The Best Meals Ask the Least of You

Nobody has ever ordered a pizza and regretted it. That's not a joke, it's just a fact worth sitting with. Pizza doesn't demand a mood. It meets whatever mood you already brought in with you. Heartbroken, celebrating, just off a double, three drinks deep with friends, it doesn't matter. The pizza doesn't care why you're there. It just works.

That's the strange power of a truly comfort food. It's not about being simple, it's about being generous. A great slice makes room for you, whoever you are that night. Eat it alone at the counter with a book and it feels private and a little indulgent. Eat it with a table of eight and it becomes the thing everyone reaches for at once, no fighting over the last piece because there's always another pie coming. Few dishes flex that way. Fewer still taste just as good made at home on a random Tuesday as they do plated at a restaurant on a Sunday you actually planned for.

So we put in a pizza oven at Daintree Lower East Side.

A proper pizza oven doing proper work, turning out pies with a real char and toppings we actually want to eat ourselves. And because a good pizza deserves a day built around it, we're running it every Sunday starting at 4pm. A veggie pie, a meat pie, both worth ordering, and any glass of wine on the list for $25 while you're at it. Sunday afternoons at Daintree just got a reason.

Then there's Monday, which we've decided doesn't get to be the villain of the week anymore.

Every Monday, oysters are $1. Not a happy hour gimmick, not a limited window, just a full day where a dollar gets you one of the best things a raw bar can offer. Hungry, not hungry, somewhere in between, an oyster at that price is never a bad idea. Pair a few with a $10 martini and you've effectively rescheduled the entire concept of a Monday. The blues don't have much of an argument left.

Sunday is for pizza. Monday is for oysters. Everything in between is up to you. Daintree Lower East Side is open, come find out which day suits you.

Sunday Sessions at Daintree LES: Why the Weekend Deserves a Proper Send-Off

It's been a while since I moved to this insane and wonderful city from Australia, and while I clearly love everything about it, I've always found myself looking for ways to sneak a bit of home in wherever I can.

There's a thing that happens in Australia on Sundays that frankly doesn't get enough of a look over here. You finish lunch somewhere, most likely enjoying a hair of the dog or three, the afternoon light does that soft golden thing, someone puts music on, and nobody leaves. It just feels wrong to go home. All of a sudden you're deep in a Sunday Session and by golly, it's a wonderful thing. The session rolls into early evening, drinks are cold while the summer air is hot, conversation is pin-balling between last night's antics and half-baked "we should absolutely do that" ideas, and Monday morning starts to feel like someone else's problem. That's a Sunday Session. Somewhere between a boozy brunch and a proper night out, and something Australians have quietly perfected over decades.

I've been thinking about that feeling a lot since opening Daintree in the Lower East Side.

Starting this month, every Sunday from 3pm we’re hosting a local DJ playing deep house and nu-disco sets on the rooftop terrace at 139 Orchard Street. Naturally, we’re calling it Daintree Sunday Sessions because the weekend shouldn't just fade out with a headache. It should be seen right through to the end.

Our new LES rooftop is as good a spot as any to make that happen. You've got open sky, Manhattan skyline views, a terrace that catches the afternoon sun, and a drinks list built around spritzes and cocktails that were basically designed for exactly this kind of afternoon. With happy hour specials from 4 to 6pm to enjoy alongside great tunes and an unbeatable sunset there’s plenty of reasons to stick around.

The music sets the tone more than anything. Deep house and nu-disco are a specific kind of good on a Sunday afternoon, kind of present but not in your face, the sort of thing that makes a three hour set feel like thirty minutes. We've been really intentional about who we're booking and what that sonic backdrop feels like because it matters a lot more than people give it credit for.

If you've ever had a proper Sunday session somewhere and spent the rest of the week thinking about it, you know what we're going for. We think the Lower East Side needs one of these. You probably do too.

Sunday Sessions run every week, 3pm to 6pm. The rooftop is open, the DJ is on, and there's a table with your name on it. Reserve it below.