The 17 Best Dishes of the Year, So Far
Steak au poivre, shellfish platters for one, and a jamon Iberico "sandwich" rank among the top dishes of 2024, according to Ryan Sutton
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I didn’t watch the debates last week.
Instead, some friends and I went to see modern dance and cabaret at Art Bath. Then, we hit up Old Town Bar for the afterparty. We didn’t talk about politics. We just drank cold pints and ate sloppy nachos.
Sometimes, it’s nice to unplug from the cable news spin cycle and just be present — for good convos and tortilla chips dripping with chili. So before we return to fighting for our precarious democracy (a day before our Independence Day), defending our boiling planet (as forest fires and hurricanes rage), or fretting about our slumping Yankees (priorities, lol!), let’s make sure we eat well.
Let’s talk about the best dishes of the year — so far.
But first, here are few thoughts about the city’s dining scene in 2024.
Shellfish is booming, and so you’ll see a lot of it on this list. New York is a town built on oysters, as anyone who read “Appetite City” by William Grimes knows. But for reasons I can’t wrap my mind around, more and more restaurants are doing ambitious and innovative work with crustaceans right now.
We’re seeing more pricey langoustines (so sweet!), more creative lobsters (chilled with brown butter!), shrimp everywhere (especially with the funky heads attached) and shellfish platters for one, nice little splurges for solo diners. Indeed, this is the summer of shellfish.
It’s also cool to see more chefs cooking with wood, lending notes of pine or hickory to our koobideh kebabs or king salmon. Sometimes, like at Eyval or Hawksmoor, the wood is subtle. Sometimes, like at Theodora, this process is more transformative, not unlike a proper barbecue smoking.
I’ll have more to say about pizza this summer, but in the meantime, New York’s slice renaissance keeps on giving us wonderful new entrants. Au poivre continues to boom too, because folks need their red meat. And the city’s ongoing evolution of Mexican fare remains one of the brightest spots on our culinary spectrum, whether at fine dining spots like Corima, or at more laid back hangouts like Carnitas Ramirez.
All these places made me quite happy, as did my local taco trucks — El Poblanito and Morelos in Park Slope — two places that kept me nourished with chorizo tortas while streaming the deeply important “Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,” lol.
I don’t believe in blinding oneself to the world when so many things are awful. Like with any art form, restaurants can feel like provocative acts of revolt against the powers that be. But for me in particular, as we reckon what we’re up against in 2024, I’ve mostly enjoyed dining out (or in) as an act of comfort. For a bit of escapism. For a few moments of pause, before we all get back to it.
The Three Best Dishes of 2024, So Far
Tacos at Carnitas Ramirez
Chewy. Gelatinous. Cartilaginous. Snappy. Squishy. Bony. Fatty. Jiggly. Mushy. These aren’t necessarily words that all New Yorkers equate with delicious tacos. But at Carnitas Ramirez, lots of folks are lining up for precisely those flavors and textures — for lard-cooked pig’s tail, cuero, tongue, brains, stomach, and orejas.
Honestly, when I look at Instagram stories, and see a child happily pointing at his snout tacos, I’m inclined to believe what I felt the first time I ate here: That these masterpieces, by Tania Apolinar and chef Giovanni Cervantes, are simply delicious at first bite, without any context, argument, or explanation. They just taste good. 210 East 3rd Streeet, East Village
The plateau for one at Penny
Taste is super subjective. When describing a particular dish in a review, I try to rely on facts, like ingredients or technique. And when I argue in favor of a restaurant, I do my best to hone in on context that folks can relate to.
But sometimes, in a crowded field, one thing just tastes better. Such is the case with the $37 “ice box” platter at Penny. Here, the oysters are plumper. The scallops vibrate with more electric yuzu. The clams are meatier and brinier. And the shrimp cocktail is improbably bouncier than elsewhere, as if chef Joshua Pinsky was using egg custard instead of crustaceans. Yes, it’s a Goldilocks argument, but here’s the thing: I’m right. 90 East 10th Street, East Village
The wood-fired fish at Theodora
Trout rarely excites me. Neither does branzino. Not the most alluring fish in the sea — no offense! Though I’m inclined to say chef Tomer Blechman would disagree. At Theodora, he dry-ages both, paving the way for skin as crackly as on a Pekin duck.
Then, he does something that really jazzes up his seafood. He places the fish into a Josper wood often. And he closes the door. What results is something that tastes almost as smoky as pastrami. And the trout — half of it painted red, with harissa, and the other half green, with chermoula — functions as a Mediterranean hat tip to the pescado divorciado at Contramar in CDMX. It is superb. 7 Greene Ave, Fort Greene
The Long List: Best Dishes of the Year, So Far
Behind the paywall you’ll find 14 more dishes, with notes on:
Hotspots like Eel Bar (by the Cervo’s crew) and Sip & Guzzle
A $36 au poivre steak you’re all sleeping on
What to get at Corima and Misipasta
What to order at Frenchette Bakery’s new outpost at The Whitney