Westhouse Your House

The year 2016 has arrived, bringing New Year’s resolutions with it. Read on for WestHouse’s culinary take on the annual goals list. (Photo by @maddyhotho)

 

1. Eat babka for breakfast

The Upper West Side’s Barney Greengrass deli has been doling out delicious babkas since 1908, but the new SoHo bakery Sadelle’s has given the traditional Jewish pastry new cachet. Melissa Weller, a Per Se and Roberta’s alum, uses a standard recipe for the dough, but mixes in milk chocolate, semisweet chocolate and chocolate shortbread crumbs for the filling. Photo by @foodiezo.

2. Leave no tip

The no-tip trend is taking off, thanks largely to restaurateur Danny Meyer. Already, his double Michelin-starred The Modern has implemented an all-inclusive menu, and all twelve of his other establishments, including Gramercy Tavern and newcomer Untitled will do so by end of 2016. This means higher prices upfront but zero gratuities after a meal, since all restaurant staff will be earning fair wages. Photo by @themodernnyc.

 

3. Rediscover bagels

Bagels are having a moment: Historic shop Russ & Daughters recently opened a full-fledged café, Sadelle’s (our new favorite babka spot, see above) churns out fresh bagels from a glass-caged bakery in the middle of its dining room, and Black Seed continues to expand its carb-centric empire. Photo by @russanddaughters.

 

4. Visit every three-starred Michelin restaurant in New York City

Let 2016 be the year you visit all of New York’s most-lauded restaurants. Here’s your check-off list: Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, Eleven Madison Park, Jean-Georges, Le Bernadin, Masa and Per Se. Photo by @travelleisure2016.

 

5. Eat a meal designed for Instagram

Does a night out even happen if you don’t Instagram it? That’s the new philosophy behind several restaurants, whose food and design all but beg for a photo. Marta’s ceramic plates are something of an Instagram celebrity, as are the colorful tables at Dimes. SoHo’s Maman café serves French pastries on blue-and-white floral plates that match the coffee cups and tile floors. Stylish taquería Empellón sums up the phenomenon: Their menu “strongly discourages the use of cellphones, unless you’re posting food porn on Instagram.” Photo at Empellón by @unlokt_nyc.

 

6. Eat a meal without Instagramming it

Not all restaurateurs agree with the narcissism of Instagram. David Chang prohibits photography at his Momofuku Ko, which recently moved to the East Village. “It’s just food. Eat it,” says the chef.

 

7. Visit some serious food halls

Rumor has it Anthony Bourdain is opening a massive food hall at Chelsea’s Pier 57 as early as this year, bringing in April Bloomfield and Ken Friedman (of New York favorites The Spotted Pig and The Breslin). While that’s in the works on the waterfront, Grand Central’s Vanderbilt Hall is about to get a culinary boost from the Gunnar Gíslason and Claus Meyer (of Copenhagen’s Noma fame), who are set to open a restaurant inside the station’s food hall this year as well. Photo by @rnicholsdesign.

 

8. Actually enjoy a veggie burger

Superiority Burger, which just opened in the East Village, is forcing even the proudest carnivores to admit that a vegetarian burger can be delicious. And chef Brooks Headley’s combo of barley, quinoa, brown rice and farro is as good as they come, prompting GQ to name it Burger of the Year. Photo by @thomaslibetti.

 

9. Forget the Cronut, but not Dominique Ansel

 

Ansel has opened a new West Village café, and, while the lines have died down for his ingenious cronut, he’s quietly added another pastry to the mix: the DKA. Short for “Dominique’s Kouign Amann,” it’s his take on the traditional Breton caramelized croissant. Photo by @karin110904.

 

10. Try spam, and like it

 

Manila Social Club, Williamsburg’s buzzy new Filipino restaurant, got a rave review in the Times thanks to its not-so-traditional, “rambling” menu. One of the most popular dishes? Crispy Spam fries, served in their own Spam can. Photo by @indulgenteats.