Navigating New York’s Best Bars And Restaurants With Pike Founder Brandon Lee Heard

New York is nothing if not an embarrassment of riches. Especially, of course, when it comes to world-class food and beverage. To navigate the sheer density of it all (not to mention, keep a finger on the pulse of what’s exciting and new) people increasingly rely on tastemakers from the social media space who, in turn, steer us to an increasingly narrow set of bars and restaurants. The most populated city in the nation is served by an estimated 25,000 restaurants. Nevertheless, our Instagram feed is crowded by the same two dozen-or-so hotspots that become almost comically impossible to secure reservations at.

Brandon Lee Heard wants a course correction, which is why he founded Pike—a new app aimed at pioneering the way people discover, organize, and share experiences. “As a native New Yorker, I have seen the ebb and flow of places, trends, and people,” he explains. “I have seen influencers rise and fall before they were influencers. I think this gives Pike a very distinct perspective and advantage in this space. There’s a lot of apps out there. On Pike, you can find guides that are unique. For example, ‘when you want a night out and you’re 30, but it’s a Tuesday’ or ‘really cool laundromats for an early 2000’s photoshoot.’”

A fateful trip to Paris solidified his concept for the service. Staying at a luxury five-star hotel, his concierge provided the same exact recommendations for neighboring food and drink that he had seen over and over again on his TikTok For You Page.

“So I wandered over to a local cafe and asked the waitress what she liked in the area,” he recalls. “She walked away for a second, grabbed a napkin and wrote out for me the five places—in order—that I had to hit up. It ended up being the best time I’ve ever had in Paris. Right now we get a lot of our recommendations from top-down. But how do you bring more of that bottom-up, well-informed opinions from the masses?”

On a recent night out in the city, I inadvertently ambled my way through a noteworthy martini and burger crawl. It started off at The Gold Room, the stately drinks parlor inside the five-star Lotte New York Palace. A dedicated martini menu here contains one of the best Vespers in the city. It also flaunts a $250 offering constructed from Nolet’s Reserve gin. Alongside bacon and cheese-topped prime rib sliders, I was graced with a high/low combo for the ages. Further downtown, near Gramercy Park, I kept this vibe going at Hawksmoor. The British export promises the “ultimate steakhouse” martini, served up with Fords Gin, a tease of vermouth and lemon oil. In lieu of a massive seared ribeye, I opted to pair it with the restaurant’s limited edition Notorious B.E.E.F. It’s a bar burger to end all bar burgers; essentially a gourmet-ified Big Mac, with two dry-aged beef patties, special sauce, Velveeta cheese slices, lettuce, Onions, and homemade pickles.

If I set up a “Martini and Burger” experience in Pike, my bespoke combo above could be replicated by anyone following me on the app. And that’s exactly how Heard envisions it. “How do we lean into the local atmosphere and what’s going on in culture to create these types of experiences,” he asks.

Most recently it’s led him to a partnership with Moxy, a brand of hotels that he calls vibrant and playful, set up within the coolest neighborhoods of his home city. We caught up with the entrepreneur while he was setting up for an astrology-themed activation at LilliStar—a rooftop bar at the Moxy Williamsburg. Backdropped by a sprawling view of the skyline, he revealed two personal favorites when it comes to New York bars and restaurants.

• “Faun in Prospect Heights is a very good restaurant. They have a Caprese Martini. it uses tomato juice and basil and has mozzarella in it. But it’s somehow very light and very refreshing.”
• “Kaia Wine Bar in the Upper East Side. It’s more than just a wine bar, they serve cocktails. It’s South African. They make an incredible Espresso Martini using a liqueur called Amarula which comes from African tree nuts. It’s not served with the traditional three coffee beans as garnish, but when you taste it, it’s so good and so different. Not just a bunch of milk and sugar and chocolate.”

Heard could have kept sharing plenty more, but he seems more eager to listen to what others have to recommend. And now he’s built an app to do just that.