THE MAGAZINE · THE ĖDITURE

The Places I Always Go Back To in New York

The Upper East Side cafés, lunch spots and dinners Corde returns to again and again, and what to order at each.

By Cordelia Garza

For years I came to New York on vacation. My days could be planned around a reservation, a store or a restaurant I wanted to try. Now I live here and I'm working. A lot. So I can't spend the whole day deciding where I'm going to eat anymore. Not that I don't want to.

I live on the Upper East Side and most of my life happens on this side of the city. Over time I've found my places. The casual breakfast spot, the restaurant where I feel at home, the salad I order again and again, and those dinner places where it's worth making a little more of a plan.

The way I recommend things changed too. Before, I could tell you where I'd eaten on a trip. Now I can tell you where I keep going back, what I order when I have a meeting, where I stop for coffee and where I end up buying something to take home even though I wasn't planning to buy anything. That last one happens to me a lot.

Coffee first

Sant Ambroeus is one of the places I go to most, because it's very close to our apartment. I can stop in for an espresso or an americano to go, stay for breakfast, have lunch or go for a casual dinner. I love having one place that works for so many moments of the day and still feels really cool.

For an iced latte, one of my favorites is 787 Coffee. I order it with oat milk and tres leches syrup. It's divine. One of those coffees that the next day has you already thinking about when you can go back for another.

And when I'm craving matcha, I like Blank Street. So my caffeine needs are pretty well spread out around the neighborhood.

Something casual and delicious to go

Very close to my place is E.A.T., which everyone in the area knows. You can have a very casual breakfast and a good coffee. Next to the restaurant they have a shop with prepared food to go that I love.

I adore the quiche Lorraine and the chicken salad sandwich on that healthy bread they have. I love places where you can sit down to eat but also figure out what to take home. Because living in New York also means days when you don't have time to sit down for a two-hour lunch. Sadly.

Another stop I highly recommend is Butterfield Market. It's a small, beautiful grocery with prepared food to go. And they have delicious frozen yogurt. It's worth going in, although I should warn you it's very easy to find more things than you came for.

My lunches on this side of town

I really like having lunch at The Mark. If the weather is nice, I ask for a table outside, on the sidewalk. There's something about sitting down to eat while watching the city go by that I enjoy so much.

The chicken soup with coconut milk and curry is my favorite. It's one of those things you crave from one specific place. I also love their sushi, so between one and the other I always find a good reason to go.

And then there's Casa Tua, at The Surrey. There are restaurants where they treat you well, and others where they also make you feel at home. That's what happens to me here.

I go for lunch often. In fact, so many of my work meetings have been there. My order is the kale salad with chicken and extra jalapeño. I love it.

But I also really like it for dinner. They have great meat and the truffle pasta is divine. Please don't skip the pistachio gelato for dessert! So the place works perfectly for me for a work meeting or for staying for a relaxed dinner. Pretty convenient when it's so close.

When I'm craving Italian

Elio's is one of the Italian places I recommend on this side of town. I also like Bar Italia and Sette Mezzo, with that casual feel where you can eat beautifully without feeling you need a special occasion.

There's something I really enjoy about having neighborhood Italian spots: being able to say "let's go for pasta" and that being the whole plan. A good meal, a good conversation, and that's it. Not every night out needs months of planning.

Sette Mezzo has a lot of that spirit of a restaurant people keep coming back to. You also get to know a city by sitting where the people who live there eat.

For a really good dinner

I love Marcel, at 945 Madison. It's French, it has a very Upper East Side feel and a really fun bar. The menu is delicious.

The onion soup is amazing and, on top of that, a visual work of art. The chicken is very good too, and the steak tartare is, without a doubt, one of the best I've had.

I love it when a restaurant leaves you thinking about several dishes. When you go back, you don't know whether to repeat what you loved or try something else. I realize that's a pretty nice problem to have.

Hoexter's is another of my favorites for dinner. The menu is great and the place is very cool. Sometimes that's exactly what you want: to go out, be somewhere with a good vibe and eat really well.

Chez Fifi is a beautiful French spot, with a gorgeous bar upstairs and a menu I love. Here I'm going to ask you a favor: order the chicken. Please. You won't regret it.

I don't usually order chicken at restaurants. I normally go for something else. But there are a few places where I'd tell you it's absolutely worth it, and Chez Fifi is one of them. If I'm insisting this much about a chicken, trust me.

Cravings have their place too

Monkey Bar is delicious. I like it for lunch and dinner, and for breakfast too.

My favorites are the burger and the French dip. And since I go often, a lot of the time I go for the steak with a salad, which is also wonderful.

And of course there's The Polo Bar. It's divine. The hard part is getting a table.

Booking there can become quite an odyssey. It's one of those places where it pays to plan ahead and check carefully how they're taking reservations. Once you have a table, you can just enjoy it. But first you have to get it.

For sushi

I find Sushi of Gari delicious. It's one of the places I keep in mind when I'm craving sushi.

For something more casual and quick, I like SUGARFISH. Because there are also days when I want to eat well and get on with my to-do list, without turning lunch into the whole plan for the day.

I like having both options. Depending on time, on the craving and on how the week is going, I already know where to head.

And dessert

My favorite dessert in this neighborhood is Lady M. That crepe cake, with all those thin layers stacked up, I love it. They have several flavors, but my favorite is chocolate. Here I know exactly what I want.

I think that's what has changed most since I've lived in New York. I have my orders, my routes and my trusted places. I can get excited about a dinner, and also about knowing that, very close to home, exactly the coffee I want is waiting for me.

Before, I'd come trying to see everything I could before the flight home. Now I'm learning to enjoy the city between meetings, work and my everyday life.

And, when I can, with a slice of chocolate crepe cake.

— Corde