What's going on in New York

Just as good as the better-known places in its own efficient and unpretentious way is Ramen Setagaya, a cheap noodle joint in the East Village Tenderloin. The cold summer noodles are superb, and, next to that, our favorite is the hot miso ramen, w...

When Giorgio Zocco (a/k/a Sal the Barber) died last year, it was feared that his Sal's Barbershop, a Carroll Gardens institution for more than three decades, would be lost forever. Enter television producer Steve Marks, who fell in love with all t...

It's tough walking past the windows of Prada and Marni when your bank account limits your shopping sprees to Forever 21 and Target. (And, no, pronouncing it "Tar-zhay" doesn't render it any more elegant.) But a series of Upper East Side thrift sho...

The pleasure of a bowl of pho is principally in the broth, which should be aromatic and round, a brew made of beef bones, sweet charred ginger, star anise, and cloves. The pho at Pho Sure—a jokey name predicated on a mispronunciation of the soup, ...

Next to stuff for your kids, this might be the most personal category of the Best-ofs, not only because it's your best friend you're walking, but also because if you walk your dog the same time every day, you get to know the other dogs and their o...

The juicy meat skewers at Cedars will make every other kebab you've had in this city pale in comparison. Order the platter so you can really taste the deep seasoning and perfect char of the lamb shish kebab and the spicy beef kufta kebab. They com...

There is chocolate cake, and then there is chocolate cake that would make a priest put his fist through a stained-glass window. The devil's food cake that Kierin Baldwin makes at the Dutch falls squarely into the latter category. Baldwin's genius ...

At Balaboosta, patatas bravas, traditionally a Spanish dish served with a tangy tomato-based sauce, gets a Israeli makeover. Einat Admony fries chunk of spuds to a deep golden brown, then douses them in zaa'tar (a spice blend containing hyssop, th...

The pies have undergone some major tweaks at Pulino's following Nate Appleman's departure. We were ever partial to the Ottima breakfast pizza, topped with ricotta cheese, blueberry jam, and bacon, but this summer we fell for the the salty-sweet p...

This joint project of Harlem's Charles' Southern Kitchen and barbecuist John Wheeler blends soul food and barbecue. The fried chicken is, naturally, crispy and moist, but parts of the 'cue menu -- like the pulled pork and the excellent baby-back r...

Since the late 1970s, Screaming Mimis has attracted unabashed fashion mavens for its eclectic array of quirky styles and accessories. Outfits sampled from the latter half of the twentieth century can be pieced together into bold displays of East V...

In Queens, Staten Island, and Manhattan, we now have restaurants that represent the four major religions of Sri Lanka—Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. As the Jesus in the corner of the dining room attests, Banana Leaf is the one that r...