There is a trend among us New Yorkers to confine our eating and drinking habits to the center of town or to the countryside in summertime. The fun we miss in so doing is really sad. It had not occurred to me for a long time that the possibilities of prowling around through the lower sections of the island might be amusing and rewarding. But getting away from the crowds of midtown to wander or drive through circuitous routes in the lower reaches of the city with practically no one around to bother your meditations or conversations is sheer joy. You'll be surprised at the sights you have overlooked, and I am certain that on hot evenings you will feel the temperature is lower than usual.
Let's start at the Village and consider some of the older and better known spots which you may have forgotten or, in case you are visiting in town for the summer, some of the places you might overlook in the natural course of your wanderings.
Certainly Dick the Oysterman (65 East 8th Street) is one of the spots to include. This restaurant has been in the same family for three generations and has the hearty air of the Victorian or Edwardian restaurant about it. And do not be misled by the name of the restaurant, for it is not primarily a fish restaurant. Mr. Ockendon prides himself on the fact that every dish is a specialty. Fish, poultry, or meat orders all get the same attention. The fish is well cooked and portions are hearty, which probably accounts for the large male clientele, especially for luncheon. Combination fish stew à la Dick is always a good bet, the steaks and chops are excellent, and you will always, during the summer months, find some appetizing cold suggestions.
Desserts are the hearty American type—such things as homemade pies and good apple dumplings and many fruit specialties find their way to the menu. Drinks are ample and reasonably priced. There is a small selection of wines and a good list of beers for the summer drinker. Finally, there is the knowledge that you are eating good food simply and well prepared, plus the fact that there is a personal quality which makes you feel you are enjoying old-time, hearty hospitality.
Entrees run from ＄1. Service is entirely à la carte. Dick's is closed on Sunday and will be closed for vacation during part of the summer. Better call to make sure.
I live downtown, and somehow, to those of us who do, there is always the feeling that Charles (452 Sixth Avenue) is close at hand and that there one will always find a good luncheon or dinner. I suggest it for summer evenings when you wish a drive or a leisurely stroll through Washington Square. This restaurant, so amply proportioned, gives you a feeling of coolth in addition to the air-conditioning system. The menu is tremendous, and you will find à la carte items as well as a series of complete dinners which have been planned with a sense of balance and to display many of the real specialties of the house. Try the crab meat cocktail with Russian dressing—as good as any in town. Large lump crab meat and a delicious Russian dressing are so much better than the usual bewitched ketchup-and-chili-sauce topping for sea food cocktails. A bowl of fresh raw vegetables in crushed ice is one of the welcome adjuncts to the service, except that you are often tempted to munch too much.
Boiled beef à la Charles is always a favorite dish of mine, served with a good strong broth and pleasantly garnished. A long list of fish and sea food dishes, including a crab meat pancake which is a special dish, will always be found, as well as a tremendous list of entrees and an amazing number of dishes from the grill. Desserts include some of the most delicate and tender crêpes I have eaten in a restaurant and excellent pastry in general. The wine list is quite comprehensive and well priced. However, we wish the waiters served the wine with a little more regard for its delicacy and quality. We also feel that in a restaurant the size of Charles there should be much more supervision and perhaps a little more attention paid to individual wants.
One of my favorite places below the dividing line of Fourteenth Street is a tiny spot near Washington Square called Ricky's, at 115 Waverly Place. Practically no larger than a small apartment in town is this place, but with charm, efficient service, and good food. It is open seven days a week, and Vincent Montemora will serve you dinner late in the evening. Put it on your must list for a summer spot. The restaurant is air conditioned, and there is a pleasant garden protected by a canvas so you don't have to run inside at a drop of rain. Those of you who are nostalgic in your eating and drinking habits will find some of the old marble-topped tables from the Lafayette in the bar.
While Ricky's is primarily a restaurant specializing in broiled foods, roast beef, and one or two other specialties, it has none of the usual props of that type of restaurant. No sawdust on the floor, thank God, no messiness, no feeling that the food is thrust at you rather than pleasantly served; there is a general air of good living and true hospitality. In fact, the service is unique. Monte, realizing that he has the problem of small space, has a crew of exdining-car waiters who have proficiency par excellence.
Nice little touches make for pleasant dining. Plates are hotter than Hades when they should be and chilled when necessary. If you order café espresso, it is carefully made at table in a glass coffee-maker. The buttered garlic toast is something to remember for lovers of the enchanted bud. To me, these things mean a greater enjoyment of an already good meal.
In addition to some excellent broiled meat, I ate the most delicious strawberries with real sour cream. It was not the usual somewhat diluted cream. You will gather that I like Ricky's. I do, for it is a true chophouse in the traditional manner. Entrees range from ＄1.50 to ＄3.50. Drinks are ample and inexpensive. There is Sunday evening buffet in winter for around ＄3—a bargain.
Situated on the site of the old John Street Theater, where the first play by an American author was presented in 1787, is Ye Olde Dutch Tavern, at 15 John Street. Mrs. Langerfeld, who is the owner and the manager, maintains the finest traditions of old gastronomical customs in this tavern. We have been there several times for luncheon and dinner and have left each time with a sense of well being and a feeling of having lunched or dined well. It is exceedingly popular for luncheon and pleasantly filled at the dinner hour, which continues until 8:30 every evening.
A wonderful bar extends halfway through the restaurant with excellent drinks prepared as you order them. No Martinis poured from a pitcher or Manhattans out of a bottle. The menu is long and tremendously varied, with hearty simple dishes in the majority. Ye Olde Dutch Tavern is well known for its Sauerbraten, corned beef and cabbage, chicken potpie, Hungarian goulash (not the usual restaurant variety), and curries.
Summer brings a wealth of cold dishes—sea food, salmon, Nuss-Schinken, and a large variety of salads. The regular hot dishes include such hearty things as beef stew and liver dumplings and sauerkraut. It is definitely a menu slanted toward the old-fashioned male appetite and much appreciated by the regulars. All pastries and pies are made right there and disappear like magic. And with reason. I have tasted their strawberry tarts and their coconut custard pie and can vouch for their both being what I choose to call real baking. That is a compliment from a person who usually spurns in public places anything with pie crust or any other type of pastry.
Entrees run from ＄1 to ＄3.25 (this for a whole broiled lobster), while appetizers and soups, et cetera, are reasonably priced. There is a most comprehensive wine list at what would be considered very low prices. In fact, the wine list would do credit to many uptown spots which claim to be definitely in the know.
To many of us it never occurs that, when we are driving out of town in the evening to Long Island or Jersey or Pennsylvania, it is a time-saver to stop and dine on the way out. Or if you are going to the theater and have transportation handy, it is often a more pleasant experience to have a leisurely dinner downtown where there are no crowds than to try to crush your way into an uptown restaurant. Everyone knows the superior quality of Massoletti's (70 Pine Street) for luncheon, but few enough realize the pleasure of dining there. Try it and see.
Joe Massoletti runs one of the most nearly unique restaurants in New York or, rather, one of the most nearly unique restaurants in the country. Despite the fact that there are two large dining rooms seating over six hundred persons, there is still a pervading impression of the personality of the host. The staff is perfectly trained and knowing, the linen and silver are spotless and gleaming, and the kitchens are models of their type—air-conditioned for more efficient operations. Prices are exceedingly reasonable, and food is of the best quality with no stint on good butter, olive oil, and cream where they are necessary. If you are a crab-meat fancier, you will find the finest available in New York, especially sent in for Mr. Massoletti. All the pastries and ice creams are made on the spot, and there is a goodly variety if your sweet tooth is prominent.
The wine list is ample and reasonably priced, and the bar serves excellent drinks at lower prices than most restaurants.
The pleasure of lunching or dining at Massoletti's is a manifold one. It means good food, excellent drinks, fine service, and the over-all stamp of the delightful personality which has developed with the spot. I am certain that no other restaurant of such magnitude purveys the same characteristic tinge of hospitality. Massoletti's is open for luncheon and dinner five days a week. Dinner is served until eight o'clock. No parking problem at night, either.
If your dear Aunt Tabitha or your maiden sister should arrive for the summer holidays and the ordinary forms of sight-seeing seem to pall on both of you, treat yourself to luncheon in the Washington Market. Go to St. Paul's Chapel first and brush up on your history about the site of the old Washington Market and why the present one is in the spot it has occupied for lo, these many years. Then take a tour of the booths with all the tempting game and fish and vegetables which are perfectly displayed.
For the climax, try luncheon in the tiny Petrosino restaurant in the market, situated on the west side just across from the Petrosino fish stalls. Note the tank of live eels and the lobsters of various sizes from babies to Gargantuan types. Order any fish you see in the market—if they don't have it in the kitchen, they will send across the way for it. Furthermore, they will prepare it as you wish—sautéed in butter or fried in deep fat. I prefer the former. And there are always choice shrimp or crab meat or lobster or clams or oysters in season with which to toy while awaiting your main course. Nothing fancy, mind you, but everything honest, plus amusing atmosphere. Beer is available, always a complement to fish. If you must have dessert, wander around to the bake-shop and pick what you want and munch as you walk along.
If the simple life of the market does not appeal to you, wander a couple of blocks to Whyte's, (145 Fulton Street, near Broadway). This is one of the plushier of the downtown spots and a restaurant which seems to emphasize space and size without being robbed of personality. Remember this about the large downtown restaurants, such as Whyte's. They must depend upon repeat business day after day, and in so doing they are obliged to maintain a high standard. Here you will find excellent sea food dishes—I have always had a real preference for their finnan haddie and their lobster dishes as well as their cold salmon. And speaking of cold salmon, I wish some restaurateur would do an excellent dill sauce for the king of the fishes.
There is also a goodly sprinkling of meat dishes at Whyte's, if you will spurn the fruits of the sea; however, they pride themselves on the fish and shellfish selections. Wonderful Martinis, too, for the addict.
Luncheon is à la carte at Whyte's, and dinners run from ＄1.60. They are closed after luncheon on Saturday. If you have never been there, I suggest you try it.
We have only begun to touch the downtown possibilities at this point. Willy's, at 160 William Street, is one of the old standbys which has made such a good reputation for the fish they serve that many of the Fulton Market people patronize the place regularly. What greater praise could you ask! They are open for luncheon and dinner five days a week and are definitely worth a visit. Understand one thing—all these places which specialize in fish and more or less hearty food are not what one usually thinks of as fish restaurants. They are picturesque old spots which have maintained a definite standard all through the years in which they have been in business.
Until we get time again to wander the streets of lower Manhattan, these few restaurants are the ones we can recommend. But don't hesitate to try any of the old established places in that section, for chances are far greater for finding successful dining than in the average place uptown.