With its deli fridges stocked with ales and lagers, and its aged steaks and whole hams dangling from steel hooks, the Cannibal could double as the set of a new dude-food show on the Cooking Channel. Run by guys and packed with them, the place is so unabashed in its bromance for craft beer and artisanal meat it’s almost a parody of a manly restaurant. If you like meat and beer, though, it’s pretty close to paradise. For restaurateur Christian Pappanicholas, the beer-obsessed carnivore behind the place, it’s the physical manifestation of some very personal passions. The new spot, which is connected to his Belgian-American eatery, Resto, right next door, is an unusual retail-restaurant hybrid—a beer store and a butcher shop but also a laid-back place to eat and drink. Its meat counter supplies whole beasts for Resto’s large-format feasts. But the Cannibal is otherwise autonomous, with its own chef, Michael Berardino (formerly of Dell’anima), and its own on-premise beer master, Ryan Colcannon. The eat-in food here is best ordered in rounds, pairing beer and bites as you work your way through the 300-odd selections on the drinks list. To go with that smoky Dutch rauchbier or that obscure Irish stout, you might begin with wispy shavings of Kentucky ham or with a fat hunk of lamb-neck terrine, exotic with star anise, cumin and Szechuan peppercorns. There are house-pickled vegetables and good lemony olives to pick at too. Still feeling peckish? How about a few sausages with the next
Time Out readers have spoken, and below are the venues they named their absolute favorite in Flatiron, Gramercy & Union Square. So the next time you’re in the area and in need of food, drink or retail therapy, make a beeline for these places and you won’t go far wrong.
For more great things to do in Gramercy and Flatiron check out our full Gramercy and Flatiron guide.