1-Star on Gourmand Syndrome

Restaurant Yuu

Sat, 12 Sep 2026 22:03:29 -0400

Restaurant Yuu has been on my list for quite some time. The menu appeared interesting in that it was neither very Japanese forward nor French forward. It felt like it could be a new experience, and surprisingly it had plenty of seats available just a few days before I made the reservation. Chef Yuu Shimano trained with classical French technique but layered on Japanese perspectives focusing on restraint and attention to the ingredients in a dish. This is located at the edge where Greenpoint meets North Williamsburg.

Torrisi

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 10:50:02 -0400

Torrisi is housed within the iconic Puck Building on Mulberry Street, right in the heart of Nolita. The restaurant comes from the Major Food Group, most well known for Carbone and The Grill. The one annoying part about this restaurant is how difficult it is to get a reservation. They seem to only release specific timeslots late in the evening (like after 10 PM), and none around the 5-6 PM. I was scouting for a few days, and so I opted for the lunch times on the weekend instead of trying for dinner on a weekday or weekend. After 3-4 tries, I was able to manually snipe a reservation for 12:00 PM on a Saturday. I took a look at the menu, and I noticed it was not too drastically different than dinner.

Le Coucou

Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:53:14 -0400

I actually went to Le Coucou many years ago, around 2017. In my previous notes, I said, “Amazing place. The baked alaska and veal tongue were really good. It’s also not too expensive.” and nothing more. Now many years later, I went here again with my partner to properly celebrate. Coincidentally the day we ate here is nearly their 10-year anniversary. Because reservations for 2 at 6:00 PM were easily obtained the same day, it was very hassle free and no pressure.

Shmone

Fri, 29 May 2026 12:04:07 -0400

Shmone is a Michelin-starred Greenwich Village restaurant, known for Chef Eyal Shani’s neo-Levantine cuisine. Although this is Mediterranean, I wanted to see how it represents Israeli and Middle Eastern. Keep in mind that Michelin Stars are awarded for the food alone. We were able to make a reservation a few weeks in advance without any issue. Do note that this is adjacent to their wine bar which is not their restaurant.

Yingtao

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 13:14:41 -0500

For a pre-Valentine’s day dinner, this was one of the few restaurants where it was incredibly easy to make a reservation just a few days in advance. Ying Tao was on my list for a while, and the menu always looked mildly interesting to me. I remember when it first opened, it was one of the few individual Chinese “tasting” in Manhattan that was prepared in a gourmand style way. I was easily able to make a reservation for 2 for 5:30 PM on the Friday before Valentine’s.

Gramercy Tavern

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 20:37:23 -0500

Gramercy Tavern has been on my list for many years already, and it’s a classic New York City restaurant with Michelin popularity. This is one of Danny Meyer’s well known restaurant, so you can expect the flavors to be very similar to his other restaurants. Getting reservations is normally very easy, but when it comes to restaurant week, it’s quite difficult because it’s one of the few Michelin Star restaurants in the city that serves options from its normal menus.

Kochi

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 19:48:30 -0400

Kochi has been on my list for a while now. I’ve been to several of the Chef’s other restaurants, and they’re all delightful. This is his first solo project, after working in kitchens like Le Bernardin, Per Se, and Morimoto. What’s also great about this restaurant is that it’s very easy to get a reservation if you just book a few days out. We were able to get one at 5:30 PM on a Friday without any issues.

Mari

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 23:47:44 -0400

Mari is yet another seaweed hand-roll type restaurant in a very crowded space in New York City. The difference from many others though is that this is Korean-centric, and it has earned 1 Michelin Star in both 2022 and 2023. This restaurant is the same team as Kochi, which is also near the area in the Theater District. Since my partner was attending another event, I was looking at this restaurant because perhaps it’d be very solo friendly, and it was quite easy to make a 1-seat reservation the night prior.

63 Clinton

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 11:58:22 -0400

Sixty Three (63) Clinton was a restaurant that I had my eyes on for a few months now. They change the menu monthly, so it was previously difficult to time the menu preferences to our food preferences. I finally found a menu (July) worth going for, however, little did I know the day of my reservation was the day the menu changed. We had 2 items on the menu with “mushroom”-like ingredients in it. I was honestly nervous about the experience, but usually I will just go with the chefs’ visions.

Meju

Sat, 01 Jun 2024 13:34:12 -0400

Long Island City is basically turning into an upscale, modern day Flushing-type environment. There has been a recent surge in the last few years of Asian restaurants popping up all over the place. Close to the popular Vernon Blvd area is a fermentation studio called “Little Banchan Shop”. They sell little Korean side dishes. The owner decided to open a restaurant in the back, Meju. We were able to get reservations a month in advance on Tock for 7 PM on a Saturday evening.

Crown Shy

Fri, 17 May 2024 17:04:27 -0400

I’ve heard many things about Crown Shy, both positive and negative. It’s located in the same building as SAGA, a Michelin 2 Star restaurant, and also a supposed good bar called Overstory. This year, Crown Shy received a Michelin Star, and various public forums raved about their dishes being inventive and good. Since reservations were easy to get, we decided to spend our Friday at this restaurant. It was very easy to book a 5:45 PM dinner reservation for 2.

Frevo

Sat, 17 Feb 2024 15:46:02 -0500

Frevo was a restaurant that has been on my partner’s list for some time. When we went to Atomix Bar, the chef had also highly recommended the restaurant. The head chef Franco Sampogna is Brazilian and comes from the region that my partner is from. The entrance to the restaurant has a very tiny art gallery, and it’s been recognized on the Michelin Guide with 1 star. We were able to reserve this a few weeks back without any issues.

Torien

Sat, 23 Dec 2023 15:06:22 -0500

As a Christmas celebration before we embark on a trip, I wanted to knock this final yakitori tasting off the list. We’ve been to a slew of yakitori tasting places, and this is the last one that is on the higher end. Torien still has 1 Michelin Star in 2023, and it also has a sister 1 Michelin Star restaurant, Torishiki, in Tokyo Japan. We were able to make a reservation for this for a Saturday a few weeks back without issues. Let’s see how this compares to the other yakitori tastings, considering they use a special oak for the taste.

Bōm

Sat, 26 Aug 2023 10:29:27 -0400

Bom is a restaurant located in the back room of its sibling restaurant, Oiji Mi. We had been to that before, and I thought it was pretty decent. Bom was always on my list of things to try, but at $295 per person, I was pretty hesitant and skeptical. This restaurant doesn’t even have a Michelin Star yet. Since reservations are fairly easy and Oiji Mi was pretty good, I thought I’d give this a try since we were celebrating two major milestones in our lives.

Tempura Matsui

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 15:48:43 -0400

Tempura Matsui is a Michelin 1-star restaurant in Manhattan that specializes in tempura omakase. I had previously gone to another tempura omakase at Secchu Yokota. As I said previously, I really enjoy tempura as a whole, so I am very curious how a Michelin Star tempura tasting compares to a hidden gem tasting. Fortunately, my partner went to see a Broadway show, so it gave me the ability to solo dine at this restaurant. It was very easy to make reservations for one person the night prior.

Jua

Sat, 11 Feb 2023 18:54:39 -0500

Jua is one of those new-ish Korean restaurants that has received a number of praises from all sorts of diners. I was able to get a 2-seater a few days before Valentine’s Day on a Saturday evening. It did require me to sit and snipe on Resy, which fortunately was not as difficult as trying to get reservations at Don Angie. Jua is a restaurant by chef Hoyoung Kim, who was the former executive chef of Jungsik. It is a 7-course tasting menu ($135 per person) and utilizes a variety of wood-fire techniques.

Oiji Mi

Fri, 27 May 2022 17:04:02 -0400

I read about Oiji Mi somewhere, and my gourmand syndrome was kicking in since I felt like I haven’t been to a prix fixe upper end restaurant in a while. Oiji Mi is relatively new, and it comes from the owners of the original East Village’s Oiji. It offers creative contemporary Korean dining composed uniquely for NYC. I saw that they offer a 5 course tasting menu for $125 per person, and the menu looked quite interesting.

Contra

Sat, 23 Apr 2022 15:24:41 -0400

It was my partner’s friend’s birthday, and they had asked for my partner to make a reservation to a Michelin Star restaurant that was not overwhelmingly expensive (< $120 per person before wine). My partner started looking for more contemporary cuisines, and stumbled onto this which was a bit below the radar of restaurants. I remembered looking at the menu a while back, and nothing really struck me as a must-have … but I’m always open to trying to prove myself wrong.

Cote

Sun, 04 Oct 2020 21:00:10 -0400

Summary

Indoor dining finally opened again in NYC on September 30, 2020. There are those that feel it’s reckless in this COVID temperament, but we still decided to celebrate by booking an indoor reservation at Cote, a 1 Michelin Star Korean BBQ restaurant. Normally, this is difficult to get a reasonable time, so we were happy it was not too bad. Like all upscale restaurants, they take your temperature via the forehead, and each table is partitioned by a plastic partition. Aside from air conditioning, there’s no way for your aerosols to hit another table unless you tried to spit a few feet up. There’s more than enough space between booths, so it was very enjoyable.

Aldea

Sat, 15 Jun 2019 12:31:42 -0400

I’ve never had Portuguese food other than the pastels, so this is the first for me. This special occasion was for a birthday and to try out a different type of cuisine that is largely not as popular as the mainstream French or Asian themed Michelin Star restaurants.

We got the tasting menu with wine pairing. The hosts were very nice in that we mentioned we’d like to just have wine pairing for 1 person and not the other, so that we can share since we’re not big drinkers. The hosts still gave us 2 glasses and poured smaller samples. I am pretty sure if I had the wine pairing to myself, I would be drunk before I reached the end due to my inability to have the enzymes to process alcohol.

Oxomoco

Sun, 30 Dec 2018 23:50:54 -0500

Summary

This apparently received a coveted 1 Michelin Star at this time of writing.

Went here for brunch, and I’d love to go back to try the dinner. Just like Casa Enrique, I find it pretty good but pricey for what you get.

The horchata was tasty, but does not beat those horchata machines back in LA. Also, it was loaded with ice, so the amount of liquid you get is pretty small for $6.

Hirohisa

Sat, 29 Dec 2018 17:05:57 -0500

Summary

Hirohisa apparently has been around for a while, but they just received a Michelin star again this year.

With that in mind, I felt the price point $160 pp for the 9-course tasting + $70 sake pairing was a decent price for splurging for a special someone’s birthday dinner.

Just a note: they do respect some allergy restrictions. My guest had lobster specific allergies, and they were able to accomodate easy. She did not have any rashes or swelling at the end of the night.

Delaware and Hudson

Sun, 16 Sep 2018 22:08:24 -0400

2016 and 2017 Michelin 1 star. Tasting only for dinner. Atlantic food. Fantastic.

Casa Mono

Sun, 16 Sep 2018 14:06:53 -0500

I had stumbled drunk here back in 2018 not realizing it was a Michelin restaurant. Fortunately, it was on our list to come back to have a more proper dinner where our memory would still function. Our friends wanted a taste of a Michelin type of experience, and in lieu of a tasting menu, we opted for a more shareable format. Reservations are fairly easy to come by, so on a Sunday night, the restaurant wasn’t super full at 5 PM. Casa Mono still today maintains 1 Michelin Star.

WD~50

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:59:21 -0500

I first found out about WD~50 from my friend who wanted to try it out for the longest time. On research, I found out one of the Bravo’s Top Chef previous contestant owns this restaurant. His name is Wylie Dufresne. He is well known for pushing a movement towards molecular gastronomy, which is basically a different way to cook things. This 1 Michelin Star restaurant’s menu is pretty sparse in choices in that you basically choose from 2 different types of tasting menus, the cheaper or the more expensive. Optionally, you could order 2 items off any of the tasting menus at the bar for $25. We of course opted for the expensive one considering we have no plans on coming back any time soon.