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If all you think about is retiring to the country, head to Friend of a Farmer, where you can get a taste of the simple life with the time investment of just one meal. Beneath the warm glow of hurricane lamps, crowds nosh on rustic classics like chicken pot pie, roast turkey, and meatloaf. The interior of exposed rafters, Mason jars filled with lentils, walls decked with floral-print fabric, and wicker baskets brimming with fruits recall the farmhouse inns of upstate New York, where co-owner Terry Morabito grew up. Weekend brunch is a scene: perky New Englanders and fresh-pressed families line up for pumpkin or blueberry pancakes, home-made granola, and Belgian waffles. Eggs come in more than a dozen styles, and are served hot in iron skillets. Then there are twists, like the Back Country Eggs, a newfangled version of eggs benedict, but with a crab cake base. The dinner menu occasionally loses focus, as with the Terry Alan Chicken, coated with cheddar cheese and stuffed with apples, all surfing a slice of lemon cake into treacherously sweet waters. But you're not here for fanciful food, you're here to pretend you're somewhere else more hospitable and lovely than a Manhattan street, even if that street is only a block away from the gated, faux-outdoors of Gramercy Park. — Stephen Weiss

Lines snake outside for brunch, which is served on Saturday and Sunday, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Reservations are not accepted for brunch, but are accepted at all other times for parties of six or more.

Smoked salmon scramble, $13.95; chicken pot pie, $12.95