Meryl Pearlstein

Top ten restaurants for Thanksgiving in New York City

New York City Cider Week returns for the eighth time from November 5 through 11, showcasing New York State’s booming hard cider industry, which late last year saw the opening of Brooklyn Cider House NYC's first cidery bar and restaurant under one roof.
Cider Week kicks off even before the actual week on Friday November 2 at The Bad Seed Brooklyn Taproom. Highlights of this year’s festival, spanning neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn, include The Lower East Cider Fest, a one-night-only ta...

I tried my hardest to learn Mandarin. I spent two semesters at the China Institute in Manhattan, attempting to master the Chinese characters, learning the triad of tones, and trying to figure out ways to memorize strange-sounding words that had no cognates in the English language.
All this was in preparation for my trip to Mainland China. I had been to Hong Kong a few years before and loved it, but I wanted to delve into the cultural background of the mainland whose citizens were now explorin...

Sasabune Restaurant Review
: Chef Kenji Takahashi knows how to present sushi, and he knows the order in which it should be eaten and whether it should be dipped into a sauce or not. To his devotees, the 40-seat Sasabune is a shrine where diners talk in hushed, reverent tones about each dish. The 10-seat sushi bar is the place to sit, allowing interaction with the master and his sous chefs. A high staff-to-guest ratio ensures quickness and assistance with the selection of sakés or beers. The m...

When you step into Broadway’s St. James Theatre for Frozen, Disney’s latest stage adaptation of an animated feature, don’t think for a moment its appeal is limited to kids. Despite a guaranteed cavalcade of mini Elsas, Annas, and Olafs posing for snapshots and voguing in the aisles, this musical goes far deeper into the lives of royal sisters Elsa and Anna than the 2013 film did.
“It’s a story that means a lot to both adults and children,” says Caissie Levy, who plays the conflicted “Ice Quee...

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About the restaurant: Chef Simone Tong (wd-50, Alder) brings a welcome change in cuisine to New York City with her mixian (rice noodles) from the province of Yunnan. The restaurant is an unadorned sliver of a space which formerly housed a schnitzel spot.
Likes: The spicy taste combinations are truly exciting.
Dislikes: No reservations means that waits are guaranteed, although turnover is fairly quick.
About the food and drinks: Spicy, salty and sour in a subtle way, Little Tong Noodle Shop’...

Who are the best savory and sweet pastry chefs in New York City?

La Grenouille Restaurant Review

: La Grenouille is one of the last of a breed of traditional French restaurants in New York City. Its dining room, which evokes the romance of Paris, hasn’t changed since the restaurant opened during the Kennedy Administration. Surrounded by flower arrangements and seated on plush red banquettes by tables graced with a single light, diners partake of French classics with many nostalgic choices from days of Paris past. Entrées include de rigueur Dover sole, fill...

Sheridan, Wyoming --Here’s my guide to how to immerse yourself in this truly American experience.

Walk the Streets of the Town
At every turn in this historic town, there are sculptures signifying important aspects of the Wild West, from eagles and moose, to fishermen and Native Americans. These are part of the city’s public arts initiative to creatively add art to the town while also explaining the markers that create its history. You’ll learn about the history, as well, about legends like Buffalo Bill and the i...

So You Wanna Know Something about Brooklyn? Here are a Couple of Ways to Do It.

If you’re a foodie, you will love Foods of NY’s culinary tours.

It takes a while to explore (and eat your way through) Brooklyn, so a bus tour is actually a good idea if you want to cover a lot of distance in a short period of time. If Brooklyn were’nt part of New York City, it would still rank as the fourth largest city in the US, with 43 distinct neighborhoods with people from almost every country. With that comes an amazing array of traditions, hi...

Seven exciting events taking place this summer in the Hudson Valley have the added benefit of being easily reachable by train from New York City. With a ride on Metro North or Amtrak, you can stop at these stations and walk—or take a short taxi ride or ride share service—to reach the event. www.hudsonrivervalley.com
While summer in New York City can be a lot of fun with parades, festivals, outdoor movies and concerts, sometimes it helps to have a getaway planned, no cars needed. From Penn Sta...

The era of platform shoes, glam jumpsuits (his and hers), voluptuous hair, and dancing—always to the beat, always with attitude, usually under the flicker of a disco ball and to juggernaut hits that you met first on the radio—is back with a fierce autobiographical twist. Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, with its winning parade of Summer’s songs, is lighting up the stage of Broadway’s Lunt-Fontanne Theatre with its savvy portrait of the Queen of Disco.
Ariana DeBose is some hot stuff as “Disc...

Anthony Boudain—author, TV star, lecturer, social commentator—and oh yes, chef.
(Editor’s note: We were all shocked and saddened to find out, on June 8, that 61-year-old chef revolutionary, social change advocate, television celebrity, restaurateur and father, Anthony Bourdain, has died. We are reposting this article from our February 2018 issue in honor of one of our favorite hometown chefs, author and all-around brilliant and beloved New Yorker).
Because of “Kitchen Confidential,” I can’t e...

You have only four more chances to see this romp of a literary farce on Broadway. Meter, rhyming, deceit, and fantasy all play into The Metromaniacs whirl of a show where nothing appears as it truly is. Scheming, mistaken identities and assumed personas play into the lovefest where the ultimate goal is to connect with one’s true soulmate. Set in Paris, 1738, verse- and poetry-mania have created an affinity among residents for couplets.
If you enjoy fast-paced language-dependent theater, you’l...

I suspect the writers of The Play That Goes Wrong had a bit of trouble coming up with a name for their fabulously frenetic show. I mean, it could’ve easily been called “The Script That Goes Wrong,” “The Set That Runs Amok,” or “The Cast That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.” Still, in terms of comic genius, everything about the production is very, very right.
With the perfect dose of slapstick shtick and zany twists, this Olivier-winning farce arrived on Broadway via the tripartite collaboration of t...