City Guide: New York Hotspots by Mario Batali

Yesterday marked the grand opening of New York City restaurateur Mario Batali’s long-anticipated Italian restaurant in Hong Kong, Lupa, run by Dining Concepts. For those unfamiliar with the name, Batali is the man behind Eataly, Manzo, Babbo and Esca, among other popular Italian-American eateries in New York. It's safe to say that a visit to New York without dropping by one of his many food and beverage outlets is a trip incomplete. You may also recognise him from the highly entertaining reality TV series Spain… on the Road Again, in which Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow traverse Spain together in a convertible, cooking up local dishes and sharing their tasting notes as they discover the country.

Since Batali resides in the Big Apple and knows a New Yorker’s taste buds like the back of his spatula, we thought it’d be intriguing to get his recommendations on hotspots, so our readers can sample the best while in New York City.

Katz's Deli
Without a doubt, Katz’s Deli serves the very best pastrami sandwich in New York. It is very crowded with lines in front of each section and a counter service. Be sure to tip the deliman a couple bucks when you order, that way he'll make a better sandwich and offer you a sample too.
Be sure to drink a Cel Ray soda, an off dry tonic flavored with celery seed – delicious!

205 East Houston Street New York, NY 10002; Tel: (212) 254-2246

Fishs Eddy
Fishs Eddy is a jam-packed American emporium of plates, service pieces, glasses and everything for the table top, even often hard to find vintage retrouve pieces. It hosts everything hip and unusual in a needle in a haystack fashion.

889 Broadway at 19th Street, NY 10003, Tel: (877) 347-4733

Heston Blumenthal shares his top five hotspots in London here.

Robertas
Rock music throbs every night in Robertas just loudly enough to diminish the poppy noise of a large and constant dance party outside in the garden where the restaurant grows its herbs and some of its vegetables. The rough wooden tables inside are packed every night: neighborhood scenesters in tattoos and skinny jeans; black-car chauffeurs with ties pulled loose; gastronaut moms and dads in from Manhattan to feast. Robertas is a new breed of hipster-vision and smello-vision in an empty neighborhood filled at night with a foodies intent on some of the best and most original food in the five boroughs.

261 Moore Street (Bogart Street), Bushwick, Brooklyn; Tel: (718) 417-1118





Eataly 

I have never opened anything ever that is as well received and immediately loved as our grocery store, Eataly. It is 50,000 square feet of Italian heaven, it includes five restaurants, 17 retail food outlets, an espresso and coffee bar, a roof top open air brewery and a sausage mecca. Every single product is curated by our staff, fully submerged in the highest quality products, many of which are hard to find even in Italy.

Broadway and 23rd Street, Madison Square Park, NY 10010; Tel: (212) 229-2560

Russ and Daughters
Russ and Daughters is an appetizing store, opened in 1914. Since 1914, this landmark New York institution has been continuously owned and operated by four generations of the Russ family in the same spot on East Houston Street. Russ and Daughters continues to provide tastes, traditions and an old-world class of a true New York experience. Purveyors of the highest quality smoked fish, chopped liver, caviar (my favourite!) and specialty foods including the best dried fruits and a bialy worth driving up from Memphis for, a week rarely passes without a visit by me, even if it is just to say hello.

179 East Houston Street New York, NY 10002; Tel: (212) 475-4880

Some intriguing top Hong Kong culture and heritage spots to visit.