Oct 15, 2014 Staff Report
The Village Voice has just named Salt & Fat as the best restaurant in Sunnyside.
The write up starts as follows:
“Salt & Fat looks like it could be in Brooklyn — reclaimed wood for the storefront sign, artfully arranged small plates that feature New American decadence — but owner Daniel Yi is a local boy. Born in Seoul and raised in Sunnyside, Yi has crafted a nation-hopping menu that reflects the area’s diversity. A meal begins with a complimentary starter — popcorn cooked in bacon fat, as American as can be — and finishes with little bottles of Yakult, a tangy-sweet Japanese yogurt drink.”
For the rest of the Village Voice Article, please click here.
29 Comments
I wish these “journalists” would stop saying “…could be in Brooklyn…” or “…is the new Brooklyn…” 15 yrs ago the Post, NYT or VV could give a shit about BK. Anyway that’s another rant for another time.
Its highly debatable that S&F is Sunnyside’s “best” restaurant, but most of you covered that fact within these comments. I wish Sal’s pizza was still open.
Sal’s was perfect NY pizza, and the owners were two of the nicest people I have ever met.
I hit a lot of the restaurants in the neighborhood as well as work in and upscale midtown place. There are several establishments I like to go to depending on what I want and S&F is one of them, if that is what I want. I also love Bar 43, Bliss 46, Claret, TJ’s, Murphy’s Lobster House. To say that S&F is the only good restaurant, or the best out of a poor lot in Sunnyside is ridiculous.
Sunnyside is not known for great restaurants. Just because you like a few of them just means that you like them.
Salt and Fat is the best of a bad lot in this neighborhood. I can’t wait for the $25 three course meal at Foxy’s Diner during Restaurant Week. I hope all the restaurants give out alls seltzer!
It is pretty funny to look at the restaurant week menus and realize that it will actually cost more than a normal meal.
I’m actually a huge fan of Salt and Fat (sorry, all), but what’s up with the decor of the restaurant? For such a supposedly hip, Brooklyn-esque place I feel like I’m walking into a take-out chinese restaurant. Do something with those ceilings, the lighting, the art, guys!
100% agree. The decor is so ugly it makes it almost unpleasant to eat their awesome food.
Ariyoshi is way better than that overrated Salt and Fat.
The day old sushi place?
I’ve had better sushi on airplanes.
Takesushi or bust.
Takesushi is awful
Salt and Fat is a wonderful restaurant and I love eating there, but other small-plate restaurants tend to rotate new dishes onto their menus quite frequently. By virtue of the fact that diners are instructed to order multiple items and encouraged to share, I’ve tried every dish on the menu several times. They’re all really great, but I’ve stopped making a point to go back often, because there’s nothing new to try.
If the menu changed seasonally, S&F would definitely be my go-to dining-out place in Sunnyside. I wish they’d come up with some awesome new additions to the menu to encourage return visits.
I guess the VV restaurant reviewer couldn’t find his/her way up 43rd Street to Bar 43.
LOL it’s a sports bar… let’s award atomic wings a michelin star!
Exactly. It’s like people think all restaurants are the same – they’re not.
clearly the village voice hasn’t been to the mcdonald’s on greenpoint ave.
“Salt & Fat looks like it could be in Brooklyn…” It definitely should be! Their portion sizes are so small, I don’t even understand how people can indulge in food that size.
“Gastro” cuisine is an upmarket restaurant concept that courts two markets: epicures and food critics. It’s not everyday food. It’s the sort of place that serves yuzu. Making it work takes a lot of pique, but I’m never sure who they are competing with in the neighborhood.
Equating this sort of cuisine with Williamsburg “hipsters” is not really accurate. This is not a “hipster” thing — gastronomy of this ilk is primarily a European idea. Salt and Fat’s menu reads like a Eurostyle “degustation”, all it lacks is wine pairings and a 6-course Prix Fixe. That being said, Salt and Fat is still more affordable than Gastropubs in Manhattan or Brooklyn.
My biggest beef: they serve too much meat. Only one dish on the menu is meatless, and it’s been that way for years. Come on, throw us vegetarians a bone!
Too reasonable and well thought out a response for this forum. Also, not enough grousing on your part.
“Come on, throw us vegetarians a bone!”
You DO realize the place is called SALT and FAT right? :-p
Well written, but the “throw us vegetarians a bone” is (perhaps unintentionally) hilarious.
I’m sure it was intentional.
“Could be in Brooklyn” doesn’t mean its the best restaurant.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Salt and Fat, but Turkish Grill, Sofra, TJ’s Asian Bistro, Pio Pio, etc are all just as great.
Murphy’s Lobster House.
“Could be in Brooklyn” has now become a compliment? That’s sickening.
The reference is to the decor – most particularly, the facade – and not to the food or to anything else. Get over it.
Don’t feed the hipsters!
Eek! 😉
I love hipsters. They are exotic creatures and this is a great place to watch them feed.