Brunch in New York

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Lallisse is a sleepy little Mediterranean restaurant in Murray Hill – although it is only a couple of doors down from the always overstuffed Penelope Café, when we were there on a recent Saturday, it was nearly empty. Perhaps the New York brunch crowd doesn’t think of Mediterranean food as an optimal choice for the first meal of the day. But the menu selection at Lallisse really does have something for every palate and appetite. The beautifully arranged plates offer fresh, clean flavors and healthy but not overwhelming portions. Read the rest of this entry »

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City Bakery’s incredible and extremely rich hot chocolate with marshmallows is so delicious as to be alarming: a masterpiece; one of the best in the city.

Come for the cocoa, and stay for the food and ambience during brunch time. This huge bi-level loft-urban canteen hits every mark: knockout eclectic cold buffet/salad bar, great hot food bar with terrific macaroni & cheese or chicken wings, and last but not least, the dangerous dessert bar : grab yourself a delicious chocolate chip cookie or the caramelized “pain-perdu” while they’re hot…  Read the rest of this entry »

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Finding an upscale, friendly place to brunch just behind Port Authority doesn’t seem like an easy thing to do. There aren’t a lot of attractions in this area, but it’s worth the trip to to discover 44 1/2, a bright and modern restaurant where you can also have a seat at the bar or in the nice Japanese garden on a sunny day. Read the rest of this entry »

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Upstairs at The Kimberly Hotel is a stunning penthouse lounge that sits 30 stories above Midtown Manhattan. They serve signature cocktails, small plates and a year round rooftop space that you will not forget. For their Saturday and Sunday brunch they have a DJ that provides a live atmosphere with his mixes. Read the rest of this entry »

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Manhattan’s Bryant Park is a state of mind, and quite a lovely one at that.  London plane trees shading chess and pétanque players — as well as statues of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Gertrude Stein — lend European flavor to its six charming acres, just behind the monumental Beaux-Arts flagship of the New York Public Library.

Weekdays at lunchtime, the Bryant Park Grill crackles with big city energy from midtown wheelers and dealers.  Weekend brunch, served Saturday and Sunday between 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., is characterized by a more leisurely air.  The roomy space, evocative of an aviary, was designed by Hugh Hardy, who first made his mark on New York by painting a hotel room set for the original production of Gypsy.   Read the rest of this entry »

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“It‘s Italian!” Enjoy an Italian ambience as you savor delicious Italian cuisine. Brunch is offered prix-fixe, a la carte, or tapas — those are small plates, Italian style. Popular brunch items include an “omelet of the day,“ truffle egg toast, French toast, smoked trout, fresh fruit, sandwiches and pasta dishes. One brunch beverage is included with the prix-fixe meal. Read the rest of this entry »

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Satisfy your appetite with a delicious brunch in Ashton Alley’s relaxing dining room or large outdoor patio, located right in the heart of Manhattan. With its large assortment of brunch items, there is something to please even the pickiest eater. Highlights of the bunch menu include: Ashton Alley’s omelet, steak and eggs, French toast, pancakes, fruit and cheese platter, smoked salmon platter, pasta dishes, sandwiches, wraps, and a variety of salads. Unlimited brunch cocktails are available to complement your meal. Read the rest of this entry »

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Experience the “taste of Korea” at Bann. The brunch menu consists of lunch/dinner items rather than the customary breakfast/lunch items. With its open kitchen in the dining area, you have the unique opportunity to watch the chef prepare each dish. Barbecue is a specialty, for each dining table has its own smokeless barbecue grill. Read the rest of this entry »

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Opened in 2001, db Bistro Moderne is a relaxed and fast-paced Manhattan restaurant, located in the City Club Hotel, at the Midtown crossroads of fashion and theater. This is Chef Daniel Boulud’s contemporary interpretation of the Parisian classic, and a restaurant where traditional French cuisine meets the flavors of the American market.

The restaurant is comprised of two dining rooms linked by a panel wine bar, which also connects the restaurant to the adjacent hotel lobby. When stepping in, eyes are drawn to a series of sensual, larger than life, floral photographs by Christopher Beane. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Flatiron Pan-Asian has been catering to a largely European nightlife crowd since its opening in 2009. While its well-heeled clientele has paid the rent on the sprawling space, Pranna has not quite generated the necessary buzz to land on every New Yorker’s must list. Pranna aims to expand its base with a Saturday brunch party, and in late May hosted a press brunch to help get the word out. Given that the event had been planned for weeks, there is no explanation – and no excuse – for the mind-bogglingly slow service and staff disorganization at the brunch.

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Were the interior of Nougatine at Jean-Georges a musical composition, it might be called The Gracious Living Symphony.  Designer Adam Tihany has waved a magic baton with blonde woods, ceiling-height windows, space around the tables – (and being as this is New York, let us repeat that)  – space around the tables, and a terrazzo tile and white marble hand-laid floor with a nougat-like appearance that inspired the café’s name.  When the weather cooperates, brunch is also served on the Mistral Terrace, which has unforgettably scrumptious “We are here and you are not” views of Central Park. Read the rest of this entry »

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From the outside, Bar Breton doesn’t look like the kind of place you want to check out. There are a million (maybe a trillion) diners ‘n dives in Manhattan, and this looks like just another one of them. The location, sandwiched between a drab section of perpetually noisy East 34^th and an equally drab section of Lexington, isn’t going to inspire you to get our your walking shoes, either. But this place is a sleeper, in some ways. For one thing, this is authentic French food in a way that 90 percent of ‘French’ places in the city just don’t get. Owner-chef Cyril Renaud, a Breton (natch), once ran Fleur de Sel—which was only one of the city’s very best-kept upscale prix fixe secrets for years ‘til it closed down in 2009, a victim of a bad economic moment. At Bar Breton, Renaud’s menu makes it clear that he has gone back to his country roots. And it works. Read the rest of this entry »

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Casa Lever, the restaurant, is on Park Avenue at 53^rd Street, within the landmarked Lever House, New York City’s first curtain-wall skyscraper, later imitated in Paris and Berlin.  A gracious Isamu Noguchi sculpture garden is situated within the Lever House courtyard.  The restaurant interior, meanwhile, beckons with opulent, 1960s retro-chic.  Andy Warhol prints of Dennis Hopper, Giorgio Armani, Jerry Hall, Sly Stallone and Alfred Hitchcock enliven the space. Before Casa Lever even officially opened, Madonna threw a party in it for her friend Penelope Cruz. You can picture Warhol himself, nonchalantly sitting in one of the parallelogram-framed booths, looking out and up at a Venini glass chandelier to quip “I was just joshing about those fifteen minutes.” Read the rest of this entry »

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9 Restaurant, one of the sleeker, younger establishments in overcrowded Hell’s Kitchen, recently launched weekend brunch service. Aesthetically, the transition has been a bit clumsy so far. The design of the dining room – with a neon backlit, fully stocked bar as the visual center – and appointment of a buttoned-up greeter who more resembles a friendly doorman than a host give the vague impression of a lonely after hours nightclub (especially if you arrive early).

Indeed, libations are the draw: $20 buys you unlimited champagne cocktails; and two-for-one drink specials are offered on Mimosas, Bloody Marys, selected wines and domestic beer. Although the food menu is disappointingly a la carte, none of the dishes disappoint. Read the rest of this entry »

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Celebrity Chef Gordon Ramsay has built his international empire up through plenty of slick . . . and at times coarse . . . strategies on loan from show business hucksterism.  Were he not genuinely a world-class talent ever striving to surpass himself in the kitchen, and charming besides, you might object to his promotional methods.

One characteristic running gag involved actress Joan Collins.  Ramsay threw her out of his Royal Hospital Road restaurant because she was in the company of a critic he didn’t like.  Then, Ramsay apologized, saying that his mother loves Joan Collins.  Joan went on his television show; he taught her to make an omelet.  It all happened as though according to a recipe for heavy-handed contrivance. Read the rest of this entry »