Tips and Takes From The Most Well-Dined New Yorker I Know

Colin Camac on his favorite new and classic spots, how to get into buzzy restaurants, where to find the best service, and more

I met

Colin Camac

in 2017 when we worked together at Resy. I was writing stories for Resy.com and getting our email marketing channel off the ground, and he was selling the nascent reservation management system to New York restaurants. Bringing on Colin was a smart move by our head of sales at the time, Brandon Barton, and Ben Leventhal, Resy’s founder and then-CEO. Colin wasn’t a sales guy, but he was a restaurant guy, having owned and operated two locations of Fatty Crab and Fatty 'Cue, a trio of very fun, very good, very popular Malaysian-inspired spots. If you were dining out in New York in the mid-aughts through the mid-2010s, you know the vibe. Colin also grew up in restaurants: his dad was a restaurant guy, too, and the owner of 5 Ninth, a bona fide hot spot during the Meatpacking District’s early-2000s heyday.

So when Colin arrived at Resy, he was selling to people he knew well, who were operating in a world he understood. He swiftly became the sales team’s top performer, closing deal after deal with the buzziest and best restaurants in town, and playing a key role in Resy’s takeover of New York. Colin left Resy in 2023 to work for Leventhal’s current startup, Blackbird, a restaurant loyalty and payments platform that has yet to make it to Los Angeles. Since Colin is a sales guy now (but also forever a restaurant guy), I’ll let him handle the pitch: “We're trying to change the way people transact in restaurants. We're creating a new currency for the restaurant economy that rewards both guests and restaurants.” You can download the app here.

Beyond selling Blackbird to restaurants, Colin also writes a weekly column for

The Supersonic: Blackbird's Secret Substack

called Where Colin Ate. If you want to be in on what’s happening and where’s worth eating in the New York restaurant scene, you should subscribe. (Follow him on Instagram, too.) Colin is, without a doubt, the most well-dined industry player I know. He eats out every single night, hits new spots before most people have heard of them, and can tell you whether or not many restaurants are still good. He’s also one of the few people I trust inherently. If I ask Colin about a restaurant and he says he “liked it, didn’t love it,” I know for sure it’s going to be mid.

Last week, I sat down with my go-to source for all things New York restaurants over sandwiches at S&P Lunch to ask about the places he’s excited about, what the city needs more and less of, and how to get into that restaurant you’re dying to try.

The venue, the subject.

Emily Wilson: Why do you love this place?

Colin Camac: I have an old-school attachment to S&P because many years ago, I was consulting on the wine list for a [now-closed] restaurant called Borough Food and Drink alongside my former chef-partner, Zak Pelaccio. It’s where COQADOC is now, and I was spending a lot of time going back and forth between there and Fatty Crab, conducting tastings. Zak’s partner, Jori, was like, ‘Hey, have you ever been to Eisenberg’s?’ I hadn’t, so I went and got a tuna melt. It was a rundown sandwich counter, but all the food was really good, and I started going there quite often. [In 2022,] it was taken over by the guys who have Court Street Grocers. An old chef of mine consulted on the reopening, and he always made incredible sandwiches. When I came back, it felt exactly like Eisenberg's, but everything was just… better. The other reason I love it here is that there's a tiny door 15 feet in the air that says ‘No admittance,’ even though it's literally impossible to get to.

What’s the best month for dining in New York?

The whole summer, honestly. June is the best, because it's right when the weather changes. But the problem with June is that it's still kind of impossible to get in everywhere. Everyone is so happy to be out, rushing to all the restaurants, outdoor seating is crazy, the lines are out of control. As you hit July 4th, everyone starts to leave. The holiday weekends like Memorial Day and Labor Day are the best times to dine in New York.

And you have summer produce.

Everything turns; all that stuff is great, but you can also get in anywhere you want. All the restaurants you've been thinking about, all the places that are harder to get into, you just show up, and you’re in.

Macaroni salad arrives.

I never get macaroni salad. But there's something in me today that has decided that was something I wanted. I used to hate it as a kid. Something about the texture of the cold noodles slipping around. But as I got older, I decided I liked it.

What’s on your agenda this week?

Tonight, I have the Hellfire Club, which is a men's club of people from all different creative industries that meets once a quarter. We go to a restaurant, and we pay for it in advance. It's like $100-125 a head, including booze. It's usually about 20 guys, and you find out who's going the day of. There are music producers, artists, architects. We’re going to Strange Delight. Tomorrow I’m going to a Claro pop-up at Bar Goto in Brooklyn. Wednesday, I’m dining at Frederico [Ribeiro] and Elena [Liao]’s house from Té Company. Yesterday, I was walking through the East Village on my way back from Carnitas Ramirez, and I ran into Elena on her way to their new shop in the area. I went in and had their strawberry rhubarb linzer, which was absolutely delicious. I have no idea what Fred’s going to cook, but I think he's one of the most talented chefs. He used to serve brain over tuna salad at the original Té Company in the West Village, which is in my old building. It was wacky, but it was great.

Sandwiches arrive: The Mel Brooks (roast turkey and a slice of corned beef with mustard, slaw, and Russian dressing on rye) for Colin, Fifty-50 (egg salad and tuna salad on rye) for me.

How’s the sandwich?

Amazing. It’s a perfect sandwich. They’re roasting turkey in-house, cutting it thick. It’s not coming off a Boar’s Head log, you know?

My Fifty-50, Colin and his Mel Brooks.

What new restaurants are you most excited about right now?

Bánh Anh Em is so good. The line situation is tough, but they’re open during the day, and you can get a bánh mì to go. Carnitas Ramirez is phenomenal. Le Veau d’Or is just amazing, but it’s been around for a year now. Bar Kabawa isn’t a full-on meal, but it’s a fun place to go. I still really like Massara. Santi, the new Michael White restaurant, is really great. It’s like if Marea opened today.

You’re in the mood to dine at a classic New York restaurant. Where are you going?