Gotham West Market

On a bright afternoon, I gazed through the windows and marveled at this fairly new restaurant. I was enchanted by the decor and had a sense that this was going to be special. I made reservations for four on a weekend evening and had not only a fabulous meal, but also an overall enjoyable experience. White brick, black chairs, and a glowing wooden bar make stepping into Bea feel a bit like going back in time. The dining room features an upright piano and a projector showing black-and-white movies on the wall. Ranging from spinach tagliatelle to pork dumplings, the menu has a variety of dishes, and our group tried many of them. Beginning with tomato soup and the house made ricotta served on toasted bread with rosemary honey and sea salt, we moved on to a pear salad, the spicy lamb meatballs, a mushroom pizza, the English muffin burger and the steak and tomatoes. Enough for everyone to indulge and to walk away feeling very satisfied and ready to be entertained by the outstanding performance, Satchmo, in the Westside Theatre next door. By the time we were leaving, the bar scene had picked up considerably, as many were ordering Bea's playfully named specialty cocktails, such as the "Lavender Monk” and the "Bitter Duchess. ” There is no doubt that this is a restaurant that I will tell many about and continue to frequent myself.

Mediterranean tapas and other specialties complement an extensive wine list from around the world. Wine Escape was opened in 2012 by a Turkish woman, Humeyra Kocak, who had worked in banking for almost twenty-five years and then decided to follow her passion. She and her husband, Dilaver, joined forces with Azman Dayakli, former owner of Turks & Frogs on 11th Street and present owner of the Drunken Horse. The quaint space is small but comfortable, lit by lazily hanging lights. As we chatted with Mike, the bartender, a regular customer walked by and held court from outside the window, answering Mike's questions about her mom in the hospital. Many places claim to be a neighborhood spot, but here the proof is in the pudding... or perhaps in the pinot.

Only in New York can one hear stories of a couple where one grew up on 44th Street, they met in a bar on 43rd, and now have opened their own tiny, but very special bar on 48th. Suzy Darling and Joe Witham are an adorable and, might I add, very talented pair. Suzy trained with Alvin Ailey as a teenager, went on to become a Rockette for eight years, was a back up singer to Bruce Springsteen, and a dancer with Houston Ballet. And while Suzy was strutting across the stage, Joe was singing opera in Oregon, and today, when not at Pocket Bar, he is the captain at a fine restaurant in Manhattan. When I asked how long they had been open, Suzy smiled broadly and responded, "87 days! " In less than three months (they opened at the end of May, 2014), this dynamic duo has managed to spread the word on the street and around town, bringing in many to share in their super friendly, 300 square feet of intimate space. There are no TVs, as Suzy's goal was to make her bar "a nice place for women. " She did not want to be a sports bar but rather as her gay friends suggest, "They opened a gay bar for straight people, but, of course, all are welcome. " The concept is to be an escape from the city and partake in a glass of wine on tap from a boutique vineyard or a beer, both under $10. On any given night, there will be Hot Pockets filled with pepperoni pizza, four cheeses or meatball mozzarella being served. And when I was chatting with Suzy, a new friend in the neighborhood popped in having just returned from a fishing expedition and dropped off some for Suzy to expand her pocket line up - this time with ceviche. Needless to say, she was thrilled and commented, once again, on what a welcoming community she has found.

Añejo serves up dishes to be paired with one of the eighty different bottles of tequila and mezcal that embrace Mexican cuisine from a fresh perspective. While sipping one of their custom drinks, it was delightful to watch patrons engaging in conversation outdoors along 47th Street with the cheerful sounds of kids playing in the background. As we sampled some of the small plates, we spoke with Ricky Camacho, the Chef de Cuisine. He explained to us that Añejo does not seek to be a traditional Mexican restaurant – instead, it aims to play upon those elements, ingredients, and components that are distinctly Mexican, making dishes that are new but feel familiar. "The menu is modern but approachable. "A bite of the Ahi Tuna Ceviche illustrated Ricky's point to Maria, a Manhattan Sideways team member. She explained to me that while ceviche is generally considered a Peruvian dish (the country that she is from), the flavors of the jalapeño and playful tang of the yuzu orange broth made it clear that this ceviche was in a league all its own. The flavors do not presume to be traditional nor is that the restaurant's goal; they are at once authentic but innovative. Anejo's Executive Chef and former Top Chef contender, Angelo Sosa, has developed a great reputation since opening in 2012. Ricky was quite pleased to tell us that Angelo and four other Top Chef alumni served a four-course dinner at Añejo to raise money for Sandy relief. Angelo's fundraising efforts and resolve to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy shows how intertwined small businesses and the community they serve can be.

When John O’Mahoney, the director of sales and marketing for the Press Lounge and Print, ushered us up to the bar at the very top of the entirely green building that houses the hotel, Ink48, I was dazzled by how bright everything was. Even though there had been snow flurries on and off, the Press Lounge was bursting with light. The wide open space seemed like what one might experience on the west coast, rather than in New York. The Northern Californian vibe is no accident, as Adam Block, the owner, is bi-coastal. Though he spends much of his time in New York and grew up in Chicago, but has great respect for Californian aesthetic and customs. The space on the rooftop was partitioned into several unique sections, each equally awe-inspiring. The main bar space featured a series of differently sized cubes on the back wall, glowing in hues of coral and teal. The couches were draped in warm fur blankets for wintertime, and Persian palms dotted the room. An outer patio had dark, wicker furnishings where, despite this wintry day, the views remained the center of attention. One of the most astonishing rooms was “the Sun Room, ” often reserved for private events, which has an enormous garage door that opens on warm days to give the illusion of being perched on the edge of the sky. Finally, the outdoor portion of the patio was the only area closed for the winter. Adam, however, was kind enough to show me the video of how the pre-existing rooftop pool was turned into a garden and seating area using repurposed, warped wood. When I spoke to Adam, he told me that he received a lot of his inspiration from Alice Waters, who was a client through his consulting business. The notorious chef and restaurateur from Chez Panisse in Berkeley, developed farms in Northern California and aimed to find farmers off the grid. She was truly “farm to table” before the expression became trite. Adam came away with a significant education from Alice, and when he decided to open the twin dining establishments for Ink48, his first thought was, “How can we be sustainable? ” He was not only referring to the food, but also to the business model: He wanted to create a space that would be a destination, but also a place to which people would want to return. He wished to develop the staff in such a way that they would remain as part of the family. People called him crazy, he told us, when he added 125 jobs during a financial crisis, but he believes it has paid off. There has been very little turn-over in the staff, which is unusual in an industry which is known for being a revolving door. Adam proudly told me that he has had the same cocktail servers for the past three years. He attributes this to “a balance in healthiness. ”One of the positions on his staff that had existed from the very beginning is the role of professional forager. Meghan Boledovich holds that title, and she is possibly the only professional forager in New York. She was educated in the new NYU Food Studies program, and Adam said he liked her for the role, not only because she was extremely qualified for all aspects of the job, but also because she was “very bohemian in her purest mindset. ” Meghan explained, “People think I’m just out in the woods hunting for mushrooms…but I only do that sometimes. ” She has a hand in the special outreach programs that the restaurants run in order to give back to the community - most recently she taught school children how to maintain a better food mindset. She networks with other foragers and uses a European sensibility gained from her time spent in Provence to find the best seasonal ingredients at the nearest, most sustainable locations. Locality comes second to sustainability: she would rather choose a farm that is farther away with better practices than a nearby farm with questionable methods. As we stared at the snow, she expressed her jealousy for Californians: “They have about eighty items in season right now. We mostly have root vegetables. It’s hard to be a forager with this pause. ”

Paul Stuart's flagship location commands the southwest corner of Madison Avenue, a 60, 000 square foot retail space dedicated to fine menswear. Established in 1938 by haberdasher Ralph Ostrove - and named after his son - Paul Stuart is committed to revitalizing and updating the classic American style. Continuing on with the family tradition, CEO, Michael Ostrove, explains that Paul Stuart is "an American interpretation of its Anglo roots, " those that stretch to London's famous Savile Row.

Beer Culture opened in the summer of 2013, offering beer, cider, whiskey, and bottled sodas. Customers can come in to pick up a bottle – or growler - of beer to take home, or grab a seat at the bar to chat with the friendly staff while noshing on some charcuterie. The record player behind the bar is usually going and if the owner, Matt Gebhard, and bar manager, Peter Malfatti, are around, they are bound to strike up a conversation and offer to guide patrons through their extensive beer selection. The beers are organized by region. The first door of their huge, glass-front fridge is full of beers from New York State, while the second is full of east coast beers, and the third and fourth is full of central and west coast beers. A bit further back into the room is their international fridge, proudly boasting selections from the UK, France, and three shelves worth of Belgian beers. For patrons who just want a nice, cold, familiar beer, grandpa's fridge is the place to go. Customers often mistake the old Kelvinator across from the bar as a prop and are always surprised when they open it up and realize that it works and that they recognize all of the brands inside of it. Matt included grandpa's fridge because he thinks that there is a place for all beers (except lite ones, which are not sold on the Beer Culture premises) and that some brands hold emotional value for customers. True to its name, the beers in the old Kelvinator are those that Matt had seen in his own grandfather's fridge growing up. Matt's first true exposure to beer and its culture was during a year he spent studying abroad in Belgium. When he came back home to upstate NY, Matt was nineteen and decided to pursue his newfound passion by working in a local Belgian brewery. He remained here for a few years until he met Peter, his future bar manager, who was living in Rochester, NY. Before opening their own place, Matt came to Manhattan and worked in a Belgian bar in Midtown. Although he enjoyed it, Matt told us that he wanted to do things his own way and fulfill his vision of what a bar should be. The bar that these two terrific guys opened is one that is dedicated to the simple, comfortable and unpretentious beverage that they adore. Nestled between Eighth and Ninth Avenue in a residential part of 45th Street, Beer Culture, is a hybrid bar and bottle shop offering its customers over 500 different types of beer. Although at the time of this write-up, Beer Culture had been around for less than a year, both Matt and Peter already feel like part of the block. As Matt stated, "We pride ourselves in being an establishment of beer nerds, not beer snobs. "

After eleven years in her Noho location, Executive Chef and Food Network star Alex Guarnaschelli opened Butter in the Cassa Hotel, a Midtown twin to her well-known restaurant. Shaped by Guarnaschelli's own travels and time spent working abroad, the attractive dark wood restaurant with comfortable booth seating, is American but with the requisite global touches and ingredients expected of fine dining. When Chef Guarnaschelli isn't filming, she is in the kitchen, on the line, adding her fine touch into every aspect of the cooking. As members of her staff shared with us, Alex is dedicated to bringing fresh and simple ingredients together in beautifully crafted dishes. On a rare and special night out with just my husband and daughter, I could not pass up the opportunity to bring my butter-loving girl to this dining experience. Since she has always considered the dairy treat to be its own food group, I had the highest hopes for the meal - particularly the bread basket - which did not disappoint. The warm Pullman-style rolls with the house-made butters (a plain with a hint of sour cream for richness, and an herb that was light and lovely) were out of this world. All three of us agreed we could leave satisfied just from that - and a spicy cocktail, of course (the Ghost Margarita) But we powered ahead sharing the burrata salad. The creamy burrata with garden-fresh tomatoes was divine and the ribeye steaks that my husband and daughter ordered were cooked perfectly and sat atop smashed purple potatoes. And, as a vegetarian, I always keep an eye out for restaurants working to develop unique, hearty main courses. The charred coconut milk-soaked cauliflower was much appreciated. We finished things off, in case one thought we had already indulged ourselves sufficiently, with the raspberry beignets accompanied by a vanilla dipping sauce. If the name of this restaurant alone does not have one's mouth watering, I am sure that it is now!