MadParkNews.com, covering New York City's Madison Square Park & Flatiron

New York Magazine’s Grub Street has published their Platt 101 best restaurants in New York City, and the Madison Square Park/Flatiron/Gramercy dominated the top of the list:

#1) Eleven Madison Park: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=1

#5) Craft: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=5×00002

#6) Gramercy Tavern: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=6×00101

#16) ABC Kitchen: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=16×00091

#21) Gotham Bar and Grill: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=21×00086

#30) Maialino: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=30×00077

#32) Union Square Cafe: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=32×00075

#35) Aldea: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=32×00075

#37) The Breslin: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=37×00070

#40) Eataly: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=40×00067

#42) Blue Hill: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=42×00065

#61) Ciano: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=61×00046

#62) Veritas: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=62×00045

#74) Casa Mono: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=74×00032

#79) Junoon: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=79×00008

#80) ilili: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=80×00009

#92) Otto Enoteca: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2011/12/new-york-city-101-best-restaurants.html#photo=92×00021

Bloomberg.com’s food critic Richard Vines just announced his top 10 New York City restaurants, and 3 of them are right here in the Madison Square Park area. The Breslin (20 West 29th Street), Gramercy Tavern (42 East 20th Street), and Eleven Madison Park (11 Madison Avenue) all made the list, with a mention as well to Stumptown for their coffee. Congrats!

See the full list and read the reviews at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-20/top-10-ny-restaurants-from-plucky-breslin-to-classy-per-se-richard-vines.html.

The ‘Let Us Eat Local’ tasting event is tonight at the Altman Building (135 West 18th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue) and features some of the cities best restaurants including neighborhood favorites ABC Kitchen, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Hill,and Pure Food and Wine. The organization “connects rural and urban communities and provides them with the training and tools to create a thriving local food system.”

Read more about the event at http://www.justfood.org/events.

Here is the restaurant list at Let Us Eat Local 2011:

ABC Kitchen
Almond
Angelica Kitchen
Aureole
Back Forty
BLT Bar & Grill
Blue Hill
Butter
Candle 79
Cookshop / Five Points / Da Silvano
dell’anima & L’Artusi
Dirt Candy
Dovetail
ESCA
Gramercy Tavern
Great Performances
Hundred Acres
Jimmy’s No. 43
Lot 2
Northern Spy Food Company
Palo Santo
Print Restaurant
Pure Food and Wine
Rose Water
Rouge Tomate
Sweet Deliverance
Telepan
The Fat Radish
The Green Table / The Cleaver Co.
The Harrison
The Spotted Pig
Untitled at the Whitney

The James Beard award nominees for 2011 have been announced and include a few Madison Square Park/Flatiron area restaurants and chefs. Best New Restaurant: ABC Kitchen (35 East 18th St) is nominated for this prestigious award. Outstanding Pastry Chef: Angela Pinkerton of Eleven Madison Park (11 Madison Avenue) is a nominee Outstanding Restaurant: Eleven Madison [...]

It’s that time of year again where the pressure builds on couples and daters to do something for Valentine’s Day, and MadParkNews.om is here with a roundup of special restaurant offerings in the Flatiron and Madison Square Park neighborhoods.

* Ainsworth (122 West 26 street): special Valentine’s Day menu. See menu items. 212-741-0645
* Almond (12 East 22nd street between Broadway and Park): 2nd annual, four-course pomegranate Valentine’s Day menu for $55. See menu. 212-228-7557
* Asellina (420 Park Ave South inside the new Gansevoort Park Hotel): Normal menu with some specials, but they will also have a diamond jeweler on hand in their library, serving up champagne. Read more. 212-317-2908.
* Bocca Restaurant (39 East 19th street between Broadway and park Avenue): $65 special menu. See menu. 212-387-1200
* Boqueria (53 West 19th St): special menu for Valentine’s Day where for $75 per person you will get a cava toast and the following tasting menu. 212-255-4160
* City Bakery (3 West 18th Street just off of 5th Avenue): grab a cup of their Love Potion hot chocolate, which is part of the City Bakery Hot Chocolate Festival.
* Eleven Madison Park (11 Madison Avenue): Valentine’s Day Tasting menu for $325 per person. Read more. 212-889-0905
* 40/40 Club (25th Street and Broadway): $60 special menu plus some VIP packages. See menu. 212-832-4040
* Gramercy Tavern (42 E 20th St): Pastry Chef Nancy Olson will create delicious heart-shaped chocolates filled with passion fruit white chocolate ganache and a praline crunch. Read more here. 212-477-0777
* ilili (236 5th Avenue): 5 courses and a complimentary glass of La Caravelle champagne for $75. See the ilili Valentine’s menu. 212-683-2929
* Jazz Standard (116 East 27th Street under Blue Smoke): Live music from Mingus Dynasty plus special guest Carolyn Leonhart playing two shows (at 7:30 and 9:30 PM- both $25). See video and buy tickets.
* Junoon (27 West 24th Street between 5th Avenue and 6th Avenue): special Valentine’s menu for $85 per person with an optional $60 wine pairing of “romantic wines from around the world”. See menu. 212-490-2100
* Kellaris (36 East 20th St. between Broadway & Park Avenue): 4-course prix fixe for $65. Plus, get engaged during dinner and win free meals for life. Read more here. 212-777-8448
* Les Halles (411 Park Avenue South between 28th & 29th Streets): they will have the normal menu plus a selection of specials for the day. See specials. 212-679-4111
* Pranna (79 Madison at 28th Street): “Pranna Sutra” prix fixe dinner, with their signature “Pranna Sutra” cocktail or a glass of champagne plus two appetizers, two large plates and a chocolate molten cake served with berries for $85 per couple. 212-696-5700
* SD26 (19 East 26th Street between 5th and Madison Avenue) features a 4course prix fixe menu plus coffee for $90. See menu. 212-265-5959

Gramercy Tavern (42 E 20th St) Pastry Chef Nancy Olson will create delicious heart-shaped chocolates filled with passion fruit white chocolate ganache and a praline crunch. These will be available to guests in the dining room on the petit fours plate at the end of the meal.

When most people think of the Flatiron’s Gramery Tavern restaurant, they think about some of the best food in the city. They also think about the price, which starts at $86 in the dining room. But the front room ‘Tavern’ offers surpringly affordable, yet impeccably-cooked meals in a slightly more social and casual environment.