Answering your hyperspecific restaurant questions
All month I’ve been collecting your niche dining questions and bopping around the city to find you the best possible answers. Can’t believe this is my life! This round, we’ve got readers looking for a place to celebrate a 21st birthday with lawful martinis, a pre-workout street snack and a coffee under a mound of rich whipped cream. Got a question for me? Send it my way over email to wheretoeat@nytimes.com, or as a submission with this form.
The potato-to-Pilates pipelineA perfect little bite: Cheap, compact and healthy-ish, for between work and Pilates. — Julie S. Hear me out: One big, warm sweet potato. Trot past Julie & … Coffee and Juice in Koreatown, not much more than a counter, and you’ll see an oven of purple sweet potatoes outside, right there on the sidewalk. Pick one out and they’ll grab it for you with a pair of tongs and slide it, piping hot, into a paper bag. Pay the $5-per-pound, and you’re on your way. Forgo the plastic silverware and bite right into it like a protein bar — its crepe-like skin gives away to canary-yellow flesh, as fluffy and sweet as a slice of pound cake. And, not to reveal my inner bro too much, but you really should get some carbs in. 28 West 32nd Street (Broadway), Koreatown, Manhattan
Pizza and drinks under a disco ballI’m about to turn 21! Where can I go for dinner and drinks (with a gaggle of friends) with really good but not too pricey food? Bonus points if it involves a dirty martini. — Hannah H. Hey, happy birthday! I celebrated my 21st birthday around a picnic table at Roberta’s, where I wore ripped skinny jeans and drank bubbles out of a Chambong. I do recommend that experience, maybe with a wider-legged pant and more civilized glassware, but I recently dined somewhere else that made me think of your ask: Balera, a cavernous new Italian restaurant that’s built to party. The disco ball spins all night in the lofted dining room, where groups of young people like yourself are crushing mozzarella en carrozza, cracker-thin pizzas topped with anchovies and, per your request, perfect martinis in the prettiest fluted drinkware. Make a late reservation, try your first ever sip of alcohol (right?), and keep the party going when the D.J. shows up at 10 p.m. The best part: You can manage all of this without spending too much. They don’t have much by way of dessert — there are only three on the menu, none of them big enough to fit 21 candles — so bring your own cake for a fee of $5 per person. 442 Graham Avenue (Frost Street), Williamsburg, Brooklyn
But first, schlagAn avid espresso with milk guy (cortado, cortadito, macchiato, etc.), I was delighted by my first encounter with cafe con panna on a recent trip to Miami: deep, dark, bitter espresso under a triumphant mound of whipped cream. Where can I find this delicious delight in New York City? — Nila N. We’re living in coffee shop boom times, between the Los Angeles imports with plywood interiors and the Parisian nut butter cafes (this is real). To be clear, I’m into all of it. But before all the lines, brown-butter lattes and tiramisù cold foams, there was Abraço, which has been operating on East Seventh Street for nearly two decades, staunchly refusing to bend to trends — or to adjust its menu at all, actually. The only milks they carry are with an “i,” not a “y,” just whole, half and half … and whipped cream. They make a fantastic cafe con panna with their rich, chocolaty espresso, but I think you may be even happier with their kaffee mit schlag. It’s a bitter pour-over topped with schlag, the Viennese word for extra-thick whipped cream, its texture more akin to whipped ricotta than anything else. Triumphant indeed. 81 East Seventh Street (First Avenue), East Village, Manhattan Read past editions of the newsletter here. If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to others. They can sign up here. 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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