STAFF PICKS 2025
We do this a lot at pre-shift meetings / family meal, but to wrap up the year, we thought we'd share a bit of it with our community! Thank you for another great year -- and here's to many more!
Best meal of 2025?
PB: Insa 10th anniversary party. Not a traditional meal but they packed the communal tables with platters of sticky wings, fried broccoli, savory pancakes, buckets of drinks. Plus a soju ice luge! A celebration of the restaurant but also the community they built. It was an inspiration!
GM: Tie between Dame and il Gigante!
AG: Foul Witch
JO: Sugita was insane and haunts my memory; but Etxebarri with Billy was the full package with incredible food, killer wine list, genuine hospitality, and picturesque landscape. You can wow someone once; but doing it again: that's the magic.
A dish you keep thinking about?
PB: Jianbing at Eight Jane in Flushing. Worth the 7 hour subway ride.
GM: Goat cheese and onion tarte from ci siamo. It’s INCREDIBLE
AG: Venison/Amaretto Tortellini from Foul Witch
JO: Turbot at Elkano. It almost felt inappropriate.
A beverage you keep thinking about ?
PB: Frosty martini at Gus's
GM: Amaretto sour from il Gigante. It has tempus fugit crème de banana and it’s 🤤
AG: Jász Laci, Sági Narancs 2022
JO: I really thought this was going to be wine; but it was a strawberry shrub I had in Tokyo.
Are you a regular somewhere? Where?
North Pole knows me well. It's nothing to write home about and is held together by duct tape, but it is hard to argue with a $6 Bud and whiskey.
GM: Il Gigante
AG: Agi’s Counter
JO: Long Island Bar or Dead Rabbit
Favorite spot for a bottle of wine?
PB: Lei - it's just solid and I don't worry that my wine will suck.
GM: My house because I love comfort. With a bottle from discovery!
AG: King for the selection or Anaïs for the ambience
JO: Penny or upstairs at RHT
Go-to cocktail?
PB: Rye Old Fashioned. Stirred, big rock, orange and lemon twist. But if I see muddled cherries and orange slices, I'm out.
GM: Gin martini! Preferably botanist, straight up with a twist.
AG: Gin&Tonic or a Daiquiri
JO: Still drinking negronis
Favorite slice?
PB: Vodka slice from House of Pizza and Calzone
GM: Not a pizza person (awkkkkkward)
AG: Haven’t found it yet (also, awkkkkward)
JO: Joe’s based on proximity to my apt
Best burger?
PB: Corner Bistro. If I'm stuck in the city, I want something simple and satisfying.
GM: Pastis has a superb burger!
AG: Long Island Bar
JO: RHT
Favorite food city outside of NYC?
PB: Chicago or Barcelona
GM: New Orleans
AG: Denver or L.A.
Dessert you can’t turn down?
PB: Amaro.
GM: I’ll never say no to sticky toffee pudding or a warm chocolate brownie.
AG: Soft Serve
JO: Affogato or anything with chocolate covered pretzels
Where do you wanna travel in 2026?
PB: Take me back to Barcelona. But if anyone wants to send me to Austria, I'll happily accept.
GM: Devon or Shetland
AG: Vienna & Hungary
JO: Going to start 2026 in Buenos Aires and do Patagonia; so pretty stoked about that.