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You always hear stories about the “old” days of New York—the seediness of Times Square, the graffitied subways and the roughness of it all. And while the city morphs into a new skin every few years, or sometimes even after a few months, a strange New York still exists.
Now of course, strange doesn’t just have to mean grit. Strange can include curiosities, oddities and even hidden historical finds—if you know where to look. From a steakhouse that keeps the world’s largest collection of pipes on its ceiling to a bar that bets on turtle races, here are some of the cities most unique offerings within its restaurants.
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EPIC.NOW at icca, Tribeca
Have you ever wanted to eat in a cave? In feudal Japan? Underwater, without the fear of drowning? Thanks to EPIC.NOW, all this can be had without leaving your seat. While the introduction of virtual reality to the dinner table isn’t necessarily new, EPIC.NOW goes a step further by heading into Michelin territory. Tapping the acclaimed sushi of the Michelin-starred Icca, chef Kazushige Suzuki created a special omakase menu to follow each act of the virtual journey, from the formation of the universe to the jungles of the Amazon. So strap in, and get ready for this multi-sensory ride. The virtual reality experience will be held at icca until the end of May. Tickets are $225 per person and include the eight-course meal, the one-hour virtual experience and the sake from Dassai.
Fraunces Tavern, Financial District
Beer and history buffs can come together at Fraunces Tavern. Established in 1762 (before America was even a thing), the tavern once served as a headquarters for George Washington and even fed Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr a week before their infamous duel. Even more history lies up above at the Fraunces Tavern Museum. The two-story museum houses over 8,000 artifacts including a re-creation of the Long Room where Washington bid farewell to his officers to relics from the Revolutionary War. We recommend paying the $10 fee to tour the museum, before dipping down to the tavern for a beer and a chicken pot pie, one of the first president’s favorite foods.
House of Wax, Downtown Brooklyn
To access a drink at Downtown Brooklyn’s Alamo Drafthouse, you have to pass through a dim hallway lined with glass cases. Peer inside, and you’ll be met with sleeping heads cradled on plush red velvet pillows. They are in fact death masks, and this is just the beginning of what is to be seen at House of Wax. The macabre collection once belonged to Castan’s Panopticum, a wax museum in Berlin. Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim Hollingsworth saved the collection, and now its death masks, wax depictions of afflictions like syphilis and leprosy and life-sized anatomical models are on display once again for the gawking. The menu plays into it all, like the Anatomical Venus and the Napoleon Death Mask which you can drink in view of the actual thing.
Keens Steakhouse, Midtown
Established in 1885, Keens Steakhouse calls back to the New York of yesteryear. Handsome mahogany wooden-paneled walls. Tons of memorabilia from framed newspaper clippings to the playbill of “Our American Cousin” allegedly stained with blood from Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. But the most historical find can be found with the tilt of your head. On the ceiling, a collection of churchwarden pipes hang above the dining room. This is only a small fraction as over 90,000 long-stemmed pipes are housed within the building, the largest collection found in the world, all stemming from Keens’ once-popular Pipe Club. The glass display cases featured around the restaurant house some of the most famous of them all, including pipes that were once used by Teddy Roosevelt, Babe Ruth and “Buffalo Bill” Cody.
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Turtles All the Way Down, Bedford-Stuyvesant
Every first Sunday, a group of New Yorkers gather in Bed-Stuy to bet on the hottest race in town. The racers in question? Turtles. A happening since the founding of the bar, Turtle All the Way Down throws down with a surprisingly heart pounding turtle race. Every month, the bars’ two resident turtles, Ja Rule and Vita, go head to head on the bar’s shuffleboard table. Entry to the race is $5 and you can place your bets for just $2 dollars to root on your favorite reptile. Lost the first round? Don’t worry, there’s three races total for you to win big. And by win big, we definitely mean a drink at the bar (psst … if you throw in a tip with your ticket, you just might get the bar’s signature frozen drink, Coffee Thing). Just remember to follow the golden rules of the bar: stay hydrated, be kind, no flash photograph or touching the turtles and always tip the bartenders.