Sean's Bar and Kitchen

“If you’re going to the theater, you go to Tony’s, ” said Dreni Kyqykaliu, the restaurant’s general manager. Those en route to a Broadway show are a good portion of their clientele, nearby office workers make up the lunch rush, and tourists pop in during breaks between sightseeing. “The blessing of being in Times Square is having all these groups come in. ”Anyone who has visited Tony’s will be familiar with their signature, massive portions of food that are meant to be shared family-style. This adherence to simple but hearty cooking is a trademark of the people that started Tony’s: the Wetansons. (They founded the now-dissolved 1950s burger chain, Wetson’s, which later merged with iconic hot dog vendor, Nathan’s Famous. ) Four generations of Wetansons have run this network of casual dining establishments that also includes Dallas BBQ. Unlike other large companies, however, Greg Wetanson, his father, Herb, and his son, Stuart, remain closely involved in the day-to-day operations and run things as a family business. Thanks to this amiable atmosphere, “Most of the management and the chefs have been here for twenty plus years, ” said Dreni, who joined Tony’s shortly after it opened in the 1990s.

The wood-paneled walls of Nino's convey a sense of comfort that seems well-fitted to the people in the neighborhood. The first time I stopped in, on a rainy and cold afternoon, Franco Vendome greeted me with his warm smile and pleasant conversation. He absolutely had me at hello! Franco explained that he took over running the restaurant from his parents in 2008, although I have had the pleasure of meeting his mom on a few occasions, as she does not seem to have slowed down one bit after "retiring. " I was sad to hear their story of a devastating fire in April 2011, but they picked up the pieces, renovating the entire interior and re-opened to an eager crowd nineteen months later. Known as "Nino's on 46" since his parents named it in 1982, Franco has guided the restaurant to higher culinary aspirations, focusing on recreating traditional Italian dishes with a contemporary twist. Like many restaurants in the area, Nino's gets its fair amount of regulars for lunch - and I was so pleased when many would gently interrupt our conversation, simply to say thank you and good-bye. Franco plays a vital role here; bouncing back and forth between the front and back of the house, he somehow manages to expertly run the kitchen while consistently providing a familiar presence to his patrons. Of course the mom insisted that we sit down and try some of their specialties when we returned to take photos one day. Within a short amount of time, she presented the Manhattan Sideways team with an array of dishes - from the classic eggplant parmigiana, a homemade pasta, thin crust pizza, and a Caesar salad, to the inventive truffled mac and cheese bites with a lemon aioli dipping sauce, beet-infused gnudi and Frank's special sandwich with a piece of breaded chicken cutlet, prosciutto, mozzarella, arugula, roasted peppers and a balsamic vinegar dressing. Franco's imaginative sensibility distinguishes Nino's from the standard fare; as he acknowledges, this place brings "a downtown vibe to Midtown, " creating a hipper menu with greater variation than the traditional Italian restaurant. This push to innovate at Nino's derives in part from its family history. As the first-generation to grow up in America, Franco often visits his grandparent's home in Avellino, Italy; living on a self-sufficient farm and making their own wine and olive oil, his grandparents initiated him into a food culture dependent on fresh, local ingredients. Having spent his childhood in the "traditional" Nino's, Franco sought to combine his commitment to sustainable agriculture with the values he learned from his parents and grandparents, while also giving the new Nino's his own stamp. We believe he has succeeded.

Initially serving as a resting stop for Scandinavian sailors when they disembarked in lower Manhattan, the Swedish Seaman's Church opened its doors on Water Street in 1873. The neo-Gothic building in which the Church currently resides was constructed in 1921 for "The Bible House" before being sold to the Church of Sweden in 1978. The Church's nautical past is evidenced in the model boats placed among the large collection of Swedish books. With a chapel, a library, and a coffee shop, the Church's doors are always open to Swedes. While tasting their delicious Swedish buns, I chatted with the staff who spoke enthusiastically about the function that the center plays in people's lives. For families, it provides a "wind" of Sweden whenever they miss their homeland. There are also multiple weddings conducted in the chapel each week, and people come from all over to celebrate holidays and shop at their Christmas Bazaar.

Clinton Garden is a striking testament to the power of residential communities in New York. One of the earliest examples of urban agricultural reclamation, the garden was created in 1979 in a lot that had been abandoned for twenty-eight years. Seeing potential in the space and hoping to improve the area around the neighborhood, residents (with the help of Operation Green Thumb, which leased the lot from the city) transformed the VACANT property into a garden using reclaimed and salvaged bricks, concrete, and slate. Finding the gates open on a beautiful spring Saturday, I wandered in and strolled down the paths filled with magnificent flowers and shrubs. I also met committed people tending to their small plots of land, of which there are now over one hundred. I have since been back many times, as I think this is a magnificent retreat on those days that I am in a need of a place to rest while walking the side streets of Manhattan.

Tucked between a Swiss and an Italian restaurant, Scent Elate brings Eastern spirituality to the neighborhood. With the doors swung open, the aromas were an enticing trail that led me into this tiny boutique packed with an array of incense, candles, soaps, oils and lotions. Scent Elate also has books on meditation and yoga scattered among crystals, jewelry, chimes and hanging ornaments. In fact, it might just be "the" place to go when searching for sticks of incense - not only is there a vast selection, but Mo, the owner, makes a special effort to find the perfect scent to enhance each individual customer's environment.

The Midtown West School (PS 212) and the Professional Performing Arts High School cohabitate in the same grand Beaux-Arts building, which housed PS 17 until 1989.

Named after Bible verses in Isaiah (the wolf and the lamb shall feed together), this restaurant opened in Manhattan in 1998, and expanded to Brooklyn the following year. Initially a traditional kosher deli, it later reinvented itself as a steakhouse. The extensive menu ranges from matzo ball soup to salmon burgers, veal Bolognese gnocchi and, of course, includes a variety of steaks and chops. Drawing on influences as diverse as Vietnamese, Tex-Mex, and French-country, Wolf and Lamb adapts its more customary function to a cosmopolitan venue. "Just because you're keeping kosher doesn't mean you have to sacrifice on quality, " shared a waitress. And while we were told that the majority of customers keep kosher regularly, the crowded space was testament to Wolf and Lamb's broad culinary appeal.