NY Plugs — Luke Fortney

Food, drink, and leisure recs from the NYT Food reporter + LINKS

Plugs is The Angel’s recs column. On most Saturdays, you’ll get six picks—a restaurant, a bar, a shop, an ingredient, a person, and a treat—from someone in New York or Los Angeles who knows what they’re talking about, plus a selection of Angel-curated links. Plugs are for paid subscribers of The Angel only; upgrade your subscription to receive all six!

That said, this issue of Plugs is free for all to read because it’s sponsored by Postcard, a smarter map for deciding where to go and what to do. You can save places from anywhere, find exactly what you need, and share your lists. Download Postcard here.

#16 is Luke Fortney, a food reporter who writes The New York Times’ Where to Eat newsletter. Luke is one of the most devoted eaters I know, traversing the five boroughs on any given week to find the finest piadina, $50 dinners, extreme hot dogs, and beyond. His recommendations rarely miss because he puts in the work, and IMO, he's one of the most compelling young voices in food media. He’s also a skilled interviewer and story-finder, having cut his chops at Eater, where he was on staff for almost five years. Though Luke is one of the most trustworthy bylines in the New York food scene, he originally hails from Southern California—which is definitely part of why I like him so much. As a Mexican-American, he’s particularly sharp on matters of Mexican cuisine: his story about flour tortillas finally getting their moment won the 2021 New York Press Club Award for food writing, and he and some of his colleagues at NYT Food recently published this list of 41 of the Greatest Mexican Restaurants Across the United States. Here’s Luke with his Plugs — and here’s his map on Postcard.

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Restaurant — Mariscos El Submarino

Whoever said New York has no good Mexican food (hello, bi-coastal readers!) has never been to Mariscos El Submarino. The closest location to me, in Clinton Hill, is the best place on Earth to be hungover. There is the shrimp burger with Muenster cheese that somehow works, the stone bowls of aguachile and the carne asada tacos, which are much better than they need to be for a seafood restaurant. But really, no further proof is needed than a michelada and a pile of camarones zarandeados in the huge backyard.

Bar — Up Stairs

The best dive bar in America, and probably the entire universe, is Santa's Pub in Nashville, Tenn. (How can you beat trailer park Christmas 365 days a year?) But second place goes to our own Up Stairs in Chinatown ... where at least one of my credit cards is currently behind the bar. You'll find me there most Friday nights, singing "Driver's License" or trying to convince the bartender Tim to let me pleaseeeeee have one more shot. The kitchen, by the way, is on a whole 'nother level. Over the years, I've spotted $55 lamb chops on the menu, plus popcorn chicken and a Philly cheesesteak. Take it from my friend Becky, who called it the best bar food in the city: The pan-fried udon is goated.

Scenes from Up Stairs.

Shop — Kinokuniya

Nerd reveal: I love anime. The food scenes. The pointy hairstyles. (The bootleg profile pictures you can download from DeviantArt ...) These days, whenever I’m near Bryant Park, I pop into Kinokuniya, a three-story Japanese bookstore, to pick up the latest volumes of “One Piece.” The bathroom on the first floor has saved the day many times, and the upstairs cafe is the ideal place to bury your head in some manga with an onigiri.

Ingredient — Sprouts

Tanya Sichynsky, one of my editors at the Times, reminded me of my love for sprouts last week when she introduced me to this chickpea salad sandwich. It’s part hummus, part chicken salad (lots of crunchy minced celery), and a dead-ringer for the squishy, alfalfa sprout sandwiches I subsisted on as a vegan in California. Yum.

Person — Robert Sietsema

When I was starting out as a food writer in 2020, one of my very first colleagues was the elder food critic Robert Sietsema. This was at Eater New York, when us reporters had about $200 a month to spend at restaurants, and he was kind enough to share his dining budget with me. So, we ate in every corner of the city together, as I tried to absorb everything he knew about our city and its restaurants. Other things came up, too. Once, I left him alone with my mom outside of the pizzeria Mama’s Too in the West Village while I ran inside to grab napkins. Not even 30 seconds later, he was teaching her how to make acid in a bathtub. Robert Sietsema will happen once and never again.

Treat — Common Meadows

We had a big froyo summer here in New York, where all anyone could talk about was the wait at MYKA. Can I go out on a limb and say we’re about to have a bigger gelato fall? There are some cool-looking new gelaterias in the city — Nepita in the West Village, Hana Gelateria in Long Island City — but I keep coming back to Common Meadows, which opened last year in Williamsburg. I love the wall of punk rock CDs — really, the only decorations here — and the constantly changing flavors of gelatos and sorbets. (I’ve seen kiwi, sudachi, melon, and rooibus tea.) Not a day goes by without someone in my group chat suggesting we stop in to see what’s been added to the menu.

Absolutely devastating: Andy Mariani of Andy’s Orchards, who grows the finest stone fruit I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating, is selling his Silicon Valley farm (for reasons that make sense, but still make me sad) [NYT, gift link]

Sadie and Anthony of Bistrot Ha and Ha’s Snack Bar resurfaced this story I wrote in 2020 about their start as a Covid-era pop-up in response to Ligaya Mishan’s two-star review of the bistrot this past week. It’s worth a re-read to remember how far they’ve come… [TASTE, NYT (gift link)]

YES Trinity Mouzon Wofford: We have a farmer’s market problem [From Home]

Not food-related, but I loved every bit of Molly Young’s Johnny Knoxville profile [TNY]

Tokyo-based writer Yukari Sakamoto asked five chefs to share their picks for the 10 Japanese pantry staples you need in your kitchen (we often cook Japanese food at home, and I rely heavily on The Japanese Pantry, so I loved this) [T Magazine, gift link]

A great issue of Rory Satran’s The Hamptons Chronicle, including the correct take on smoothie culture and a concise profile of Chris Kelly, “The Beekeeper King of The Hamptons” [THC]