These are the secret off-menu dishes at NYC's trendiest restaurants
Getting a prime-time table at a buzzy restaurant in the city is no longer enough.
Diners-in-the-know pride themselves on ordering exclusive off-menu items, and restaurants are increasingly offering them.
'It's becoming a thing,' said Colleen Croft, co-owner of Elio's, a popular Upper East Side Italian restaurant that's been around for decades. 'When people are regulars they like knowing things other people don't.'
At Elio's, the off-menu chicken parm has been a favorite of insiders. Have a look at it and four other popular off-menu items around town.
Chicken parm at Elio's
9 The chicken parm at Elio's is a customer favorite, but it will never go on the regular menu.
Emmy Park
Gwyneth Paltrow is reportedly a big fan of the restaurant's $44 rendition of the Italian-American staple, but Croft told The Post it will never be added to the real menu.
'My husband always said it isn't a traditionally classic Italian dish, and this is an Italian restaurant,' said Croft of her late partner, Elio Guaitolini, a Genoa, Italy native who opened Elio's in 1981. 'It doesn't belong on the menu.'
Over the years, Elio's has attracted a laundry list of bold-face regulars, including Joan Didion, Woody Allen and Paul McCartney. Paltrow celebrated her 40h birthday at the restaurant in 2012.
9 Chef Luiz Cuzco and his team serve and prepare about three dozen chicken parms each night.
Emmy Park
Croft told The Post they sell about three dozen chicken parms a night, despite the dish's stealth status.
Emma Pendrill, who works in travel public relations and lives close to the restaurant, said she learned about the item from a friend who had been frequenting the restaurant for years. The first time she had it, she said, 'I fell in love.'
'I am not a fan of chicken parm. In fact, I would never order it,' she said. 'But at Elio's they cook it with very thin, perfectly crunchy chicken, and their classic red sauce doesn't overwhelm the rest of the dish.'
1621 2nd Ave., Upper East Side
Spicy vodka pasta at Emmett's on Grove
9 Emmett Burke said customers like feeling special when they order the off-menu pasta.
EMMY PARK
The casual West Village pizza joint is known for its crowd-pleasing playlist, free-flowing martinis, and creative pies. The menu features a handful of pastas, but this $22 off-menu noodle is the one to get.
'We make conchiglie pasta shells in house, and marry it with creamy vodka sauce we spice up with cherry peppers and their juice,' owner Emmett Burke told The Post.
Josh Beckerman, a popular food influencer who goes by @FoodieMagician on Instagram, has posted about the pasta, praising its 'velvety sensual wonderful sauce.'
9 The spicy vodka pasta will soon be on the regular menu at Elio's.
EMMY PARK
The dish was something the chefs were playing around with in the kitchen one day before they tried it on a few friends and regulars. 'They loved it and thought it was fun and felt like they were special,' said Burke.
But, the exclusivity has an expiration date. Burke said it will soon be added to the regular menu.
39 Grove St., EmmetsOnGrove.com
Hash brown Caviar Bites at Cafe Commerce
9 At Cafe Commerce, they serve about 20 caviar-topped hash brown specials each night.
Alexander Stein
At the beginning of 2025, chef Harold Moore opened the second iteration of Cafe Commerce. The 55-seat Upper East Side bistro has many of the same menu items as the original Cafe Commerce, a popular West Village spot that closed in 2015.
But Chef Moore is also having fun with new dishes, including some off-menu offerings.
The most popular of the insider items are these small hash browns topped with creme fraiche, shallots, chives and a gram of osetra caviar. Every night, about 20 diners order the high-low delight.
'It feels special, and people like being in the know,' said Moore.
964 Lexington Ave., Upper East Side; CafeCommerceNYC.com
Canard a la presse from Restaurant Daniel
9 Daniel Boulud has brought the elaborate pressed duck presentation back to his flagship restaurant.
EMMY PARK
Daniel Boulud had this fussy french dish on the menu at his uptown flagship many years ago.
At the end of March, he announced on Instagram that he was bringing it back as an off-menu special.
Those who order it enjoy an elaborate presentation. A glistening silver press is wheeled out tableside and used to extract the juice from a duck carcass into a silver bowl. Cognac and other spirits are whisked into the liquid to create a sauce, which is then painted onto a plate and topped with delicately carved pieces of duck. More of the rich sauce is poured over the meat at the table.
9 The duck dish costs $295 per person.
EMMY PARK
9 The sauce made from the pressed duck carcasse is painted on the plate.
restaurantdaniel/Instagram
Such luxury comes with a cost — a $295 per person supplement to the restaurant's multi-course set menus which range from $195 to $235. Only a limited number of ducks are available each night, and they must be reserved in advance.
It's 'a revered French tradition that showcases the art of duck preparation,' Boulud said on Instagram.
60 E. 65th St., Upper East Side; DanielNYC.com
Buri Shabu Shabu at Aqua New York
9 'Not every table is the right fit,' Richard Ward, the owner of Aqua, said of the buri shabu shabu.
Courtesy of Aqua New York
Aqua — a 400-seat, 25,000-square-foot London import that opened in the Flatiron at the end of 2024 — has not one, but two menus. One is devoted to upscale Italian favorites while a second features sushi, robata and other Japanese fare. It's probably the only place in the city where you can order both homemade rosemary focaccia and black cod tempura with matcha salt and truffle paste.
There are even more items on offer for those deemed worthy. The restaurant has an off-menu buri shabu shabu ($36) featuring yellowtail sashimi cooked in garlic dashi broth and served with a soy-egg sauce for dipping.
Roughly five of the fish dishes are available each night, and servers offer it only to select diners.
'Not every table is the right fit,' Richard Ward, the restaurant's owner, told The Post.
902 Broadway, Aqua-NYC.com
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