IT’S NEVER BEEN EASIER to make a restaurant reservation: Tap around a few times on Resy, OpenTable, or Tock, and you’re set. Bon appétit. But everyone knows there are additional, better reservations to claim, provided you have some clout or a cool job or know someone who knows someone, at restaurants that are unbearably exclusive—and meticulously designed for mass appeal. There’s 4 Charles Prime Rib, the closet-size West Village steakhouse with tufted leather seats and $40 French dips. There’s Ralph Lauren’s blue-blooded Polo Bar, where a Waldorf salad is on the menu and Howard Stern may well be sitting in the corner. There’s Don Angie, the TikTok-beloved ode to rolled lasagna, and Via Carota, where Taylor Swift recently toasted a breakup. There’s the Caliguladoes-Vegas fantasia that is Bad Roman, there’s Torrisi, and there is, above all else, Carbone.
Carbone is a place on the planet Earth— in fact, it’s a handful of places, with outposts in Dallas, Hong Kong, and elsewhere—but the original restaurant on Thompson Street may as well be Narnia. Unlike other secret pockets of the city, which are sequestered from the masses, Carbone is right there. It has a giant neon sign! While it lost its Michelin star last year, its spicy rigatoni vodka is by all accounts as creamy as ever, and the restaurant remains the archetype for a never-ending red-sauce revival. Carbone does accept reservations via Resy. I tried the other week and, with surprising ease, managed to find a table for two at 11:15 p.m. on a Wednesday.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
A Wonk in Full- Ezra Klein, glowed-up and post-coup, was almost a celebrity at the convention.
Ezra Klein, glowed-up and post-coup, was almost a celebrity at the convention. Ezra Klein, who is known to keep his passions in check, did not have the right credentials to get into the arena. The Secret Service didn't recognize the New York Times' star "Opinion" writer and podcaster, but eventually he was able to figure out how to get in to where he belonged. This was, after all, as much his convention as any journalist's, since its high-energy optimism turned on the fact that President Joe Biden was no longer leading the ticket and, starting early this year, Klein had led the coup drumbeat.
The Afterlife of Donald Trump - The presidential hopeful contemplates his campaign, his formidable new opponent, and the miracle of his continued existence.
Donald Trump raised his right hand and grabbed hold of it. He bent it backward and forward. I asked if I could take a closer look. These days, the former president and current triple threat-convicted felon, Republican presidential nominee, and recent survivor of an assassination attempt-comes from a place of yes. He waved me over to where he sat on this August afternoon, in a low-to-the-ground chair upholstered in cream brocade fabric in the grand living room at Mar-a-Lago.
Danzy Senna Can't Stop Thinking in Black and White
Her latest novel holds diminishing returns.
Live, Laugh, Love
Dick jokes meet sentimentality in a wily Sandler-Safdie collab.
Tim Burton Is Great Again
A long-awaited sequel revels in gore and nostalgia.
In the Shack With Robert Caro
The Power Broker is turning 50. The final LBJ book is almostwell, he won't say exactly, but he's trying for 900 words a day.
24 Comedians You Should Know RIGHT NOW
THE COMEDY industry is undergoing a metamorphosis in 2024. Name-brand venues like the Second City and UCB are opening or reopening in New York, beloved local spots are being bought out by megacorporations, and streaming-service-helmed comedy festivals are usurping the old-fashioned ones. Post-WGA strike, TV-development execs are growing green-light-shy, Hulu is entering the stand-up fray, and YouTube specials are becoming just as worthy of watching as Netflix specials, if not more so.
Leading Lady
Anna Sawai could take home the Emmy for her performance in Shogun. But she's keeping her cool.
RESTAURANT REVIEW: Le Même Veau
The Frenchette crew has taken over the 87-year-old restaurant, and the snails are as garlicky and the duck as pink as ever.
DESIGN HUNTING: A LOFT WITH A HIGHER PURPOSE
Ali Richmond, co-founder of the nonprofit Fashion for All Foundation, has lived in this Brooklyn loft for almost 20 years with his archive of designer clothing.