- East Village - Third Rail, *Box Kite, Ninth Street Espresso (not on 9th Street!), Bluebird
- West Village - Third Rail, *Stumptown, Blue Bottle
- SoHo / Nolita / Little Italy / Chinatown - *Gasoline, Happy Bones, La Colombe Torrefaction, Bowery
- Williamsburg - Tobys Estate, Blue Bottle
- Brooklyn Heights - *Cafe Pedlar
Ones marked with a star are generally good coffee, but not to my taste. Especially tendency for a light, watery extraction. But otherwise good.
- Jeffery's Grocer (Oysters)
- Buvette (French, pretentious, delicious).
- The Spotted Pig (Brunch with a Bloody Mary, Amazing burger and a cocktail at 1am).
- Extra Virgin (Great breakfasts)
- The John Dory (Still more Oysters)
- Fedora (D and I shared an amazing cote de boeuf there).
- The Little Owl (Cute, but difficult to get in to)
- Bar Pitti (Good breakfast)
- Takashi (Korean BBQ – quite crazy. Amazing kobe burger with egg & some weird chocolate sauce)
- Bluestone (Australian Cafe - Poached Egg on Avo Toast)
- Perla ($$$)
- Momofuku (Religious experience)
- Momofuku Ssam (great cocktail bar called Booker & Dax next door, too)
- Balaboosta (unassuming place - delicious creative menu - get the spare rib if they have it on the menu)
- Osteria Morini (crazy good pasta)
- Fools Gold (Beer & Oysters)
- Upstate (Oysters, plus amazing scallop cerviche)
- Café Mogador - I wasn't amazed, but it’s a NYC classic.
- Little Collins (Aussie Cafe)
- Shake Shack in Madison Park near Flatiron building (Massive queue, but perfect for a burger and shake on a sunny day)
- John Dory at the ACE Hotel - Oysters - Also go to the Breslin for the having-a-cocktail-with-a-model-and-a-wall-street-trader experience.
- Two Hands (Australian Cafe)
- Cafe Habana
- Sel Rrose (Oysters and Cocktails)
- Parm - Sandwiches
- Marlow & Sons (Brick Chicken)
- Diner (Burger - Brunch)
- Maison Premiere (Oyster Happy Hour)
- Pies and Thighs (former chef from Marlow and Sons)
... a shedtown more that I can't remember.
- Franny’s
- Brunswick
- Red Rooster