The Biggest Food Stories of 2023 in New York

Every December, we glance again at Eater’s most-read tales — a minor try to make sense of the previous 12 months. More continuously, we’re left scratching our heads: Did 4 new meals halls in point of fact open in Manhattan this 12 months? Yes, and so did eating places promoting $29 scorching canines, salty granita, and onigirazu.

At the beginning of 2023, there was once no Bad Roman — and ahead of you get nostalgic, no new Superiority Burger, both. Dave Portnoy wasn’t throwing pizza gala’s, and Salt Bae’s burger store, the worst eating place in the city, was once nonetheless open in Manhattan. Croissants have at all times been bizarre, however they seemed in new styles and sizes this 12 months. So did Singaporean side road meals, a area of expertise of the Urban Hawker meals courtroom. In ascending order, those are the ten most-read meals tales of 2023.

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Scarlet

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What do you get when put The Sopranos, The White Lotus, and $24 cocktails in the similar room? One of town’s most well liked bar openings of the 12 months. Michael Imperioli, a celebrity in each of the ones displays, opened Scarlet, a cafe and cocktail living room, in December together with his spouse, Victoria Imperioli. Curiously, Imperioli doesn’t drink himself, however a spokesperson for the fame says he “loves bar culture.”

Giada Paoloni/Maialino (vicino)

One of the largest tales of this 12 months was once the inflow of asylum seekers from Latin America, the Caribbean, and different areas. In August, two eating places from Danny Meyer ended up in the crossfire. The Redbury Hotel, a Manhattan landmark house to Marta and Maialino (vicino), closed on August 25, after the construction introduced it might space asylum seekers.

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

In 2023, the meals halls saved coming. We wrote a couple of new marketplace in Chelsea with scallion pancake burritos, a meals corridor sponsored via the James Beard Foundation, and an established meals courtroom in Flushing, Queens. The one our readers cared about maximum? The opening of Urban Hawker, a Singaporean meals corridor with a connection to Anthony Bourdain. It opened closing 12 months, however readers persisted to show to our critic’s score of the highest dozen dishes in the meals corridor, from Hainan hen to stingray fried rice.

Lanna Apisukh/Eater NY

Whatever it was once that eating places bottled up throughout the pandemic, they let loose unexpectedly. Disco balls confirmed up on eating room ceilings. Bathrooms had been become small karaoke rooms. And in all places you seemed, there was once a celebration. No eating place leaned into the vibe reasonably like Bad Roman, the drop-out cousin of Don Angie that influencers cherished. The Italian eating place served ’roni cups and lemon-shaped cheesecakes, with animal statues in its eating room and a small waterfall in the toilet.

If you didn’t know Superiority Burger in the beginning of the 12 months, you unquestionably do now. Eater NY’s easiest new eating place of 2023 opened to extraordinary buzz in April. Customers waited in hours-long traces for for burgers, burnt broccoli salads, and much more likely, a solution to the query on everybody’s thoughts: Was the brand new joint as just right as the unique? Eater’s critic was once there on opening day with a dozen takeaways. He referred to as its vegetarian burger “near perfect” and spent probably the most phrases discussing the eating place’s unfashionable soundtrack.

Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images

If you had been fortunate, you overlooked that Dave Portnoy threw a meals competition this 12 months. The arguable founder of Barstools Sports rounded up town’s best pizzerias, together with Di Fara, Lucali, and John’s of Bleecker Street, and had them serve slices in the pouring rain. Ahead of the competition, a author called on pizzerias to drop out of the competition over Portnoy’s previous, which incorporates accusations of sexual harassment and misogynistic feedback.

Robert Sietsema/Eater NY

Croissants made headlines this 12 months with ordinary shapes and arrangements, greater than ever ahead of. On the request of a reader, Eater’s critic attempted greater than two dozen of them to search out town’s easiest. What he discovered: Paris Baguette makes a greater croissant than you’d assume, and the traces at L’Appartement 4F are approach too lengthy. The pastry that took house the highest spot: a crisp, caramelized croissant at Alf Bakery in the basement of the Chelsea Market meals corridor.

Louise Palmberg/Eater NY

It was once any other uneventful 12 months for the Michelin Guide, with few upsets or notable actions in New York. The largest news out of the November rite was once the improve of two Japanese spots from one to 2 Michelin stars: Sushi Noz, at the Upper East Side, and Odo, in Flatiron. The best eating places didn’t alternate, with 4 three-Michelin-star winners, together with Eleven Madison Park, Le Bernardin, Masa, and Per Se.

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Our checklist of most-read tales has a minimum of one second of area of interest native drama. This 12 months’s came about at Peck’s, a espresso store in Clinton Hill. The cafe’s supervisor, Kyle Dollinger, made headlines for his reaction to a role applicant inquiring a couple of wage. “Great intro,” Dollinger mentioned. “That’s sarcasm.” A screenshot of the change has more than 500,000 views on-line.

Jean Schwarzwalder/Eater NY

Finally, some just right news. Nusret Gökçe, the salt-sprinkling steak slicer identified on-line as Salt Bae, closed his Manhattan burger store in June. When it opened in 2020, the eating place made headlines with its odd menu that had $99 milkshakes made with gold leaf and a meatless “ladies burger” that was once unfastened for feminine shoppers. It was once the primary eating place remaining in years that New Yorkers celebrated with gusto.