Happy Tuesday! Hoping this newsletter finds you in a warm and cozy place — whether that’s under a blanket or on a beach. Here’s what’s in today’s newsletter:
WHERE TO EAT WITH … “Severance” actor Michael Chernus loves an old restaurantThe thing about Michael Chernus is that you’ve seen that guy somewhere. It could be on several episodes of “Orange Is the New Black,” or opposite Rachel Weisz in “Dead Ringers.” Or, more recently, as John Wayne Gacy in “Devil in Disguise” and as Ricken Hale on “Severance.” (No, he doesn’t know when they’ll start filming the next season.) But in the fall of 1995, Chernus was an 18-year-old freshman at the Juilliard School who was absolutely thrilled to be living in New York City. And that last part hasn’t changed. “I just love that element of how we all come together over food and we all pack into these tiny spaces and wait in line to go out to eat, or we all grab a slice at the corner shop,” he said. “There’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be.” Read on to see why Chernus regrets never dining at Elaine’s, how he wooed his wife with one critical Google restaurant search and why he feels a little embarrassed that he has never worked at a restaurant. What was the first restaurant you remember eating at in New York City?I have a vivid memory of getting Manhattan clam chowder at some diner near Times Square when I first came to New York City to audition for Juilliard. This would have been my very first visit to New York ever, and it felt so exotic, so foreign, so thrilling to eat Manhattan clam chowder in Manhattan. Once I arrived at Juilliard in the fall of 1995, from the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, and was living on the Upper West Side, I frequented so many Upper West Side haunts like the Emerald Inn, Malachy’s, Ruppert’s, Diane’s, China Fun, Big Nick’s, Harry’s Burritos. My friend Erin Gann and I would go to Ruppert’s all the time and share stuff because we were broke, but we felt like real New Yorkers there. Read the rest of the questionnaire →
THE BRIEF REVIEW Dolores★ | Critic’s Pick
“Mexico City-inspired” might be the New York culinary phrase of the year, a phrase used to connote quality (or convey hype) at a certain category of Latin American restaurants. But at Dolores, set in a candlelit room that smells of burnt corn husks, the owners try out a slightly more specific tagline. Cressida Greening and Emir Dupeyron (of Winona’s), working with the chef Damian Escalante Petersen, serve “comida Chilanga,” the cuisine of CDMX. And that’s not just PR-speak. Dolores specializes in bright, bold dishes that don’t always make their way to hip cantinas en tierra Yanqui. Waiters bring out $4 papadillas, fried masa stuffed with hot mashed potatoes. They sit in small pools of red and green salsas, a little gasoline fire for the palate. Botanas, or bar snacks, come out quickly. Cooks stuff fava beans into purple corn tlacoyos and huazontles (called Aztec broccoli) into cheesy fritters. In New York, chicharrones usually translate to something crispy or meaty. Not here: Dolores stews its pork skin in salsa verde until it takes on the texture of soft meringue. Dupeyron likes to namecheck famed Mexico City establishments. He cites El Turix under the entry for cochinita pibil; rolled tacos filled with citrus-marinated pork. And he credits Bar El Bosque for the lengua tacos, tiny corn tortillas that hold cubes of salted tongue and a whisper of onions. Local taquerias tend to overload their tacos, but the lengua is a study in minimalism — an entire cow’s worth of beefiness packed into a few square inches of meat and masa. If it’s still warm out — a long shot — take a seat underneath the marigold awning with a fizzy Paloma in hand. For a moment, this tree-lined patch of Bed-Stuy feels just a little like La Condesa. Mexico City-inspired, indeed. Address: 397 Tompkins Avenue (Jefferson Avenue), Bedford-Stuyvesant; no phone; doloresbk.com Recommended Dishes: Papadillas, chicharrones en salsa verde (on Thursdays only), tlacoyos de haba, short rib asada tacos, lengua tacos, cochinita pibil tacos. Price: $$ Wheelchair Access: The entrance is at ground level. The front door, certain pathways and the bathroom are ADA compliant.
FOR YOUR BUCKET LIST The best dishes, desserts and restaurants of 2025’Tis the season for listicles, and the Food section is no exception: Instead of a restaurant review, this week we have Ligaya Mishan on her 12 favorite New York City restaurant dishes and the city’s best new restaurants, according to Ligaya and our former interim critics Priya Krishna and Melissa Clark. If you don’t live in New York City, no need to fret: We have lists of the best dishes and the best desserts we enjoyed from across the U.S. this year, as well. OPENING OF THE WEEK StarsThe first thing you need to know about the new wine bar Stars is that it is not in the townhouse that already houses the restaurant Claud and the seafood bar Penny. It’s two blocks north on East 12th Street. The second thing you need to know is that there are 12 seats, so expect a cozy setup when it opens on Friday, Dec. 12. More restaurant openings → Have New York City restaurant questions? Send us a note here. Follow NYT Food on TikTok and NYT Cooking on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest.
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