Sunday, January 13, 2008

Dinner and Dessert in Chelsea

Chelsea is one of the most charming neighborhoods in New York. There's so much one could write about it (the nightclubs, the historic Empire Diner and Hotel Chelsea, the High Line, London Terrace, the legacy of Clement Clarke Moore, so much more) that it deserves many entries, not just one. But should you find yourself, as we did recently, on a pleasant night in Chelsea and are looking for a good dinner and dessert, may I suggest the following:

I haven't had a lot of Vietnamese food so I'm hardly an expert in this cuisine, but you can't do much better than Omai, on 9th Avenue between 19th and 20th streets. The food is exquisite and the prices quite reasonable. We started with some springs rolls, then had a delicious caramelized spare ribs and shrimp and red snapper. The atmosphere is pleasant and the service good. We even had a (very minor) celebrity sighting: Josh Charles from the late, great Sports Night (the guy who wasn't Peter Krause).

For dessert, it's definately worth trekking to Billy's Bakery on 9th Avenue and 21st street. After Magnolia, these are the best cupcakes in NYC. The lines are much shorter at Billy's, plus there's space to sit down inside and outside. Billy's looks like a bakery from a children's book which makes the tough-looking (but very nice) people who work there stand out.

So in an expensive and frenetic neighborhood like Chelsea, these places are pleasant and relatively inexpensive places to go. Enjoy!

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