What is the list?

I take eating very seriously. Given the myriad number of restaurants in New York City, where I live with my husband, it’s important to choose restaurants carefully so I do my research and keep a list of restaurants that I want to try. The list has become famous among our friends.  I am often asked the all-important question – “Is it on the list?” The list is a trustworthy source, the output of hours spent poring over New York Magazine, the New York Times, Yelp, MenuPages, and local food blogs and discussing restaurants with friends and colleagues. It has been suggested on multiple occasions that I let the public (if the handful of readers of this blog is likely to receive can be called “the public”) access my list. Finally, over dinner at Jean Georges to celebrate our second wedding anniversary, my husband convinced me that I should start a blog (and, more importantly, offered to set up the darn thing – restaurants are my specialty, not technology…).

To get us started, I’ve listed the restaurants that are on the current version of my list and some that we’ve scratched off.  Some of the restaurants on the list are NYC classics and some are new hot spots.

• Allen & Dellancy
• August
• Centrico
• Commerce
• Dell’Anima
• Gramercy Tavern (I’ve been to the “fancy” part of Gramercy, but I’d like to try the more casual tavern menu)
• Gradisca
• The Harrison (have not been in years – need to visit again in light of Frank Bruni’s review)
• Hill Country
• Il Bagatto
• La Esquina
• Malatesta
• Mary’s Fish Camp
• Orchard
• Peasant
• Perilla
• Po
• The Place
• Raoul’s
• Salt
• Scarpetta
• Shorty’s 32
• Smith’s
• The Smith
• Terroir

Neighborhood spots.  We live on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and the number of topnotch restaurants in the neighborhood is increasing rapidly, but neighborhood spots have to clear a lower bar.

• Celeste
• Eighty One
• Gennaro
• Mermaid Inn
• Picholine
• Pio Pio
• Spiga

The following restaurants are under consideration (new restaurants or restaurants with spotty reviews are generally placed in quarantine pending additional input before being added to the official list).  Any feedback is welcome.

• Forge
• Hundred Acres
• Quality Meats
• Mia Donna
• New French
• Perbacco (which, surprisingly, had not hit my radar screen until Frank Bruni’s recent review)
• Resto

It’s a simple start. I’ll return to some of the highlights from the current list and tell you about famous entries from past versions of the lists. I also enjoying cooking so I will try to sprinkle in some recipes from time to time (or at least provide links to recipes that I have snagged from other blogs). And, of course, I will fill you in on dinner at Jean Georges.