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Where to Eat: New York City
The trick is to avoid restaurants that are completely vibeless. It can be done.
My parents will never let me forget the time I took them to Sushi Samba (R.I.P.) — a cavernous carnival of a restaurant so loud that, after a few minutes of attempted conversation, we basically all gave up. I think about that whenever I field recommendation requests (my favorite game!), because the most common one is a plea for quiet restaurants.
Caveat: While reporting, I found a number of restaurants that were technically quiet, yes, but to the point of being completely vibeless, which is a separate but also vital issue. So here are some quality, fun restaurants where you can have dinner and a conversation, normal-style.
An omakase that isn’t silent
Sushi Katsuei’s Park Slope, Brooklyn, location is a very civilized place to eat a deranged amount of sushi. At least, that’s how I approach a meal there. Even when it’s full and feels lively, the overall volume in the dining room stays low. I suppose that statement would be true for most places that offer an $80 omakase, but the one at Sushi Katsuei is especially good. Every piece, between the 5 types of sashimi, 6 nigiri and one hand roll, tastes special enough to stop your conversation in its tracks. There’s also a $60 omakase, one of the better sushi deals in this town, and an à la carte menu, and basically no way to go wrong here.
210 Seventh Avenue, Brooklyn
Squeeze into a diner booth
One solution to a city full of loud, echoey dining rooms is to contain your group in an efficient little diner booth, like the mustard yellow ones at Three Decker Diner. The Greenpoint diner has been around since 1945, under the watch of different owners, and was recently remodeled and re-zhuzhed (still serving diner classics, now with cocktails!) by the owners of Variety Coffee. It used to be my favorite place for weak coffee and perfect hangover eggs; now it’s my favorite for eating a club sandwich for dinner with an ice-cold martini.
695 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn
Sometimes you have to be in Midtown
Back to my parents, who deeply appreciate speaking at an average volume over a meal. Jupiter is a favorite of theirs and mine for pre-theater pasta in Midtown. It’s big (140 seats!), buzzy (it is in lower level of Rockefeller Center, after all) and lends itself to celebrity sightings (again, Rock Center). The volume of the dining room has decreased notably since the early days, and the food seems to have improved greatly since Pete Wells’s so-so review. Sharing fried zucchini, a few pastas (linguine with clams, crab ravioli) and a lovely roasted fish without any vocal strain? That’s living.
Rockefeller Center, Rink Level, 20 West 50th Street
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