Where to Find Family-Style Dining, and More Reader Questions
The New York Times Looking for nonalcoholic drinks beyond seltzer? Youre in luck.
Unofficial summer is officially underway. Im looking forward to eating outdoors as much as humanly possible before it gets unbearably hot. (Im a summer agnostic.) That said, its reader question time and, as usual, my inbox was full of thoughtful and fun requests, including where to go for large-format dining, where to find carciofi alla giudia (Jewish-style artichokes) and where to have great nonalcoholic drinks.
As always, please email your questions to [email protected], and you may see them answered in a future newsletter.
Duck, Pig or Sea Bass?
One of our favorite things to do with friends is to go out to eat where fixed-menu, family-style dining is offered. We recently ate at Momofuku Ssam Bar for the pork shoulder dinner. Can you recommend some other restaurants that offer this type of experience? Joy W.
Francie, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, has a whole roast duck for $135 thats presented with various flora before its carved up. Its definitely worth ordering if you can afford it, especially for the soppressata jam that, I agree with Pete Wells, is good enough to lick off a stack of junk mail. Peasant, in NoLIta, will serve you a family-style whole pig roast with antipasti, sides and dessert for $125 per person, given at least four days notice and provided there are six or more people in your party. And Monsieur Vo, in the East Village, has a few big-format dishes, including a whole sea bass thats market-price, and the Monsieur Platter ($48), which includes four types of meat skewers with the option to add more, as well as sides like vermicelli and roasted peanuts that you then assemble into your own bites. We call that fun with food.
