NYCGuide
Tyler Cameron's NYC Restaurant Bucket List
When former Bachelorette contestant and reality TV star Tyler Cameron plans a night out in NYC, he has spots he visits over and over. But when he recently made the move back to his hometown of Jupiter, Florida for good, he made himself a bucket list of restaurants to get to one last time before leaving New York.
“In Florida, I have to drive 15 minutes minimum to get good food, whereas in New York, I could walk down the block and be at Kiki's or Golden Diner or Joe Shanghai,” Tyler says. “That's gonna be the thing I miss the most. "You can be drunk [at 2am] and order [better pizza than] you'd ever have in Florida. I'll miss that for sure.”
Read on for Tyler’s farewell to NYC tour, which includes brunch, booze, and his favorite burgers.
“Those honey butter pancakes they do are so out of this world good. There's honestly nothing like them in New York City. They're dense but fluffy. They're just airy pockets of love. I don't know how they do it. The butter and the sauce they put on, it's just beautiful.
But that tuna melt is fantastic. If you're still a little kid at heart like me, know that they put potato chips in the sandwich. You’ve got this toasted bread with the tuna salad, and the cheese is perfectly melted, and then with the salt and vinegar chips inside… it's art. I don't wanna have another tuna melt from somewhere else. I know it's not gonna be as good.”
“My apartment was literally five minutes away in a car. You can order their soup dumplings via delivery and they get to you still hot, or you can go there and eat them and they're just the best. They're best, of course, if you eat them in person. Those pork soup dumplings are heaven. There's nothing like a New York winter day getting those dumplings. I always burn the roof of my mouth because I can't wait. I’ve just got to eat them.”
photo credit: David A Lee
“This is the place you come to at like 11:30 or 12 o'clock at night, and you’ll find a bunch of people there hanging out, eating, drinking, and just having a good time. It's a great slice and it’s a fun place. They’ve got old school arcade games in there. I like to have a doughy crust like theirs—I hate crackly pizza. I've been leaning more into cheese pizza lately, just because I don't like the kind of grease that pools up with the pepperoni sometimes. Your slice can't be too floppy, either, though—the New York flop or whatever it is. Scarr’s has it figured out.”
photo credit: Daniel Brennan
“I always try to make an effort to stop by and buy a bagel whenever I'm around. I’d never been a big salmon and cream cheese person until I went to this place and someone ate it and told me, ‘Dude, you gotta try it just once.’ So I did. They do the salmon pastrami-style and man, it's amazing. I think about that bagel a lot when I'm in Florida.”
photo credit: Stan Ptitsin
“The 4 Charles Burger… me and my boys always try to make it a point when we get together in New York City, that's where we go. We eat a burger and catch up in this cool little small, dark, fancy restaurant.
I add the egg sometimes. I'm more of a mustard guy. The cheat code is that [there's a similar] burger at Restoration Hardware, which we have in West Palm Beach, but I don't think it's ever as good as the one at 4 Charles.”
“The first time I went to The Nines, I was really drunk, I'm not gonna lie. The music was bumping and everyone was having a great time. I was just in love with the place. Then, all of a sudden, this burger came to the table and we were supposed to share it with everybody. I took two bites of it and I just immediately hid it from everybody and ate the whole thing. I need to go back sober to make sure it's as good as I thought it was.”
“Carriage House is a cool spot with such a great vibe. I love their uni butter tagliatelle. For me, uni can be a little too salty or fishy, you know? But their chef does a good job of making it blend well with the entire dish. I mean, he's an artist. He's a great chef. This dish is something that I would never typically order, but because I trust him and his entire menu, I do. Carriage House really creates an experience for everyone who walks through that door.”
“I don't know how they do that french toast. It's almost like it's medium rare. You know with steaks how they can do Pittsburgh-style, where it's crunchy on the outside and rare on the inside? That’s kind of how Sadelle’s does their french toast. It's insane.”
photo credit: Phil Yoon
“I randomly needed to get a quick lunch before a meeting, so I went into Thai Villa. I was blown away by it. I ordered the curry, ate it all, and was so amazed by it that I ordered curry again and then ate it all, again. I love red curry, a spicy red curry, especially in New York City in the winter. It's heavenly. It warms you up. I like when my nose starts to drip a little bit ‘cause it's so spicy. That's when you know it's hitting.”
“Maison Close is something I always recommend for out of towners to experience a crazy fun environment you'd never get back at home. When the party starts, it's like a train: once it gets going, you can't stop it. They black out the whole place, so you can't even see outside. They have these dudes who, when someone orders champagne, they come out dressed up in colonial clothes and wigs like George Washington.
They take the champagne bottle and they shake it and they're able to squirt a little stream into your mouth perfectly. Every time I do it, it just explodes everywhere. I don't know how they do it.”
