Hell’s Kitchen

This new development in the formerly sleepy and overlooked West 40s gathers some of the city’s top food purveyors like Blue Bottle Coffee, Jeni’s Ice Cream, and Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop, under one roof, with a stand and bar-seating at each. It’s worth trekking to this desolate part of town purely for Chef Seamus Mullen’s tapas concept, El Colmado.

As its name would suggest, when it comes to ramen, Ivan and company know what they are doing (Ivan is actually a Jewish kid from Long Island who is obsessed with Japanese cooking). The Red-Hot Cold Mazemen is delicious, while the cold spicy sesame noodles topped with prawns are a great alternative on hotter days. If you go for dinner, they’re most famous for Triple Pork Triple Garlic Mazeman and Four Cheese Mazeman, which they only serve at night—the Tokyo Shio Ramen, loaded with egg, pork chashu and roast tomato is a bit lighter. If you’re not into noodles, the pork meatballs, garnished with bonito flakes, chinese broccoli prepared in a sweet soy and garlic sauce, and the Tofu Coney Island, which is essentially an Asian spin on chili cheese fries are all insanely good. Heavy, but delicious. The original is on the Lower East Side.

Blue Bottle is a top-notch coffee roaster and café with a sustainable ethos, in multiple locations throughout NYC. Our picks: The siphon filter and the New Orleans iced coffee. There are also locations in Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center.

Blue Bottle is a top-notch coffee roaster and café with a sustainable ethos, in multiple locations throughout NYC. It's so popular it was recently acquired by Starbucks, which means we'll be seeing a lot more of them soon. Our picks: The siphon filter and the New Orleans iced coffee. There's also a location in Bryant Park and Rockefeller Center.

Amy's started out in Hell's Kitchen back in 1992 and in the intervening years, her business has gone gangbusters, supplying many of the city's gourmet shops with their wonderful bread and pastries. Head to any of the stores—our favorite is still the largely unchanged original—to pick up a French baguette, olive twist, or one of their delicious pastries to go.

This development in the formerly sleepy and overlooked West 40's gathers some of the city's top food purveyors like Petee's Pies Company, dell'anima, and La Palapa under one roof, with a stand and bar-seating at each.