Friend of a Farmer

The closest you’ll get to a farmstead without heading upstate, this folksy Gramercy Park spot was in the field-to-table game before just about anyone. For 30 years it’s been taking the best of the harvest from local farms and presenting citified versions of homey US classics (fried oysters, crab cakes, cobb salad) in a -esque dining room. It comes into its own during weekend brunch, when New Yorkers wistful for a taste of the countryside pack it out for loaded omelettes, house-smoked salmon and pancakes.