with cardamom coffee topped with a saffron cardamom rosewater cold foam and dehydrated gulab jamuns. Then there's the strawberry rosa sago milkshake, for which he makes strawberry coconut rosa jellies, mixed with strawberry ice cream. The elotes chaat at Nishaan. Nishaan Before Nishaan, Bakhrani had been making food on his own for a while as he worked in finance product management.. He had already done a food collaboration with halal mini-chain Namkeen, resulting in the garam masala hot chicken in 2023. He also ran pop-ups in his hometown of Chicago as well as Dallas. But Bakhrani got laid off in 2024 and had to figure out what he wanted to do. 'I know how to cook, I know how to sell food,' Bakhrani tells Eater, so, on a whim, he applied to be a vendor at Smorgasburg. To his surprise, he got accepted and started the stall in late August 2024. His Smorgasburg signage emphasized the sandwich, calling the stand the 'home of the Pakistani chopped cheese,' which was intentional. 'I heard somebody walk by, and they were like, 'Oh, I don't know what Pakistani food is, but I've had a chopped cheese. I want to try that,'' he recounts. 'I'm like, 'Yes, that's exactly what I wanted: food that is familiar but different.' With the pop-ups and lack of a day job, he wanted to open something of his own. 'I'm the kid of immigrants,' he says, 'there's nothing but work in my brain.' A restaurant front allowed him a permanent space to cook, experiment, hire staff, and interact with customers. The small counter-service restaurant will have about 10 to 14 seats. The design will take its cues from the Wazir Khan mosque in Lahore, emphasizing floral geometric shapes, Bakhrani explains. There's an inherited arch structure from the address's predecessor, Mexican restaurant Sabor A Mexico Taqueria. 'I want to leave a mark on the cuisine, but I want people to have that feeling of, 'Hey this is going to be my comfort food spot, when I'm hungry; when I'm thirsty; when I want something that satisfies the soul; I come here and eat it.' The restaurant's name means 'mark' in Urdu, because he wants his food to leave an impression.
New York Times
03-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Where Have All the Dollar Eats Gone?
Hi everyone, it's the new kid. Starting this week, I'll be taking over for Nikita Richardson as one of the writers on this newsletter. How'd I land the best job in the world? A little over a year ago, I left my job at Eater New York, where I covered restaurants from a super-local, nerd's-eye view for five years. I started freelance reporting for The Times, and quickly found a niche writing about 20-year-old Taco Bell menu items and 13-year-old drink critics. Then I aged several years this spring by eating more than 200 slices of pizza to update our best pizza list. As I stood in line for Neapolitan pies and road tripped through Staten Island, I was also searching for a dollar slice. I know, I know, not exactly the height of culinary prowess. But this is New York — and more-than-decent, affordable pizza is one of our most famous food. It comes as no surprise that most of them have vanished; after all, New York City restaurants can't necessarily abide by the stalwart economics of Arizona Iced Tea or the Costco hot dog. They're up against credit card fees, punishing rents and other factors that have all but wiped out dollar food. And it's not just slices. Still, I had a hunch that at least some $1 deals have endured. If you consult Google Maps, the 99-cent pizzeria appears to still be going strong, with search results scattered across the city. But when I'd show up I almost always found that the menus had been taped over with new prices. As it turns out, $1.50 Pizza is the new 99¢ Pizza. One of the few holdouts is the East Village location of 99¢ Pizza, just down the block from Joe's Pizza, where, by the way, a plain slice costs $4. Every time I've visited 99¢, no matter the hour, there are college students and helmeted delivery workers hanging around the entrance, happily refueling with buffalo chicken and pepperoni pizza. Obviously, the best part is that the puffy cheese slices still cost a buck. Though they're really more of a vessel, put on this earth to be showered in garlic powder, dried oregano and red flakes. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
