A Resy Guide to the Best Large-Format Dishes in New York

The dish: Whole pig dinner ($125 per person).

Not much escapes the lick of the flames at Marc Forgione’s rural Italian restaurant. And at Peasant, the best experience calls for a whole suckling pig. All you’ll need is a group of six (at least) and one heck of an appetite. The three-course family-style menu invokes a platter of antipasti, pizza, cacio e pepe, and yes, a whole pig. Smeared in salsa verde with wood-fired sides that vary by the season, it’s an incredibly tender piece of meat that puts on quite the show.

Pro tip: Book the whole pig dinner here or call (212) 965-9511 to reserve the dish at least four days in advance, for a minimum of six people.

The dish: Beef tenderloin stir-fry ($48).

When Cantonese immigrants came to Peru, the hybridized chifa cuisine emerged, and so the lomo saltado — a beef stir-fry served with rice — was born. Now, add a first-generation Peruvian American chef, Erik Ramirez, who trained in fine-dining kitchens, and the resulting dish is the beef tenderloin stir-fry at Llama Inn, a beautiful (and hefty) reimagination of the classic, in which morsels of beef are seared in a wok with onions, peppers, and tomatoes (as usual), then tossed in a heady mixture of soy and veal jus, before getting topped off with a pile of crispy fries. Flaky chive crêpes, pickles, and creamy avocado slices are your accoutrements, for a build-your-own situation that’ll knock you out.

The dish: King crab (Market price, but generally around $500-600).

It’s one of those once-in-a-lifetime splurges where a good group of friends decides to worship at the altar of the crab together. And though there are other places in Chinatown that do this crustacean feast well, Wu’s is the place for it — if only for their BYOB policy and the fact they let the impressively large and live beast loose on your table before it gets cooked and served in no less than three delicious ways: steamed with garlic, deep-fried, plus folded into fluffy fried rice.

Pro tip: Go with a large group; the approximate $50-per-pound price and family-style feasting that the king crab entails are best shared with a multitude of friends.

The dish: Duck carnitas ($98).

Because Enrique Olvera and former Cosme chef Daniela Soto-Innes struck gold when they dreamt up the duck carnitas when the restaurant first opened in 2014. The dish is a menu mainstay at Cosme, which is now helmed by Olvera and chef Gustavo Garnica. The epic savory finale is required eating at this point, in which half a duck — crisped and served up in a skillet — gets pulled apart for DIY tacos. The result? A riot of flavors in which fatty skin, cilantro, onions, salsa, radishes, and fork-tender meat (marinated and cooked in a mix of Mexican cola and condensed milk, among others) meld together within a warm tortilla, made of heirloom corn and freshly pressed in house.

The dish: Dry-aged crown of duck ($125).

Over in Brooklyn, you’ll find another large-format duck dish to be reckoned with: The dry-aged crown of duck at Francie, in South Williamsburg. Presented tableside, perfectly lacquered, and in a bed of flowers and herbs, the duck is then sliced, its pink breast fanned out like petals in two straight rows. Swiss chard, creamy parsnip purée, and a surprising soppressata jam serve as your sides, and know this: This dish has been called New York’s finest of duck offerings.

Pro tip: Do say “yes” when they ask if you’d like to some fries on the side with the duck.

The dish: Bucket of cold fried chicken ($40).

Chances are, you’ve heard of the Momofuku cold fried chicken. Chances are, you know it’s up for grabs at $7 a piece at Ko’s next-door bar. But did you know that the bucket is where it’s at? A mix of seven-or-so pieces of drumsticks and thighs that are cold to the touch, quadruply fried, and finished with a yuzu-soy-green Tabasco glaze for a crust that crackles with every bite.

Pro tip: Get the bar counter seating for a front-row seat to watch the cooks at play. And for reservations at the bar (and not the $280 tasting happening in the dining room next door), select the “bar table” and “bar counter” tiles when booking.

The dish: Ax handle rib eye ($150-220).

There is no shortage of showstopping shareable steaks in the city … but St. Anselm’s just hits different. Perhaps because it lives within the very cool confines of this no-nonsense Williamsburg steakhouse. Perhaps because the pan-fried mashed potatoes you’re bound to order will ruin you for all other steakhouse sides. But mostly, because the rib eye is ridiculous in size (big enough for four) and in taste, with meat tender enough it melts, and a bone you will absolutely lick clean.

The dish: Rajasthani khargosh ($190).

Scoring a Resy at what was unanimously New York’s best new restaurant of 2021 can be something of a challenge. Scoring its elusive rabbit feast is even harder. You may have heard of this labor-intensive preparation, bestowed to only a single table a night. Slowly cooked and intensely flavorful, the fork-tender khargosh (rabbit) arrives in a clay pot tableside with quite the crew — flaky paratha bread, spiced potato curry, basmati rice, dal, and pints of yogurt flecked with pomegranate seeds.

Pro tip: Make your Resy as far out in advance as you can — the rabbit is not for last-minute bookings. Then, email hello@dhamaka.nyc to request and pre-book the Rajasthani khargosh. Fingers crossed and hope for the best: It’s worth all the trouble, and more.

The dish: Fondue au fromage ($50).

Those who seek an oozing pot of bubbling cheese know to head to La Bonne when the craving comes. Not only because the near-50-year-old enclave is as cushy as it gets, but because it deals in French bistro classics, and does them extremely well. Hence the fondue, where the molten cheese will feel endless as you scoop it up with bite-sized pieces of baguette, apple, potato, and cornichon.

The dish: Le Jeffrey ($145).

Restaurateur Gabriel Stulman’s got a knack for building neighborhood mainstays, and this West Village corner fixture remains one of the best spots for people-watching over a plateau. Now, the Le Jeffrey plateau is the biggest of them all (the smaller Le Royale is priced at $110, the smallest Le Prince at $65), and as seafood towers go, you’re going to want that extravagant three-tiered display, which provides the very best of peak-fresh shellfish on no fewer than three beds of crushed ice — oysters, shrimp, smoked mussels, and king crab legs are but some of the offerings.

Pro tip: For something to drink with that three-tiered tower, check out the chef’s recommended pairings.