A longtime fixture around the Lower East Side and East Village, chef, restauranteur, and cookbook author Will Horowitz can usually be found on the east side of Manhattan. If not, he’s likely in an outer borough on a food tour of his own design or out east on Long Island, foraging, fishing, and cooking up something interesting.
The chef behind the beloved East Village barbecue restaurant Ducks Eatery quickly became known for his innovative and creative ways of smoking meat and other things, like a smoked watermelon that closely resembled a ham. His first book Salt Smoke Time came out in 2019 as a guide for home cooks who want to tackle a variety of techniques, including curing and brining, cold smoking, canning, pickling, and dehydration. Will’s second book was born out of a pandemic project, one of the byproducts of having to close Ducks in late 2020.
The extremely popular hyper-local, old-school cookbook, East Village Cookbook: Adventures, Anecdotes, and Tales of a Downtown New York Community Told Through Our Food was published to support an East Village soup kitchen and food pantry. In it, recipes and the occasional story from local cooks, famous residents, and beloved and renowned restaurants pull readers in. The collection of nearly 200 recipes has been a hit with locals, foodies, and cookbook lovers, and was the top-selling cookbook at Kitchen Arts & Letters on the Upper East Side last year.
These days, Horowitz is currently at work on a third book, this time focusing on being a chef and documentarian of family meals across restaurants over his life. We caught up with the chef, currently at the helm of Pinky Swear, a restaurant and lounge on the Lower East Side, to hear about his favorite places to eat in and around the city.
Chin Up Bar
“I’ve been helping to open and manage and cook at Pinky Swear on the Lower East Side. It’s right next door to this new bar called Chin Up Bar. All of their drinks are amazing, but their Vesper Martini is through the roof amazing in every possible way. They specialize in a lot of gin drinks there, a lot of Aquavit.” 171 Chrystie St., Lower East Side, chinupbarnyc.com
Trini Girl
“If I have a day off, you can count on me being off somewhere exploring something food-related. I love love love going to Trini Girl on Nostrand in Brooklyn for baked shark and baked salt fish and doubles.” 628 Nostrand Ave., Crown Heights, Brooklyn, no website
Stretch Pizza
“[Chef] Wylie Dufresne is one of my heroes. I used to live across the stretch from WD-50 [Dufresne’s now closed Michelin-starred molecular gastronomy restaurant on the Lower East Side]. It’s not surprising, but his slices are so good at Stretch.” 331 Park Ave. South, Gramercy, stretchpizzanyc.com
Superiority Burger and Smithereens
“Superiority Burger is amazing. It’s the kind of restaurant where people take chances and are bold in their flavors. I love Smithereens for that reason too. I applaud them because they’re new but they taking bold steps with their flavors while staying true to themselves.” Superiority Burger: 119 Avenue A, East Village, superiorityburger.com; Smithereens 414 E. 9th St., East Village, smithereensnyc.com
Hearth
“I’m close to Hearth [chef Marco Canora’s Tuscan-American farm-to-table restaurant]. It’s the best. It’s just so good. You look at [Canora] with admiration and a little compassion too. It’s a level of servitude and a labor of love staying open for so long.” 403 E. 12th St., East Village, restauranthearth.com
A Handful of Favorites
“I go to B&H every morning and get their matzo ball soup and fresh challah. If I don’t go there, I might go to Smør. There I like the [Danish] hot dog. If I go to C&B, I usually get the Menemen. It’s the best, it’s like a soup, kind of like an egg-tomato porridge. Chef Ali’s mother used to make it for him as a kid growing up in Turkey, and it’s just really heartwarming and stomach-filling. It’s so simple and so well-made.
At Hani’s, I’ll often pick up the peanut butter and jelly cake which I’ll save til the end of the day. I’ll eat it at like, 2 a.m. I don’t have a huge sweet tooth but that cake is over the top.”
B&H Dairy: 127 Second Ave., East Village, bandhdairykosher.com
Smør: 441 East 12th St., East Village, smornyc.com
C+B Cafe: 178 East 7th St., East Village, candbnyc.com
Hani’s Bakery: 67 Cooper Square, East Village, hanisnyc.com
Visit Will Horowitz at Pinky Swear on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. 171-A Chrystie St., Lower East Side, pinkyswearnyc.com
