The Great Escape: New York City

(EN) An erstwhile professional ballet dancer, Emily Takoudes is the Executive Commissioning Editor of Food & Drink at the global book publisher Phaidon. Throughout her career, she has worked with some of the most renowned chefs in the world, including Yoshihiro Imai (Monk), Virgilio Martinez (Central), Gisli Matt (Slippurinn), Enrique Olvera (Pujol), Junghyun Park (Atomix), Ana Ros (Hisa Franko), and Jeremiah Stone & Fabian von Hauske Valtierra (Contra), among many other chefs and food writers.

What are your 10 essential New York restaurants?

Cosme (images courtesy of the restaurant)

• Cosme / Atla
• Estela
• Di An Di
• Atomix / Atoboy
• Aska
• Honey Badger
• Laser Wolf
• Russ & Daughters
• Contra / Wildair
• Overstory for a cocktail bar

Atomix (Images by Evan Sung, courtesy of the restaurant)

What are the three keys to a great food book?

• Strong perspective and vision in the narratives and recipes
• Invitation to a journey to read, learn, be engaged, and be inspired to cook
• Unique and special qualities—in the organization, content, physical production, and perspective

What’s topping your bucket list for culinary destinations and why?

Chicago—It had been on my bucket list as a great food city and I was fortunate to have just visited. From Lula Café to Kasama, hot dogs, and much more, there is a lot in terms of food traditions from many cultures, plus an exciting emerging chef scene.
London—I had the privilege of going regularly, but it has been a few years and I’m eager to return. Ikoyi is exciting and world’s best bar is there (The Connaught), plus so many cool pop-ups and restaurants.
Asia—I have only been once and it was about a decade ago. I know there’s so much to explore, plus I would love to get to Kyoto again to go to Monk.

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