By Gus Saltonstall
I am no food expert. But, there are few things I enjoy more in this world than a good, long meal at a restaurant table — whether in the corner of some dimly lit eatery or on an outdoor seat on a sunny day along Amsterdam or Columbus avenue.
Over the past year, I’ve kept a running list of sorts of the best meals and dishes I’ve had on the Upper West Side.
The meals skew to the special-occasion type, and of course, no list can encapsulate all of the stellar dining options in the neighborhood.
Importantly, for more professional and consistent highlighting of food offerings on the Upper West Side, please remember to follow our Here’s the Dish column from Abigael T. Sidi, which comes out every Monday.
But, without further ado.
The Aperol Spritz and Salumi E Formaggi from Taralluci E Vino at 475 Columbus Avenue, near the corner of West 83rd Street.
Spritzes and charcuterie boards are a staple of many Upper West Side restaurants, but I’ve found none that do it quite at the level of Taralluci. You can choose one, three, or five selections, and have the offerings of prosciutto, mortadella, salame, speck, coppa dolce, Pecornio Romano, balsamic sottocenere, capriolina, robiola di bosco, barriacato al pepe, blu di bufala, Parmigiano Reggiano, and pantaleo.
The dish comes served with olives, breads, and mustards, and key to the success of any charcuterie board is the generous portion sizes dished out by the restaurant, which Taralluci delivers on. Pair the plate with an equally generous-sized Aperol Spritz, sit outside in the sun and take in the people walking by, and it’s all the ingredients for a fantastic afternoon.
On the topic of cocktails, the whiskey sour made with egg whites from Da Capo at 322 Columbus Avenue, between West 75th and 76th streets, is my favorite drink in the neighborhood. The cafe operates as a coffee bar until 4 p.m., before transitioning into a cocktail lounge at night, and does a great job at both.
Moving on, the 17-dish Omakase offering from Sushi Kaito at 244 West 72nd Street, between Broadway and West End Avenue, is out of this world. The eatery is home to an intimate 12-seat Omakase bar, where the chefs create the dishes in front of you.
The menu changes week to week, but the 17-dish offering will take you through a culinary experience like few others. The dishes include oysters, uni with salmon roe, an assortment of nigiri with tuna, yellowtail, striped jack, Spanish mackerel, and more.
Elsewhere, is the menu at the Michelin Guide-recommended Mexican restaurant Covacha at 368 Columbus Avenue, between West 77th and 78th streets.
My favorite selections on the menu, which does change on a relatively frequent basis, are the Crudo of the Day, the fish tacos made with a fresh catch, the enchiladas with chicken, roasted tomato sauce, cheese, crema, avo puree, radish, and cilantro, and any appetizer that highlights their tomatoes.
For my final selection, I’ll swing back to Italian offerings with Sempre Oggi at 164 West 75th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam. The restaurant is also recommended by the Michelin Guide, and the food is spectacular.
You step into the restaurant and are met with a grand bar, before a larger-than-expected dining room that transports you to a different time and place.
My favorite dishes are the thinly sliced crudo, the burrata and zucchini, and the homemade pastas.
I would love to hear your favorite specific dishes in the comments, especially those from restaurants in the 90s and 100s, as my own list skewed to the southern portion of the Upper West Side.
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Some of those don’t look very gluten free. Our son has to eat GF and some of our go-to spots are Gyu-Kaku, Yasouvlaki, Cafe 82, 5 Napkin Burger, Han Dynasty, Whole Foods (for the rotisserie chicken), Kouzan, Mamoun’s, Bareburger. We should try Covacha but pretty much any Mexican place can do it.