My favorite Japanese restaurant in NY...Small and cozy place, the staff is great, the food always simple and delicious, the uni shots are addictive and the sake perfect.

The crown jewel of the Queens Museum is a nearly 10,000-square-foot architectural model of the city originally built for the 1964 World's Fair.

Luhring Augustine did a good job of converting an old warehouse/storage facility into a blue chip commercial art gallery that stages four shows of contemporary art per year. Which means you can catch museum quality shows in an unlikely spot, away from all the Chelsea pomp, and it actually has friendly staff, instead of a cold gallerina sat behind a desk pretending to be on the phone.

Lovely Italian restaurant with a beautiful backyard. I usually have the Orecchiette Salsiccia Broccoli or the spaghetti Vongole.

While the current trend in noodles may well be ramen, this bafflingly-named Japanese restaurant just ten minutes from my apartment specialises in udon. Unless you are my friend Diego Zambrano it will probably take you several visits to get through all the things you need to try on the menu - the gyoza are otherworldly, the sushi 'tacos' clever enough without being silly. New York has thousands of awful Japanese places; this is not one of them. It's super nice to come in on a Sunday night and eat at the bar next to curmudgeonly old guys barking at each other in Japanese.