Café 79 Under New Ownership

I felt bad cheating on Gracie Mews, our favorite weekend eggstop at First and 81st, but sometimes you just gotta change things up. And every time I’ve walked past Café 79 since it re-opened, it’s been buzzing. The hubs and I decided to give it a try this past Saturday.

Café 79 is at the corner of 79th and 1st and re-opened under new ownership in November. Though it was packed and a line was quickly forming behind us, we got a seat pretty quickly. And what a handsome seat, especially for a diner – leather-ish and geometrical. In fact, the décor here is a great improvement. A real orchid greets you at the front, colorful glass tile serves as a backdrop to the counter, and the lighting fixtures are contemporary.

The new owner tells me they were aiming to modernize the space and brighten it up. They put a lot of effort into how it looks and you can tell. But he says that, mostly, they’re focusing on the food, using fresh, high-quality ingredients.

Sometimes it can be difficult to focus, in New York restaurants. I love all the hustle bustle but I also get distracted by it. I noticed that all four diners beside us ordered steak and eggs (14.95). I noticed that the place was teaming with couples, mostly dressed in black. There was an adorable (and vocal) baby next to us with a picture of a puppy sewn onto the derriere of her pink pants. I noticed that there were whole wheat griddle cakes on the menu and attractive bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on every table…

Anyway, I finally buckled down to the business of breakfast and ordered an Omelette with avocado, Swiss, and bacon, which I enjoyed. The potatoes on the side contained green peppers and therefore were not to my taste. I’m sure many people don’t mind these little green intruders, but I prefer my potatoes with just spices, some onions of course an ample dose of grease.

My husband liked his Italian Omelette, which contained sausage, pepper, tomato, and mozzarella. But we mostly enjoyed the pancakes we ordered for “breakfast dessert.” Fluffy, flavorful, and bonus this time, two of them were connected together like Siamese twins.

The service here was pleasant, the coffee and water flowed, and the over all experience was positive. Café 79 is open for seating and delivery 24 hours a day.

Feeding a Cold on the UES

They say you should starve a flu and feed a cold. I suppose we should all be wary of the generalized “they” but I tend to heed their advice, especially when they suggest eating. Earlier this week, I had a gnarly yet short-lived head cold: my least-attractive self could have starred in a cold medicine commercial.

So you’d think this piece would be about searching out chicken soup on the Upper East Side. There are certainly some excellent homemade versions around here, but alas, I was all set on that front: on Monday I took a good dose of it for lunch along with an abundance of vitamin C in the form of those uber-sweet clementines. I was gobbling those juicy little segments all day like candy, but by dinner I was still ravenous. When you’re under the weather like that, eating is a both comfort and distraction. Maybe if I gorge myself I’ll be less focused on this pressure in my head…

Anyway, for some reason, I set my sights on Indian food. My husband, otherwise now known as “The Hubs,” offered to pick it up. The strange thing is that, though I love Indian food, I’ve never had it on the UES. I have two places I like on the Upper West, a great place in White Plains, and recently discovered a wonderful Indian restaurant in New Rochelle, but haven’t checked out the offerings nearby.

We found Indian Tandoor-Oven Restaurant on 83rd between 3rd and Lex online and perused the menu on their website. On these cyber pages, the owner is pictured with Jimmy Fallon, Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, and Woody Allen. We are to presume they have all dined at this establishment. (Or simply passed by and lingered long enough for a photo shoot?)

Then we called up (I love New York), ordered some dishes and…waited patiently. That is, I waited patiently while eating more clementines and The Hubs went out to hunt and gather, city-style. Unfortunately, there was a “mishap.” The paper bag, overstuffed with piping-hot cold-curing food, busted at the bottom, resulting in some Pollack-esque stainage on his favorite pants and new coat. The good news is that no food actually fell or got harmed in his ever-capable hands. Sigh…my hero.

After I snapped a few Informer pics, we dug in, starting with my favorite appetizer: papadum (the flatbread crackers), which are fun to eat but even more fun to say. For the record, when I incessantly repeat the word Papadum, it’s not a commentary on the intelligence of anyone’s father.

My go-to Indian dish is Chicken Tikka Masala. A dear friend of mine from college introduced me to this tomato-ey, creamy dish and I’ve rarely been disappointed. This is apparently the most popular Indian dish around the world and might have roots in either Mughlai or Glasgow, Scotland. It’s kind of like the California Roll of Indian food. The Saag Chicken we got, a spinach-based dish, was less exciting – it did seem very healthy, though I think I like the Paneer version (i.e. with cheese) better.

The Naan bread was excellent and contoured with many mountainous bread bubbles. Again, I’ve rarely met a slab of Naan I didn’t like.

Surprisingly, the real stand-out here was the Basmati rice. I don’t think I’ve ever had it with yellow raisins and slivered almonds before. It was excellent.

This meal was exactly what the doctor ordered – thanks to some good food and lots of TLC, I am on the mend.

Can you suggest other good Indian places to try up here? Click on 'comments' below.