Stellar French Dips That Aren't Salt Hank's
Notes on influencer videos, Hillstone, Au Cheval, Monkey Bar, and elsewhere
I hope y’all are hydrating!!! I was supposed to be queuing up outside of a restaurant today but the wildfires jaundicing our skies hit the pause button on that effort. My current plan is to eat lots of watermelon, drink mint tea, and plot out some upcoming reviews.
Hopefully, you’ve already seen the big burger package that Nikita Richardson spearheaded over at the New York Times! This isn’t a classic best of list, but rather an effort to a shine a light on burgers that don’t always get as much attention as, say, the patties you’ll find at Red Hook Tavern and elsewhere. The guide includes shrimp burgers, lamb burgers, and one of my absolute favorites: The Frita Cubana. Click through for writeups by Luke Fortney, Mahira Rivers, Richardson, Becky Hughes, and moi!
Scroll past the paywall for a short essay about influencers and Salt Hank’s — followed by a few thoughts on some of my favorite French dip sandwiches.
Let’s get to it!
On staying cool…
It’s been a tough few weeks for New Yorkers who prefer sweater weather.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m as excited as anyone about Modelos on the beach and arepas in the Rockaways and sunsets at 9:00 p.m.
But you know what I’m more excited about? October.
If you saw me scrolling through my iPhone at your travertine bar this July, it wasn’t for the Aperol Spritz on tap. It was for the air conditioning.
Really, I’d pay $17 for a blue bottle of Saratoga — just as a cover charge to listen to your aughts revival playlist and stabilize my core temp. And I’d pay double that if it meant waiting for an open seat in a chilly foyer with a nice little bench, like the ones they used to have at my local Outback Steakhouse in Oceanside. The Tetris-like realities of New York real estate become all the more brutal when the host says you have to wait outside, where the air is as thick as creme anglaise.
During the last heat wave, when temps in Brooklyn hit 100F, my friend and I passed by our favorite Fort Greene hotspot and walked into a low-key Italian joint. Just because there was space. Just because the AC was strong. It was too hot for cacio e pepe that night, so we ordered wine and Phony Negronis. Dinner was a plate of wings from Alamo Drafthouse during a screening of “Disclosure Day.”
Extreme heat has a way of changing your culinary priorities quickly. Though I’d like to have a word with Alamo about switching to boneless Buffalo wings.
Boneless wings aren’t wings. They’re chicken fingers!!!
It’s Wednesday, 15 July 2026, and Argentina will face off against España at the Meadowlands this weekend for the World Cup final! Good luck snagging a Resy at Socceria for the match, but I’m happy to report that as the Copa Mundial winds down, it’ll become tons easier to get into the Greenpoint fútbol bar by the Ramirez crew. Bookings are more readily available when no big games are on, and I reckon the walk-in situation will start getting easier too. I’ll drop by soon to see how the tacos de chapulines hold up against the celebrated offerings from Carnitas and Taqueria Ramirez.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the Consumer Price Index yesterday, and while overall inflation is down, both grocery and restaurant prices continue to tick up amid the ongoing Iran war. New York restaurants — at least the ones I monitor — have been keeping the cost of dining out reasonably stable this summer, but here are two quick price hikes for you:
Simon Kim’s fried chicken spot Coqodoq, which charged $42 early last year, is now asking $52 for the set menu.
Red Hook Lobster Pound has pushed up the entry-level lobster roll from $39.50 to $41. Founder Susan Povich chatted with me last summer about the cost of lobster!
Three Really Good French Dips That Aren’t Salt Hank’s
Plus: A few words about Maison Pickle and influencers opining on French dips