"Novikov is a Chinese/Japanese/sentient-gold-bar-inspired restaurant in Downtown owned by a man whose nickname is "The Blini Baron." And the crowd here are the kinds of people who also might give themselves an unironic caviar-inspired nickname. The bar can get pretty crowded on the weekends, and that is where you want to be for peak chisme while clutching your wasabi martini, a cocktail we actually really like. Not all the tables in the dining room are conducive to eavesdropping, but the two-tops along the edges are close enough to each other that you will hear talk of celebrity sightings and light embezzlement while you poke away at overpriced—but pretty good—sushi and peking duck. " - julia malave, ryan pfeffer, virginia otazo, mariana trabanino
