Dining

Jake Addeo serves time-honored Italian recipes with a modern twist. He studied at the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners and the Culinary Institute of America. Taking a break from the kitchen, he tells the Resident about diving for sea urchins and what he cooks for himself.

By Alex Brown

The big names in New York steakhouses should watch out. A small restaurant in an area little-travelled by diners is making a name for itself by serving world-class cuts of beef.

The Institute of Culinary Education, 50 W. 23rd St., offers classes for professionals and amateurs alike in cooking techniques. Avila, who once owned the restaurant Moho in New York, now teaches the culinary arts specializing in Latin cuisine. Avila tells the Resident about learning to slaughter a hog and why it’s not OK to dress down for dinner.—Sascha Brodsky

Orsay (1057 Lexington Ave.) is a bustling French brasserie, popular with the fashionable local Upper East Side crowd. Ladies who lunch can choose to settle into tall banquettes or dine on the terrace, where Executive Chef Jason Hicks serves his classic fare, with a twist. He tells the Resident about the perfect meal in Paris and the time frogs escaped from the kitchen.—Sascha Brodsky

Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse (440 Ninth Ave.) flies under the usual steak-radar but draws serious meat lovers for he-man specialties like Kobe beef and vast porterhouse cuts.—Sascha Brodsky

By Rachel B. Doyle

We all do things to make money, some more excruciating than others. My worst job, by far, was taking reservations for hot-spot Balthazar for two dreadful months this year. After only two weeks of sitting in small, stuffy office talking to disconnected voices for eight hours at a time, surrounded by similarly down-on-their luck creative types, I began to genuinely despise humanity. There’s only so much anonymous abuse that one person can handle, before losing their mind. I started having nightmares about phones ringing and food poisoning, and answering personal calls with “good afternoon Balthazar, can you hold?”

It Takes More than Food to Make A Great Eatery
By Heather Corcoran

You’ve landed a star chef and found a great location, and now you’re ready to open the next hit restaurant. But in a city with 20,000 eateries, what does it take to survive – and thrive – when 50 percent of restaurants in the city don’t make it through their first year?

Latino Sushi Chefs Sweep Manhattan

By Claire Levenson

Jose Espinal didn’t know anything about Japanese food when he arrived in New York. In his hometown in Honduras, the only Asian restaurant was Chinese.

Ten years ago, New Yorker Jim Leff co-founded Chowhound.com, where the catch phrase is “for those who live to eat,” because he felt the need for a network of “real food experts.” Since then, the Web site membership has swelled considerably, CNET has taken over, and Leff has started and finished a North American culinary tour. The Chowhound-at-large took some time off from steaming Swiss chard and millets to talk to the Resident.—Rhea Saran

Sal Scognamillo is the head chef and co-owner of Patsy’s Italian Restaurant, the hangout of stars, reputed mobsters and gourmands. Founded in 1944 by Pasquale “Patsy” Scognamillo, Patsy’s Italian Restaurant has been in its current and only theater district location (in the building just next to the original site) since 1954. Patsy’s has had only three chefs—the late Patsy himself, his son Joe Scognamillo, who has been at the establishment since the tender age of seven, and Joe’s son Sal, who has been manning the kitchen for the past 15 years.