Around New York, chefs are treated like celebrities who also have superhuman powers. So who are these Croc-wearing food wizards? Where do they find their bites on a budget? And where do they go to splurge? In this series we ask top NYC chefs where and what they eat. In this installment we ask Ty-lör Boring for his NYC restaurant secrets.
Gillian Tozer: Best place for Thai food?
Ty-lör Boring: I love Ayada Thai in Woodside, Queens. It’s this super tiny family-run place, and it totally feels like Bangkok. They don't sell beer, so you buy it at the Bodega next door, which has every kind of Thai and Southeast Asian beer you could imagine. The food tastes exactly like it tastes in Thailand. It’s worth the trip.
GT: Best place to get a burger?
TB: I love the burger at Diner and also I love Prime Meat in Carroll Gardens. But there's something about that greasy wrapper at Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridien or at the original Shake Shack in Madison Square Park that just melts my heart.
GT: When you're tired or in a blue mood, what do you make yourself?
TB: A toasted cheese sandwich. I use a shitload of butter and processed American cheese. I don’t use just one slice, I have to use two and a half. When I take a bite, I want the cheese to be like molten lava running down my hand and I’m going to have to run to the hospital because it just burnt me.
GT: Favorite fancy restaurant in the city?
TB: I really love Mile End. It’s a Montreal-style, Jewish delicatessen on Hoyt Street in Brooklyn. It’s a tiny space run by a husband and wife and the food is so amazing. They do slow-smoked meat so expertly that it harks back to Kansas City barbecue for me—it’s just so decadent and subtle.
My favorite restaurant, which unfortunately is closed—and I want to gouge my heart out and die because of it—is M. Wells in Long Island City. I made friends with them because I would go so frequently, and, as a solo diner, would order like five things, which was so obscene there. I haven’t had so much fun eating in a long, long time. I’ve also heard a lot of interesting things about this new place in Bed Stuy called Do or Dine.
GT: Celebrity chef crush?
TB: Ferran AdriÀ. People love him, people hate him, but regardless of what people think, he’s so creative and passionate, and he has done more to advance cooking in our lifetime than anybody else. He has mystified me, captivated me, and really inspired my cooking. I’m so sad I never got a chance to eat at El Bulli. A part of me would like to get a fellowship at the school that he's founding now.
SriPraPhai 64-13 39th Ave, Woodside, NY
Le Parker Meridien 119 West 56th Street, NYC
Shake Shack Madison Ave and East 23rd St, NYC
Diner 85 Broadway, Williamsburg, NY
Prime Meats 465 Court St, Brooklyn, NY
Mile End 97a Hoyt St, Brooklyn, NY
Do or Dine 1108 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY![]()
Gillian Tozer: Best place for Thai food?
Ty-lör Boring: I love Ayada Thai in Woodside, Queens. It’s this super tiny family-run place, and it totally feels like Bangkok. They don't sell beer, so you buy it at the Bodega next door, which has every kind of Thai and Southeast Asian beer you could imagine. The food tastes exactly like it tastes in Thailand. It’s worth the trip.
GT: Best place to get a burger?
TB: I love the burger at Diner and also I love Prime Meat in Carroll Gardens. But there's something about that greasy wrapper at Burger Joint in Le Parker Meridien or at the original Shake Shack in Madison Square Park that just melts my heart.
GT: When you're tired or in a blue mood, what do you make yourself?
TB: A toasted cheese sandwich. I use a shitload of butter and processed American cheese. I don’t use just one slice, I have to use two and a half. When I take a bite, I want the cheese to be like molten lava running down my hand and I’m going to have to run to the hospital because it just burnt me.
GT: Favorite fancy restaurant in the city?
TB: I really love Mile End. It’s a Montreal-style, Jewish delicatessen on Hoyt Street in Brooklyn. It’s a tiny space run by a husband and wife and the food is so amazing. They do slow-smoked meat so expertly that it harks back to Kansas City barbecue for me—it’s just so decadent and subtle.
My favorite restaurant, which unfortunately is closed—and I want to gouge my heart out and die because of it—is M. Wells in Long Island City. I made friends with them because I would go so frequently, and, as a solo diner, would order like five things, which was so obscene there. I haven’t had so much fun eating in a long, long time. I’ve also heard a lot of interesting things about this new place in Bed Stuy called Do or Dine.
GT: Celebrity chef crush?
TB: Ferran AdriÀ. People love him, people hate him, but regardless of what people think, he’s so creative and passionate, and he has done more to advance cooking in our lifetime than anybody else. He has mystified me, captivated me, and really inspired my cooking. I’m so sad I never got a chance to eat at El Bulli. A part of me would like to get a fellowship at the school that he's founding now.
SriPraPhai 64-13 39th Ave, Woodside, NY
Le Parker Meridien 119 West 56th Street, NYC
Shake Shack Madison Ave and East 23rd St, NYC
Diner 85 Broadway, Williamsburg, NY
Prime Meats 465 Court St, Brooklyn, NY
Mile End 97a Hoyt St, Brooklyn, NY
Do or Dine 1108 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY
