Jennifer Che

New York City is a place known for notoriously difficult reservations. Mario Carbone's original, iconic, eponymous Italian American restaurant Carbone is one of the hardest to get. There are threads and articles online devoted to this topic, with titles like "[t]he hardest reservations to get in NYC right now", "is there ANYWAY to get into Carbone" and "is Carbone just outright rejecting normal people?".

Ah Il Buco Alimentari. I fell in love with this restaurant when I first visited back in 2012 (!). It was one of those rare places in New York that we repeatedly visited, despite usually wanting to try new places. It was just THAT good. We also loved the restaraunt-within-a-market concept (reminding me of our beloved Roscioli in Italy). Who could have ever imagined that - 14 years later - we’d be back in New York, and Il Buco would STILL be here.

I've been a fan of Eric Ripert's Le Bernardin for as long as I can remember. There was my first full tasting meal (dinner) in 2009 (where I promptly declared it as my "favorite restaurant in the world" and "it's rare that every single course of a 10-course tasting is a "wow" dish").