To call New York a gastronomic Mecca would be an understatement, and much like Hong Kong, the metropolis’ food culture is nothing short of vibrant and progressive. If you find yourself with only a weekend in one of the most diverse food capitals of the world, there have to be elements of bravery and adventure – and gluttony. With new restaurants popping up faster than you can digest your last meal, it’s hard to keep up with what the locals are raving about, so we’ve put together a few of our top picks to ensure a dining itinerary that covers a good portion of the city’s most buzzed-about eateries.

 

Saturday:

9am: Take advantage of your jetlag and head out early to beat the inexorably long queue of pancake gourmands that never fails to wrap around the block outside of Clinton Street Baking Company, a tiny Lower East Side brunch mainstay that serves uninhibited American comfort foods.

While its buttermilk biscuit sandwich with scrambled eggs, melted cheddar, and tomato jam is well worth a sample, what really puts the eatery on the map is its signature pancakes. The blueberry, banana and walnut, and chocolate chip pancakes come not with maple syrup, but golden maple-infused butter.

Clinton Street Baking Company, 4 Clinton Street, Tel: +1 646-602-6263

 

12pm: The eyes of any New York food obsessive will light up at the mentioning of Roberta’s, an artisanal, quintessentially Brooklynite wood-oven pizza joint. The down to earth, wood-paneled and communal tabled restaurant is located in an old garage in a desolate area of Brooklyn filled with warehouses, abandoned factories and lofts, offering a completely different, though equally as New York, experience of dining compared to what you find in Manhattan.

^{Photos: Cleo von Siebenthal}

Roberta’s pies are Neapolitan in inspiration – thin and crisp crusted, with homemade mozzarella and tomato sauce and dozens of toppings to choose from, such as taleggio cheese, yolky eggs, and soppressata. The Famous Original, topped with tomato, mozzarella, caciocavallo, oregano and chilli, is always a safe bet, but if you’re looking for something a little unconventional, go for the Bee Sting, which drizzles a mozzarella, tomato, soppressata and chilli pizza with generous streams of honey. 

Roberta’s, 261 Moore Street, Brooklyn, Tel: +1 718-417-1118

 

7pm: Major Food Group, responsible for Carbone in New York City and its trendy transplant on the ninth floor of LKF Hotel here in Hong Kong, has recently introduced the city to the highly-anticipated Dirty French. While most of the group’s eateries lean heavily on the Italian-American side, the anything-but-subtle restaurant offers funky French-Moroccan cuisine with the same bold, dramatic, and showy elements found at Carbone. As Dirty Dancing-esque 80’s hits play alongside chatter, feast on Chicken and Crepes for Two (think Frenchified Peking duck). The white chicken meat is served alongside herbs and sliced radishes, and comes perched in a skillet filled with its roasting juices. Spread some spicy Dijon mustard, harissa, or sweet apricot preserves on a thin crepe, roll, and eat. You know the drill.   

Dirty French, Ludlow Hotel, 180 Ludlow Street, Tel: +1 212-254-3000

 

Sunday:

10:30am: The fourth generation owners of Russ & Daughters, a 100-year-old Jewish appetizing store and local landmark, have recently opened a restaurant counterpart in the Lower East Side that serves as an ideal place for a classic New York breakfast, as smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels are inarguably one of the main symbols of the city. The menu, though not exactly innovative, features a slew of simple and comforting dishes such as silky smoked fish platters, bagel sandwiches, scrambled eggs folded around slivers of smoked salmon, as well as home-style Jewish staples such as creamy borscht, chopped liver, crispy potato latkes, matzoh brei and knishes.      

Russ & Daughters Café, 127 Orchard Street, Tel: +1 212-475-4881

 

1pm: Up until the summer of this year, finding decent traditional Southern food was a task that required quite a bit of trial, and much error. However, thanks to Top Chef alumni Jeff McInnis and Janine Booth’s Root & Bone, the search for impressive crispy fried chicken, fluffy biscuits and shrimp and grits has come to an end.

The chefs put a modern twist on regional Southern cooking, exemplified by the popular fried chicken and cheddar waffle sandwich filled with pickled green tomato, watercress and whiskey maple syrup (pictured, above). The crispy free range bucket of bird takes chicken and brines it in sweet tea, onions and garlic for a day before coating and deep frying it, sprinkling it with pickled lemon powder and serving it with Tabasco honey and thyme-sprinkled biscuits with honey-sweetened chicken jus.

Root & Bone, 200 East 3^rd Street, Tel: +1 646-682-7076

 

8pm: Bar Primi, a popular spot for late night pasta and cocktails, occupies two dining_stories on a bustling corner in the East Village. Head there with the intent of kicking back a couple of crafty cocktails at one (or both) of the restaurant’s two bars before moving on to small plates and hearty pastas to share. The menu features little more than appetisers and pasta, with one main course a night that changes on a weekly basis.

The pasta selection is divided into “traditional” and “seasonal,” with about a dozen variations of the Italian staple dish. For starters, opt for the liberally tomato sauced meatballs filled with melted fontina cheese, and move on to strozzapreti smothered in a thick and hearty ragu alla bolognese. End the meal with the tiramisu, a light and delectable sweet tooth pleaser made possible by chef Sal Lamboglia’s family recipe.       

Bar Primi, 325 Bowery, Tel: +1 212-220-9100