This is the infamous Minetta Tavern. I had been here back in mid 2010s, and it was pretty good. Before I met my partner, I used to come here once every few months to just scarf their Black Label burger. The price for this was just barely over $20. Now in recent times post-pandemic, it’s been a bit more difficult to walk in without reservations. We were able to sit at the bar on a Friday late-afternoon around 4:55 PM without reservations.

I’ve been here a few times already, so this is now a proper post for it. This is a Jazzy restaurant that you can dine-in without paying a cover which is nice. The jazz itself is pretty fun, although predictable if you don’t listen to a special guest. This is a blackberry gimlet which has reyka vodka, fresh blackberries, and fresh lime. It was pretty good, and it wasn’t too sweet.

Was surprisingly good. Good date place.

Good date spot, small intimate venue.

Was good but nothing particularly struck a note to me. Marc Forgione tasting menu is way better than here.

Was pretty good surprisingly, though the portion sizes were way too small. Ended up eating some rhubarb pie afterwards.

French Dip is really good here, espeically the au jus drippings.

New American centric. Cheap but not too expensive. In the Vale hotel.

Marc Forgione is one of the Iron Chefs on Iron Chef America. This is his first restaurant, and at the time of this writing it has 1 Michelin Star. Like Michael Voltaggio, this restaurant is one of his babies, so he periodically is cooking in the kitchen to make sure everything comes out as he desires. Unfortunately he didn’t cook today, but I just want to preface this by saying this is definitely one of my favorite restaurants ever that I’ve tried so far.

I first found out about WD~50 from my friend who wanted to try it out for the longest time. On research, I found out one of the Bravo’s Top Chef previous contestant owns this restaurant. His name is Wylie Dufresne. He is well known for pushing a movement towards molecular gastronomy, which is basically a different way to cook things. This 1 Michelin Star restaurant’s menu is pretty sparse in choices in that you basically choose from 2 different types of tasting menus, the cheaper or the more expensive.