Mother’s Day Gift Guide 2024: Top New York Restaurant Gift Certificates

Dinner out is always a welcome gift and it’s an even better one for mothers who stay up to date on New York’s restaurant scene and want to try the ones most in demand. Getting those top tables is tough, though, even if you follow to the second the advice on the booking platform Resy about when reservations drop. (Part of the gift, then, might also be handling the reservation process instead of leaving it to your mom. )

Having an American Express Platinum Card or two others may help through Global Dining Access since American Express owns Resy. Walk-ins for bar seats and lunch instead of dinner can yield results. But the best way to get these reservations is to download the TableOne app which is available for Apple phones (the Android app is due this summer.) The app’s founders Tarek Arafat and Frank Besson developed software that scans reservations platforms’ systems, pings an alert to users immediately when tables open (much faster than Resy’s Notify which might never,) and links to your own Resy account to book it. Whenever you check your TableOne account, you see a lineup of reservations that are available at that moment including many of those regarded as impossible and you can set an alert to find one on certain days and times. (You’ll be given an honest appraisal of your chances of getting it.) The app is also free-a pay what you wish aspect is coming- and it’s due to expand to other cities.

I Sodi The legion of fans of this West Village restaurant that opened in 2008 were hoping that a move around the corner from its original shoebox to a larger space with a garden would make getting a reservation easier. No such luck. Rita Sodi’s love letter to her upbringing on a farm north of Florence spotlighting exemplary ingredients in perfectly executed Tuscan classics such as rabbit roasted in pancetta with rosemary and garlic and a very rich lasagna composed of a dozen thin layers still elicits lines of people waiting on the street for the restaurant’s opening every night.

Via Carota

Sodi and wife/fellow chef Jody Williams are partners in this equally in demand Italian restaurant down the street (even more so after Taylor Swift and Bradley Cooper were photographed there) which also takes its woodsy, rustic look from another previous Sodi home, a 17^th century villa in the Tuscan hills. (There’s also outdoor dining on the street.) Seemingly simple preparations are elevated here, such as the specialty green salad with five types of greens, Dijon mustard, thyme and honey and Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe along with a large selection of seasonal vegetable dishes and meatier ones such as the hand chopped grassfed steak Svizzerina.

TATIANA, By Kwame Onwuachi

An immediate hit since opening in November 2022 and #1 in the New York Times list of the Best Restaurants in New York the last two years, this Caribbean/West African/Creole mélange is, according to chef Onwuachi, an homage to the culinary cultural threads in his background and in the city. That translates to dishes such as Tuna Kitfo with Yuzu, Ricotta and Shrimp Chicharron and Mom Duke’s Shrimp with Creole Butter and Brioche.

Café Carmellini

This grand, Gilded Age room in a mansion of similar vintage in NoMad serves an elevated menu of some Italian, some French preparations that serve as a distillation of chef Andrew Carmellini’s broad based career. It’s a serious sweep: from the kitchens of Paris’ Arpège and New York’s Café Boulud to his New York cafes Locanda Verde, Lafayette, Bar Primi and others and it shows in a distinctive blend of influences. Standout dishes include Shrimp Colonnata, Duck-Duck-Duck Tortellini, Oysters à la Pomme and Red Snapper ‘Meunière.’ Reservations have also become somewhat easier here since the restaurant recently opened for lunch.

Carbone

It doesn’t matter that this glamorized version of an old school, red sauce Italian restaurant opened in 2013 or that it has now spawned descendants around the world, this dark, downtown spot is still a celebrity magnet. For that reason and decidedly luxe versions of familiar classic dishes such as Veal Parmesan, Spicy Rigatoni Vodka and Assorted Baked Clams, it’s still a highly desirable table. It may not be as dark and dramatic during the day, but, like other places, it’s easier to get in at lunch.

Torrisi Bar & Restaurant

The latest restaurant from Rich Torrisi, Mario Carbone and Jeff Zalaznick, the partners also behind Carbone, opened in late 2022 on the same street in Nolita where the trio launched their first, Torrisi Italian Specialties, in 2009. Apart from a few updated repeats from that menu, though, it’s a very different place. The menu mixes Italian classics such as Tortellini Pomodoro, spins on other classics such as Linguine in a Pink Manhattan Clam Sauce and Dover Sole Francese and excursions into other New York cuisines with a chopped chicken liver parfait, Vietnamese flavors in Octopus Nha Trang and Capellini Cantonese with Lobster.

COTE Korean Steakhouse

This Michelin starred Korean barbecue/steakhouse in Flatiron offers a sublime selection of prime and Wagyu beef aged in house. You can order a la carte from a sizeable selection including American Wagyu Ribeye, USDA Prime Hanger Steak and reserve cuts such as Kagoshima Prefecture Tenderloin but to get the full effect, bring a few friends and order the Butcher’s Feast of four different cuts grilled at the table along with a selection of salads, stews and pickled vegetables. Walk-ins can also go to the downstairs speakeasy Undercote where there is a smaller selection of steaks and seafood (but not the Feast.)

Don Angie

This unconventional West Village Italian restaurant from married chefs Angie Rito and Scott Tacinelli opened in 2017, introducing diners to a salad with Chrysanthemum, Garlic, Sesame and Parmesan where a Caesar Salad might have been, Garganelli with Broken Meatball Ragu and Guanciale and ovals of Lasagna with Italian Sausage Bolognese that immediately graced Instagram pages. But their idiosyncratic dishes have vivid flavors that match the visuals.

San Sabino

The success of Don Angie led to the duo’s opening of this Italian American seafood focused restaurant in March across the street. And, like their original, it was an immediate hit for dishes such as Shrimp Parm with Sweet & Sour Arrabbiata, Sheep Ricotta Gnudi with Peanut Agrodolce, Clementine and Mint and Wild Langoustines with New Orleans Scampi Butter.

Sailor

The fans of April Bloomfield dating back to her stint at The Spotted Pig and restaurateur Gabriel Stulman from his West Village restaurants Joseph Leonard and Jeffrey’s Grocery were the immediate devotees of this small restaurant in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene. But then the word got out about Bloomfield’s earthy but elevated cooking in dishes such as Half Roasted Chicken with Dried Herb Butter and Parmesan Roasted Potatoes, Bass with Sunchokes and Vermouth Cream and Ginger Cake with Vanilla Cream. Gabriel Stulman was reluctant to include the restaurant because with only a 20 seat dining room for reservations, he didn’t want people to be disappointed. But I have seen cancellations for Wednesday-Friday lunch pop up on Resy and there are seats for walk-ins in the Bar Room.

Roscioli

In Rome, this restaurant group’s Salumeria always has lines out the door, a phenomenon repeated in the location in Soho that opened last year. Roman classica are spotlighted here available in a four course plus cheese and dessert tasting menu in the subterranean level and the casual trattoria/salumeria at street level. The flavors are lively and immensely satisfying in dishes such as Caponata, Tuna Crudo with onions and Calabrian chili, the pasta Mezze Maniche Amatriciana, crispy, juicy Porchetta and Roman Meatballs with Polenta. And with the recent introduction of a three course prix fixe lunch, it’s now somewhat easier to get in.