The Recommended Restaurants in Manhattan, New York City Page at Restaurant Row at the Teri Noel Towe Home Pages
Recommended Restaurants in Manhattan, New York City
Beginning with my two long time favorites in Manhattan, here are some restaurants in The Rotten Apple that I particularly enjoy and recommend highly. I hope that you visit them and find them as satisfying as I do!
Barbetta
Established in 1906, Barbetta is the oldest restaurant in New York that is still in the hands of the family that started it. This magnificent Piemontese restaurant is located in a row of four landmark 19th century brownstone townhouses. It is heaven on earth when it comes to Italian cuisine and an elegant and relaxed dining experience. And its lovely garden is the only "al fresco" dining experience in The Rotten Apple that allows you to forget that you are in the Godforsaken metropolis!
The Dining Room at Barbetta
The Garden at Barbetta
Here is a copy of Barbetta's 90th anniversary year luncheon menu, to give you an idea of the gustatory delights that await you.
Barbetta's address is 321 West 46th Street (between 8th and 9th Avenues), in the heart of the theatre district. The phone number is 212-246-9171.
Oenophiles will be thrilled to learn that Barbetta has an unsurpassable wine cellar; the wine list is a thick one, and every wine connoisseur that I know who has looked through it was transported in the process. And all have been grateful that the food is of similar astounding quality.
Please tell The Signorina, Laura Maioglio, who continues the traditions and upholds the high quality standards established and enforced by her father, her mother, and her uncle, that I sent you!
Barbetta now has its own website at http://www. barbettarestaurant.com.
Tout Va Bien
Tout Va Bien
I started going to Tout Va Bien in 1970, and it was a venerable institution even then. This classic old-fashioned bistro has outlived many other such "vraiment français" hole-in-the wall restaurants on Manhattan's west side, and is one of the few remaining vestiges of the French community that flourished in the blocks near the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique's Hudson River piers for decades.
For many years Tout Va Bien was the domain of Marseillaise native Nina Migliaccio and her World Cup class soccer player husband, Carlo. From the beginning, TVB was popular with the theatre crowd from both sides of the footlights. Nina and Carlo are no longer with us, alas, but they passed the restaurant on to Jean-Pierre Touchard, a Breton soccer fan who has been in the restaurant business most of his life. Jean-Pierre fortunately realized that the thing wasn't broke, and he didn't fix it. And the theatrical crowd, from both sides of the footlights, is still there.
Most importantly, it is still the best "cuisine bourgeoise" in The Rotten Apple, and the tariff is reasonable.
Tout Va Bien is located at 311 West 51st Street (between 8th and 9th Avenue), on the edge of the theatre district. The phone number is 212-265-0190. Please tell them that The Grouch of Table 10 sent you.
The restaurant now has its own website at: http://www.toutvabien.com.
Mustang Harry's
I lived in the fur district in Manhattan, a few blocks south of Penn Station and Madison Square Garden for almost two decades without a decent restaurant, other than Mullen's, a slap-up Irish neighborhood pub on Seventh Avenue between 23rd and 24th Streets. It is only within the past few years that any decent restaurants have opened in the northern half of my neighborhood. And Mustang Harry's is much more than just decent. It has a superb simple cuisine, and the pub atmosphere is both elegant and casual. Owned and managed by two top-drawer guys from the Emerald Isle, Niall and his brother Ian, Mustang Harry's is well worth a visit, particularly for those on their way to or from an event at Madison Square Garden, a shopping spree at Macy's, or gallery roaming in cutting-edge "pseudo-Chelsea". The bartenders are each and every one of them all time great guys - George, Patsy, Hubert, Joe, Jimmy, all of them. And there are plenty of goggle boxes for those who want to take in a sporting event or keep up with the stock market.
Mustang Harry's is located at 352 Seventh Avenue (between 29th and 30th Streets) in Manhattan; the telephone number is 212-268-8930.
The Silver Swan
Good German food is very difficult to find outside of Germany, and, until a good friend and his wife introduced me to The Silver Swan, I thought it impossible. Renate and her staff at The Silver Swan offer a full array of traditional German fare, including truly authentic Tafelspitz and Sauerbraten, as well as a broad selection of the best German beers on draft. If they are offering Roast Duck the night you visit, I suggest that you indulge. You will not be disappointed.
The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, and The Silver Swan is frequented by those "in the know" about German cuisine. The revered actor Werner Klemperer ("Colonel Klink" of "Hogan's Heroes" and a superb Sultan in Mozart's "The Abduction from the Seraglio")was a regular client.
The Silver Swan is located at 41 East 20th Street, and the phone number is 212-254-3611.
To be expanded...
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