Lower East Side

Chef Flynn McGarry opened the original Gem restaurant at just 19 years old, and Gem Wine at 25. If you’re wondering how that’s possible, some context: McGarry started his first tasting restaurant at age 11, and he’s since trained at Alinea, Eleven Madison Park, and Noma, among others. Gem Wine has a great wine list, but McGarry’s menu, which changes weekly, is still the main event. The space (on a mostly residential block on the Lower East Side) is breezy and spacious, and it’s great for impressing a date.

Casino, which occupies the old Mission Chinese space, became the “it” restaurant on the Lower East Side as soon as it opened. If you’re looking for a night out for espresso martinis, dim lighting, and people watching, it’s great for that. When your server asks if you’re interested in dessert, the answer is yes, and the correct order is the dark chocolate cake.

Neapolitan pizza pioneer Anthony Mangieri makes incredible wood-fired pizza with crust we can only describe as dazzling: perfectly puffy and leopard-spotted. Reservations, which max out at four diners a table, are necessary and worth battling it out on Resy to get. Una only makes so much pizza dough a day, and the pies reserved for walk-ins usually sell out to those who line up before the shop opens.

Proper Basque food is hard to come by outside Spain, but Ernesto’s distills all those salty, sometimes smoky, definitely porky flavors into a tight menu that changes daily. Crunchy-on-the-outside, melty-on-the-inside croquetas; txistorra sausage; and proper jamón Iberico draped over fried potatoes: These are the small shareable snacks we want to warm up to while dining outside. Try a glass of something biodynamic and definitely order dessert.

New Yorkers are experts in resilience and generosity, and the city’s restaurateurs are no exception. Short Stories crafts tasty brunch and inventive cocktails at the best of times and stepped up for its Bowery community during the worst. Throughout the lockdown, every Wednesday, the chefs served perfect vegan curry to any and all who needed a hot meal for free. We heartily recommend the cheesy naan, huevos rancheros, and beet salad, and the outdoor patio is one of the prettiest spaces in the city.

Chef restaurateurs Fabian Von Hauske Valtierra and Jeremiah Stone are old hands at Michelin-starred food that’s actually fun to eat. Both Contra and Wildair are shut, but a new, unexpected mashup of the two, Contrair, is open for delivery through Caviar. Rather than merely adapting current menus for delivery, Valtierra and Stone have come up with an entirely new concept that fuses both restaurants’ dedication to seasonality, shareable plates, and New American vibes. Divided into hot, cold, and sweet, the dishes are just the kind of food you crave during—well—a pandemic. Warm, comforting congee; lamb-stuffed cabbage; BBQ chicken; and homey rice pudding. A few dishes off this new menu plus a bottle of something natural and funky-tasting sounds like an ideal night at home in front of Tiger King to us. (Oh, and the duo and their team are delivering weekly lunches and drinks to New York City hospital workers in collaboration with our favorite dumpling spot, Mimi Cheng’s.)

Peoples Wine was one of the 2019 openings we were most psyched about, mainly because we knew, based on our always-stellar experiences at sibling establishments Contra and Wildair, that it would be fantastic. It was, and hopefully it will be again. Until then, the good folks behind the wine bar are now in the wine delivery business. Order online or email [email protected] with your preferences and budget for a sommelier-grade selection of small-batch biodynamic and organic wines from the world’s best producers. And, if you're hungry as well as thirsty, check out the founders' new restaurant mash-up delivery concept, Contrair, here.

Katz has dinner covered with its famous brisket, roast chicken or turkey, stuffed cabbage and creamy kugel, and other delicious, comforting dishes for delivery in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Those craving Katz’s never-too-salty matzo ball soup from further afield can order a full dinner package (including brisket) that serves up to four people for $125 with two days’ notice for nationwide shipping. Meanwhile, you can get the deli’s pastrami sandwiches and warming soups on all the usual delivery platforms (Seamless, Caviar, DoorDash) alongside some convenient fridge and freezer staples like sour pickles, hand-carved meats, and liters of broth.

Efficient is the best word to describe Sister City, the new hotel from the Ace Hotel Group located in the Lower East Side. Enter through a narrow courtyard into a pristine, light-wood-filled lobby complete with hipster restaurants and self-check-in kiosks. And as all great hotels should, it has a rooftop bar with spectacular views of the city skyline. A little Finnish, a little Japanese, and a little college dorm, the rooms have just what you need (and little else). Images courtesy of Adrian Gaut.

Imaginative pastries are the specialty at this Lower East Side bakery, where owner and baker Ry Stephen dreams up unexpected croissant pairings. Favorites include the ube eclair and the passionfruit curd doughnut.