Westlight is a rooftop bar with sweeping views of Manhattan from atop the 22nd floor of The William Vale hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It is probably one of the best views in New York City.

Westlight possesses a huge terrace with comfortable sofas, nice chairs, and big tables where you can dine on small bites inspired by street food and cooked by Chef Andrew Carmellini. It has also great, yellow binoculars to view Manhattan up close.

Inside the rooftop, there is a small bar decorated with a myriad of alcohol bottles and tables set lounge style. The cocktail menu was pretty good; their Cheeky Cherry Cola was a hit with our kids. It also had a quite long and exhaustive list of spirits, and a good selection of local beers, but most surprising  was their wine list which included some favorites of ours like Pierre Péters Blanc de Blanc, Billecart Salmon Rosé, Bruno Paillard Brut Premier or Krug Grand Cuvée.

We had to talk with the Manager of Westlight, Matthew Sylvester, to understand how Westlight had all these great bottles and found out that he went to Europe last summer to select most of the wines that were on the wine list.

Our group went to Westlight for a drink -- and also, of course, for the view.  We were accompanied by our kids ranging from eight to fourteen years old. They were all delighted by the breathtaking views of Manhattan at dusk.  Initially we did not intend to stay for dinner, but kids being kids, after admiring the great view at length, decided they were starving and were ready for some mighty burgers and French fries.

The food was quite good for street food, from the spicy coconut cashews to the Westlight Burgers, even if it did not come cheap: prices ranged from 8 USD to 21 USD.

Nevertheless, if you have only time for one rooftop bar in New York City, we highly recommend you go to Westlight in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Westlight

111 N 12th St, Brooklyn, NY 11249, USA

Tel : +1 718-307-7100

westlightnyc.com

On October 31st 2018, we had lunch at Gabriel Kreuther's restaurant in New York City, which was an excellent way to kick off the festivities of Halloween.

The restaurant is located at 42^nd Street across from the New York Public Library and Bryant Park. The restaurant itself is beautiful, airy with salvaged-wood beams and design, comfortable furniture.

For our lunch, we opted for the three course menu at 89 USD per person.  The amuse bouche was a brioche with delicious cashew nut hummus and watercress salsa verde, then arrived our entrée, we all had citrus cured local fluke with yuzu yogurt – the wasabi cucumber vinaigrette was light, tasty and savory. Our mains were baked Atlantic turbot; green watch hatchery trout on Cedar Plank, heritage pork tenderloin and charcoal grilled black Angus tenderloin. Each dish was as appealing to the eyes as it was to the palate. After tasting everyone of them, it was clear to us why Gabriel Kreuther is a master cook and saucer. His cooking is highly technical, well balanced and extremely flavorsome.

The desserts -- by Marc Aumont -- sounded traditional and heavy on paper like the Decadent Chocolate & Caramel or Harvest Pear & Caramel, but it was delicate, delicious and surprisingly light. It was the work of a master pastry chef.

 The wine list was incredible and probably one of the best we ever came across in NYC with even a great selection of ciders, which we chose from by selecting Eric Bordelet’s Sydre Argelette served by the top sommelier Philippe Sauriat himself, probably one of the best and most knowledgeable sommeliers working in NYC at the moment.

 The service was very nice, attentive and professional as it should be.

We had the chance to discover Gabriel Kreuther’s cooking ten years ago, in 2008, when he was at the helm of The Modern in MoMA. Now, he is a better chef who took his cooking up a notch or two which has just got him his second Michelin star.  We are very happy for him as, in our opinion, it is well deserved. Congratulations to Gabriel Kreuther and his wonderful team! 

Gabriel Kreuther

41 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036, USA

Tel: 1 212-257-5826

gknyc.com

Atomix is the new restaurant of the Parks, the couple who is also at the helm of the more casual Atoboy.

Everything at Atomix was exclusive: from the unassuming entrance at 104 East 30th Street in New York City to the cocktail bar on the first floor. We were immediately invited to take the stairs down to the lounge where we had some delightful amuse bouches  before eventually taking our seats around the table - a big U-shaped counter that seats 14 guests only. The atmosphere was zen and peaceful, very much unlike other restaurants in New York City usually very noisy and loud.

Once we were at our designed seats, our waiter served our drinks, a sublime bottle of Champagne Blanc de Blanc from Pierre Péters then our Maitre d', Ellia Park herself, presented us with a case filled with beautifully crafted and sophisticated pairs of chopsticks. We had to pick one to use during our meal. Then she gave us a beautiful card that looked like an arty postcard and that gave a lot of details about the dish we were about to be served. Then Mrs Park explained to us in a sweet voice and a serene manner with a soft smile her husband's, Korean chef Junghyun Park, cooking philosophy and the menu which came in ten dishes (Guk, Hwe, Sukchae, Gui, Husik, etc.).

Unlike at Jungsik, where chef Junghyun Park used to be a sous chef, Atomix is pure Korean food with a twist of European favorites such as truffles and caviar. The chef’s meal was like storytelling, each dish was like a chapter with intriguing ingredients and components. Like any story, it is better when it is good, and chef Junghyun Park knows how to tell it with truly refined dishes with a great ending.

The wine list at Atomix is extremely well thought through and ranges from 60 USD to 600 USD. Guests can choose a bottle from France, Europe or the USA, from the Champagne region or Santa Barbara domain, Oregon or the Douro in Portugal. As for us, we opted for an amazing Champagne Blanc de Blanc from Pierre Péters and a bottle of Nebbiolo 2012  from the Clendenen Family vineyards in Santa Maria which turned out to be a little bit too light for our Italian friends' palates, but for us it was a perfect match to the meat dishes prepared by chef Park.

The service by Ellia Park and her team was flawless, professional and smooth.

Atomix was one of the most accomplished and memorable meals we ever had in New York City and one of the best restaurants of 2018 for us so far.  It seems the Michelin guide agrees with us as they just awarded Atomix its first Michelin star - even though, in our opinion, it deserves two.

If you have only time for one high-end restaurant in New York City, do not think twice: go to Atomix! Yes, it is expensive and you must book - and pay - in advance, but it is worth it.

Atomix

104 East 30th Street (Park Avenue South & Lexington Avenue)

New York, New York 10016

www.atomixnyc.com

Stücki is the beautiful restaurant of Tanja Grandits in Basel, Switzerland. On our weekend in Basel, we decided to go eat there because it has two stars in the Michelin guide.

Stücki hotel and restaurant is located on the hill north west of Basel, the area is quiet, residential and bourgeois.

We arrived by the tram 15 that stopped just in front of the restaurant, we climbed a few stairs in order to enter in the restaurant which at first glance seemed very spacious, and indeed it is with four separate areas plus a nice terrace for summer lunch and dining.

Tanja Grandits is supposed to be one of the most creative chefs working in Switzerland and that was one of our criteria for selecting her restaurant. For our dinner, we chose the menu Aroma served in eight courses.  The first four dishes were very good, tasty and originals, the chef seems to excel in sweet and sour savors, but unfortunately the last four dishes were disappointing. The vegetables and the veal were too salty, and for the finale, the dessert was not what we would expect of a two-star restaurant.

The wine list was very impressive as it should be for a restaurant like Stücki. Our French-speaking host and sommelier did a very good job in selecting three different and original wines for us.  

The service was impeccable.

Overall, our dinner at Stücki was like watching an exciting film with a bad ending. Very surprising for a seasoned chef like Tanja Grandits to deliver such an inconsistent performance.

Tanja Grandits

Restaurant Stücki

Bruderholzallee 42

CH-4059 Basel

www.tanjagrandts.ch

Senzanome in Brussels means “Without a Name” in Italian; it is considered one of the fifty best Italian restaurants in Europe and one of the high dining venues in Belgium.

At Littleboboon, we are very wary of high-end Italian gastronomy as we usually find it overrated, or at least we did so until last March when we went to have lunch at Lumen in Milano where chef Luigi Taglienti dazzled us with his cooking. So we went to Senzanome with mixed feelings, hoping that Giovanni Bruno's  level of cooking would match Lumen's.

For our dinner, we opted for the “Degustation”menu in seven courses. Our hopes were high after the first four dishes: we had to admit they were pretty good indeed, we thought that at last Giovanni Bruno and his team deserved their one-star at the Michelin Guide.

Unfortunately, just as we had experienced at Marc Fosh restaurant in Mallorca, the following dishes broke our appetite and feelings: the fish was too salty, the desserts were mundane and pretty bad, definitely not up to the standards of a high-end restaurant.

The restaurant itself is beautiful, stylish and well located in the area of le Petit Sablon in Brussels.

The service, very cold and a little bit snob when we arrived, started to loosen up halfway through the meal and eventually became more relaxed -- our Maitre d' even cracked a smile on our way out.

The wine list was very good with a great selection of Italian wines and a decent offer of by-the-glass.
Irregularities are the traps and weaknesses of some chefs. As human beings we understand that chefs cannot always be at the top but as patrons we can hardly tolerate that they spoil our dinner.

In our opinion, Senzanome had better step up their game if they want to keep their star in the Michelin Guide.

Senzanome

Address : Place du Petit Sablon, 1

1000 Brussels

Belgium

Tel :+32 2 223 16 17

www.senzanome.be