I read the Yelp comments about Certe and am intrigued by the pizza Bolognese, which I've had only once: in Brittany. It was terrific, and I've looked for it again in vain. So...Certe it is.

PizzArte on W. 55th has good, Neopolitan-style pizza. Never heard of Certe, though.




Although I've lived in the East 50s for decades, I've not been to your other choices apart from Le Colonial, which I've not visited in years, but I wish you a happy time, and good eating, in NYC!

Oh, meant to add this:


http://www.pizzarteny.com/

According to many, Katz has the best Reuben (despite the fact that it's a kosher deli). Others say that Eisenberg's has a great Reuben, but it also gets mixed reviews, though it is a classic.

You cannot get a Reuben at 2nd Avenue Deli, however. It's truly kosher and makes no concessions on mixing meat and cheese.

Oh ... and closer to your hotel is Sarge's on Third Ave. (between 36th and 37th).

And they also make a Reuben at Junior's; it is NOT the best Reuben in town by any means, but it's not bad. And there's a Junior's at Grand Central, so again fairly close to your hotel.

Please note Doug, that Katz's cannot be considered a kosher deli if they offer a Rueben. In fact, I just checked their website and no where does it claim to be kosher. It is an old style Jewish deli and there is a difference.

In fact 2nd Ave claims to be kosher and the strictest of interruptions would refute that claim simply because they are opened on the Jewish Sabbath.

There are degrees of kosher and Katz's meat may be prepared in adherence to the Kashrut or the Jewish dietary laws, but once cheese is introduced the kosher designation is negated.

What I'd like to find is a place that makes a Swissburger (no idea of the name origin): a hamburger topped with Swiss cheese and sauerkraut, served on rye.

Underhill, will you be requesting a left-handed monkey wrench next? There are over 40,000 restaurants in NYC, I am sure there is something that you might find satisfying.

Katz is certainly not Kosher!

First a pizza with Bolognese sauce on top, and now a burger Reuben! Looks like you can teach us a thing or two about food!!


You can probably get that burger version in most any diner; just ask them to put Swiss cheese and sauerkraut on a burger on rye.

There is Russ & Daughters on E Houston St.

(Pronounced How-ston St.)



Thin

If we venture away from our hotel neighborhood, what are the best areas for ethnic food?

ekscrunchy, California has all kinds of food, some on the odd side.

It depends on what kind of food....pretty close to your hotel there are restaurants featuring various regional Indian cuisines centered on Lexington in the high 20s. Chinese in the 30s near Fifth Avenue would be the closest grouping...I think I gave you a good Chinese rec on your other thread...in the east 30s.

Crunchy, can you recommend any good Thai or Cambodian restaurant in the E or W 80's?

Will probably visit the Met on 5th Ave. next week and can walk across Central Park to the UWS.

Thin

I think we're going to eat very well.

Russ & Daughters--what kind of food, please?

Thinster: I'm sorry but I do not know any in that area. I would foget Cambodian; if I can turn up any tips on good Thai around there I will post back here. HAve a good trip!

Russ and Daughters is a legendary Ashkenazi Jewish appetizing store on the Lower East Side that opened a cafe last year. I would say it is well worth your while but not near your hotel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/di...cafe.html?_r=0

Thanks, crunchy.

At this point I will take any restaurant suggestion. Am sick of Nice Matin.

Thin

There's no really good Thai restaurant near 86th that I know, just some cheap take-out places. The Upper East Side is pretty sparse for good places to eat except for some new places serving really good bar food. Here are a few of the restaurants in the area that I like, but they lean heavily to French with some Italian.

There's a sister restaurant to Nice Matin called Cafe D'Alsace (88th/2nd Ave). It's pretty good but may not be sufficiently different for you. But they have a pretty good choucroute garni.

There are also two pretty good French restaurants on Madison (same block, between 92nd and 93rd): Le Paris and Pascalou. Of the two, I prefer Le Paris and eat there fairly often, though never for lunch; they do have a good and popular weekend brunch. Across the street is Sarabeth's, which is good for brunch only; I've had two pretty awful dinners there and would never go except for brunch, which is wonderful.

And I like Paola's (92nd/Third). Sfoglia (92nd/Lex) is really excellent but kind of expensive, but they do serve lunch. The menu is short and sweet, but I like everything on it.

Finally, if you like deli, Pastrami Queen (Lex/78th) is good but may not be what you're looking for. It's pretty casual and has a limited number of tables.

Another vote for PizzArte, authentic Italian, run by Italians - a rarity these days.

Thin… have you been to the Cafe Sabarsky in the Neue Galleria (corner of 86 and 5th)?

Oh, sorry, I thought Thin was only asking about the WEST 80s.

Here is a cute Italian place not far from there, in the East 70s.

http://www.spigolonyc.com/

Café d'Alsace is calling my name, especially as we really liked Nice Matin (had breakfast there every morning in December plus one lunch and two dinners).

Another French option, near your hotel:

http://www.rotisserieg.com/menus/


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/di...side.html?_r=0

Have dined at Cafe d'Alsace a few times. Like the Baekeoffe there.

Have dined at Cafe Sabarsky.

Thanks anyway.

Thin

How about Bellini and Benoit?

They broke up when Vaudeville died.

Very cute. But Bellini is still around as a drink, no?

Haven't a clue. Maybe a ten year old copy of Time Out NY might be instructive.

Thanks, but I already know that a Bellini is a champagne/peach liqueur cocktail made famous at Harry's Bar in Venice. If you can't be helpful, please don't be flippant.

You displayed your culinary oneupmanship where you noted you had this and that somewhere or other and people were cordial and sincere and gave you bona fide advice and now you are giving time outs.

Enjoy are city and please spend a lot one money here.

I plan to enjoy NYC and will certainly part with a chunk of change in the process.

Now: does anyone have information about the Bellini and Benoit restaurants? Benoit sounds especially interesting.

You have so many choices. How many meals do you have in total?

I have not been to either of those (at least not the Benoit in NYC and not the current place with the name Bellini) but you have omitted so many of the top restaurants. I can't see how you would do much better than The Modern Dining Room, for example, yet you plan to eat at a cafe in the museum instead. If your budget is generous, why not the Modern Dining Room?

Batard is another good one, downtown, but there are so, so many, and it does not sound as if you are taking any of my advice, so perhaps I should quit here.

Thai in the West 80s - Land Thai on Amsterdam near 82nd. Very good, very small.

The menu in the Modern Dining Room just doesn't call out to me. And ekscrunchy, I have made note of your excellent suggestions and plan to eat in at least two of them. I really appreciate the time you have taken in giving me good ideas.

Thank you for Land Thai suggestion.

It was also suggested by Muffy's MIL, who has an apartment on the UWS.


Thin

Benoit should be better than it is. Lunch/brunch ok. I wouldn't go for dinner. Dont know Bellini. There used to be one in midtown near your hotel, but it's no longer there. Yelp.com eater.com urbanspoon.com all have reiews.

When will this trip take place? On the Modern, the menu on the website is not likely the same as in the restaurant, but if you do not like the sound of the dishes, you are right to avoid. I ask about timing because if it is this month or next, you might want to think about booking soon, as some places fill up many weeks in advance at prime dinner hours.

We arrive very late on October 30th. As you can tell, I tend to Plan Ahead.

Well...we have decided that since we can't get to France and French food is light on the ground where we live, French cuisine will be our trip focus. We now have reservations at Nice Matin (Sunday night: diver scallops) and Jubilee. It's too soon to reserve at L'Ecole, Rotisserie Georgette (must have the pintade), and Café d'Alsace. One night we will head to Amma for Indian food, however, and on Hallowe'en well eat at The Monkey Bar; those burgers sound great.

That leaves finding a place for dim sum one lunchtime (Red Farm?) and other lunches on the fly--possibly one at Le Pain Quotidien, which we really liked in Paris and Nice. And of course that Reuben for my husband.

We will have to walk a lot.

Thanks VERY much for all the help and useful information.

I recently ate the Cafe d'Alsace and it was disappointing. The service was inattentive, I had mussels which had grit in them and I had to remind them it can with fries. The other meals were OK, nothing special.

My francophile friend like the Le Bateau Ivre.

likes http://www.lebateauivrenyc.com/