Chef Dispatch: Scott Conant's Guide to NYC [Watch]

Hannah Walhout
·2 min read

On location in New York, a TRAVEL + LEISURE World's Best Award winner.

According to Scott Conant, "nobody moves to New York for the lifestyle." So why did this chef, who's been hard at work building a west coast restaurant network, return to the city after a decade away to work on his latest project? "You're here because you want to get ahead," he says, speaking from the pristine Gramercy dining room of his new restaurant Fusco. "You want to excel, you want to exceed, you want to be the best that you can be."

Here are some other spots Conant says are exceeding and excelling in NYC right now.

Taïm

Conant's pal, Chef Einat Admony started this Israeli street food spot with her husband back in 2005. "It's just an awesome falafel," says Conant. "One of the things I love is just her respect towards product and towards the craft. It's just a happy place, serving happy food, served by happy people. It's perfect."

Taïm West Village, 222 Waverly Place, 212-691-1287

Taïm Nolita, 45 Spring Street, 212-219-0600

ABC Cocina

This buzzy spot inside ABC Carpet & Home is from the wild imagination of Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Conant says he admires "all things Jean-Georges...the guy has the broadest culinary vocabulary, I think, that there is." What to order? "The arroz con pollo at ABC Cocina really just hits that comforting spot for me," says Conant. "It has crispy chicken skin on top of it. It's just always the perfect bite."

ABC Cocina, 38 East 19th Street, 212-475-5829

Bar Veloce

Conant actually helped develop the concept of this wine bar favorite years ago. "I'll sit at the bar and just order a panino and have a glass of wine," he says. "The food is always really good." Keep an eye out for their special barrel-aged negroni, which takes at least thirty days to prepare. Says Conant, "I like to think that it just smooths out the edges. It's perfect."

Bar Veloce East Village, 175 2nd Avenue, 212-260-3200

Bar Veloce Chelsea, 176 7th Avenue, 212-629-5300

Bar Veloce Greenwich Village, 146 Houston Street, 212-253-9500