Elizabeth Yoshida’s Dining Guide to Gramercy Park and Flatiron, New York
Co-owner of New York City’s Novitá restaurant, Elizabeth Yoshida explains why Gramercy Park and Flatiron are two of her favorite places in the city to dine
Co-owner of New York City’s Novitá restaurant, Elizabeth Yoshida explains why Gramercy Park and Flatiron are two of her favorite places in the city to dine
Italian fine dining restaurant Novitá in Gramercy Park has been wowing diners with its modern, regional Italian favorites and market specials since 1994. Renowned for his skilled cooking and his perfect fresh pasta, chef and co-owner Marco Fregonese worked in Gualtiero Marchesi’s three-Michelin-starred kitchen in Milan before relocating to the United States. If anyone knows what makes a great local restaurant, it’s Fregonese and his co-owner and wife Elizabeth Yoshida. Here, Yoshida talks us through her favorite places to eat and drink.
Gramercy Park has long been one of New York’s most exclusive neighborhoods. The Roosevelts called the place home for many years, enjoying early access to the two-acre residents-only park that gives the area its name. The attractive green space is bordered by tree-lined streets of townhouses, many of which date back to the 1840s. And while it’s just minutes away from the hubbub of the East Village and Union Square, Gramercy attracts residents in search of a calmer slice of the Big Apple.
Not that there aren’t great opportunities to have fun and to dine well here: Gramercy is home to Pete’s Tavern, the oldest in the city, which opened in 1851. Another tavern worth investigating, albeit a much more modern one, is Gramercy Tavern. It is, in the words of Yoshida and Fregonese, “Gramercy’s only Grande Dame… an impeccable ‘modern American’ experience with outstanding food, wine and service. Gramercy Tavern has been our go to ‘special occasion’ place for years.”
The Rose Bar at Gramercy Park Hotel also comes in for high praise. “It’s my favorite drinks-only lounge in Manhattan,” says Yoshida. “Even though it’s a classic hotel bar, the Rose and Jade Bars both have the feel of a cozy neighborhood hangout, especially during the winter when the fireplaces are blazing.”
If you’re after something more casual, and a good margarita, Yoshida recommends Chef Enrique Olvera’s Cosme. “It regularly tops The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, but it’s a very approachable, modern Mexican cantina,” says Yoshida. “And, they serve the most delicious margarita on the planet. The menu is fresh, inventive and delicious. It’s a great place for a large fun-loving group meal.”
New for 2019, and opening next door to Novitá in the spring, is the Swedish photography museum and art space Fotografiska New York. “Novitá’s outdoor cafe sit’s next to their brilliantly curated window installations, and I find myself getting my daily dose of inspiration and culture from seeing it there.
“We are also looking forward to the chef-driven Swedish restaurant designed by the amazing Roman and Williams Guild. We are so fortunate to be part of the new 22nd Street.”
“The Gramercy Park neighborhood is an especially unique area as it’s home to one of only two private parks in New York,” says Erin Boisson Aries, Real Estate Broker for Christie’s International Real Estate in New York. “Residents who live on the park have access to a bucolic and tranquil sanctuary right in the heart of the city. With a handful of private homes and a majority of pre-war co-operatives, Gramercy Park has a ‘classic New York’ feel about it, with all the convenience of the surrounding restaurants, food shops, and retail spaces.
“In recent years, there’s been some considerable new development and conversion projects in the neighborhood, from Ian Schrager’s Gramercy Park Hotel and its attached residences at 50 Gramercy Park North, to Robert A.M. Stern Architects’ 18 Gramercy Park, and Woods Bagot’s new Gramercy Square development. With so few units on the park, anytime a special property pops up on the market and is priced correctly, it will always sell quickly,” says Boisson Aries.
Nearby Flatiron is named after the world-famous landmark building, erected in 1902, and puts residents right in the heart of Midtown, with Union Square to the south and Chelsea to the west. Known at the beginning of the 21st century as ‘Silicon Alley’ thanks to the many tech startups that had moved in, Flatiron today is a buzzy urban hub.
Dining options here range from the original Shake Shack to the three Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park, where chef Daniel Humm serves upscale American tasting menus in a beautiful, high-ceilinged Art Deco space. When in Flatiron, Yoshida recommends heading to Cote on West 22nd Street. “It’s a lively modern Korean steak house that my carnivore friends and husband far prefer to the classic Midtown Korean barbecue spots,” she says. “I’m not a meat eater but had a very tasty evening sticking to the vegetarian options.”
ABCV by Jean-Georges Vongeritchten on East 19th Street is a definite Flatiron favorite, which according to Yoshida and Fregonese, offers an innovative organic, vegan, and vegetarian dining concept that is “the best of its kind,” according to Yoshida. “I’ve sampled the entire menu and can’t think of a dish that wasn’t a success,” she says. “There’s a great ‘by the glass’ wine list that pairs well with the dishes. I prefer to visit for lunch or weekend brunch but I like the sidewalk seating on a warm evening as well.”