Vert Frais

"A destination for late-night fans of midnight ramen from Kanoyama by Sanshiro." - Melissa McCart

"This sunny, white-walled café in Long Island City does not look like a serious restaurant. It looks like the kind of place where you’d grab a coffee with friends or pull out your laptop at a communal table. But with the backing of Kanoyama’s long-standing chef, the kitchen is not to be underestimated. The classic shio ramen is a must, the broth fragrant and deep with smoky, charred slices of cha-shu and crunchy bamboo shoots. Thin slivers of sushi-grade salmon laced over a mound of warm rice with scallions and topped with poppy ikura are also a source of easy comfort. Dessert is all but bound to set social media feeds on fire: Fluffy, tall, jiggly souffle pancakes that are light as air, none too sweet, and impossible not to finish in a few big bites." - Michelin Inspector

"This sunny, white-walled café in Long Island City does not look like a serious restaurant. It looks like the kind of place where you’d grab a coffee with friends or pull out your laptop at a communal table. But with the backing of Kanoyama’s long-standing chef, the kitchen is not to be underestimated. The classic shio ramen is a must, the broth fragrant and deep with smoky, charred slices of cha-shu and crunchy bamboo shoots. Thin slivers of sushi-grade salmon laced over a mound of warm rice with scallions and topped with poppy ikura are also a source of easy comfort. Dessert is all but bound to set social media feeds on fire: Fluffy, tall, jiggly souffle pancakes that are light as air, none too sweet, and impossible not to finish in a few big bites." - Michelin Inspector

"Breakfast and/or lunch: Shio Ramen or Katsu Don at Vert Frais." - Nancy DePalma

"Vert Frais in LIC does a little bit of everything, and feels like a fancy Japanese tea party while doing so. Waiters in white button-downs will bring you souffle pancakes and lavender lattes in the morning, before switching to a small menu of ramen, yoshoku dishes, and floral cocktails with things like rose petal vodka and blood orange bitters ice cubes, served in teacups and garnished with real flowers. The food is decent—a silky hamburg steak in a rich pool of umami beef sauce stands out—but you’re really at this restaurant to play Pretty Pretty Princess and drink out of antique glassware under gold light fixtures and hanging vines. Come when you’re in the mood for multiple cocktails: the best work here is done behind the bar." - Neha Talreja