DINE
Via Carota
West Village
This rustic West Village gastroteca is the restaurant we all wish we had on our block. Reclaimed wooden floors and cabinets overflowing with heirloom china are part of the charm, as are the other diners, sipping on aperol spritz at 1 pm on a Tuesday. But the real draw is the food, which honors markets and farms, season to season. On a cool fall afternoon, this meant starting with their complimentary olives and diving into the Verza salad: cabbage, toasted farro, pumpkin, and speck. The grilled octopus with olive pesto followed and, finally, a hazelnut semifreddo that reminds you just how great food in New York can be.
viacarota.com
West-Bourne
SoHo
Los Angeles native and TechTable co-founder Camilla Marcus brings her mindfulness and creativity to this SoHo restaurant, which is meant to blur the lines between restaurant and home. Accidentally vegetarian and decidedly wholesome, this all-day dining destination draws inspiration from Los Angeles in the 1960s. Locally sourced, reclaimed wood finishes, and custom furniture pieces create an intimate yet playful environment for guests to enjoy dishes like the naturally gluten-free Malibu Waffle with buckwheat, vanilla crème fraîche, and inna blackberry jam or Sunset Grains with wild hive farm grains, almond butter, maitake mushrooms, cake, and chili oil. Do not miss the “sweet nothings,” which include a chocolate cashew pudding with dates and cocoa corn nut crumble or the Four & Twenty Blackbirds custom pie for west~bourne with apples and fior di latte gelato.
westbourne.com
