Midday News: Early Signs Show Congestion Pricing Easing Traffic, New Law Tackles the Sale of Restaurant Reservations, and Eater NY Highlights Hottest New Res...

Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC NOW, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, January 8th. Here's the Midday News from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: It's too soon to know exactly how much traffic is being reduced in Manhattan now that congestion pricing is live. Experts and government officials are still collecting data. But one look downtown at Varick Street, for instance, next to the Holland Tunnel during yesterday's evening rush hour suggests the tolls are already having quite an impact. Just ask Shirley Matthews. She's been directing traffic on the busy street for more than a decade. She says she's never seen it so empty.

Shirley Matthews: We're shocked. I never expected to see this, and I've been in New York for almost 45 years. I've never seen it like this.

Michael Hill: The $9 daily charge for cars entering Manhattan south of 60th Street began Sunday morning. The tolls dropped to $2.25 overnight. That's actually cheaper than the subway fare. The so-called black market of restaurant reservations soon could be a thing of the past in New York State. A new law prohibits third parties from selling restaurant reservations without permission. Amy Zhou runs operations at COTE Korean Steakhouse and COQODAQ in the Flatiron District. She says sellers on websites such as Appointment Trader are hurting the industry by scooping up all reservations and then selling them at a premium.

Amy Zhou: The no show rates were crazy for the restaurant because if the bad actors were swiping up reservations and not able to actually sell them, that means all of those reservations were not actually being sat.

Michael Hill: But Appointment Trader founder Jonas Frey says he thinks a law banning automated bots scooping up reservations would be more effective.

29 with sunshine right now. Upper 20s for a high today. Feeling colder though at 10 degrees with nearly 40-mile an hour winds.

Janae Pierre: Stay tuned for more news after the break.

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David Furst: Now on WNYC, I'm David Fuerst. As the new year begins and as the holiday season draws to a close, it's time to cut back on all of those fancy meals and get sensible about dining again. In response, our friends at Eater New York say nonsense. Here to help us focus on the next special occasion and dining out in style in January is Melissa McCart, the editor of Eater New York. They just published a list of the hottest new restaurants in Manhattan. Melissa, welcome back and Happy New Year.

Melissa McCart: Happy New Year. Thanks so much for having me, David.

David Furst: I sort of hate to start with this, but do you have any dining resolutions for the New Year?

Melissa McCart: Unfortunately, I do not. So maybe it's cook at home twice a week or something like that.

David Furst: Okay, dining at home more often. You're going to offer the completely opposite advice today, so let's hit a few highlights. What's first?

Melissa McCart: Okay. Right before the holidays, Chez Fifi opened on the Upper East Side by Joshua and David Foulquier.

David Furst: Can you spell the name of the restaurant for us?

Melissa McCart: Sure. It's C-H-E-Z F-I-F-I.

David Furst: Okay. Chez Fifi.

Melissa McCart: So Chez Fifi is from the brothers behind Michelin-starred Sushi Noz and Noz 17 but it is not a sushi restaurant. It is in fact a restaurant that serves a collection of French and Basque dishes that the owners' late mother used to love.

David Furst: And how's the food?

Melissa McCart: The food is fantastic. It's the kind of place where I'd order a couple of dishes to share with the table. There's a half or a whole chicken with foie gras that's served with a lovely side salad. There's a Basque devil's crab that you eat right out of the shell with your fork. If you're not willing to commit to full dinner, there's an arty cocktail bar upstairs that has snacks and terrific cocktails, and you are just inches away from artworks by Calder and Miró.

David Furst: Fascinating. So these aren't prints on the wall here?

Melissa McCart: Absolutely not. It is a very polished space, not a cheap night out.

David Furst: Okay, so what's next?

Melissa McCart: Okay, this is not on our list yet, but it opened right before the holidays. It's called Danny & Coops and it is at 151 Avenue A at East 10th Street. Basically, what this is, is it's a Philly cheesesteak place from a guy from Philadelphia who owns a pretty famous pizzeria called Angelo's and 12-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper.

David Furst: Okay. The place is called Danny & Coop's Cheesesteaks. So is that primarily what they're serving?

Melissa McCart: Absolutely. The Philadelphia owner of Angelo's Pizzeria is not going to come into New York City and make pizza from Philadelphia, but rather they're just serving cheesesteaks. It'll be a fun experience because you're basically waiting in line with other people and there's a camaraderie and a buzz around the story. I mean, it's a Bradley Cooper restaurant. Like, how crazy is that?

David Furst: And naturally, he's going to be there serving the cheesesteaks to you?

Melissa McCart: Apparently, he has been there, so you might have a Bradley Cooper sighting.

David Furst: All right. That will definitely help create some buzz. And what's one more? What's another location we can try.

Melissa McCart: Crane Club is another new restaurant. It is an over-the-top fancy restaurant. One of the reason why it's getting a lot of buzz is because a two Michelin-starred team, Melissa Rodriguez, the chef and Jeff Katz joined up with Tao Group to reopen a restaurant in what used to be Al Coror and before that, Del Posto. It is really-- it's almost like being in a movie set when you're in there. The bar is really happening. There might be some ladies in like head to toe sequin dresses. There's red velvet seating. There are people pushing a bar cart filled with caviar and oysters. It's kind of a wild scenario with all types of characters.

David Furst: This is over the top fine dining in New York City. You describe it as red velvet seating. I'm looking at some photos now on the web and yes, red velvet curtains, red velvet seating, the works.

Melissa McCart: Absolutely. Melissa Rodriguez is an incredible chef and the food is really memorable. It's the kind of place where I'd save money to go or I might sneak into the bar and get a dish and a really nice glass of wine. One of the treats that I loved was a starter and you know the Italian-American sfogliatelle? It's like a flaky pastry that has semolina and ricotta inside and candied fruit. Well, this is a savory version. It's, it's stuffed with what seems like ricotta, very small, no bigger than the size of like half of your finger, and then it's topped with caviar, and it is incredible.

But if caviar is not your thing, the vegetables, all of them are amazing. There's like caraflex cabbage, cabbage is having a moment. There's a potato and apple gratin. There's maitake mushrooms with green peppercorns. And then there's like a seafood spaghettoni, which is a terrific dish. So I might get this seafood spaghettoni and one of the vegetables and call it a night.

David Furst: Okay, so from red velvet seating to cheesesteaks, we have a lot of options here. And for the full list of your hottest new restaurants in Manhattan, you can visit Eater New York. Editor Melissa McCart, thanks for joining us.

Melissa McCart: Thanks for having me.

Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. This is NYC NOW from WNYC. Check us out for updates every weekday, three times a day, for the latest news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. We'll be back this evening.

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