New York Magazine – July 08, 2019

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Rotisserie-

Chicken Dinner

by the Banks of the Pool

PROVISIONER:

Malecon

(764 Amsterdam

Ave., nr. 97th St.)

, the

West Side chainlet and Dominican-comfort-food specialist, is known for its garlicky roast chicken and a zingy house green sauce that will knock your socks off.

PROVISIONS:

A

whole roast chicken

, cut

into picnic-friendly pieces, comes with one side: You want the

yuca

(boiled or

fried) or the

potato salad

.

Also great for a Poolside picnic:

octopus salad

.

THE SPOT:

Weeping willows, grassy banks, twittering birds, and rambunctious turtles—what more could you ask for in a picnic ground? The Pool is as bucolic as a man-made park gets. Enter at W. 100th St.

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Cold Sesame

Noodles

at the Pinetum PROVISIONER:

The Upper West Side branch of Philly-based Sichuan dynamo

Han

Dynasty

(215 W. 85th St.,

nr. Broadway)

has a kitchen

so speedy your bag will be at the host stand almost before you put away your wallet.

PROVISIONS:

Chinese

food might not seem the most obvious choice for a déjeuner sur l’herbe

, but hot

days were made for

cold

noodles,

either sesame

or chile-oiled ... and

Cold

Ginger Sour String

Beans,

and

Cold Spicy

Crispy Cucumbers.

THE SPOT:

Arthur Ross

was a philanthropist with a passion for pines, and his Pinetum, just above the Great Lawn and below the Reservoir, is furnished with picnic tables; planted with evergreens of various shapes and sizes, from short and scrubby to tall and towering; and suffused with the vague but pervasive atmosphere of a sleepaway camp in Maine. Enter at W. 85th St.

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Asian Lamb Gyro at the Heckscher Ballfields

PROVISIONER:

Bang Bar

(10 Columbus Cr.,

at 58th St., third fl.)

,

David Chang’s shrine to griddled flatbreads and spit-carved meats, and an actual bargain right there in the fancy Time Warner Center.

PROVISIONS:

The U

sandwich, so named for its curved shape and neatly

stuffed with

spicy pork

,

chicken

, or our current

favorite,

marinated lamb

with cabbage and pickled onions.

The place is mostly

takeout, so it’s all eminently portable, and if you need an infusion of vegetable matter with your Changified street meat, get a side of sesame-sprinkled shishitos.

THE SPOT:

In the

bleacher seats at ballfield No. 5, which happens to be the shadiest, while watching a typically rousing softball game.

Enter at W. 60th St.

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Sunday Bagel Brunch at the

Hallett Nature

Sanctuary

PROVISIONER:

Freds

of Barneys

(660 Madison

Ave., at 61st St.)

is known for

its ladies- (and gentlemen-)who-lunch salads, its first-rate french fries, and its celebrity-ridden crowd. For its bagels, not so much—though they are some of the best, thanks to chef Mark Strausman’s fanatically old-school approach.

PROVISIONS:
The

spécialité de la truck

is a groaning,

$10 tinfoil

platter of juicy chargrilled chicken breast

served with

fluffy yellow rice, a crisp romaine salad, and a good drizzle of homemade tzatziki over the whole shebang.

THE SPOT:

The Dene

Slope was recently a bit of a weed-stricken mess. Now restored to its native-meadow grandeur, it’s fairly festooned with wildflowers, tall grasses, buzzing bees and fluttering butterflies, and makes an excellent spot for a picnic. Follow the wood-chip trail to a rustic bench or take a seat on a patch of ancient bedrock. Enter at E. 64th St.^7

Tuna Tramezzini at Cedar Hill PROVISIONER:

Sant Ambroeus

(1000

Madison Ave., nr. 77th St.)

,

the Milanese pasticceria-confetteria-café and all-around UES social center, is a great source for tiny Italian sandwiches that, like German citizens with 32 weeks of vacation time, travel well. They also pack the sandwiches in bags that are so sturdy and fetching you may consider ending your unhealthy relationship with your Duane Reade shopping tote for good.

PROVISIONS:

Get an

assortment of what are perhaps the best tramezzini around (don’t miss the Nostromo: tuna-and-egg salad

), plus panini on

superb little house-baked buns filled with everything from mortadella to vegetable frittata. For dessert, the

flourless

chocolate-walnut cookie

is the way to go.

THE SPOT:
Of the Conservatory Garden’s three distinctly landscaped spaces, we're partial to the English-style South Garden—not only for its lush plantings but for the tranquillity of the "garden room" in its center, and the shade of its giant Japanese crabapple tree. There may be no more blissfully serene sanctum in town. Enter at E. 105th St.

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Fonio and

Fufu at the Harlem Meer

PROVISIONER:

Teranga

, at the Africa

Center

(1280 Fifth Ave.,

at 110th St.)

, gives

Pan-African cuisine the good old fast-casual-bowl treatment and does it with such verve and panache and skill you may look anew at that played-out genre of the modern food world.

PROVISIONS:

Everything is great, from the ginger juice to the hot sauce, but we get extra emotional about this DIY combo: jollof fonio

(milletlike

grain cooked with tomatoes and chiles); Moroccan-spiced roasted salmon

; fufu

(a spongy, supersized dumpling of sorts made from pounded plantain and red palm oil); and egusi

(the best collard

greens we’ve ever eaten).

THE SPOT:

The beautiful meer (Dutch for “little sea”), with its abundance of park benches and inviting Dana Lawn, is so close to Teranga it practically functions as sidewalk seating. Enter at E. 110th St.

Map by Josh Cochran

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