Riveria Cafe

The venerable Rivera Cafe on the corner of West 4th and Bleeker Street has history and good food. The corner, windowed space make any table a virtual Village view. The food here is a cut above many diners in flavor, and value. The chowder pictured is so good, lighter, less creamy than most, though very tasty. At $5 it is a good deal. Also, great is the pulled chicken sandwich on a brioche roll served with their fantastic potato wedges, and purple slaw, costing $10.95. Friendly service and a very relaxed diner atmosphere.
GO!

Lucy's Cantina

This Cantina on the corner of 34th. Street and 8th Ave. serves the Long Island commuters wanting to drink and maybe eat a little bit as well as be served by waitresses wearing island dresses year-round. The food has slightly declined since opening as there were some tasty Tex-Mex dishes particularly the corn with stringy cheese now sans the stringy cheese is just ok. The chile was fair and the steak burrito with Lucys name seared in was tasty. Not many options on this corner, and their is a roof on a nice day with a few beers, you may not notice the food.
SLOW GO!

PopBar

Popbar is a fun concept where you choose(operative word here) a flavor of gelato, yogurt or sherbert on a stick and then choose(that word again) a dip like dark, milk or white chocolate and then proceed to have it rolled in the nuts or topping of your choice for $5. My banana gelato, dipped in dark chocolate and pistachios was a delish mix of flavors and textures. Gianduja is my next choice of flavors. There are fruity gelatos as well and an accomodating staff. On the corner of Carmine and Bleeker near Grom, Cones and L'Arte de Gelato. Choose, dip, roll and enjoy.
MUST GO!

Kinski Cafe

This charming cafe on Rivington creates authentic Austrian delicacies as well as cafe faves in it's charming, comfortable space. I popped in the try the bread knodel or semmelknodel which are bread dumplings in a mushroom sauce with a side salad for $8. This is more of a cold weather dish though none less delish as these dumplings were terrific and well paired with the hearty mushroom sauce. The greens were all perfectly coated with a lemony dressing and were the perfect compliment to the dumplings. Can't wait to try the sweet dumplings.
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South Brooklyn Pizza

The pizza wagon has brought a new player to the slice wars. Only a few blocks from the acclaimed Artichoke Basil, South Brooklyn Pizza offers fresh, high quality thinner, crispier pizzas than Arichoke. The big draw is the add-on bar with roasted garlic, hot cherry peppers and grated parmiganno all at no extra cost. Slices are $4 and are super tasty, with fresh basil to boot. I was also offered freshly made garlic knots(gratis) with some red pepper flakes that gave it an extra kick. Very friendly service.
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Wechslers Currywurst and Bratwurst

Teeny, skinny, bar cum restaurant, the food here is great and cheap. Lots of brews to accompany the made to order wursts and fabulous fries. This stretch of 1st Avenue is fast becoming quite a CHEAP FOODcentric destination with Little Piggy, Weschslers, and South Brooklyn Pizza all within blocks of each other. A brat and fries is $8 which is pretty cheap for the fresh made quality. My brat was fresh made served with a soft roll and lots of winey mustard. The fries here are perfectly darkly fried, thinly sliced and well salted. Absolute mad flavor and served with mayo or ketchup.
Must Go!

Rosa Mexicano

A healthy and organic Mexican cooking demo at this famed Mexican eatery. Chefs David Suarez and James Cawley guided through doable dishes with a healthy spin.
Starting with organic housemade juices with fruit and agave as well as excellent coffee.
The menu:
Roasted tomato salsa
Fava bean and mint soup
Wild Grouper steamed in banana leaf
Grapefruit gratin with fresh fruit sorbet
Mexican granola

The dishes were light, flavorful and some just a little spiced- all delicious.
The recipes were included and I gained a new respect for the culinary traditions of the region and the chefs wonderful interpretations of them.
GO!

Clinton Street Bakery

Pancake Edition: Visiting Clinton Street Bakery without enduring the line is easy if you want to get there by 9AM during the week- they open at 8AM. Sitting down you feel you scored because you get to eat the most coveted pancakes in town though not necessarily the best. At $14 these light, fluffy though slightly undercooked pancakes are definitely delish and the warmed maple butter is divine. The best part of my breakfast recently was the fresh fried sugar cured bacon- an extra $4 and well worth it. Sugary to the taste and big pieces of porky bacon were a perfect compliment to my pancakes with Maine blueberries.
Service can't be bothered here so be prepared.
GO!

Colson Patisserie

Brooklyn's version of the Belgian bakery of the same name. French born film-maker trained with the culinary creator Hubert in Belgium to bring us this high lavel bakery. I rediscovered this patiserrie on Sunday after a long absence. Originally, there upon opening the baked goods look absolutely gorgeous. Traditional pastries, scones, breads, brioches and cookies. A chocolate chip cookie was super-fine and one of the finest around. Almond/chocolate croissant was also well done. Worth exploring more especially considering this one block of 9th street houses Colson and Almondine bakery.
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Ovest

Situated on the far west of Chelsea, down the block from clubland, Ovest was devoid of the club kids when we ate there on Sunday night. Actually devoid of all diners when we first got there about 6PM. Never having ate at Luzzo's I was pizza curious and satisfied upon leaving. A big, square albeit odd space on this deserted block we sat down at a four top and ordered. Starting with fritto misto, and fried artichokes, they were both delicous. The seafood($10) was fried to perfection and tasty, tasty with a slightly spicy red sauce. I particularly enjoyed the artichokes which were also perfectly fried and delish. The pizza maker took great pride in creating the pie- an alessandro/arugula combination as we updated the arugula with fresh cherry tomatoes the restaurant added an open table fee to our bill for it. Also on the pie was fresh procuitto creating a nice smoky taste. The pie was perfect and tasted of green, and red almost like an Italian flag.
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Vesta

Vesta is a corner trattoria/wine bar in the far reaches of Astoria and it is worth the trek from the 30th Street N train station. Our Queens group arrived at 6:15 on Sunday when it was empty and quiet and by the time we left at 8:30 it was packed. The friendly waiters brought over nice bread and olive oil to start. What sets Vesta apart is the interesting menu. Lots of interesting pasta dishes and the Sunday special of three meat lasagna(veal, pork & beef) for $15 was the big draw for me. Two of us ordered the meatball appetizer(pictured above) which was two tasty meatballs in a intense/red/winey saurce. For the main, I ordered the Sunday special lasagna served up in a ceramic baking dish(very rustic). Absolutely rich, meaty, cheasy and delish.
The side of garlicky Russian kale with smashed cannelini beans was the perfect compliment. Their internet touted Baby Jesus cake which is simply a date cake surrounded by toffee and homemade whipped cream was a happy ending to a perfectly lovely meal. Wines were quite good according to the group.
GO!

DBGB

Uber cool and hip industrial spot on the burgeoning Bowery. My second visit proved dissapointing foodwise. Though the bread and salted butter are what you expect from a high end restaurant other features are uneven. There are the sausages made on premises which are hit or miss. My viennoise with emmanthaler cheese(pictured) and served with housemade sauerkraut was a tad bland though sauerkraut was good. At $14 though it is pricey. A side of spaetzle for $6 was also underseasoned. The superstar dessert of rhubarb tart with meringue and ice-cream was a winner at $9. Unprofessional service for a spot of this caliber.
Slowgo!