The Bookshelf: Gastropolis

"Is it any wonder in a city where apartments are built without kitchens and restaurant reservationists receive extravagant gifts from strangers that dining out in New York is inextricably linked to identity? In the realm of culturally marked behaviors, eating in New York is a triple whammy: you are what you eat, you are where you eat, and you are because you eat out." So says JBF vice president Mitchell Davis in "Eating Out, Eating American: New York Restaurant Dining and Identity," one of the many essays in Gastropolis: Food and New York City. Davis, along with the book's editors, Annie Hauck-Lawson and Jonathan Deutsch, will be on hand for our next session of Beard on Books on Wednesday. On Thursday we'll recap what is sure to be a fascinating discussion, but for now Mitchell suggests the ideal locales for various foodie posturings in the city that never puts down its fork. If you want to project old-school power and ambition, go to... The Four Seasons 99 E. 52nd Street, NYC This restaurant exudes “titan of capitalism.” And now JBF Award–winning chef Fabio Trabocchi is cooking there. What better way to impress? If you want to project ethnic adventurousness, go to... Golden Palace 140-09 Cherry Avenue, Flushing, NY 718.886.4383 There aren’t many Dongbei cuisine restaurants in town, and the food at this out-of-the-way restaurant is delicious. If you want to project Twitter savvy, go to... The Schnitzel Truck @schnitzeltruck You gotta follow them to find them. If you want to project culinary connectedness, go to... Fried Chicken Dinner at Momofuku Noodle Bar 163 1st Avenue, NYC 212.777.7773 Whatever your thoughts about multiple JBF Award winner Dave Chang­—and ours are his food is delicious—who doesn’t love two whole fried chickens and fixin’s? If you want to project Brooklyn gastronomic skepticism, go to... Al Di La 248 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 718.636.8888 Sure, there are all of these great new restaurants in Brooklyn, but people you know have been coming to this one since before those other chefs were born, and the Venetian trattoria food is still buonissimo. If you want to project ironic Manhattan weariness, go to... Dutch Kills 27-24 Jackson Avenue at Dutch Kills Street, Long Island City, NY 718.383.2724 Ever since the phone number for Milk & Honey got out, Manhattan’s cocktail scene has been an overcrowded zoo. But only die-hards will come out to Long Island City for a drink. Never mind everyone there with you lives in Manhattan or Brooklyn, Sasha Petrake’s cocktails couldn’t be any more delicious. If you want to project an early adopter openness, go to... Tortilleria Nixtamal 104-05 47th Avenue, Corona, NY 718.699.2434 What do you get when a Mexican-born man dates an Italian-American woman from Corona? Tamales with mozzarella and tomato sauce. Delicious. The straight-up Mexican tamales and tacos can’t be beat, either. If you want to project a Mittleuropean sophistication, go to... Blaue Gans 139 Duane Street, NYC 212.571.8880 Missing that American-expatriate-writer-living-in-Vienna feeling?  How about a  quiet lunch of goulash, schnitzel, and Esterhazy torte. If you want to project know-it-all foodie fanaticism, go to... Marlow & Sons 81 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 718.384.1441 You’ve been coming here for delicious local, seasonal food since before there was an Edible Brooklyn and a sister butcher shop. If you want to project anti-foodie sentiment, go to... Le Veau d'Or 129 East 60th Street, NYC 212.838.8133 There were tournants and chefs de parties, not iron chefs and top chefs, when the city’s culinary crowd used to hang out at this frozen-in-time French bistro. A lot has changed in the food world; nothing has changed at Le Veau d’Or. If you want to project cutting-edge caffeine fiendishness, go to... Stumptown 20 West 29th Street, NYC 212.679.2222 Incredible espresso and cappuccino, and the nattiest baristas at this Portland import distinguish this shrine to the roasted bean.