Be:First

Before

0.3 mi · 6 min walk - Murray Hill

The New York outpost of a Chennai group that started in 1964, cooking Chettinad food, which means black pepper and curry leaf and a good deal more heat than the dosa places up the street. Pepper chicken and mutton chukka off the board, biryani by the plate. This is the one on Lexington where the tables are full of people speaking Tamil.

After

0.3 mi · 7 min walk - Union Square - Gramercy

On the corner of Irving Place and East 18th since 1864, which makes it the longest continuously operating bar and restaurant in New York. The front bar is the original and the booths are worn, and O. Henry is supposed to have written The Gift of the Magi in one of them. It is open until 2am seven days a week.