Sometimes a fellow just can't avoid going to fancy restaurants

     I don't live in New York City and am neither rich nor a foodie. Yet I've been to four of "The 100 Best Restaurants in NYC/2026" just laid out Sunday by the New York Times.
     And I kinda dig that.
     I hope this isn't pure vanity — there's too much of that going around — but a laudable embrace of enriching life experiences. I don't seek out high-end dining establishments. But, given my circle, they sometimes find me.
     While I realize I'm writing about Manhattan eateries that most Chicagoans can't go to, the truth is that 99% of Times readers won't eat there either. There's a pleasure in reading about grub, or should be. The Sun-Times no longer has a restaurant critic. So I'm happy to step up and fill the void, occasionally.Opinion bug
     The circumstances that placed me inside No. 14 on the Times list, Kono, in Chinatown, are more impressive than the meal itself. My son wanted to thank me for being such a great dad, agreeing to help him pack up his apartment and drive his wife and newborn to Washington, D.C.
     The Times description begins like a Kurosawa movie: "Fire in darkness. This is one of the most seductive dining rooms in town. Chicken, ubiquitous and underestimated, is the focus of the yakitori omakase here, which proceeds from soul-cleansing broth to bronzed skin, pulverized livers, crunchy gizzards and creamy testicles..."
     "Omakase" is Japanese for "you-eat-what-you-get." Nothing as plebian as ordering off a menu. I don't remember any creamy testicles. Maybe the shipment didn't come in. The place served a lot of small food, delivered with a flourish. Dining at Kono is like watching close-up magic tricks where you eat the props.
     The second restaurant, No. 48, abcV, is noteworthy for being inside a ... I wanted to call it a "carpet store," but that's like calling Tiffany's a ring shop. ABC Carpet & Home store on East 19th Street is a place... well, here is how I described it in 2020:
     "New York interior space is given to weird combinations: kitchens with bathtubs in them, living rooms with sleep platforms. abcV is Jean-Georges' vegetarian restaurant inside ABC Carpet, whose prosaic name belies a sprawling pillow and silverware emporium for Manhattan's money set. A large, white room, filled with beautiful people. Friendly, attentive service. None of the pretension radiating off their mission statement: 'Plant based, non GMO, sustainable, artisanal and organic whenever possible. Locally and globally from small & family farms. abcV is here to serve, inform and inspire a cultural shift towards plant based intelligence, through creativity and deliciousness....'"
     And liberals wonder why red staters hate us. ("...every piece of lettuce is flawless," the Times gushes. Really? Every piece? How would they know? Did they check? Maybe they assume that, at $20 for "crunchy gem lettuce," it had better be perfect.)

To continue reading, click here.