The First Day: An Argument for Lobster
Fit for a New Year’s Day supper (and amenable as well to a New Year’s Eve tete-a-tete far from those madding crowds) is the granddaddy of malacostraca, which is at its flavor peak now.
On New Year’s Eve, ’24
For those who most enjoy going out and reveling the night and early morning away in the company of both intimates and not-so-intimates, there’s a place to convene with food that will be worth the effort and even the expense. Today, some suggestions to consider, with fair warning: Don’t tarry a minute more in making a reservation.
The Fab 5 of ’24
Selecting the best eats every other week involves excruciating editing that too often leaves very-much-loved foods not making a most unkind cut. To follow that formula to come up with a Final 5 from a year’s worth of F5s can sting. (Though it’s made reasonably bearable by eliminating F5’s favorite restaurant dishes of 2024, which will get their own due this Friday, Dec. 27.) So without any further ado: The quintet of this year’s super winners!
The Adaptable Pancake
With Hanukkah starting this year at sundown on Christmas Day and Kwanzaa the very next day, there might be reason to come up with a base dish that could be customized for all three holidays and their food-focused celebrations. Let that dish be an old reliable: the versatile, beloved potato pancake – with a twist or three, of course.
Summit House
Forever a rising star, chef AJ Capella does right by a landmark that’s needed, wanted and used by its community. His food is articulate, his techniques polished, his imagination boundless. While all’s very well at this tony, clubby meeting place now, think of the possibilities if diners could join him on even more explorations.
et al fine food
Down the street from Seastreak’s terminal in this Bayshore borough is a stylish home for contemporary classics served in a setting expanded from its original quarters a hop-skip away. Mostly reliable and always amiable, it’s a locals’ retreat.
Pumpkin Soup, Pumped Up
While pie is a fine finale for a non-decorative cultivated winter squash, a warming bowl that stems from its puree has possibilities for embellishments just about as wide-ranging as a prankish, carved jack-o-lantern.
Jalsa Indian Kitchen
Modernized takes on favorites from regions throughout India do the motherland proud. They also make for eating that ranges from thrilling to comforting, just like a trek along a proper Spice Trail should.
Carrots, Roasted and Brined
It’s usually one or the other. But with certain sturdy root vegetables, you can do both to great make-ahead advantage. At this time of year, prepping it forward is the way to go.
Al Badawi
In a swanky, greenery-filled space with a dining bar as well as a dining area flanked by murals and lit by woven lanterns, foods fueled by ingredients made familiar by Ottolenghi share the spotlight with classics from the ages-old crossroads of Asia and Africa that is the Eastern Mediterranean.
When the Spices Are Right
A new round of favorites finds spicing in top form in classics ranging from a Vietnamese soup to a quintessential Middle Eastern spread, from South American ceviche to a South Asian masala sporting eggs. Even the kind of chicken that belongs in many pots gets into the act.
Inspo Sandwich
Not much for silly strains of fusion? Get that. Totally. But sometimes a convergence of two food loves can make for a winsome and satisfying something-or-other that might not have a name, but definitely has a place on a dine card.