Critics’ picks

Gilt

Photo: Steve Cohen

Most deliciously unhealthy salad
Watermelon pickle and crispy pork salad at Fatty Crab

It’s often a dieter’s strategy to order a salad, even though—as in the case of a cobb—it may contain bacon, blue cheese and gobs of mayonnaise-laden dressing. But it takes the genius of Fatty Crab chef-owner Zak Pelaccio to create something truly (and newly) decadent. Since Fatty is the Malaysian café’s first name, it makes sense that even a salad would be loaded with blubber. Still, nothing prepares you for the perfection of the combination: The sweet, refreshing juice of the crunchy watermelon cuts through the tender fattiness of the pork belly, while the saline drippings of the warm pig fat charm the hell out of the sweet fruit.—Nancy Davidson
• 643 Hudson St between Gansevoort and Horatio Sts (212-352-3590)

Most comforting comfort food
Organic chicken potpie at Northeast Kingdom

Banish all childhood memories of bland, frozen Swanson potpies. At this rustic-chic Bushwick eatery, chef-owner Paris Smeraldo and his wife, Meg Lipke, serve a far more heart- and belly-warming organic version. Theirs has a thick, golden, flaky pie crust, which sits atop a thyme-flavored stew of chopped chicken, peas and carrots in a miniature terra-cotta crock with a side of lightly dressed greens. Smeraldo nimbly avoids a few common potpie pitfalls: The filling is neither too buttery nor too watery; the chunks of chicken are tender, not chewy; and the crust is freshly baked. At $12, it’s a bit more costly than anything in the freezer at Gristedes, but if you think you’ll find something this good in a supermarket, you’re delusional.—Leslie Price
• 18 Wyckoff Ave at Troutman St, Bushwick, Brooklyn (718-386-3864)

Fatty Crab

Photo: Astrid Stawiarz

Best-tasting eye candy
The amuse-bouches at Gilt

When chef Paul Liebrandt agreed to cook in the glamorous Palace Hotel space that once housed Le Cirque, he knew his food would have to be even more dazzling than the room. Sure enough, the edible art starts flying out of the kitchen as soon as diners are seated. The most famous of the amuse-bouches are giant ribbonlike tuiles made of beet or butternut squash (the menu changes daily) that taste like candy. There’s no telling what freebie bites Liebrandt will send out, but examples in the recent past have also included Stilton-arugula financiers (dark green cakes), savory marshmallows made of saffron and passion fruit, royale (custard) of chanterelle mushrooms with grapefruit and brown-butter powder, and a terrine of rougier (red mullet) and smoked melon. Each is an explosion of unexpected flavors. Think of it as beauty and the feast.—James Oliver Cury
• 455 Madison Ave between 50th and 51st Sts (212-891-8100)

Best palate cleanser
Dill yogurt sorbet at Ureña

Chefs often hope that a simple sorbet will erase all other flavors on your palate and thus prepare you for the next course. It’s a momentary but forgettable break between two tasty courses. At Ureña, the opposite can happen: You can’t wait to get to that transcendent break. Pastry chef Caryn Stabinsky prepares a dill yogurt sorbet that works well with chef-owner Alex Ureña’s cuisine and yet holds its own—it’s basically a light-green scoop of Greek yogurt and fresh dill, frozen and served with homemade lemon curd. But it tastes so clean going down, it’s the meal within a meal that you may well remember most.—Alia Akkam
• 37 E 28th St between Madison Ave and Park Ave South (212-213-2328)

Best new way to stay carbohydrated
Aloo paratha  (hot garlic bread stuffed with little pieces of potato) at Mint

Sometime in the late 20th century, carb consumption became the honorary eighth deadly sin. But anyone who ventures into the new Indian restaurant Mint and ignores the long list of house-made breads is a glutton for punishment. The chefs pull all sorts of traditional baked goods from the fiery clay oven—fluffy nan, roti and kulcha—but the best is the aloo paratha: warm, chewy, slightly charred rounds with a layer of soft, spicy potato in the middle. The secret’s in the seasoning (a mix of chili powder, turmeric, chopped green chilies and other spices are blended with grated potatoes) and the precisely heated oven. If eating this stuff is a sin, send us straight to hell: We went through two baskets mopping up the saucy remains of our entrées, and then asked for more.—Maile Carpenter
• 150 E 50th St between Lexington and Third Aves (212-644-8888)

Monkey Town

Photo: Patrik Rytikangas

Best dinner-and-a-movie
Eating in the Screening Room at Monkey Town

Tribeca’s late, lamented Screening Room revolutionized the idea of dinner and a movie by placing a theater and a restaurant adjacent to one another, except that you couldn’t actually eat while you watched the film. Monkey Town takes the concept to the next level. It’s artsy and avant-garde—and that’s just chef Colman Lee Foster’s food. The menu in the back room consists of films, videos and other performances (dance, music and more) that change daily and may feature Fellini, Buñuel and Kurosawa, or at least references to them. You can sink into a deep wheat-colored couch, but you may have to sit up to reach your curry-flavored chocolate mousse with chickpea brittle. It’s worth the stretch.—Nancy Davidson
• 58 North 3rd St at Wythe Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718-384-1369)

Most unexpected love child
The Cuban Reuben at Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction

Not since Juan Epstein graced the screen in Welcome Back Kotter has anyone blended Jewish and Latin American influences as well as the folks at Mo Pitkin’s. Chef Roger Wolin unites Jewish comfort food with Hispanic favorites for a menu that (1) pays homage to some of the Lower East Side’s best-known working-class populations and (2) is immensely satisfying. Hearty dishes like the fideos paella made with pasta, kosher chicken and homemade chorizo would please both Fidel Castro and your average Jewish grandmother. But the surprise hit is the Cuban Reuben—a combo of pork, ham and corned beef topped with Swiss, pickles and Russian dressing. The marriage may sound obscene, or even sacrilegious, but the thinly sliced meat, crisp crunch of pickles and fresh bread form a heavenly twist on two classics.—Fabiana Santana
• 134 Ave A between 2nd and 3rd Sts (212-777-5660)

Sortie

Photo: Patrik Rytikangas

Best butt in town
The Down Home Pig Pick’n  at R.U.B.

Plenty of barbecue restaurants opened (and closed) in New York over the past year, but only one place offers ’cue aficionados the Rabelaisian delight that is the Down Home Pig Pick’n. This dish consists of a whole pork shoulder smoked and served bone-in, accompanied by sliced white bread, pickles and four sides of your choice (the best options are the vinegar-based slaw, BBQ beans, onion rings and potato salad). At $89.75, this porcine platter easily serves six football players or eight to ten normal people. And it’s hog heaven: The fabulously crusty-brown, glistening hunk of fatty flesh comes with tongs, so everyone at the table can gently tug the meat away from the bone (the trick is to twist and pull at the same time). Once you’ve scored your own succulent piece, simply plop it onto white bread, drizzle with sauce and get ready to kiss butt.—Rachael Shapiro
• 208 W 23rd St between Sixth and Seventh Aves (212-524-4300)

Best new scenery in the Theater District
The scene at Sortie

Most Midtown West watering holes cater to the tourists and the suits—and then there’s Sortie. The owners of this sultry bordello-like bar—industry veteran Eric Macaire (the Bubble Lounge, Jubilee) and DJ-sommelier Juan Coronado—made sure their subterranean space would never be boring. They painted the walls a deep red and added velvet banquettes and studded black-leather café tables. They also hired flamenco dancers and serious guest DJs, and came up with a menu that specializes in tapas, cocktails and 30 artisanal beers. It’s no surprise to find the glamorous waitstaff occasionally sporting roller skates or feather boas.—Fabiana Santana
• 329 W 51st St between Eighth and Ninth Aves (212-265-0650)

Oga

Photo: Cinzia Reale-Castello

Best compromise when you just can’t decide between Japanese and Mexican
Spicy tuna tostada at Oga Japanese Tapas

It’s a classic conundrum: Which so-called ethnic food for dinner? Japanese sounds healthier, what with all the fish and soy and miso. But Mexican is probably cheaper and more filling, thanks to the ubiquity of guacamole, sour cream and chips. At Oga Japanese Tapas, you get the best of both nations in a dish that spells it out clearly with one unabashedly fusionlike name—spicy tuna tostada. Chef Toru Oga—who made a rep for himself in Boston with a variety of fancy rolls—adds a mess of Eastern and South of the Border ingredients on top of what is basically a spicy tuna roll: chopped tomatoes, onions, kaiware (daikon radish sprouts), garlic chips, sriracha (chili paste) and crisp rice tempura. It’s cut into pieces, easy to share and combines more flavors than some palates can probably handle. Overload never tasted quite this good.—James Oliver Cury
• 143 E 47th St between Lexington and Third Aves (212-308-5688)

Best bang(er) for your buck
The $3.50 chorizo bocadillo at Bar Carrera

While most of the tapas on the menu at the slender Bar Carrera are delicately crafted, the chorizo bocadillo is kinda husky—in a good way. For the very reasonable price of $3.50, you get a hefty, smoky sausage that is split open, sautéed, served in a crusty roll and drizzled with yellow pepper sauce—Spain’s answer to French’s. Just to be clear, the bocadillo is anything but an ordinary hot dog: The charred but juicy minced meat, cured with spicy pimentón (a form of paprika), teams perfectly with the sweet, tangy sauce and the superchewy rustic bread. Gray’s Papaya may have won the best hot-dog title (see Readers’ Choice, page 19), but Iberia’s got its own recession special.—Rachael Shapiro
•175 Second Ave between 11th and 12th Sts (212-375-1555)

Cookshop

Cinzia Reale-Castello

Second annual award for most addictive new snack
Fried spiced hominy at Cookshop

Marc Meyer’s hominy looks and tastes like the mutant offspring of popcorn shrimp and CornNuts—those wickedly tasty toasted-corn treats. The corn kernels themselves are thumbnail-size golden nuggets fried in a batter with salt, sugar, cumin, mustard powder, chipotle, paprika, ginger powder, coriander seed and black pepper. The flavor is initially salty, then spicy and then somewhat nutty-sweet. They don’t appear to be greasy, but oil saturates the brown paper that lines the plate. The portion is ample, the price ($4) is astounding, and the likelihood of finding your hand plucking another morsel from the plate is extremely high.—James Oliver Cury
• 156 Tenth Ave at 20th St (212-924-4440)

Fifth annual award for best-tasting dare
The bar tapas at Uovo: sweetbread poppers, lamb’s tongue and bone-marrow stuffing

The odder the animal part, the more likely a chef has taken great pains to make it taste delicious. Sweetbreads, for example, are naturally rather bland, but at Uovo, chef Matt Hamilton (formerly of Prune and Five Points) salt-cures and boils the meat before deep-frying and serving the jawbreaker-size morsels with harissa-mayo sauce. It’s some of the best thymus gland you’ll ever taste. If you really want to play Fear Factor with your friends—or taste something that could have once tasted you—you can always order the lamb’s tongue, which is braised for three hours in red wine, cinnamon, chicken stock, mirepoix and a touch of star anise, then sliced thin and served cold in a salad of mâche, wild pepper and champagne-shallot vinaigrette. Bone-marrow lovers are the luckiest of all; the stuff appears in both a quail dish (in a stuffing) and a steak entrée (in a peppery pearà sauce).—James Oliver Cury
• 175 Ave B between 11th and 12th Sts (212-475-8686)

Uovo

Photo: Cinzia Reale-Castello

Best condiments
The 18 kinds of relishes and toppings at Broomedoggs

Every hot-dog lover knows that sauces, relishes, chutneys and other toppings can make or break a sausage. Chili dogs and slaw dogs are perfect examples. The folks at Broomedoggs, a tiny orange-hued shack on the Lower East Side, understand these extras; they’ve loaded their wienercentric menu with a dozen and a half toppings, including the basics (ketchup, mustard, onions), the exotic (pineapple-cumin mustard) and the just plain weird (potato-chip dust). The decision-impaired can take heart—the only bun options are small and large.—Leslie Price
• 250 Broome St between Ludlow and Orchard Sts (917-453-6013)

Best new cooking show
David Bouley at Bouley Bakery & Market

Talk about dinner theater. Chef David Bouley surprises many a food fan when he takes the stage at the tiny open kitchen Upstairs at Bouley Bakery and starts cooking for diners. We’re not talking about his official cooking demos (you can sign up for classes at davidbouley.com). We’re talking about those occasional nights when the star chef stops by the townhouse to work his magic mere feet from the nearest tables—and serves bistro basics like his fat, juicy namesake burger. Think of it as a cross between Bravo’s Top Chef and MTV Cribs; it’s like seeing God himself roasting chicken or grilling lamb chops at home. It’s impossible to predict when Bouley will appear, but the grub is so tasty, it’s worth going back a few times until you catch him.—James Oliver Cury
• 130 West Broadway at Duane St (212-608-5363)

Broomedoggs

Photo: Astrid Stawiarz

Best reason to skip dinner
Pastry chef Will Goldfarb’s dessert-only tasting menu at Room 4 Dessert

Yes, you could plan to stop by this dessert-only restaurant after you’ve had a meal somewhere else, but you’d be full, and your taste buds wouldn’t be optimally receptive to Will Goldfarb’s spectrum of flavors. Instead, why not have dessert for dinner once in your life? Goldfarb and his team of treat makers operate what feels like a science lab for sweet teeth, which will open your mind and fill your stomach. Behind a long, lean bar, the team concocts various bubbles, foams and ices that go with their à la carte dishes and tasting menus. For total immersion, ponder the “apple in various states” (sorbet tatin, cider, a slice of the fruit and a “tartare”) or the “infance” (meringue, cotton candy, milk and something called “lucky charms”). And remember: Many of Goldfarb’s creations taste like something they’re not. In a cup of rich vanilla ice cream, for example, what resembled bits of crunchy caramelized marshmallows are actually candied Kellogg’s cornflakes. We can’t think of a better use for breakfast cereal.—Leslie Price
• 17 Cleveland Pl between Kenmare and Spring Sts (212-941-5405)

Best twist on chicken and waffles
Roasted lamb on roti at Xing

Technically, the sultry, red-velveted Hell’s Kitchen haven Xing is a Chinese restaurant, but its recently revamped menu borrows lavishly—sometimes ingeniously—from other culinary customs. One happy result of this cultural melding is the rack of lamb on roti bread with Massaman sauce—a combination of sweet and savory that delivers dining déjà vu for fans of chicken and waffles. As with that now-classic poultry-breakfast combo (which, some claim, first came together in 1938 at the Harlem restaurant Wells Supper Club, though the recipe probably derived from Southern traditions), Xing’s ingredients help one another out in surprising ways. The juice from the tender lamb chops soaks the roti, giving it the right mix of spongy and crispy, while the sauce provides a coconut-and-peanut counterpoint. Each flavorful bite proves greater than the sum of its unlikely parts.—Soren Larson
• 785 Ninth Ave at 52nd St (646-289-3010)

Chef Will Goldfarb of Room 4 Dessert

Photo: Jay Muhlin

Most gratifying gravity-defying dish
The flatbread at the Orchard

Thick crust or thin crust? That is the question, at least for pizza lovers. Thick crusts stand up nicely when you’re shoving a slice into your face, but too much dough can be a mouthful. John LaFemina knows his crusts—he perfected pizzas at Apizz—and  now he’s experimenting, technically, with Mediterranean flatbreads at the Orchard. The thrilling results challenge our understanding of physics as they excite the palate; braised short ribs mingle with cherry tomatoes and sweet horseradish cream while sitting precariously on a thin, delicate crust. Despite the cumbersome toppings, the thing never buckles. Try the experiment with duck confit, sweet orange chutney and frisée, and the results can be replicated. Has Wylie Dufresne seen this?—Alia Akkam
• 162 Orchard St between Rivington and Stanton Sts (212-353-3570)

Best new way to get your daily requirement of fruits and vegetables
The Insalata dessert (caramelized mango, pears and celery) at Spiga

Naming a dessert after a salad may not make good business sense, but at least there’s truth in advertising here. Chef-owner Salvatore Corea—who first turned heads at rustic East Village trattoria Cacio e Pepe—goes out on a limb with several crazy-sounding dishes at Spiga (cocoa-flavored gnocchi, anyone?), but it’s his Insalata dessert that wowed us: Corea pairs the sweet flavors of caramelized mango and pear with an ingredient you never see at this point in a meal—caramelized celery. He then adds a scoop of fennel sorbet that is more subtle and less licorice-like than it sounds. For those who think they’d never order a salad, this could be the reason to make an exception.—James Oliver Cury
• 200 W 84th St at Amsterdam Ave (212-362-5506)

Best new game in town
Venison at Jovia

New Yorkers know how to hunt for a lot of things: parking spots, apartments, cheap shoes. But animals? Most of us leave the shooting to professionals—and the cooking to chefs. At Jovia, Josh DeChellis has turned deer meat into one of the tastiest entrées in town, massaging New Zealand venison loin with barolo, roasting each serving over a nest of juniper branches in a pot sealed with a pastry lid, and serving the meat with roasted chestnuts, matsutake mushrooms and a sprinkle of juniper salt. You can taste the wild earth in every tender bite. DeChellis has swapped out venison for lamb while the latter’s in season, but deer will be back in the fall. We’re game either way.—Maile Carpenter
•135 E 62nd St between Park and Lexington Aves (212-752-6000)

Naka Naka

Photo: Patrik Rytikangas

Best alternative to the Meatpacking District megarestaurant mayhem
The 18-seat dining room at Naka Naka

Add the square footage of Del Posto (24,000) to the number of seats at Buddakan (260) to the number of days it takes to get a prime-time Friday night reservation at Spice Market (28 at last count), and you get—well, just a number. Which is usually how we feel when we’re dining in the Meatpacking District. Earlier this year, one understated little Japanese restaurant became the David among Goliaths by opening right near the big boys. Only 18 diners fit in the room (there’s a tatami room for one other large group), so you’ll encounter no chaos, no noise, and no share platters for parties of ten or more. Just delicious dumplings, crisp tempura, fresh cuts of sushi and, best of all, a little peace and quiet.—M.J. Podd
• 458 W 17th St at Tenth Ave (212-929-8544)

Best head-to-hoof dish
The bollito misto at Del Posto

Mario Batali has made a career out of serving organs and innards to squeamish New Yorkers. At Del Posto, his new, way-over-the-top Meatpacking District palazzo, Mr. Molto turns a vat of mixed boiled meats (bollito misto’s literal translation) into a $35 white-tablecloth dish. From a rolling cart’s broth-filled compartment emerges an entire pig’s shin, lovingly stuffed with spiced sausage forcemeat, along with the city’s most succulent calf’s tongue. A few slices of each—along with capon thigh and gelatinous beef flap (after initial diner resistance, the chef swapped out the pig’s head)—are laid out on fine china. Mr. Tongue, meet Mr. Tongue.—Jay Cheshes
• 85 Tenth Ave between 15th and 16th Sts (212-497-8090)

Loft

Photo: Patrik Ryitangas

Most innovative use of exotic spices
Loft

Ginger martinis recently became the equivalent of the bindi on Gwen Stefani’s forehead: the exotic co-opted as mere fashion. But at the sexy Moroccan-accented lounge and restaurant Loft, the addition of pungent spices makes for some profoundly unusual drinking. The ginger martini owes its karate-like kick to gingerroot simmered for ten hours—with raw brown-sugar syrup and cinnamon bark. The Sirocco, a blast of bourbon and lime juice, gets its sweet and vicious snap from lavender-flower honey. And for its basil mojito, Loft boils down sugarcane. This concoction is also available by the carafe; it’s as intoxicating as absinthe and similarly addictive.—Karen Tina Harrison
• 505 Columbus Ave between 84th and 85th Sts (212-362-6440)

Best highbrow treatment of a lowbrow dish
Truffled mushroom dumplings at Breeze

At this French-influenced Thai eatery in Hell’s Kitchen, chef Jeff Hardinger (Long Tan, March) elevates the otherwise commonplace snack to haute cuisine by playing with what’s in and around the dough. In his version, five petite fried dumplings are stuffed with a savory mélange of chopped wild mushrooms and caramelized onions, then topped with a dollop of black-truffle foam. They’re served on a mod white plate streaked with a dark, sweet soy sauce. The makeover works. They look—and taste—nothing like the buck-for-five types you’ll find in Chinatown. The truffle foam imparts an earthy, rich flavor that complements the meatiness of the ’shrooms. Polishing them off is a breeze; we suggest making that two orders.—Leslie Price
• 661 Ninth Ave between 45th and 46th Sts (212-262-7777)

Sneakiest way to get a last bite of pork into the meal
White-chocolate-covered pork-rind petits fours at Compass

In one especially memorable episode of The Simpsons, Homer just couldn’t believe that pork, bacon and ham all come from one “magical animal.” Fans of all things porcine have one more reason to cheer: Chef John Fraser and his talented staff—including pastry chef Vera Tong—prepare a wonderful collection of after-dinner petits fours at the Upper West Side’s Compass, which includes, rather surprisingly, white-chocolate-covered pork rinds. Weird? Sure. But they’re delicious in the same sweet-salty way that chocolate-covered pretzels are. In this case, however, the slightly gnarled bite-size morsels trade in a sharp crunch for a creaking softness. And the concept itself is impressive—trashy snack reinterpreted as gourmet nugget at the end of an impressive meal. Can there be a better way to pig out?—James Oliver Cury
• 208 W 70th St between Amsterdam and West End Aves (212-875-8600)