Where to Find the Best Tuna Niçoise Salad in NYC
Feeling fancy? Take your lunch to the next level by trying a tuna niçoise salad. Niçoise--meaning “in the style of Nice” in French--is inspired by the way meals were prepared in Nice, France. These dishes typically contained olives, tomatoes, and anchovies, and were dressed with olive oil. In the late 19th Century, the aforementioned combination was known as “simple food for poor people,” excluding any raw ingredients. The book La Cuisine à Nice--released in 1903 by Henri Heyraud--included an unadorned niçoise salad that featured solely tomatoes, anchovies, olive oil, red peppers, and black olives, sans tuna and lettuce. In 1972, the former mayor of Nice Jacques Médecin started to dress up the salad but was very specific about the ingredients and presentation. In his cookbook Cuisine Nicoise: Recipes from a Mediterranean Kitchen, he insisted the niçoise be served in a wooden bowl with garlic, and that it should never contain boiled vegetables, be made of mostly salted tomatoes, contain hard-boiled eggs, and include either canned tuna or anchovies (never both). In 1961, the definition of a niçoise salad became more lenient at last; its recipe in the American cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking highlighted potato salad, green beans, both tuna and anchovies, and a vinaigrette. Today, numerous cooks even incorporate other seafood into their take on niçoise, such as shrimp, swordfish, or halibut. The most popular, however, remains a traditional niçoise salad topped with a cut tuna steak, often served warm. Check out the top seven restaurants serving up fresh tuna niçoise salads in New York City:
Situated in the heart of Soho, this classic--often crowded--French brasserie serves a seared tuna niçoise with romaine, haricots verts, potatoes, anchovies, black olives, hard-boiled egg, and lemon dressing.
With locations all around the city, feel free to indulge in their niçoise--featuring tuna in olive oil, haricots verts, egg, potatoes, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, cucumbers, olives, anchovies, and dijon dressing---wherever and whenever you please.
Despite its name dedicated to the renowned French delicacy, the Upper East Side hub presents an equally-delicious salad complete with white tuna, string beans, capers, cherry tomatoes, anchovies, black olives, hard-boiled eggs, mesclun, olive oil, and raspberry vinegar.
Cozy up at this Chelsea bistro with a serving of “la salade niçoise,” which includes preserved tuna from Spain, baby arugula salad, roasted peppers, string beans, boiled egg, tomato, cucumber, fennel, potatoes, and anchovies.
The popular West Village coffee shop features a niçoise to go, composed of tuna salad, peppers, sliced egg, string beans, red potatoes, tomatoes, red onion, and mustard vinaigrette.
If you find yourself in the East Village, consider visiting this French bistro, known for its traditional niçoise with fresh, rare tuna.
The Noho restaurant’s French-inspired menu highlights the salad with rare tuna, anchovies, and egg.