Golden Diner Updates the Greasy-Spoon Tradition | The New Yorker

"On a gorgeous fall morning on the Lower East Side, just south of Chinatown, I watched two patrons spin in perfect unison on swiveling stools, drinking Yuzu Palmers — a clever riff on an Arnold Palmer that swaps lemonade for yuzu-ade and iced tea for Darjeeling‑flavored soju — while Samuel Yoo, a pedigreed chef masquerading as a short‑order cook, made something delicious. Yoo’s grilled cheese is perfectly unpretentious: yellow goo melting between buttery slices of white bread, griddle‑marked and sliced on the diagonal; it’s vegan (made with Follow Your Heart’s coconut‑oil‑based Gouda and pepper Jack and griddled in garlic oil) and upgrading to the deluxe adds medium‑cut fries and a wedge of sour pickle for $3.50. There’s a vegan Caesar that made me want to spin on my stool — crunchy romaine tossed in a punchy, garlic‑heavy dressing with Tabasco and mushroom powder, shreds of Follow Your Heart Parmesan, and big toasty croutons — yet the diner is not sanctimonious (the menu even suggests adding crispy real chicken). Classic diner comforts are handled superbly too: a plainly excellent matzo‑ball soup, “two eggs how you want ’em” served with a crackly‑edged, rough‑chopped hash‑brown patty, free coffee refills, and enormous, fluffy pancakes topped with salted honey‑maple butter in homage to a South Korean potato‑chip flavor. Yoo, a Korean‑American who grew up in Bayside, Queens, finds creativity within constraints — the burger tastes distinctive because the bun is a sesame‑scallion milk roll from a Chinatown bakery and the patty is finished with a mushroom‑gochujang sauce, and the pumpkin‑seed‑and‑cranberry granola sings because it’s finished with fresh orange zest — and most dishes fall in the $8–$15 range." - Hannah Goldfield