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New Yorkers know that fancy meals are expensive meals. But Manhattan’s top sushi spots aren’t just pricey; they’re some of the world’s most expensive restaurants.

And they’re raising prices yet again.

On the debut Free Food Podcast, I chat with London-based editor Adam Coghlan about what it means to spend over $1,000 on sushi. To be sure, a high-end omakase that runs a cool grand for two — before wine — isn’t an outlier in Manhattan. It’s standard.

Coghlan and I also talk about:

• Early reviews of Frog Club, a Waverly Inn-style celeb hangout where patrons have to put stickers over their mobile phone cameras, or risk ejection. True story: I was ejected from Waverly Inn once.

• Some of the best pizza parlors in New York and New Jersey.

• The underrated excellence of New York tacos

Coghlan was the founding editor of Eater London. He now works as the restaurant editor at Vittles, and as an editor for Something Curated.

Take a listen, and please enjoy the music I licensed for this; it sounds like the background tunes for a mimosa-fueled brunch in Scottsdale. And the next episode will be just 31 minutes, as I promised. Maybe.

More sushi spots hike prices even further

I wasn’t kidding when I said a high-end sushi meal in New York will cost some serious bucks. Here are a few recent increases:

• Nakaji on the Bowery has hopped up from $295 to $365.

• Joji underneath Grand Central has moved up from $375 to $410.

• Sushi Noz has hiked its menu from $500 to $550.

Tax and gratuity is additional at Nakaji and Joji, which means dinner will run about $500 per person before a single cocktail, glass of Champagne, or sake. And trust me when I say these aren’t the type of places where you go for a happy hour pilsner.

New York now has 10 omakase spots where dinner for two will run $1,000 or more. Sushi Noz — where I ate very well — will cost you $1,200 for two, while Yoshino will set you back $1,300. For more info on why sushi costs what is does — including more operators bidding on finite supplies of fish, as well as nuclear arms race-style price hikes — take a look at my column from 2022.

The Lo 13: Where a London food editor has been eating

The following Q&A is from today’s podcast with Adam Coghlan. Fast forward to the 25 min mark to listen to all thirteen questions!

What do you crave about NYC food and life when you’re not here?

A lot of West Coasters sort of laugh at me when I talk about the fact that I go for tacos when I get to New York. But that's one thing I've always kind of gravitated towards, particularly Los Tacos No. 1 in Chelsea Market, which has a special place in my heart. There's something about the energy there as well as the food and the smell of the place. There's this kind of warmth about the smell of corn, that I actually detect not just at Los Tacos No. 1, but in various places in New York and in America…You don't smell corn in London. It's something I really love.

What restaurant are you obsessed with now?

I had a really good and very interesting meal…in London last weekend at a place called Yuki Bar. It's run by this guy that was a sommelier at Noma and he's opened a small bar in London Fields in the east of the city. There’s an incredible dish of silken tofu with mushrooms that stands out...Adam Coghlan

Mischa has closed

Around this time last year, you could find New York’s most creative new restaurants in the East Village — and on the ground floor of a huge investment bank.

Mischa by Alex Stupak was an innovative outlier in Midtown. And I’m so sorry to learn that it has closed.

The daring restaurant subverted the tropes of classic American tavern fare in a space where diners probably didn’t seek out — or want — subversion. In the early days, the kitchen paired shrimp cocktail sauce not with horseradish-spiked ketchup, but with funky chile crab. The only burger, at first, was a mushroom patty melt that had tons more flavor than most beef burgers. And the hot dog was $29. It was one of the most talked about dishes in town.

The fact that Mischa felt about as charming as a Delta Sky Club didn’t help. But it was precisely the type of restaurant Midtown needed.

Two early reports from Frog Club!

Liz Johnson’s New York hotspot — let’s call it Horses 2.0 — doesn’t need any more introduction, so let’s get right to all anuran action. Here’s Eater’s Emma Orlow with an astute observation on the camera-free zone:

A charming mural of anthropomorphized, cafe society frogs is reminiscent of the spirit of the Madeleine one at Bemelmans. A roaring fireplace at the center of the room is a focal point. Without the strobe lights of an iPhone camera, it gives the guise of atemporality — or, at least, a time when Sex and the City was still on air, with a drinks list that includes throwback Tequila Sunrises.

And here’s NY Mag’s Matthew Schneier, with his own take:

I confess I am not immune to the contrived charm of the unbookable. I was prepared to enjoy myself. But as a restaurant — rather than as a clubhouse or a thing to brag about — Frog Cub didn’t offer much to recommend.

Three Big Deal Cafes, Reviewed: Carmellini, Boulud, and Zuni!

In the mood for grand European cafe? Well, then head over to the New Yorker, where Helen Rosner had a lot of fun jousting (??) with breadsticks and ordering $90 chicken at Cafe Carmellini. It is claw-on chicken, of course.

Or if you like, spend a few minutes with Robert Sietsema at the new Cafe Boulud. There, the Eater critic tries “Chiang Mai” pork while sitting near folks in Dalton and Chapin sweaters. As one does on the Upper East Side.

Or if you find yourself in San Francisco, maybe you’ll head over to Zuni Cafe, the subject of Chronicle critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan’s debut review. Here, the chicken is merely $75 (I call it the “SF discount”), and the writer finds that Anne Alvero’s kitchen “continues to celebrate Judy Rodgers’ legacy, turning out dishes that are a paean to California’s bounty in a space that glows with the warmth of diners enjoying each other’s company.”

A former Michelin inspector experiments with...becoming a regular!

Allow me to recommend signing up for Sweet City, a Substack by ex-Michelin inspector Mahira Rivers. The writer admits that being a restaurant regular isn’t generally her cup of tea, and that’s the pretext for her venturing over to Red Gate bakery — quite a few times. She goes every day that the venue is open for a full week! Does she like being a regular? Head over to Sweet City to find out!

Behind the paywall: The early word on Sip & Guzzle

• Notes on the (chill) vibe at the hot new bar and izakaya

• Short reviews of key dishes you need to try…like the bikini!

• What cocktails to order, including the truffled float downstairs

• How to snag a reservation

I’m running behind on my next full restaurant critique, so as a little “thank you” to my paid subscribers, what follows is a first-look review of the white hot Sip & Guzzle.

This stupendously creative (and very crowded) Greenwich Village izakaya and cocktail bar delighted me in a way I haven’t felt in a very long time…

Read more

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First…Eater guides to NYC and L.A. publishing in April!

Perhaps you’d like some advice on what to order in bodegas. Or where to eat near tourist attractions. Or where to go shopping for Turkish delights! Well, I have good news on that front. The Eater Guides to New York and Los Angeles will drop in early April, at your favorite local bookstore or online retailer! My former coworkers and I spent quite a bit of time writing these guides — I did a pizza chapter! — and I think you’ll really dig them. I’ll have more to say on this subject soon, but for now, you can find more info on preorders right here.

Scroll down for where to eat this weekend, but first, another announcement!

Please welcome the Free Food Podcast, coming soon!

One of the things I miss most about my job at Eater is talking about restaurants and food journalism with my awesome co-workers every single damn day.

On occasion, I’d pop into Slack to tell my colleagues how poorly (or amazingly) a review dinner was going. Then I’d drop back in a few minutes later to see if anyone had anything to say about my late night, daiquiri-powered musings.

But more often than not, the best interactions came from chatting and slacking with my colleagues about all the great reviews, features, and reports from around the food world (or non-food world!). Passing around and commenting on links was a fun daily exercise — to stay abreast of everything happening, and to see if there were any coverage angles for us to follow up on.

Those routines brought me a lot of joy. And so I thought, let me start a podcast to recreate that sense of community in a small, but public way.

So welcome to Free Food, a show that shares a name with our national food media column.

This is where fellow journalists and I will talk about some of the biggest (or smallest) food stories in any given week. It’s also where we’ll chat about all the great things we’ve been eating — at home or at restaurants — in a way that’s more impromptu and breezy than in an actual review.

So, in short, you can expect a bunch of good restaurant recommendations, a proper dose of the news you need, and some very good conversation.

All in less than 31 minutes.

Yes, we’ll talk about our own work, but a big focus will be talking about Other People’s Journalism.

I’ve long felt that something we need see more of in food media is journalists getting more opportunities to publicly wrestle with the words of others — or at the very least, getting a chance to talk about the biggest issues, even when they’re not the reporters or critics who necessarily cover those topics.

That brings up a separate point: I’ve felt for quite some time that there’s a lot of specialization in food media — maybe too much — and I’m hoping this will give more people a chance to voice an opinion.

What did you think of that big review that went viral? You had a crummy meal there, right? Actually, so did I! Or what are your thoughts on those pieces on cancelling restaurant reservations in the NYT and Bon Appetit? And looks like food prices are up again? How are those cost increasing impacting your own eating?

Who will our guests be? They’ll mostly be journalists, I’m hoping, from the papers, the online food sites, the glossy magazines, the radio shows, and my colleagues who run Substacks of their own.

Our guests will effectively be our co-hosts.

Forgive the sports broadcasting metaphor, but you can expect me to be the Michael Kay or the Jim Nantz of the show, doing the straight up play-by-play of news stories and reviews — while chiming in with opinions and commentary as warranted — and my guests will offer more color, along the lines of a Paul O’Neil or a Tony Romo.

I’m also hoping we’ll keep things moving at a brisk pace, like on a good radio or cable news show. On that note: We hope to keep the newsiest stuff — alongside a few good dinner recommendations — in the first 21 minutes, give or take. In the back half of the show, we’ll have a quick interview with our guest, where they’ll answer The Lo Times 13, a set of very cool questions that I think you’ll like.

Fingers crossed, the first episode should drop within the next week or thereabouts. Our first guest will be former Eater London editor Adam Coghlan, who’s now an editor at Vittles and Something Curated!

Check out the FAQ below for more deets on Free Food!

How long will the podcast be?

Like I said, we hope to keep the first half — news, reviews, and a few restaurant recommendations — at 21 minutes or so, or maybe a touch longer. We’ll try to cap the second half — a quick interview with our weekly guest — right before the 31 minute mark.

How often will the Free Food podcast publish?

Eventually, we’d love to start putting this out once every two weeks, but I think the more realistic scenario is once a month or so as we figure out the ins and outs of production. From start to finish, each episode will take me about two full days — including researching the issues, putting together a taping plan, recording, editing in Adobe Audition, writing the copy, publishing, and socializing.

What can you tell us about The Lo Times 13 interview?

You’ll just have to listen in!

Will Free Food remain free?

For now, that’s the plan. This aspect is particularly important as Free Food will continue to be where we highlight voices from around the food journalism world, and it would be weird if I put that entirely behind a paywall!

But as an incentive, paid subscribers will likely get our Free Food podcast on average 2-3 days early, before it goes public to the general newsletter list, and to outlets like Spotify and Apple Music. And maybe I’ll throw in a little bonus podcast content for subscribers from time to time.

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Any plans to chat with folks in the hospitality industry?

Yes! It would be a pleasure to have a chef, beverage person, or operator on the show, to chat about the state of the restaurant world — or the larger world — for a portion of any given episode. Though when that happens, I’m hoping there will at least be one other journalist at the mic interviewing them.

What about the regular free food column?

I hope to bring that back more regularly! I’ve been focusing on reviews lately because y’all seem to like them a lot — and because I need some extra time to work on fun projects like this podcast, The Lo Hi, and some neat stuff slated for the spring.

What are other podcasts and radio shows you like?

I’m a fan of the “Taste” podcast — where I’ve been a guest — as well as Levi Dalton’s “I’ll Drink to That,” the “Amateur Gourmet” podcast by Adam Roberts, “All of It” with Alison Stewart (which often highlights very cool people in the arts and culture world, including journalists), Planet Money by NPR, Evan Kleiman’s “Good Food” on KCRW, The One Recipe with Jesse Sparks, and Andrew Talks to Chefs.

What will the vibe be?

That’s the one thing I’m still working out! But you’ll definitely detect notes of News Radio 880 here and there.

Hold on….do you actually have any experience with this sort of thing?

Fair question! One of my first jobs after college was writing for a Sunday morning politics talk show called, lol, The McLaughlin Group, and back in my Bloomberg days, I was the editor of The Lewis Lapham podcast. And in the past, I’ve been a regular guest on Bloomberg Radio, Heritage Radio, and WNYC.

Now let’s see if I can remember anything I learned.

On a different note…where should you eat this weekend!

Good question!

• Splurge: Ilis! I’m still deciding whether to review this wood-fired Mads Refslund restaurant, where one can encounter a $45 martini, a service style dubbed “one house” (chefs cook and serve the entire meal, without a front or back of the house), and tasting menus that highlight fish and game for $195-$295. I haven’t been yet, but I’m very curious and folks, including Helen Rosner, seem to like it! Openings available tonight and tomorrow, as of publication time, via Resy. 150 Green Street, Greenpoint.

• Save: Palo Santo! A very laid-back but very delicious Park Slope restaurant by chef Jacques Gautier. The menu changes daily, but my move here is to start off with the anticuchos — seasoned heart and liver skewers — before moving onto a big plate of slow-cooked adobo pork with pineapple and tortillas. 652 Union Street, Park Slope

• Sugar: Misipasta! I’ve been here a few times, and I’m trying to figure out whether and when to review this Missy Robbins spot, but briefly, get the affogato. I’m tempted to say more than that but I need to save my ideas for a slightly longer writeup. And trust me when I say that I wouldn’t recommend something as basic as espresso with ice cream unless there was a good reason. Have had this twice already. Tables available this weekend! 46 Grand Street, Williamsburg

On the labor beat at Bon Appétit…

Bon Appétit restaurant editor Elazar Sontag, while introducing a very good piece on our country’s evolving bakery culture on Instagram, writes about some troubling developments on the union front. Here’s Sontag, in his own words:

It’s important to note that this list came together because of the talent and care of a team of BA writers and photographers who, as of yesterday, were notified by Condé Nast HR that they’re being taken off of our team and put in some nebulous content unit—part of the company’s ongoing undermining of our union as they try to enact layoffs. Every day we are doing our absolute best to create thoughtful and exciting work, and every day, it seems like this company makes it harder to do so. I’ve never loved my team more or been more disappointed by the people deciding the fate of media. We will not have a photo team as of next Monday (don’t ask me how that’s supposed to work because none of us have any clue). One of my best writers has been moved to some made up “central content” group. I think it’s important for the people who love the stories we create to know what’s happening right now, so you can stand in solidarity with media workers and the @condeunited union.

Sending thoughts of strength solidarity to the entire team over at Bon Appétit!

See you next week, with a podcast earlier in the week and a review later in the week!

Cheers,

Ryan!!