Grub Street

“Uptown is the new downtown” has been one of the popular memes in Restaurant-land in the aftermath of Sandy, and although things are getting better downtown with every passing week, it still rings true. Many dining establishments in the former dark zone have been slow to reopen in the wake of the storm (let alone recover their lost revenue), and a few of them haven’t reopened at all. Meanwhile, the durable old joints and watering holes in midtown and above are buzzing with happy regulars. New uptown restaurants, like Cesare Casella’s Salumeria Rosi Parmacotto and Steve Hanson’s clamorous new Strip House steak outlet on Fifth Avenue, are more crowded now than they were before the hurricane, and if you drop into Sirio Maccioni’s latest restaurant, Sirio at the Pierre, you’ll find the gleaming, wood-paneled room mobbed with happy revelers hoisting $16 cocktails in their gold-buttoned blazers and fur-trimmed coats.

From the butteriest shortbread to the ooeyest, gooeyest, chocolatiest chip, cookies make the perfect gift. Click through our slideshow to see seasonal offerings from Smile to Go, Milk Bar, Cafe Grumpy, and more.