This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to New York
This year will mark the start of my 20th year here in New York City. I remember stepping off the plane from France, not knowing anyone, and heading straight into Manhattan and through the doors of chef Daniel Boulud’s Restaurant Daniel, where I would serve as his executive pastry chef for six years. It was one of the most challenging and formative experiences of my career, where I met life-long friends, gained a new American family and learned alongside Daniel, a mentor who taught me the meaning of hospitality.
During that time, I met my now-wife, Amy, and together in 2011 we set out to fulfil a dream of ours: opening a small shop on a quiet stretch of Spring Street in SoHo, where we could serve coffee, fresh-baked croissants and other French pastries to the neighbourhood. Together, we painted walls, put in a few bistro tables, printed menus, steamed lattes, and built a small team of four employees. We served our guests one at a time, grateful just for the chance to welcome people through our doors. Somewhere in there, about two years after we opened, our lives changed by surprise: we introduced what we called a Cronut to the menu. Suddenly, a line of dozens of people became a hundred, then several hundred, stretching down the street every morning to greet us. Still, we had our small but mighty team of four employees.
We put our heads down, got to work and pushed through each day. We baked dozens of croissants, glazed trays of Cronut pastries by hand and piped the finishing touches on cakes and tarts . . . all while the city was still sound asleep, the sound of the sanitation trucks making their rounds outside as our first guests lined up. Slowly but surely, our bakery team grew.
Thirteen years after that shop opened, we’ve opened a new one, Papa d’Amour, on University Place. I am French, Amy is Taiwanese, and this bakery is inspired by our kids, Celian and Elise “Mei Mei”, who are both. As I prepare to open it, I think about the past two decades in this city, where I’ve built a life, career and family. I think about all the places and meals that have made New York feel like home.
Here are some of my favourite New York food spots — many of which have inspired my work — and my favourite bites in each. I hope that when you visit them, you’ll build memories of your own.
Discovering Koreatown as a new New Yorker
In those early days, working in a pastry kitchen at a Michelin-starred restaurant meant very late nights (with desserts being the final course, the pastry department is always the last to leave). I was new to the city, in my 20s in the mid-2000s. I actually thought Times Square was a place where people went to hang out. Eventually, new friends and colleagues introduced me to tried-and-true spots in a cooler neighbourhood, about 10 blocks south-east down Broadway, which was always open late.
After service, we’d head to Koreatown for late-night KBBQ. At The Kunjip, I’d have budae jjigae, the traditional “army stew” — a punchy flavourful broth filled with kimchi, ramen noodles, Spam and sliced hot dogs, all washed down with an ice-cold beer. That’s still my go-to order whenever I visit now (you’d be surprised how much a five-year-old and a two-year-old love slurping up this spicy, comforting stew). At Gammeok, which is still open 24 hours, a bowl of seolleongtang is the definition of comfort food for me. The rich broth is made by boiling ox bones for hours, resulting in a milky, almost-white soup that’s served with noodles and seasoned with sesame seeds, salt, lots of black pepper and scallions, with a sharp and spicy kimchi on the side. It’s perfect during chilly winter months, although I find myself ordering it year round.
Go-to standbys we relied on as the bakery grew
A few years after opening our bakery, as we steadily grew our team and production, we finally had a bit of time for an occasional dinner (and once in a very blue moon, even a weekend brunch). I still find myself returning to these spots today, as the quality and consistency are quite remarkable.
For the best sushi in the city, there’s nothing better than the omakase at Sushi Noz on the Upper East Side. The fish that Chef Noz has sourced is impossibly fresh, the quality and the chefs’ technique impeccable. It’s truly an art, and sitting at the counter watching him and his team master this craft . . . it’s mesmerising. Each bite is better than the next.
King in SoHo is always at the top of my list of favourites. It’s small and cosy, the kind of neighbourhood restaurant you want to return to. The menu changes often, but always start with the carta di musica, a Sardinian cracker so thin it translates to ‘sheet music’ (sometimes it comes with fresh ricotta, other times anchovy butter). The pastas are always spot on. Recently they had onglet grilled over thyme and a roast chicken with English peas that were both delicious.
Weekend brunch is at Hi-Collar, a Japanese restaurant in the East Village that turns into an izakaya, a casual bar with small plates, in the evenings. It’s beef hayashi omurice for me (slow-cooked sliced Wagyu in a demi-glace sauce with onions and mushrooms over rice, with a perfectly cooked fluffy omelette on top), and the crispy katsu sando (a crispy pork katsu on soft shokupan bread) for Amy.
The fall and winter often demand a trip out for hotpot to warm up. Lately I’ve been visiting Dolar Shop in the East Village, which has seemingly endless add-ins to go with the rich broth (get the chef’s creamy pork broth) and the make-your-own sauce bar (mine always has soy sauce, rice vinegar, a bit of sugar, sesame oil and minced garlic). The more friends you bring with you, the more variety you can try and share.
I also love Torishin in Midtown, which specialises in chicken yakitori skewers grilled over charcoal. Try to get a seat at the chef’s counter for the yakitori omakase, so you can watch the chefs grill each individual skewer to perfection, gently fanning the flame, carefully rotating what seems like dozens of skewers at a time, each watched carefully and flipped at just the right moment. The tsukune (a tender, juicy chicken meatball) is always my favourite course.
Favourite spots for a family meal
These days, between days in the kitchen and office, school drop-offs, karate for Celian and music class for Mei Mei, we try to find time as a family to introduce the kids to the city’s different cuisines and neighbourhoods. Our absolute favourite weekend outing is a trip to Flushing to visit Main Street Imperial Taiwanese. The kids have grown to love learning about their Taiwanese roots and trying the traditional foods. Our go-to dishes are the three-cup tofu, oyster pancake, “Flies’ Head” (stir-fried garlic chives, minced pork, and fermented black beans — named because the tiny black beans look like flies), Hakka stir-fry (with dried squid, Chinese celery and pork), clams and loofah (a type of squash), and sesame oil pork kidneys. Bring a big group so you can share.
In the West Village, Anton’s serves up excellent Italian dishes. Order the angel hair francese: the pasta is hand-cut super thin, and it’s cooked in a lemony, buttery, chicken francese-style sauce. It’s one of the first pastas my son ever tried. We also love the strip steak Lorenz, which has a rich Bordelaise sauce with shiitake mushrooms.
There’s nothing like fresh pasta, and Raffetto’s, a small beloved Italian food shop in SoHo, has been making it for more than 100 years. You can watch sheets of pasta cut to your liking on their antique pasta-cutting machine, and pick up homemade sauces (the tomato basil and the pink vodka sauce are my favourites), fresh mozzarella, ricotta and excellent Italian sausages. It’s the perfect place to stop by for a quick dinner at home.
Raf’s down in Nolita is wonderful any time of day. At breakfast or brunch, get the soft scrambled eggs, their excellent salad Niçoise or their yoghurt with fresh fruits, fennel pollen and olive oil. Do also enjoy the bar, which is a great place for a croissant or pastry while the bartenders entertain your toddlers. At dinner with friends, get the garlicky escargots with whipped lardo, leeks vinaigrette and steak tartare.
Time passes ever so fast, but the Italians were right in their saying: a tavola non si invecchia, or “at the table, one doesn’t grow old”. Looking back at the meals I’ve had in New York in the past two decades — remembering the table that I usually sat at, tasting the flavours of their signature dishes — the memories feel timeless, and just as delicious.
Papa d’Amour, 64 University Place, New York, NY 10003
Have you dined at any of Dominique Ansel’s favourite New York eateries? Tell us how you found them in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter
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