I have notifications turned on for only two Twitter accounts: One is for the city’s alternate-side parking days, and the other is @nymetrowx, an account dedicated to breathless coverage of New York City meteorology. To live here is to be incredibly attuned to the weather — after all, you’re probably going to be out in it.
That’s why when the weather’s going to be immaculate, planning starts immediately for park hangs, stoop sits and outdoor dining. This naturally leads to larger gatherings, so I thought I’d swing a few recommendations your collective way for where to get a group together for a good time.
A Bushwick Standby for Larger Parties
Last week I helped organize a surprise party for Tanya Sichynsky, whom you may know as the writer behind New York Times Cooking’s The Veggie newsletter. As soon as my co-conspirators and I realized that it was going to be a hot day and a warm night, we knew dinner had to be outside. So we emailed the folks at Roberta’s, in Bushwick, Brooklyn, to ask if we could bring 20 friends for pizza, salads, wine and pie.
I remember when every other 20-something I knew would gather in Roberta’s large, sparse backyard for daytime dance parties. Now, it features a few tents: one with a bar, and two more with wooden picnic tables. My party sat at a Last Supper-esque table on a patch of fake grass. It was a perfect New York City spring night™.
A fellow Food editor let me know that the big outdoor space at Popina, an Italian restaurant on Columbia Street, has both covered and uncovered options. And I had my 33rd birthday party this year at Prima Brooklyn, the wine bar on Greene Avenue in Clinton Hill. Though we were rained out, the bar has a lovely back patio that’s perfect for groups of 40 or fewer.
French and Basque for You and Yours
Sometimes your group is just a few good friends looking for a lovely place to hang out. A few weeks ago I had brunch with my sister at Lafayette, in NoHo, and it washed over me how lovely its space is. There are two private dining rooms, the large booths in the main dining room can each fit six to eight diners and the patio that wraps around the front of the restaurant really puts the fresco in alfresco. Order an almond croissant, a few green juices and whatever inspires you from the brunch menu (I stan the giant basket of French fries), and take in the neighborhood.
A few notes: If it’s the weekend, you will have to watch the line for the Suprême, Lafayette’s Instagram-famous filled croissant, snake around the block. Diners are not allowed to order one to their table. And though it may seem as if Lafayette takes no reservations on Resy (or, rather, sets them aside solely for Amex card holders), you can very easily book a reservation on the restaurant’s website.
Finally, I recently enjoyed not one, but two meals at Txikito, the beloved Basque restaurant on Ninth Avenue in Chelsea. And just as every tree has suddenly sprouted leaves, Txikito sprouted outdoor dining in the week between my meals. I can’t imagine a more incredible spring evening than one spent sipping one or two or three vermouth preparados alongside some octopus carpaccio, creamy, pimento-spiked bomba rice and an order of patatak (French fries forever).
Split the cochillon, with its crackly skin, and take the long way home — it’s that time of year.
In Other News …
New bucket list just dropped: Or rather, Pete Wells’s list of the 100 best restaurants in New York City. The list, which can be organized by price point and by borough, is an excellent guide based on a decade of Pete’s restaurant reviews in The Times. It can also be viewed as a composite of the city, Pete writes: “I’ve attempted to arrange my favorite restaurants into a pattern that captures the diversity and character of dining in New York.” Mam, a Vietnamese restaurant on the Lower East Side reviewed just this week, landed at No. 26. What a debut!
Once you’ve worked your way through the list and this week’s restaurant openings, check out Priya Krishna on the fast-growing cookie company, Crumbl, and her night at the new corn-themed musical, “Shucked”; Clay Risen’s report on federal recognition for American single malt whiskey; Christina Morales on Appointment Trader, where users can sell hot restaurant reservations; and Becky Cooper’s deep dive into the Chartreuse shortage.
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