Where to eat like a Miranda and more reader questions
I’ve been eating a lot of burgers recently. But, between stops on my search for the best beef and buns, I’ve been looking through your hyperspecific restaurant quandaries to find hyperspecific solutions. In this installment, we’ve got a stellar pork chop, a salad that actually qualifies as a meal and a downtown birthday itinerary that evokes “Sex and the City.” Got a prompt for me? Send it over by email wheretoeat@nytimes.com or as a submission to this form and I’ll do my best to get back to you.
Welcome to the pork-iverseI have just recently (today) gotten into pork chops. Where can I eat spectacular pork chops in the city? — Marian B. Better late than never! I grew up with pork chops on regular rotation, and, while I still think my dad’s kitchen makes the best chops in the New York City metro area, I don’t think he would approve of me publishing the address. So, here’s an alternative: Flor de Mayo, with two locations on the Upper West Side, has a diner-long menu of generously portioned Peruvian-Chinese dishes. (This is also where the nutcracker, New York’s unofficial drink, originated!) The restaurant’s broiled pork chops, topped with a remarkable amount of minced garlic and swimming in a garlicky, buttery sauce, are out of this world. A serving comes with two fat, glistening chops, which cry for a side of cilantro-laced arroz verde and, of course, a nutcracker. 2651 Broadway (West 101st Street), Upper West Side, Manhattan 484 Amsterdam Avenue (West 83rd Street), Upper West Side, Manhattan
I couldn’t help but wonder … where should I have my birthday dinner?I am a soon-to-be 32-year-old looking for a restaurant for an intimate birthday dinner that gives “Sex and the City” vibes, with the perfect martini somewhere in Lower Manhattan, Greenpoint, or Williamsburg. I’m a pescatarian (and a Miranda). — Emily E. I think a birthday calls for a two-stop itinerary, don’t you? First, dinner at Dr. Clark, a low-lit, 2000s-swanky restaurant on Bayard Street serving dishes from Hokkaido, Japan, where the best bites are seafood-centric. I’d prioritize a mix of sashimi, rich scallop risotto served in a shell, French fries with uni cream sauce and mushrooms festively cooked on a smoking tabletop grill, then mixed with springy udon noodles. They’ll make you an excellent drink there, but the martinis are even better at your second stop, Gosh. It’s a new nightclub less than a block away, and, as a Miranda, you’ll probably roll your eyes at the details: The three floors are vaguely heaven-, hell- and purgatory-themed and you have to email to get on the mysterious guest list. There are also low stools designed to look like gnomes. (In fact, there’s gnome imagery everywhere you look.) And some walls are upholstered with dark, patterned fabric, some with soundproofing foam, and one that’s just … a rock climbing wall? If Gosh were really in the show, Miranda would be having fun but pretending not to, Samantha would be outside managing the guest list, Charlotte would be pouring her heart out to a stranger in the third-floor confessional booth, and Carrie would be four Cosmos deep, complaining that Big is moving to Paris. Dr. Clark, 104 Bayard Street (Baxter Street), Chinatown, Manhattan Gosh, 32 Mulberry Street (Mosco Street), Chinatown, Manhattan
Looking for salad in all the wrong placesI’m once again in search of a hearty California-style salad. No slop bowl places or salad chains. No anemic combinations of greens plus tomatoes. These are thoughtfully composed salads meant to be eaten as complete meals, often with heartier cooked or marinated, pickled or prepared vegetables included. Bonus if some elements are warm. While my dream hearty salad may contain cheese or meat, the salad should usually stand alone without them. Cobbs need not apply. — Pam I understand this urge well, and often find myself walking to Win Son Bakery in the East Village for their golden sesame Caesar, made with the crunchiest little gem lettuce and a deeply savory dressing. But your prompt encouraged me to think one level deeper, and maybe somewhere even more unexpected. Head to the Sweetgreen on Flatbush Avenue … then turn and walk into Pies ’n’ Thighs, the Southern restaurant with a location in Williamsburg and a newer sequel in Park Slope. There you’ll find a “big salad” that should sate. The base is iceberg lettuce topped with paint-palette piles of colorful vegetables, including grated carrots, raw beets, cucumbers, surprisingly flavorful marinated black-eyed peas, sliced avocado, a mound of alfalfa sprouts (How’s that for Californian?) and a hard-boiled egg. There are two dressings, a bright cilantro-lime and an herby ranch, which somehow makes total sense. It’s served with a slice of their sweet, brown homemade anadama toast, and, if you want to order it the way the owner Sarah Sanneh does, ask for chicken tenders on top. 166 South Fourth Street (Driggs Avenue), Williamsburg, Brooklyn 244 Flatbush Avenue (St. Marks Avenue), Park Slope, Brooklyn
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