Three standouts from Lafayette, the new Andrew Carmellini (and Luke and Josh) “everyday French restaurant.” Whatever an everyday French restaurant is, the place is already fantastic and it’s not even fully operational yet. These guys have the magic touch for making restaurants that somehow pull off being both a scene and completely casual at the same time.

The food delivers, too. The rabbit casserole was outstanding and it’s worth a trip for that alone—the stuffed loin pieces were about as good as rabbit gets and the potato pavé-tomato-y-thing was a great accompaniment that I need to make at home. The fries are great, but everyone knows I’m a sucker for fries. Finally, there’s the apple tart for two… If you can tell from the photo it could also be served for four, but it’s the best apple tart I’ve had in NYC regardless of size.

Chicken Wings from Mission Chinese Food NYC. These have to be my favorite chicken wings. In fairness, I’m not a huge fan of traditional, messy, Buffalo-style wings, but still. Not only are the wings fried to perfection, but the fire from the chiles and numbing effect of the Sichuan peppercorns is at once flamboyant and completely balanced in a way that is hard to describe. As an added bonus, they throw in little strips of crispy, salty, delicious fried tripe.

Tuna tacos with mango-habanero salsa at Sueños. These are a current special and every bit as good as they look. They’re even better when washed down with a smoky, Mezcal topped margarita.

Soft scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and trout roe from The Dutch. Usually I go for the lunch-ier items at The Dutch’s brunch (shouldn’t the soft shell crab sandwich be back on the menu soon??), but when I feel like breakfast I always go for their take on the NY classic.

Mazemen and Shoyu Ramen from Yuji Ramen. To me this is sort of crazy—a Kickstarter Campaign helped turn a Williamsburg popup into a ramen bar in a Whole Foods, and it will soon become a full-fledged restaurant. More importantly though, the food is fantastic. 

Yuji offers two basic dishes. Mazemen is essentially a fettuccine shaped ramen noodle served dry with a few options of toppings. Pictured here on the left is basically Sunday breakfast—a poached egg, bacon, and bonito flakes. This is simple but really, really good. The other option is a more traditional Shoyu Ramen that he makes with whatever bones and scraps he can drum up from Whole Foods that day. Today’s offering, pictured here on the right, was a turkey and oxtail broth that he served with some poached whitefish. Hard to say which I liked more.

My only disappointment is that the Whole Foods location will be closing May 12 and the permanent location will be in Williamsburg. Oh well… I guess I know what I’ll be doing for lunch for at least one day a week for the next six weeks.

Blue Moon Fish is back at the NYC Greenmarkets after their annual winter hiatus/ vacation to Florida. That’s cause for celebration, right? As long as the tacos aren’t too spicy, it’s hard to beat washing them down with a great Blanc de Blancs Champagne like this Brut Nature from Laherte Frères. These tacos were my usual recipe—flounder breaded with Panko, lime-cilantro mayo, cabbage, tomato, more cilantro, and a bit of hot sauce.

Ithaca Picnic Basket Pale Wheat Ale. Having gone to Cornell and lived in Ithaca, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to sample Ithaca Beer Company’s offerings. This one is by far my favorite, but it must also be the most expensive when you consider that to drink it you have to dine at Eleven Madison Park. 

Does anyone know if you can find it elsewhere? Is it by any chance the same or similar to their White Gold Pale Wheat Ale?

Mountain Sweet Berry Farm is back in the potato chip game after almost a year. Apparently they rented a kitchen to make the chips in the past but now have a space of their own. These are the very best potato chips you can find in NYC, so if this isn’t cause for celebration, I don’t know what is!

Chili Lobster and eggs from brunch at Marc Forgione. Forge is underrepresented in my brunch rotation, I’ve decided. This dish is basically the dinner menu Chili Lobster but served over a bed of fluffy scrambled eggs. The thick toast and eggs soak in the Sriracha based sauce and the lobster is rich and perfectly cooked. This is one of the best things you can eat for brunch in NYC.

Perfectly crispy, garlicky roasted La Ratte potatoes from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm. Potatoes don’t get much better.