MeliMelo2-150×150 | TheImproper Dining: Breaking News & Reviews on NY's Best Bars, Restaurants & Dining Values

Ornella Trattoria: Where the Menu Begins at Home
The term “home cooking” is bandied about a lot in the restaurant industry – often a little too loosely. But at Ornella Trattoria Italiana in Astoria, Queens, you can take the claim literally. Proprietors Ornella and Giuseppe Viterale just opened their restaurant and their menu is based on dishes they both enjoyed growing up in Italy. Giusseppe was ...Read More
The Beacon, the ‘Best of Summer Dining’
As the sun sets over Sag Harbor Cove on summer nights, The Beacon in Sag Harbor has a ‘spectacular’ view according to the Zagat Survey. Watching the boats glide by from tables on The Beacon’s second-story deck sets the stage for a perfect sunset dining experience. But Joanne Starkey of The New York Times doesn’t call The Beacon “the best of s ...Read More
Almond Restaurant, French Bistro Friendly
In the spring of 2001, co-owners Jason Weiner and Eric Lemonides opened Almond Restaurant in Bridgehampton offering reasonable prices, bold bistro fare, friendly service and an attractive dining room reminiscent of a Parisian bistro. “Almond has brought the French bistro to the Hamptons,” says Joanne Starkey of The New York Times. Adam Bar & ...Read More
Il Punto: Italian Tradition in Trendy Hell’s Kitchen
Il Punto Ristorante occupies a central spot on the corner of 9th Avenue and 38th Street, and reflects both Hell’s Kitchen’s past as well as its future. It blends the best of Old World, family-style Italian cooking with the elegance of a trendy white-table-cloth restaurant in one of Manhattan’s hottest neighborhoods. The broad swath of Manhattan, ge ...Read More
Loreley, a Lower East Side German Beer Fest
Loreley on increasingly trendy Rivington St. on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, is a German-style Biergarten and restaurant that understands the hospitality basics. Once a staple of New York City socializing, this rare open-air picnic-table retreat echoes Cologne’s “Brauhaus.” Restaurant owner Michael Momm says the beer is imported from Germany, ...Read More
Dirt Candy: Manhattan’s Vegetable Experts
Dirt Candy, also known as vegetables, is the name of this East Village restaurant that celebrates the miracle of transforming rain, soil and sunshine into delicious, healthy food. Executive Chef Amanda Cohen opened in October, 2008 and the fact that she’s survived two years in a tough economy means she must be doing something right. And, sin ...Read More
Townline BBQ: Ribs Texas Style in Sagaponack
Townline BBQ in Sagaponack, offers a casual, family friendly atmosphere with affordable prices and a real ribs joint atmosphere. After traveling to Texas and Kansas, owner Mark Smith and executive chef and partner Joe Realmuto decided that authentic Texas BBQ, with a little bit of pork on the menu, was the winning concept. Traditionally Texas BBQ f ...Read More
Junoon: Indian Cusine Fit for Raja in Flatiron District
Junoon likes to bill itself as a restaurant with “French service, in the family, Indian style.” At least that’s how one waiter described it when a local critic recently visited the new outlet in the Flatiron district of Manhattan. The city doesn’t lack for Indian eateries, but Junoon aims for the upscale. The owners obviously pay atten ...Read More
La Superica: Margaritas With a View in Sag Harbor
La Superica has been described as a funky little Mexican restaurant in a killer location in Sag Harbor, right off the North Haven bridge. It’s kitschy decor reflects its good-time casual atmosphere, down to the plastic palm trees. It draws sizable crowds, both locals and tourists, attracted by its renowned Margaritas and moderately priced be ...Read More
Meli Melo: A Restaurant That Fits the Times
After 15 years, Owner-Chef Bernard Ros has developed a loyal clientele among local residents and a reputation for good, moderately priced fare that draws visitors from the 12 hotels that surround Meli Melo his French-Mediterranean restaurant on Madison Avenue in Murray Hill. Which is a good thing: “For the past five years it was going full speed,” ...Read More
Water’s Edge: A Long Island Landmark Renewed
The iconic New York City landmark Water’s Edge Restaurant, spans three decades and has recently reopened under the Singh Hospitality Group. Sited along the East River in Long Island City, the venue offers awe-inspiring views of New York’s impressive cityscape. The menu of culinary creations and refreshing twists on traditional fare reflect the ecle ...Read More
Rayuela: A New Take on Latin American, Spanish Cuisine
Rayuela (ra-yue-la), Spanish for hopscotch, illustrates the gourmet Latin American and Spanish menu at this Lower East Side restaurant. The menu hops among the best recipes from a dozen Spanish-speaking countries—effectively erasing their boundaries. The restaurant, named after the experimental novel by South American writer Julio Cortázar, ...Read More
East River Cafe: New York Style Dining, Moderate Price
It’s always a welcome sight when the owner of a restaurant greets patrons as they enter. At the East River Café on the corner of First Ave. and 61st St. at the foot of the Queensboro Bridge, Sam Morcos is usually sitting at the end of the well-known copper bar just inside the door. Morcos, who is Egyptian but steeped in Mediterranean cooking, has b ...Read More
OSO, Southampton Inn’s Signature Restaurant, is Thoroughly American
OSO Restaurant at the Southampton Inn, welcomes the Hampton’s 2013 summer season with a grand opening May 11. This year the restaurant adds a world renowned pastry chef to its well-known “farm-to-table” menu. The restaurant will be open seven days a week, from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. beginning Saturday, May 25. It will serve breakf ...Read More
New Owner Zach Erdem Brings City Vibe to Southampton’s 75 Main
Zach Erdem, the new owner of Southampton’s 75 Main restaurant, has turned the 20-year-old landmark into a year-round destination combining its familiar Hamptons style with a New York City nightlife vibe. Restaurants in the summer vacation redoubt of the rich and famous tend to come and go, but 75 Main has managed to keep its allure. No doub ...Read More