The Latest Innovations In Dairy

Back in the day, cheese was sold by the pound, and conveyor belt restaurants were strictly for sushi. But in 2026, there’s a place where you can buy spicy mango rolls by weight, and another one where you grab things like “Street Ched” or “Truffled Peggy” off of a conveyor belt. (More on both below.) We’re taking this as our cue to mix things up a little—I hope you enjoy our slightly different format, with a few scene reports, a few things we’re looking forward to (including a street cart pastrami that’s only available until 8pm today), intel on the latest coffee/matcha innovations, and more.
—Sonal Shah

The following scene reports are (lightly edited) daily updates from our team Slack channel #where-we-been.

At Bamonte’s on Friday night: an actual child behind the bar, me (two martinis deep), and Pete Davidson, who I briefly thought I imagined (because of the two martinis). But no, it really was the king of Staten Island, who sat with an unknown dining partner, his back facing the dining room. He went full-sugar Coke, she opted for Diet, and I heard they ordered the fresh tomato pasta—what a sensible, seasonal choice—which comes with prosciutto, and, usually, fusilli. A server recommended swapping for rigatoni, and apparently, Pete went for it. —Willa Moore

In between bites of Humboldt Fog and Camem-brie off the cheese conveyor belt at Pick & Cheese, I overheard the people next to me talk about how they generally prefer eating cheese in Paris, outdoors, with a glass of Chablis and their “one cigarette of the year.” This London import in Midtown East’s new food hall may not be the banks of the Seine, but I’ll happily go back with my lactose tolerant friends. —Will Hartman

At Ricee Sushi Express, our social media manager Angie and I ate 2.39 lb of sushi for $57.34 (plus tax and tip). Is that a lot or a little? Let’s do the math. First of all, this sushi is much better than Whole Foods sushi—and it’s a better deal, if you calculate that Whole Foods is around $2 or more per ounce, while this averages out to around $1.50 per ounce. A good price, and a good quick UES lunch option, as various hospital workers in scrubs eating there have realized. Here’s how it works. —Sonal

I’m not a massive leeks guy, so I was shocked that the leeks with gribiche and mussels were one of the best things I’ve had all year. Also got the pig ear tartlette and the zeppole with escargot (server said “You’re getting weird,” which I took as a compliment). Everything was good, although the tartelette would probably be a skip next time. So salty it was a little hard to finish. Midway through the meal a guy passed out and broke a bunch of plates and glasses. People were screaming and calling 911, and there actually happened to be a doctor in the house, who ran over and helped him as he regained consciousness. Exciting stuff. —Jonathan Smith

You’ll smell the waffle cones at Hana Gelateria the moment you walk in. This tea-infused ice cream shop makes their own, and even if you order a cup of gelato, you won’t miss out: Each cup comes with a cone ring tucked inside. –Molly Fitzpatrick

Full disclosure—I did not stack all 10 flavors of gelato and sorbet at Common Meadows (shortly debuting on our Best Ice Cream guide). But all servings are a flat $7, and though they recommend four flavors at most, you can have it all. They’ll have sweet corn gelato next week… —Will

Today only—the Lev people are doing pastrami at their street cart in Soho, until 8pm. See you there maybe? —Sonal

Zig Zag Oyster Bar, the soon-to-open seafood spot from the people who brought us Cervo’s, The Fly, Hart’s, and Eel Bar, is getting there. Last week, I spotted an “OYSTERS” sign, and today, they’d added a white awning. —Willa

Going to have to wait a year for this one, but spotted Radio Bakery UWS “trending” on Google Maps, just a block from the Natural History Museum. —Sonal

Afghan bakery Diljān has been hinting at pizza for a while now, so it makes (sad) sense that their first drop is already sold out. If you managed to secure one, please report in. —Willa

Elbow Bread has been doing hot dog afternoons, but for the next few months you can also have a dog night at the bakery after a few rounds of drinks in Dimes Square.
—Will

Mayorwatch 2026: We can confirm (via a colleague who was also there) that Mayor Mamdani watched the dreadful USA vs Bosnia game at Socceria, wearing a tie, as usual. Days later, he paid a visit to Lungi on the Upper East Side—notably sans tie.

Tie or no tie, the summer’s hottest accessory is the Kiki’s Seized T-shirt, currently hanging at the entrance of Forgtmenot in Dimes Square. Nolita Dirtbag traced its lineage.

This new-to-NYC divided to-go cup seems purpose-built for people like us who really just want to drink drip coffee, but are professionally obligated to try the latte du jour. For the rest of you, stop wasting plastic, but at least it’s better than this heinous DIY latte TikTok trend.

Our Union Square correspondent (a friend who works on 19th) alerted us to some trouble in Goop-adise—namely, a Stop Work Order on Goop Kitchen’s downtown location. Last we checked it looks resolved, but our friend might have to wait a little longer for that Brentwood Chinese Chicken Salad.

A shuttered-restaurant relic—the Diner sign from Cozy Soup ‘N’ Burger—is for sale. We’ve written to Santa.

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