This may not do much for future readers of this thread, but I'd suggest catching a recent episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations (Travel Channel). The episode is entitled "Disappearing Manhattan" and first aired about a week or so ago.
Here's a quote from Anthony Bourdain's blog:
Most -- if not all -- of the places featured on this episode are dinosaurs, among the last of mostly extinct herds who, once long ago, ruled New York's concrete jungle. But these remaining eateries, though perhaps no longer "culturally relevant," and certainly not "hip" -- and about as far from "trendy" or "hot" as anything could be, are in fact what make New York special.
Read the full blog post here.
And here's a list of the old places he visited (and highly recommends) along with a quote from the show:
Manganaro’s (with Michael Lomonaco of Porter House)
"Preserves that wonderful time of hope, boundless optimism, and completely unfashionable old-school red-sauce Italian-American in a completely non-ironic, handmade, homemade old-school way."
Keens (with Josh Ozersky)
"You really can’t do it any better or more authentic than Keens, a place that goes right back to the old-school all-male world of beefsteak parties, political power built around beef, and bloody aprons and smoke-filled rooms."
Russ & Daughters (with Joel Rose)
"It’s all about the lox, and about the original product: herring. Herring and cream sauce. It’s all about sweet and sour salty goodness. Who invented this combination [bagel, cream cheese, and lox]? There should be a giant statue of them at the door."
Katz’s (with Joel Rose)
"You only need to walk over to the counter, take a long lingering look at that heap of steaming pastrami, corned beef and brisket, take a deep breath, and you’ll remember again what it means to be alive, to be proud to be a New Yorker … Is it morally okay to eat a pastrami sandwich with a fork? No. It should be kind of squirting out the side."
Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop (with Famous Fat Dave)
"Continuous service of these fine [lime rickeys and egg creams] for 70 years, sublime tuna salad on white, and prices that are pretty much along 1985 lines. But most important, this is not some lame-o Johnny Rockets recreation, this is the real thing."
Schaller & Weber and Heidelberg (with Famous Fat Dave)
"Schweinshaxe, the crispy and terrifyingly proportioned pork shank. Tender, delicious, falling off the freaking bone. Even the acoustics are a joy. Irony sucks; this is just good."
Hop Kee (with Chris Cheung of China 1)
"They still got the good old stuff at this place — the gooey faux Cantonese I can’t help but be sentimental about."
Le Veau D’or (with Michael Batterby of Food Arts)
"The menu is a journey through the past through dishes that were old even when I was a kid. The owner takes the reservations, hangs your coat, pours your drink, takes your order, and carves tableside. You gotta love this."
Sophie’s (with Nick Tosches)
"I don’t want no wide screens, high-fiving white guys, no fauxhawks or gel heads or hot chicks with douchebags. I don’t want anything on the jukebox that will distract an old gentleman such as myself from drinking the heart right out of the afternoon if I should choose to do so … Where can a guy get a drink when the last gin mill closes down, when there’s nothing less but the fern bar or the lounge, when the barkeep has been replaced by the mixologist?"
EDIT: PS - Sorry for not following your pre-defined format for listings. Maybe someone else can fill in the phone numbers and addresses and such.
[ Edited by: GatorRob 2009-03-03 10:04 ]
