How are you doing? That’s a real question. I want answers at wheretoeat@nytimes.com. And answers are just what I’ll be doling out this week, addressing the questions our lovely readers have sent over email or dropped in this form recently.
The most-asked question in our inbox
What good, low-key (but not cheap), and comfortable (not pretentious) restaurants would you recommend near Lincoln Center? Thanks for any suggestions you might care to make. – Miriam
I feel as if I’ve been training my whole adult life to answer this. My mom and I have systematically tried every restaurant within a few blocks of Lincoln Center, and Cafe Fiorello has long held the throne as our favorite. It’s directly across from the theaters, and has red leather banquettes, flirtatious-but-not-menacing Italian servers, delightfully jarring paintings by Mark Kostabi, and, surprisingly, not a bad bite of food to be found. There’s an excellent chicken Parm, pounded flat to the point of being comically large, tender short rib meatballs and al dente rigatoni alla vodka with guanciale.
Soup for you
A nice bowl of soup for lunch. Please let it be from scratch. Ramen and pho are great, but I can’t seem to find other options for the life of me. – Lisa
Nice bowl of soup? Nothing could be nicer than a lunch of white borscht at Karczma in Greenpoint. The traditional Polish soup gets its distinct sourness from fermented sourdough starter, which, on the first bite, is quickly mellowed by rich pieces of kielbasa. You can order it in a bread bowl for double yeastiness, and it’s served with a side of bacon-topped mashed potatoes for good measure.
I desperately need to know how this goes
Holiday season choices were made, and now a guy from my hometown is visiting the weekend of Valentine’s Day (not the actual day, can you imagine?). Looking for a sultry bar with low lighting, a corner to hide in, and solid mocktails to show this Californian suburbanite how we do things here. – Daisy
What in the Hallmark movie is going on here! I’m immediately so invested in this. My assumption is that you want to sit on the same side of a table, or maybe even closer on an upholstered love seat. This is a borderline corny suggestion, but I think it’ll be fun for a visitor: The Back Room on the Lower East Side is a full-commitment-to-the-bit Prohibition theme bar where they serve cocktails in teacups (including nonalcoholic takes on a Bee’s Knees and a paloma) and beers in paper bags. This is where Abbi’s jazz-singing alter-ego emerged on that episode of Broad City, if that means anything to you.
I’d also look into getting a reservation at Monsieur, a new Medieval-core cocktail bar designed by the director Baz Luhrmann and his wife, the designer Catherine Martin. Every detail here has been mulled over, from the intricate wallpaper and abundant tchotchkes to the drippy taper candles on the tables. Plus, you don’t need to scour Yelp for a visual — just check Madonna’s Instagram.
