My New Book—Ice Cream: A Global History

Upper West Side: Restaurant Telepan Delights

It’s been ages since we’ve been to to Telepan on 79th Street  just off Columbus.We always figured it was too too pricey, especially if we combined it with tickets to a Lincoln Center event. But, boy, was our recent meal worth every penny! (No entree is priced higher than $34.50 and you can keep the [...]

Upper West Side Restaurants: Falafel, Druze Restaurants Turn Neighborhood Into a Middle Eastern Mecca

If you want falafel or maybe something more exotic from the Middle East, the Upper West Side is sprouting an array of joints to help you sample cuisines from around the region. Soom Soom, which opened recently on 72nd Street just east of Broadway is a falafel lovers delight. The golden orbs are perfectly fried, [...]

Upper West Side: Cupcake Cafe Crumbs Moves into Shiny New Digs on Amsterdam Ave.

Not able to resist an apparently unstoppable trend, New Yorker’s continue to wolf down cupcakes. In fact,the Upper West Side branch of Crumbs has moved into shiny new digs.  And the chain is expanding nationwide. In a recent story, the Wall Street Journal, wrote about New Yorkers’ obsession with the little frosted cakes.  Personally, I [...]

Upper West Side: Recipe Roasts Pig in Alley and Neighbors Squeal

Pig Roasting on a spit in the alley behind your building?  Sound appealing…or ghastly?  Recipe, the New American restaurant at 452 Amsterdam Avenue off of 82nd Street, held a first anniversary celebration for its staff this week—and roasted a pig out back, a manager at the restaurant confirmed to the Westside Independent. But residents apparently squealed. The smell and [...]

Upper West Side: Pinch & S’Mac, the Pizzza and Mac ‘n Cheese Combo Closes.

Pinch & S’Mac, the pairing of former East Side pizza restaurant Pinch, and East Village macaroni and cheese eatery S’mac, has closed its doors to make way for an Italian restaurant called Grandma’s. The Italian eatery is slated to replace Pinch & S’Mac at the Columbus Ave. space located between 82nd and 83rd St., reports [...]