When I first rolled into New York City on a Greyhound from the Martha's Vineyard ferry terminal back in 1981, I never dreamed I would spend at least the next 26 years of my life here. I was crashing on the floor of my former college roommate's studio apartment in the far West Village and I hoped, as I meandered about those maze-like streets, that downtown Manhattan would someday be my home. After protracted periods of life on the Upper East and West sides, I finally settled in Greenwich Village with my family of five. With an office in Soho, downtown is pretty much my full-time stomping ground.
Mornings are perfect at Balthazar in Soho, where the locals meet for blazing hot coffee, bread, and pastries baked at the Balthazar Bakery next door. Farther west on 12th Street, the new Cafe Cluny has a quiet neighborhood feel and plenty of free newspapers to peruse while ... [more]
Andy Arons, Gourmet Garage
Fancy on the Cheap
If you are itching to try some of the city's fine dining, but are decidedly non-itching to pay fine dining prices, stop by for lunch instead of dinner. Many restaurants crammed for dinner will serve the same food to a nearly empty room at lunchtime. Prices are often more reasonable; for instance, Jean Georges, the well-starred restaurant right off Columbus Circle (at 1 Central Park West), has a lunch menu that features any two entrees for only $24. Afterwards, take a walk through the park and splurge on a ridiculously overpriced $4 ice cream from a cart.