Podcaster James Harris’s Grub Street Diet

"Walking into this spot for my second visit feels like arriving at one of the city’s most exciting, impossible-to-get-into rooms, but during this quiet holiday week it’s more relaxed, the interior has been reworked to feel more accommodating than the super-cramped opening week, and I’m struck by the insane, beautifully designed lighting by James Cherry that I love so much I later buy one of his cucumber-based fixtures as a gift. The updated menu is even better than on my first visit: we feast on beef tataki, Ha’s salad, leeks vinaigrette with mussels and egg salad, trout crudo with pomelo, leg of lamb, lobster and sweetbreads vol-au-vent, and a passion-fruit meringue, with the leeks vinaigrette described as insane, the lamb as so good, and the trout crudo with pomelo as fucking fire. A bottle of Matassa and a lychee Cosmo help turn the night into a warm, New York–y, Nancy Meyers–movie kind of evening where friends materialize at neighboring tables and the bar, capturing exactly why this place feels so special." - Zach Schiffman, Margalit Cutler