Shake Shack

Southeast corner of Madison Square Park
(212) 889-6600

The Shake Shack is a pretty polarizing place: People love the food, but hate the wait. And depending on your constitution as a human being, one necessarily trumps the other. For me, the food trumps the wait, and that's because it's a quality burger you're getting.

Let me explain. I am not a burger person. I don't like burgers for the sake of burgers, and I will turn up my nose at a mediocre burger in favor of a dirty-water dog any day of the week. For me to really enjoy a burger, it has to be nothing less than transcendent. Enter the Shake Shack. I had never once in my entire life craved a burger — until I had the Shack Burger.

Ode on a Shack Burger

Thou still unravish'd morsel of tastiness,
Thou meaty dream of Leanness and slow Cooking,
Exquisite taste experience, who canst thus express
Thine fresh deliciousness more sweetly than our rhyme:
What red-leaf-lettuce fringed legend haunts about thy shape
Of patty or fillet, or of both,
In Madison Square Park or the dales of Arcady?
What vine-ripened tomatoes are these? What delectable sauce?
What mad pursuit? What totally worthwhile wait?
What coffee* and black-and-white shakes? What wild ecstasy?

*Importantly, the Shake Shack serves coffee shakes. All the time.

My one niggling complaint is that you can no longer order a small shake — starting this season, it's large only. I can't make sense of this from an economy-of-scale point of view. Don't they make more money if we buy smaller, higher-priced-per-unit quantities? Why must the Shake Shack, purveyor of fresh, relatively healthy and fresh fast food, supersize its shakes and bombard me with calories I don't want? Perhaps I shall never understand.

But one thing you will understand, when you bite into a Shack Burger, is all the fuss about the place. Don't go during lunch, when the line is most ridiculous, and don't go when you're absolutely starving, since you will wait a little while whenever you go. I used to work near the Shake Shack, and a fellow Shack devotee and I discovered that right around 5 PM was a pretty good time, as were days of inclement weather. If you need a tipoff before you set out, check out the handy-dandy Live Shack Cam.

Read more about Shake Shack:

Official Web site
Citysearch
MenuPages
New York Magazine
New York Times
Time Out New York
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Resto

111 East 29th Street
(212) 685-5585

Mmmmmmm, Belgian fries. Delicious. Mmmmmmmm....

Oh, hello. I didn't see you there. You're probably expecting a more, I don't know, eloquent or intelligible description of Resto than that. But really, there isn't much else to say. Except that their burger is damn tasty — I will even go so far as to say that it gives the Shake Shack a run for its money. (Yes, I understand the implications of these words, and yes, I stand by them.) Another incredibly tasty dish is the Beef Cheek Carbonnade.

Resto has limited menu items, and it isn't as cheap as it really should be. But damn, them vittles is tasty. So treat yourself to a helping of slightly overpriced but delicious saturated fat. Why? Because you're worth it.

Read more about Resto:

Official Web site
Citysearch
MenuPages
New York Magazine
New York Times
Time Out New York
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Turkish Kitchen

386 3rd Avenue
(212) 679-1810

A little birdie told me that that Turkish Kitchen has, hands down, the best Turkish food in New York. And considering that little birdie is an honest-to-goodness descendant of the Ottoman Empire, I take his word for it. You should, too.

I've been here a couple of times, and it's always been delicious. Last time Jason and I went, we split the Icli Kofte (bulghur patties, stuffed with ground lamb, pinenuts, black currants and walnuts) as an appetizer, and I had the Etli Yaprak Dolmasi (Grape leaves stuffed with ground beef, rice and herbs) as my entree. Jason got a lamb casserole special that was, well, pretty special. We finished it off with the Kunefe (shredded wheat with pistachio and cheese soaked in syrup and baked in oven), which was a little bit too good to really be happening. But it happened, and all rejoiced.

If you go, try to get a table upstairs, and be sure to try one of the fun cocktails. The blackcurrant martini may sound girly, but Mr. Ottoman Empire didn't sneeze at it. And if he doesn't, then a chump like me won't, either.

Read more about Turkish Kitchen:

Official Web site
Citysearch
MenuPages
New York Magazine
New York Times
Yelp

A Voce

41 Madison Avenue
(212) 545-8555

The week before I took Jason to A Voce for his belated birthday meal, Time Out published the results of their Eat Out Awards 2007, in which this upscale Italian eatery was named New Restaurant of the Year. "I only take you to the best places," I told Jason, and he did not remind me that he's the one who picked it out in the first place. That's the kind of guy he is.

We were seated at a table for two near the bar. The space was large and sported a sleek, dark, modern design that didn't strike me as particularly coherent or remarkable. The tables were close enough together that the waitstaff had to pull each one out to let the booth-sitters in and that other people could easily view and chat with you about what you've ordered. My first impression of the service, sadly, was affected by a repellent maitre d'/manager type who, on seating a couple next to us, asked me to move my "duffel bag" (he was referring to my messenger bag, which travels everywhere with me on workdays and which was on the floor by my feet) so that "the lady" could sit. His clipped, bitchy tone — and the suggestion that the guest he was trying to accommodate deserved to be called a lady whereas frumpy, reptilian, messenger-bag-carrying me did not — made me feel about two inches tall for a few minutes. But luckily, this person did not intervene in our dining experience for the rest of the evening, so I was free to get over myself and enjoy the delicious food.

We started with a fried artichoke appetizer and the duck meatballs. Now, just about every reviewer and commenter says that these meatballs are to die for, and I can tell you that they are not kidding. They are seriously yum. For entrees, I ordered a gnocchi dish with ground lamb and Jason got a tasty rabbit dish. The portions weren't overwhelming, so we had room for dessert; I got the gelati (one of the flavors was salted caramel — sweet and salty Jesus, that's good stuff) and Jason got an olive oil cake, which was much tastier than it may sound to those uninitiated to the land of olive oil desserts (the olive oil gelato at Otto was my introduction). They put a candle in Jason's dessert on account of his birthday (reader, those special request forms in the Open Table reservation form really work!), which fully restored my opinion of the service.

In short, dinner at A Voce did not change my life, but the food was quite tasty. And no snobby maitre d' who's clearly having his man period can change that.

Read more about A Voce:

Official Web site
Citysearch
Menupages
New York Magazine
Time Out New York
Yelp