In Search of History on a Plate By SAM SIFTON

December 30, 2010
In Search of History on a Plate By SAM SIFTON

History buffs and first-time visitors had questions this week. Send me your own dining queries via dinejournal@nytimes.com or Twitter.com/samsifton.

Q. My partner and I are students of history, particularly New York City during the World War II years. I’m a native New Yorker, so I actually got to eat at the last Automat in the city on 42nd Street and Third Avenue before it closed. I would love to take my partner to eat at a place that hasn’t changed much, in both atmosphere and cuisine, since the 1940s. Any places you recommend around the city that would satisfy our curiosity?

A. Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop, on Fifth Avenue between 22nd and 23rd Streets, ought to fit the bill nicely. It’s been in business since the late 1920s and has in its service, atmosphere and sandwiches something of what I imagine you’re looking for: history on a plate. Egg salad with bacon on rye, with a fountain Coke, and you’ll find yourself slipping back through the years.

When this question was posted on the Diner’s Journal blog of The New York Times, readers chimed in with their suggestions:

My father’s first meal in the U.S. when the war ended was at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal. I understand they had a fire sometime since, but they rebuilt it exactly as it was. I had the great fortune of eating there with him two decades ago, and he said it looked exactly the same. After my father died, my mother would visit my sister in New York at Thanksgiving, and I would come up from Philly that Friday for a lunch there in his honor. After my mother died, my sister and I continued the tradition. — JANA, Philadelphia

Sam, the must-have Eisenberg’s item is a chocolate egg cream. You are missing out if you haven’t tried it. — BodegaVendetta, New York

Why not have breakfast or lunch at Barney Greengrass? It’s been there forever (as have the Formica counters). and it is a real piece of New York history. Plus, the smoked fish is excellent. — rts, New York

Q. My 16-year-old niece and a school friend, both from London, will be staying with me in Greenwich Village over a weekend in February. Both are low key, sporty and fairly unhip. Where would you suggest that I take them for a Saturday evening meal? Thank you very much for your ideas.

A. Take them to Mary’s Fish Camp and introduce them to America. Or go to Otto for fancy pizza. (You could go to Arturo’s for old-school, not-fancy pizza, instead: deeply unhip.) Maybe Bianca on Bleecker Street? And cute little Jean Claude on Sullivan Street for Saturday night.

Q. What Italian restaurant would you recommend in the city for a family of 10 for dinner? We have eaten at Alto, Convivio, Al di Là, Il Mulino, Del Posto, Pó, Lupa and Babbo. Price is not an issue.

A. That’s a good position in which to find yourself! Make a reservation at Scarpetta and see how you do. Scott Conant’s the chef, a pasta wizard out of Waterbury, Conn., who cooked at Alto and L’Impero before he had a falling out with Chris Cannon, an owner of those restaurants, who then hired the chef Michael White for both properties, made one of them Convivio and, with Mr. White, opened Marea, which you should also totally try except that, well, it’s a long story spooling itself out right now in lawyers’ offices at around $700 an hour. Go to Scarpetta. Black tagliolini with lobster and minted bread crumbs!

Q. I’m coming to New York for the first time from Australia for a week at the end of January. While I can’t wait to try out some of the food experiences I’ve been reading about all these years, I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed by choice. Can you suggest some quintessential dining experiences for a first-timer? Despite the great state of the Aussie dollar at the moment, and because I’ll be traveling alone, I’ll probably steer clear of the high-end restaurants this time. I’m looking to spend no more than $60 a meal at the top end for dinner and will be staying in the East Village. I’m up for just about anything.

A. First time in the big town, eh? You could never leave the East Village and do well by Jack’s Luxury Oyster Bar and Momofuku Ssam Bar. You should certainly have a lunch at Katz’s. Perhaps you should spend one evening tucked into a meal (and the crowd) at the Spotted Pig. Up in Midtown I like the idea of a newcomer experiencing the scene at P. J. Clarke’s. And here is one thing you should do, for sure: walk across the Brooklyn Bridge in the afternoon wearing something decent under your coat, so that you can have an early drink at the River Café before walking back to have dinner in Chinatown, at Oriental Garden.



Old Favorites and New Discoveries

ARTURO’S 106 West Houston Street, at Thompson Street, West Village; .

BARNEY GREENGRASS 541 Amsterdam Avenue, at 86th Street; (212) 724-4707, barneygreengrass.com.

BIANCA 5 Bleecker Street, between Bowery and Elizabeth Streets, Greenwich Village; (212) 260-4666, biancanyc.com.

EISENBERG’S SANDWICH SHOP 174 Fifth Avenue, between 22nd and 23rd Streets, Flatiron district; (212) 675-5096.

JACK’S LUXURY OYSTER BAR 101 Second Avenue, at Sixth Street, East Village; (212) 979-1012.

JEAN CLAUDE 137 Sullivan Street, between Prince and West Houston Streets, SoHo; (212) 475-9232.

KATZ’S DELICATESSEN 205 East Houston Street, between Ludlow and Orchard Streets, Lower East Side; (212) 254-2246, katzdeli.com.

MAREA 240 Central Park South; (212) 582-5100, marea-nyc.com.

MARY’S FISH CAMP 64 Charles Street, at West Fourth Street, West Village; (646) 486-2185, marysfishcamp.com.

MOMOFUKU SSAM BAR 207 Second Avenue, at 13th Street, East Village; (212) 777-7773, momofuku.com/ssam-bar.

ORIENTAL GARDEN 14 Elizabeth Street, between Bayard and Canal Streets, Chinatown; (212) 619-0085, orientalgardenny.com.

OTTO One Fifth Avenue, between East Eighth Street and Washington Mews, Greenwich Village; (212) 995-9559, ottopizzeria.com.

OYSTER BAR Grand Central Terminal (lower level); (212) 490-6650, oysterbarny.com.

P. J. CLARKE’S 915 Third Avenue, at 55th Street, Manhattan; (212) 317-1616, pjclarkes.com.

RIVER CAFE 1 Water Street, at the East River, Dumbo, Brooklyn; (718) 522-5200, rivercafe.com.

SCARPETTA 355 West 14th Street, meatpacking district; (212) 691-0555, scottconant.com/restaurants/scarpetta/new-york.

SPOTTED PIG 314 West 11th Street, West Village; (212) 620-0393, thespottedpig.com.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: December 31, 2010

An earlier version of this article misidentified Grand Central Terminal.