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The Rest of the Best Food I Ate This Year
Photo: Sushi Sho
As the year comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about something I’m going to call “staircase cuisine.” It’s like l’esprit de l’escalier, except instead of coming up with the perfect thing to say after a conversation, I keep running into new food that would have been perfect for columns I wrote in 2024. I decided that instead of silently lamenting these missed opportunities or keeping these new favorites to myself, I would round them up into a catalogue of bonus recommendations.
One more takeout sushi: Sushi Sho’s lunch box
Sushi Sho is the hottest bromakase joint in town thanks to some new Michelin stars and a Pete Wells–penned profile. Dinner starts at $450 per person, but there is a way to eat this fish more affordably. Takeout lunch boxes that cost either $100 each or $60 for takumi chirashi, of which they make 20 each day. (Either must be reserved on Tock at least a day in advance, alas.) I opted for the $60 version, and after I opened the lacquered box, a savory-smoky scent emerged from the comprehensively seasoned components dabbed and layered across a canvas of seaweed-sprinkled rice. I found sweetly glazed black cod next to a mound of shredded hairy crab, separated by five tiny wedges of snappy cucumber. The centerpiece was three slices each of bluefin tuna and mackerel, both cured in a mix of soy sauce, konbu, onion, and herring roe. Discoveries like ebi-oboro, a granular mince of shrimp and fish, and the tidbits of simmered clam and scallop made me feel like I had a window into Nakazawa’s old-school Edomae style.
One more crispy potato: Superiority Burger’s fries
To mark one year in business at Superiority Burger’s new location, chef Brooks Headley finally put fries on his menu. What started out as a lunch-only special is now available during all service hours. What’s so special about them? The extra-long, thick planks are triple cooked and “crazy labor intensive,” Headley says. The result is something between a proper English chip and Five Guys. While $10 may seem like a high price for a side of fries, they’re quite hearty, much like my other crispy fave, Sungold’s celery-root latke.
One more smoothie: East Village Organic
For the Coco Cloud smoothie at this First Avenue shop, cups are given that telltale Erewhon look with tropospheric swirls of coconut yogurt and blue spirulina. The actual smoothie portion is made with a combination of coconut meat and water, with enough pineapple and mango to keep things feeling tart and tropical.
One more kitschy cocktail: a Salted Lychee Martini
In August, I wrote about Bad Roman’s spiked Diet Coke. Now I’ve discovered this cocktail at Twin Tales, the South Asian restaurant opened in the same mall by the same restaurant group. The name — Salted Lychee Martini — doesn’t necessarily telegraph the impressive balance I found in the finished drink. Floral fruit and gentle sweetness were tamed by salinity with a floating lime leaf for garnish. I liked it with an order of extra-crunchy chicken spring rolls.
One more sauce: homemade sambal
If I could add a 23rd sauce to last month’s dossier, it would be the jarred sambal at the East Village patisserie Lady Wong, which you should inquire about next time you stop by for a slice of calamansi cake. The tangy red-chile condiment is packed with enough lemongrass and dried shrimp to awaken anything you decide to adorn with it, but I would start with some skewers.
One more thing under $10: Bayard Meat Market chicken-skin chips
In March, I wrote that Nawabi Bhoj’s egg-filled Muglai paratha was the best thing I’d found for $10. That honor now must go to the $3 chicken cracklings at this Chinatown standby. When I spotted them a couple of weeks ago, a sign indicated that these cellophane bags of rendered skin, as golden as anything from Popeyes, were a new offering. I hope they’re here to stay. The chicken chips tasted freshly fried with an airy crunch that made it hard to stop eating them, especially after I doused them in Crystal hot sauce.
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