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.
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.




















