The New York Restaurants Where Koloman Chef Markus Glocker Calls Himself a Regular

Elephant & Castle reminds me of home, basically. I first went there in 2008. George Schwarz was the owner of the place until he passed away [in 2016]. He was a German guy who created this place many, many, many years ago and there are familiar dishes like chicken schnitzel with tomatoes over the top. It’s one of my favorite dishes; it’s rustic. It’s what it’s supposed to be in a lot of ways, although it’s normally made with veal. But I just love the beautiful cherry tomatoes. They’re beautifully marinated. And then the chicken is crispy and fried, and there’s the salad over the top. When you eat it together, it’s this umami flavor of sweetness and sourness of the tomatoes with the crunchy breading of the schnitzel. It’s just delicious.

There’s also the fried chicken salad, which is a very simple dish, but it’s a beautiful fried chicken that’s chopped up and mixed together with a nice bowl of freshly marinated cream.

I love brunch, too. I mean, I get the palatschinken, these thin pancakes filled with fresh, homemade jam and powdered sugar over the top. It’s very simple and unpretentious, but it’s super fresh.

And the ambience — it’s like Scotland meets Germany. These wooden panels go around the restaurant at a certain height, which is very, very Scottish. The tables are close together. It’s a small, intimate space. When you walk in there, you have the coffee station in front of you. You smell the freshly brewed coffee right away. It’s little things, but it just makes the whole experience really nice. And the people who hang out there are sort of quintessential West Villagers — writers and actors. And they’re all in the later parts of their lives, but it sort of adds a really cool flair to the whole experience as well.

Walk-ins only.

What I love about this place is that it’s rock and roll, you know? They do whatever they want, and it works. It’s rough around the edges. It’s a cool location. I like the people that hang out there. It’s a mixture, from Upper East Siders to Lower East Siders. And the food is just simply delicious without showing off how good they are in the kitchen. It’s a very simple product on the plate, but there’s a lot of thought process going into preparing the food.

And it’s vegetarian. I think it’s funny that people don’t care if it’s vegetarian or not; you just want to be in that place. It’s very interesting. The food is delicious. I had one of the best focaccias I have ever had in my life, with braised collard greens filled into freshly baked focaccia. It was absolutely outstanding.

You have to get the burger, obviously. I don’t think they’re trying to do a burger that imitates meat. I think it has a very distinctive flavor. Maybe the texture reminds me a little bit of a piece of beef, but the flavor is very different. I like the real deep, earthy mushroom flavor they have in their patty.

And since [founder Brooks] Headley used to be the pastry chef at Del Posto back in the day, his desserts are quite outstanding. The funnel cake with blueberries is so simple, but just delicious.

As for the kitchen, it’s quite impressive when you see behind the scenes there. It takes a one-of-a kind chef to do that kind of food in that scale of volume. It’s presented very simply, but when you go into the kitchen — it’s a huge kitchen, the same footprint of the restaurant — you can really see how carefully they cook the patties. They put them in the blast freezer, so they’re not overcooked, and by the time you order them, they’ll get reheated, and they’re perfect. Not dry, not overcooked. I’m sure they’re doing at least 300 to 400 covers a day. It was quite impressive to see the whole organization there, how they do the mise en place, and how prepare for service.

Walk-ins only.

Joseph Leonard has been my watering hole for many years. I went there for their friends and family [openings service[ when they opened in 2009. It’s a very small restaurant in the West Village with delicious food and it was an industry hangout. You could go there any time of the day, and they were open until 2, 3 a.m. You always met industry people like Daniel [Boulud] or Jean-Georges [Vongerichten] or Gordon Ramsay back then. We always had good times.

And the service was always great, with really amazing people behind the bar; they have character and charisma, and I still go there to this day when I want to have a chat with some friends. We have a glass of wine, obviously. It’s very casual, but it’s quintessential for me. They really know what they’re doing there — to find that balance between refined and casual.

Their fried chicken sandwich is still one of the best in the city. I get it with a couple of beers. It’s served on a Martin’s potato bun with a beautiful aioli in there, some pickles, and perfectly fried chicken breast. That’s it.

It was in either 2015 or 2016 that I first got introduced to Emilio’s Ballato. When I walked in the first time, I was blown away. It’s the quintessential, old school New York Italian place. I remember Emilio was sitting right at the entrance, and he’s the guy who looks at everybody, scouts them out, and gives them the table they deserve by looking at them.

I like to be embedded in the New York community. I’m not a New Yorker. I’m not American, but I’ve lived here for quite a while. And Emilio’s Ballato is really a uniquely New York kind of place. It’s that fine line between being touristy versus really iconic. And I think Emilio’s manages to be more iconic than anything else, because he’s real. He’s been embedded in the neighborhood for a long time. He’s no bullshit. He has no phone, which is the funniest thing ever. If you want to reach him, you have to call his son. He’s very passionate about food. He always asks me, ”How do you do your bread?” Once a month I try to stop by and have a glass of wine with him.

Here, you have to go with the classic veal parmigiana. It is definitely one of his signatures. Also, the eggplant parmigiana. The wines are always great there. It’s not about the blockbuster wines. They’re beautiful Tuscan wines that we can afford. And it’s just all around delicious.

Walk-ins only.