Cuisine: New American / Italian
Restaurateur: Stephen Starr
It’s amazing how many decent, adult restaurants there are in NYC. Places where you’d rarely, if ever, find kids or families. And, instead, can spy entire rows of dudes in finance-bro vests (still, in 2025!), a couple ladies out for post-work drinks and apps or, like me, a couple dudes out for a well-deserved catch-up over Italian food and some cocktails. All in an incredibly comfortable, warm space.
Now, I’m not afraid to judge a book by its cover. When it comes to restaurants, that is. And this joint’s cover is pretty damn nice. The bar and dining room look straight out of a NYC chic magazine photo spread. The perfect balance of woods, brass, emerald accents and soft lighting that will clean up those crow’s feet, but make some old-ass eyes struggle with the menu’s small font. Racks of perfectly aligned and balanced wine bottle and jars of pickled eggs frame a semi-open kitchen that truly did my slightly OCD heart good. The whole aesthetic is a great example of how to create a space that is both impressive, but inviting. I need to get the name of their architect and designer. I have a dining room just crying for a modern/retro update.
But, hey, we don’t eat with our eyes. Or, wait, maybe we do? I’ve watched entirely too many seasons of Top Chef. Upland’s site claims it’s California-inspired. Having grown up in California myself, I’m not sure how a mostly-Italian menu follows that ethos. Italian food — at least in Southern California — is pretty much inedible. At least it was back when I was growing up. We had a couple red-checked tablecloth places with the red-candle-in-a-wine-bottle thing. They were pretty much theme restaurants. This ain’t that.
Don’t come here expecting a huge menu. The food choices are pretty limited, but there is still something for everyone. Again, the cuisine trends Italian, which is just fine with me. We started with a margherita pizza for our app. An aggressive and gluttonous choice, I know, but we were rewarded with a tasty little, brick-oven type Neapolitan pizza. The balance of salt and cheese and earthiness was great. It was hard not to fill up on it, but I managed my impulses — yet still ended up eating half of it. I got my usual Manhattan, which was well made and ran me maybe around $18. For my main I got the rigatoni beef bolognese + grana padano. Because I’m incredibly predictable. It was a nice bowl of al dente pasta and well-made, tangy sauce. It was a solid choice and one that I was super-happy with during and after. Was it like life-changing, or even overly memorable in a unique way? Nah, not really. But few things are. My eating companion got the bucatini cacio e pepe. They didn’t do that whole tableside pecorino romano cheese wheel act that you’ll find at more traditional Italian haunts, but he said it was very good nonetheless.
What it comes down to is what you’re looking for in your evening. Do you want to sit and dine in a really pleasant, cool atmosphere, drink some wine, sip come cocktails and satiate your hunger with heartwarming carbs while chatting it up with some friends? Then this is your place. If you want avant-garde grub (read: pricey) and something to tickle your tastebuds in new, exciting ways, maybe try somewhere else. Upland just finds that balance between a classic dining experience and an evening that will leave you with a warm spot in your heart that you got a solid experience for your investment.
345 Park Ave S. (bet. 25th & 26th St.)
212/686-1006
uplandnyc.com
