← All Of It with Alison Stewart
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- [00:09]
A
You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. The New York Times has just released its list of the 100 best restaurants in New York City. The list was put together by chief restaurant critic Lagaya Michonne, who has been in the role for almost a year now. She ate 217 meals and traveled across all five boroughs to assemble the lists, which spans from food food trucks to spendy tasting menus. She writes, quote, this is a list, but it's also a quest, an invitation to discover a New York you might not yet fully know. The list of 100 best restaurants in New York City is out now. And joining me now to discuss is chief food critic Lagaya Michonne. Nice to meet you.
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B
Thank you so much for having me.
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A
Listeners, we want to hear from you. What do you think is the best restaurant in New York City? Restaurant Would you like to nominate to be on the list of 100 Best Restaurants? What do you think makes a restaurant great? Give us a call. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. This seems like a daunting project, a great project.
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B
It is definitely a mission.
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A
What surprised you in putting this list together?
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B
You know, I think the great joy of this job is just discovering things about my own city that I didn't know. So just wandering, taking the subway to the very last stop and then to keep going, to keep walking and to just find all of these places. So I just think that that's what. Yeah, I'm always surprised. And then there's of course, the surprises of going into the restaurants and all your expectations and having them subverted and feeling delight, especially after multiple, multiple meals on day after day and suddenly feeling like, oh, this is it. In a place where you might not have expected to find it, how did
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A
you figure out which restaurants to go to? Were they word of mouth? Did you hear about them? Did you suddenly just stumble upon it and say, hey, I'm in Queens. I'm gonna go check out this place?
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B
Well, I'm very fortunate in that I've been writing about New York City restaurants for nearly two decades. So I didn't have to start from scratch, which would have been really hard. Imagine. I mean, there are, I mean, according to the most recent government data, there are more than 20,000 restaura in the city. So I took last year's list as a springboard. So you know the legend Pete Wells, who was the critic before me, he started the list in 2023. And he did not pick a small number. He picked 100. But fortunately, I have his lists. I have last year's lists. I have my own archives from writing the Hungry City column for eight years. And I have an amazing network of colleagues who. Our whole team is constantly going out, going to all the restaurants. So many more than appear on this list. So I think I was able to canvass pretty well how many of the
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A
restaurants were discoveries that were new to you.
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B
So there were places that a colleague would say, you know, there's this Chalupas street vendor in Corona, and their location keeps changing. And I remember the night that I went to find them, because there were three different addresses online floating around, and they were at none of them. And I finally. Which I should have done to begin with. And he said, oh, yeah, we're over here.
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A
That's so funny. One of the qualities that you evaluated in restaurants for this list was its New Yorkiness. What is something that makes a restaurant New Yorky?
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B
So I think that part of being a New Yorker is that we are really scrappy on some level. We make things work. We are here to make it right. You make it here, you can make it anywhere. So this is the. In a way, the toughest crowd. New Yorkers are the toughest crowd. And I feel like all these restaurants, what the New Yorkiness is, is that people are going all in. They're giving all of themselves. They want this to. They want this to be amazing. They want your experience to be amazing. And that happens at every level. And then I think, of course, what I. Another very New Yorky thing is these tiny spaces that are eking out miracles. I don't know how they do it in these incredibly small kitchens. So there are sort of points for difficulty. Right. You know, like, if you're doing something that's. You're punching so way above your weight with what you have, the resources you have. So I think that's just a very New York quality. You don't necessarily have much, but you can make it to the top.
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A
Where does creativity fall on your list of criteria?
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B
That's really important, I think imagination and ambition, wanting to change the game. So it's interesting because you have restaurants that are doing really pushing the frontiers of what food can be. But I also want to acknowledge the people who are doing something traditional and doing it impeccably or, you know, doing it as well as it can be done. So both of those are really important qualities, and that's. That. That's what makes Ranking the risk the list is so hard. Of course.
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A
How did price weigh into your decision making?
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B
So I think price matters in some ways. The. For a very expensive restaurant, the bar is higher, you are paying more. So you are getting more, but you should be getting more.
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A
That's exactly.
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B
That's the question.
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A
But are you.
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B
No, you know, I mean, you know,
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A
some places you are. Some places you.
- [05:45]
B
So that. Yes, this is true. But, you know, there's. People are working really hard. The truth is, okay, at every level. Everyone in the restaurant industry is working really hard.
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A
100%.
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B
They're operating on really razor thin margins. And I appreciate both, you know, the people who are making sure the napkin is placed at exactly the right angle and the person who's, you know, slaving away in, like, this hot box of a food truck to make your food as good as possible. So all of these things matter and come into play. But yes, if you are a very, very expensive restaurant, I expect more.
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A
We got a great text that says, I have loved Legaya Michonne since she wrote the Hungry City column. I tried. I hope I pronounced this right. Khao Kong in Elmhurst because of her. And it's truly one of the best restaurants in New York City.
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B
Oh, I'm so glad to hear it. I love, I love that restaurant.
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A
This text says, I want to nominate an NYC adjacent restaurant. That's Liverno on Atlantic in Lynbrook in Nassau County. The food is incredible. The staff is attentive. The owner, Nick, takes it upon himself to come over and talk to every Pat. That's a really lovely, lovely recommendation. Hey, by the way, if you're listening and you want to join this conversation, we'd like to hear from you. What do you think is the best restaurant in New York City? What do you. What would you expect to be on the top 100 lists? What do you think makes a New York City restaurant great? Give us a call. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. We are talking about the New York times list of 100 Best Restaurants in New York City. My guest is Times chief restaurant critic Lig Michonne, who put the list together. It's interesting. Did you have a hard time getting into any of these restaurants? Because we've heard horror stories about trying to get reservations through apps.
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B
It is so hard. In fact, I would say that is the hardest part of the job. So for the most. So it's hard to get into almost any restaurant now, that is. That takes reservations. But for the, for the Ones at the top of last year's list. So you have to. So the reservations drop all at once for the next month or sometimes for two months out. I would set my alarm for three minutes before they would drop, and I would use the government clock to make sure that I was absolutely on time and it didn't matter. All the reservations would drop and they'd be gone in one second. But then I found out. So this is a tip, that if you hang in there and you wait and you keep refreshing, I would have two different platforms going, like mobile and desktop. And all of these time slots would disappear, but then they would come back up, and you try to get them again, and they would disappear, but then they'd come back up. So I think what happens is that people would grab them but then not commit. You can hold onto it for 10 minutes because often with these places, you have to pay up front. So we're talking about possibly a $400 per person meal that you're paying up front. And you can't cancel. You can't. No refunds. So it's a big commitment. So if you hang in there, you can get the reservation.
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A
Let's get to some restaurants on your list. Number 10 on the list is Mama Lee in Queens, a Taiwanese place. Often you get to meet Mama Lee when you're there.
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B
She's the only one. She is the sole employee. She is the chef. She brings your food. She's amazing and very true to character. I should just tell everybody she could care less about this list. She's on vacation right now. The restaurant will reopen on May 29, and it's totally worth it.
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A
That is so funny. What stands out about the food?
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B
It's just. It's just amazing Taiwanese food done extremely well in this place that's so tiny, where you wouldn't expect it. I would say that the lion's head meatballs, they are enormous. I do not understand how she can sustain that quality of texture and flavor and at that size. It's like an architecture unto itself, and it's just wonderful. And she is wonderful. So also, I think this is another New Yorky quality, which is singularity. There's nowhere else quite like Mama Lee because there's no one quite like Mama Lee herself. And, you know, like, when I tried to tip her, she slapped my hand and said, no, I'm the only one here. Save it. For the college kids working at other
- [10:10]
A
restaurants, number nine on the list is Sema. It's a very popular spot in Greenwich Village. I go by There all the time. There's just a line out the door. And I thought about that place and I was like, what is so spectacular about this place? And I've walked by a million times, and then all of a sudden, the line just came out of nowhere.
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B
So you have a chef who is just telling a beautiful story, telling it with all his soul, you know, bringing all of his childhood and background to plates that just really show the cuisine at this extraordinarily high level. Even though it's not fine dining, it's just done so beautifully and will really make you see Indian cuisine. Perhaps if you're not. If you're not familiar with it already, it will. It will give you a new insight.
- [11:03]
A
We've got a call. Let's talk to Daniel, who's calling from Manhattan. Hey, Daniel, thanks for taking the time to call, all of it. You're on the air. Is Daniel there? Daniel's not there. We'll see if we can find him. Number eight on your list is aquavit. Is it the same aquavit that was there 30 years ago? Is it a different aquavit?
- [11:22]
B
It is the same aquavit. It's the same one, although it has moved since early days. But, you know, the chef who's been there, she's been there since, I think, 2014, and it's still great. I don't know why we don't talk about this restaurant, what she's doing. And it's very interesting, right? Because, you know, new Nordic cuisine has been this sort of take took the world by storm. And she's sort of doing. She's mining a different vein. She's doing something a little, you know, not what you think of when you think of new Nordic, not all of these credible and wonderful modern tricks. She's just making this very meticulous, beautiful food, focused on all of the details that tells a story you can tell. This is something that I love in food. I love it when food tells a story. And I felt like I learned so much about Scandinavia from eating there.
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A
Well, it's really interesting because someone sent a text that said, ligaya Michonne's love of the diversity of food in our city is clear. I love the way she highlights the immigrant stories behind our favorite restaurants.
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B
Oh, that's so nice.
- [12:29]
A
We are talking about the New York times list of 100 Best Restaurants in New York City. We'll have more after a quick break. This is all of it. You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. My Guest in studio is New York Times chief restaurant critic Ligaya Michonne, who put together a list called the 100 Best Restaurants in New York City. I'm going read this one to you. The guy, it says, I don't know what the best restaurant in New York City is, but Taqueria Ramirez in Greenpoint deserves a shout out. One of the few places with a long line that deserves the line. So many tacos can be surprisingly boring, but theirs are flavor bombs. Do you agree?
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B
I do agree. And actually their sister restaurant, Carnitas Ramirez is on the list. And it gives you an education in awful that I don't think you can find quite anywhere else in the city.
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A
I think Daniel's back. Daniel from Manhattan, are you there?
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C
Yes, I am. Hi. How are you doing? Great, thank you. I have a job where I go all over the city. I'm a wine importer. So I taste a lot of different foods. And I have to say, the best unknown restaurant, the best New York restaurant is up in Fort Tryon park near the French cloisters. It used to be the old New Leaf. It's called the Bonne Font, and it's run by the chef Nicole o'. Brien. She does a food called Furnocle for French Northern California cuisine. Fantastic. She was just in Forbes magazine. She was in the New Yorker a few years ago. She's. Her broth was cited as one of the best broths they tasted. I think Farrakhant is her name. I can't remember the woman's name. Works for the New York Times. It's fantastic. And her food, like I said, she calls it French Northern California or Furnocle. And it is. It's amazing. She even makes all her own ice cream. They have a cafe beneath the building, and it's an old 1930s building that's been redone. And it's absolutely beautiful. And it's packed, especially on the weekends. Every weekend it's packed, and I just can't say enough. It is the best and it is New York.
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A
I want to hear more about it. Have you heard of it before?
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B
I have not. So, Daniel, thank you for this service. I can't wait to go.
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A
This is called I love Pastavino in Staten Island. Everything is well made, delicious, plus the staff is fantastic. Their regional dinner is a must do. This says Clemente, the studio. Delicious, Japanese inspired vegan. Worth the dollar signs. Four dollar signs, by the way.
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B
Oh, wow.
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A
Back on your list. It's a tasting menu. You have on your list from the Korean spot Atomics in Nomad, how would you describe the head chef there?
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B
So he's. I mean, he's really a poet. And you can see this not only in the food, but with each dish, there's. There's a card where he's written his thoughts. And I know that might sound twee, but it. It isn't at all. It's actually. He writes with such earnestness and a kind of gravity that doesn't feel heavy, if that makes sense. It just. They're like little illuminations. It doesn't even feel as if he's making more of it than it is. He's just trying to lead you through his thought process, and I think it enriches each dish.
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A
The text says. This text says Mountain House, Sichuan, Original location on St Mark's My partner moved here from China 10 years ago and says it would be considered one of the best if it was in Chinese major cities too.
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B
It's on the list.
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A
There you go. Up next, we have an Italian spot in Midtown Borgo. You call it polished but nervy. I'm interested. What makes this spot nervy?
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B
Well, I think sometimes a place can be polished, and then it can just feel sort of completely even keeled. No surprises. I think that it has a lot of daring as well. So you're getting the polish of the nice. Like, it's just such a beautiful place to go and sit down and eat. But there's also might be something where, like, they do a guinea hen ragu. So there's a bit of that gaminess, and it just would not be the same without it. And it completes the dish. That little touch of gaminess or something that's a little bit bitter here that just anchors everything.
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A
I have to ask about the stats that went into this list. You had 217 meals eaten, 28 plates of pasta. The most meals in a single day. 5. How do you prepare to eat five meals in one day?
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B
Wow. Well, I did a lot of walk that day from place to place.
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A
Are you taking little bites of everything you can, or is it sitting down and having a whole meal?
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B
It does depend. I mean, I feel like it's not fair to just take one bite of something, but I don't always finish everything. And that's why whenever I'm at a restaurant, I will tell the server, it's wonderful. It's not the reason I didn't eat all of it. Yeah, there was a lot of eating. It was a marathon, and then at the end, it was a wild sprint. And in a way, like, and when I say a wild sprint, it was a wild sprint for the last three months. And just because I wanted to make sure, you know, I wanted to know that I really taken the temperature of the city.
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A
Your longest meal was 3 hours and 41 minutes. Your shortest was 39 seconds. All right, where was the 3 hours and 41. 3 hours and 41 minutes meal?
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B
Okay. To be honest, there might be more than one that was that long. So sometimes what happens? And sometimes. So sometimes I'm recognized, and I wish that that wouldn't happen, but it's happened to every critic there ever was, even those who didn't have their photo out in public because someone always found a photo of them. And so what happens? And in a way, this is incredibly generous, but everything slows down. Your appetizers come out one by one, so each can be eaten at the perfect temperature. And I mean, it's a beautiful gift that they're giving you all of this time, but sometimes it does feel a little long.
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A
What was the 39 seconds meal? What was that?
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B
Oh, I stopped by this takeout window in Flushing, and I had just this little. I hope that I can pronounce this properly. Rojamo, which is sometimes translated as a Chinese hamburger. And, yeah, I just demolished that thing.
- [19:07]
A
We're talking about the New York times list of 100 Best Restaurants in New York City. My guest is Times chief restaurant critic Ligasha Michonne, who put the list together. Listeners, we'd like to hear from you. What do you think is the best restaurant in New York City? What makes a New York City restaurant great? Our number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. I'm gonna take a sip of this for a minute. Okay. We're gonna tasting menus. Oh, you went to Jean Georges on the Upper west side?
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B
Yeah. Why do you say it like that?
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A
No, I was like. I was just like, oh. It was like I went magically somewhere else. Like, oh, she went to Jean George. That's been open for so many years. Why do you think a restaurant like that is able to sit day surprising and engaging?
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B
I think it takes a lot of work and it may not have for all of those days and all of those years. Right. This list is a portrait of a moment in time. And I will say that I went to Jean Georges years and years ago when I was just a proofreader working at the New Yorker magazine. And I went with my friend. We were nobodies. We were not rich. We Were not fancy. And they treated us like queens. We went at lunch. You know, they had a $45 prefix back then. Can you even imagine such a thing? And I just rem every moment of that meal that they treated us so wonderfully. So I do want to say to all these restaurants out there, you know, just treat everybody as if they might be a restaurant critic 20 years from now.
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A
I love lunch. I think lunch is the way to go.
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B
Yes.
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A
Right. Yes.
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B
Yeah.
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A
This says, I recommend Alma Negra in South Park Slope. They grind their own heirloom corn varieties for their tortillas. Lots of love comes through in their dishes.
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B
Fantastic.
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A
You also have, like, little side mentions for things like best calamari and best Mac and cheese. Why did you want to include those distinctions?
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B
I thought especially, you know, for restaurants that aren't going to get all of the spotlight of being in the top 10. I thought people should know they do this thing spectacularly well. So just to give them a little bit of a boost, let's talk to
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A
Nick, who's calling in from Sunnyside. Hey, Nick, thanks for calling all of it. You're on the air.
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D
Oh, hey. Yeah, I just wanted to give a shout out to Gordo's Cantina because I guess I'm involved with the art galleries by the Jefferson Stop and Wyckoff, and it's the best Mexican food that you can get before you go party in Bushwick. And I guess rain is the hedge. Yeah, Rain is the head chef in the back. And J.R. he's been. He's been running it. I met him when his restaurant was in Long Island City, but I'm a chorizo junkie. And they just put out the biggest Thorn sausage and the biggest and the best tacos. But they have, like, specials. I mean, but the best margaritas. I mean, if you want to take your girl and impress her, that's the place to go. They're on the corner of, I think, Stanhope and St. Nick, and it's a hell of a ride.
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B
Wonderful.
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A
Thanks for the recommendation. I like the hell of the ride part. Number three on your list. Legaye is Torisi in Nolita.
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B
Oh, you missed number four.
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A
Oh, number four. Yep.
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B
Sorry.
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A
Number four.
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B
Number four was Meiju.
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A
Meiju. Okay. Tell me a little about that.
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B
Meiju is just sort of subverts everything you think of when you expect a fancy tasting menu counter. It's in Queens. It's in Long Island City, Queens. It's the chef. There's no brigade. There's not a lot of fuss. He's just making very traditional Korean food with such care and with such passion. His mission is to tell you that fermentation, what fermentation can do with food, bringing it so close to death, right? It's a dance with decay. And instead it turns food into this extraordinary thing. And so it's a lesson that never feels didactic. It's spellbinding.
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A
Number three, Theresi, you write, nobody's playing it cool here.
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E
How does that translate to the food?
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B
Just, they are still going for it. These dishes are fantastic. They are dishes that say something about New York. So here's New Yorkiness right there on the plate, where all of New York with, you know, it's bodegas, it's pickles, it's, you know, Cantonese restaurants. Everything is being honored in these dishes. In dishes, you know, that were hits long ago in new dishes, they're still going for it.
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A
At number two is Yamada, which is brand new to the list. It's a Japanese tasting menu in Chinatown. Use the words like calm, serene to describe it.
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E
What makes this scene so serene?
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B
It's really a sanctuary. You go down what used to be the old Canal Arcade. It's. It like runs through a building and you go behind a door and then another door, and it's just very hushed without feeling like you have to be very proper. It just feels like a place where the chef is doing his work. It's a craft. He's not saying, look at me. There's no spectacle. He's just doing very carefully what he does and its splendor.
- [24:16]
A
And last number one on the list is Kabawa, a Caribbean tasting restaurant in the East Village. You got a thumbs up from one of our texters that says, I agree with Kabawa. Yay. How did this restaurant change your perspective in some way?
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B
You know, I think that in New York City, we've long had Caribbean food, but we haven't had a chance to see it at this very done sort of in a way that pushes its boundaries a little bit. Because the food here is not just straight up traditional, but it's completely anchored in tradition and recognizes it and honors it. While the chef is also bringing his own story, his own imagination. And everything that's on the plate is really, it's telling you something different. And it's also, by the way, it's a high end restaurant that doesn't feel stuffy at all. It's so relaxed. They're wearing tie dye shirts in the, in the kitchen and, and, and the room is abuzz. And you just feel like you're really part of the city when you're there.
- [25:23]
A
It's the 100 best restaurants in New York City. The list by the New York Times. My guest has been Times chief restaurant critic Liga Michonne. Thank you so much for joining us.
- [25:33]
B
Thank you.
- [25:34]
A
There's more. All of it on the Way, a documentary about W.E.B. du Bois and its director. That's up next. Stay with us.
- [25:43]
E
WNYC Studios is supported by AT&T Summer. It's when we share more time, more memories and more photos. And at, at and t. The iPhone 17 Pro is your summer essential. Its center stage front camera auto adjusts the frame to fit everyone into group selfies. Right now, AT, AT and T, you can get iPhone 17 Pro for $0 with eligible iPhone trade in any condition required. Trade in of iPhone 15 or higher excluding iPhone 16e and 17e required eligible plan terms and restrictions apply subject to change. Visit att.comiphone or visit an ATT store for details.
- [26:22]
F
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A
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F
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