NYC chow notes, various

A five day chow-centric NYC trip. Just text, no pictures. Time constraints and extreme cold precluded taking the El out to Queens so we didn't get to Sripraphai or Flushing Chinatown or my favorite Peruvian ceviche place La Pollada Laura near LGA.

Smoked Fish
Barney Greengrass and Russ Daughters.

Barney Greengrass is a legacy place on the upper west side, on Amsterdam between 86th and 87th. Unlike most legacy places, it continues to deliver--exc whitefish, very good belly lox, babka, fresh oj, awesome diner urn drip coffee, something that's almost impossible to find anymore. The Eastern European Jewish heart attack standards are all there, but we go for the smoked fish.

Russ Daughters.
Here's the thing: You're walking east on Houston St, past 1st Ave, and in quick succession you hit Yonah Schimmel's Knishes, Russ Daughters (an Appetizing Store--no seats), and one block on--Katz's. I challenge even Gwiv and Cathy2 and Rob to manage this gauntlet.

Russ Daughters' is an 'appetizing shop', of a kind that was once in every nyc Jewish neighborhood. Smoked fish and other groceries, delicacies and prepared foods and salads.

Russ Daughters' belly lox was better than Barney Greengrass. Not just a little better--but orders of magnitude better. On a scale of absolutes, IMHO Russ Daughters' belly lox is a greater imperative than pastrami. The sable was ethereal, too.

Babka-a thon
Babka samples were collected from Zabar's (80th & Broadway) baked by Green's, Russ Daughters', and Barney Greengrass. Samples were bagged, tagged and schlepped to our current stop--Durham. Study still under way.

Yonah Schimmel's Knishes
Last time I had a Yonah Schimmel knish was about ten years ago. It was so bad I tossed it after one bite. This visit, we walked by about lunchtime and picked up a kasha knish and a potato knish to eat with Russ Daughers' smoked fish and bagels back at the hotel. Both were exemplary. Conclusion: treat Yonah Schimmel's like other ethnic eateries--when its busy its good, otherwise, pass it by.

Falafel
I've been trying to get to Azuri Cafe on 51st just east of Tenth Ave for several years. The guy who runs this postage stamp of place is an intense Alan Arkin like character portraying the soup nazi. The whole fifteen seat place, the proprietor and his two employees are models of machine-like precision - all reflected in the carefully prepared food. The flat out best Israeli style falafel: moist parsley infused flat patties cooked to order. Exc harissa-hot sauce, pickles, baba ganoush, hummes, chicken schwarma, home made pita--about a quarter inch thick and yeasty. Azuri won the prize, its the one place we went to twice. Closed Fri night and Sat.

Pizza
Tried once, half-heartedly. Angelo's on 57th just west of 6th Ave. Ok coal oven pie. Wouldn't seek it out again, wouldn't turn it away on a cold night.

Chocolate
Kee's and Jacques Torres. These two places are each two blocks from the Spring St subway station, but in opposite directions.

As I understand it, the woman at Kee's used to work for Jacques Torres. $10 for six truffles--the Katsu of chocolate. Thai chili and coffee truffles are extraordinary. Worth every penny. An absolute imperative. Daily production is small, nay miniscule. Get there early or call ahead to reserve.

Hot chocolate flavored with ancho chile from Jacques Torres. Superb. Rich beyond belief. Chocolate covered apricots spiced with ginger are, if possible, not sweet. Passed on the truffles, since we had stocked up at Kee's.

Cheese
Di Paulo's on Grand east of Mulberry.
Another legacy place, stuffed with cheese, homemade ravioli, mozzarella, and salumi. An exc parmesan reggiano at $11.99/lb. Spicy soprassata wasn't so good--didn't try for it.

Italian
There are three kinds of restaurants in nyc: Italian, Italian and Italian. Or so it seems. We hit two : Lupa and Il Menestrello.

Lupa, on Thompson north of Houston, is very reasonable for what you get. The imported proscuitto, IMHO, puts most brisket to shame in terms of cured meat nirvana. The house cured salumi is not too shabby either. The fish antipasti--octopus, sardines, cod were almost as good. Semolina flan was essence of macaroni and cheese goodness. A deep deep wine list with tons of good bottles 25-35. House pastas must not be missed. From the menu, especially enjoyed the spicy tuna with linguine. Six of us feasted (capital FFF) , three courses, no dessert for $60 each with two bottles of wine and tip.

Day of departure lunch at Il Menestrello. I am glad to report that rumors of its chow demise are ill-founded. Large martinis's, a couple of glasses of blood red Morellini. Roast peppers with anchovies typify why I am so fond of this place--a request for garlic resulted in a sprinkling of precise thinness garlic slices across the plate. Veal Milanese was exemplary, as was linguine with white clam sauce and whole clams. Ricotta torte is a classic. Best strategy here is to stick with the main stream items of the NYC Italian culinary lexicon and pass by the trendy stuff.

High End
LCB Brasserie and Picholine.

With the weather so cold, I had to have some cassoulet. Research suggested that La Cote Basque was the place to get it. Unfortunately, La Cote Basque closed early last year. The good news is that it reopened as LCB Brasserie with the same kitchen staff, captains and waiters. The $39 pre-theater prix fixe is the way to go. Exc mixed green salad vinaigrette garnished with shaved parmesan, a dab of exc bleu cheese and walnuts (did not eat the nuts). Cassoulet as promised--very good duck confit, garlicy sausage, that salami like lyonnais sausage. Forgettable cheese course. Exc rasberry sorbet. Incredible wine list, super values in Burgundy if you have $2-300 to spend (we did not). But a split of third growth '99 Chateau Clairemont Margaux at $40 was a good value. Wife's grilled dover sole ($15 supplement) was fresh, moist plated in the kitchen. Would return in a heartbeat--I love this cuisine.

Picholine for dessert and cheese. My wife was dressed to the nines for our night at Carnegie Hall and deserved someplace nice. Cheese course you pick in consultation with a cheese sommelier from a cart that smells more intense than the perfume counter at Nordstrom's around Valentine's day. Star was a Spanish Mijon. Bill was outrageous. Would return only for the cheese.

Coffee Shop Breakfast
Astro Coffee Shop on NW corner 55th and 6th. A first rank Greek coffee shop, the kind of place where the second day you get a nice smile and the third day you're a regular. Highly recommended. Especially the home fries, country sausage, pancakes, Greek yogurt, heck--just a great breakfast all around.

Various
Poseidon Bakery. All pastries with their home made phyllo and kourambiedes greek wedding cookies.

Grand Sichuan 9th Ave, 50th/51st location. Numerous postings on that other board: greatness not exaggerated. Dan dan noodles, sichuan wonton in chili oil, heck, all of it.


Il Menestrello 52nd just west of Madison

Poseidon Bakery 45th and 9th.

Grand Sichuan 745 9th Ave, 50th/51st 212-582-2288.

Barney Greengrass, 541 Amsterdam Ave 212-724-4707 between 86th and 87th

Picholine 35 W 64th St:(212) 724-8585.

Azuri Cafe- 51st just east of 10th ave 212-262-2920

Brasserie LCB 60 W 55th St bet 5th / 6th 212-688-6525

Astro Diner 101 W 55th, 55th and 6th

Lupa 170 Thompson Street between Houston St. and Bleecker St. (212) 982-5089

Russ Daughers 1 block east of 1st Ave. 179 E Houston St (212) 475-4880.

Kee's Chocolates at 80 Thompson Street PH: 212.334.3284

Di Palo Fine Foods Inc, 200 Grand St New York NY 10013 (212) 226-1033.

Jacques Torres Manhattan 350 Hudson, between Charlton & King

Thanks Steve, you gave me great ammunition to make sure the Condiment Queen does not back out of any forthcoming NYC trips--although we will only be able to mimic a few of your choices due to less time. BTW, you include Grand Sichuan in your address list, but you never discuss it. Did you go?

Rob

Steve Drucker wrote:Time constraints and extreme cold precluded taking the El out to Queens so we didn't get to Sripraphai or Flushing Chinatown or my favorite Peruvian ceviche place La Pollada Laura near LGA.

Steve,

Well, then what kind of NYC trip is that? Please repost when you have complete information.


Enjoy,
Gary

G Wiv wrote:Well, then what kind of NYC trip is that?

We came, we ate, ibid.

Steve:

I really enjoyed your post and will take a copy of it with when I next go visit the folks in the old country... There are several places I didn't know about at all that you discuss...

Have you been to Batali's other places? If so, any strong preference of one over the others?

You also left me wondering just how outrageous the bill was at Picholine...

Go Big Red!
A

Antonius wrote:Have you been to Batali's other places? If so, any strong preference of one over the others?

You also left me wondering just how outrageous the bill was at Picholine...

Lupa, only, except for a recent corporate reception at Italian Wine Merchants with one of Batali's 4-person crews doing the cooking right out front in the demonstration kitchen. And that was terrific, from the salumi and antipasti, to the pasta, to the rack of lamb.

Really impressive how well he has imparted his methods and recipes to his crews. That, without doubt, being the ultimate complement I can pay to a chef.

If memory serves, here's the Picholine summary:
--1 Cointreau
--I Decaf (exc, btw)
--1 sorbet assortment ( forgettable, or maybe I just don't care for rose flavored sorbet because it evokes urinal deodorant)
--1 cheese, tray, choice of 3
--bread assortment, not bad.
--1 glass Pauilliac ($18, this I remember, because it was right on the edge of being corked. They gladly replaced, and the difference was dramatic. Least expensive red by the glass was a California red, most expensive was $26).
--complementary chocolates (feh, not so good)

$85 with tax, plus tip. My wife, however, dressed to the nines, glowed. So it was worth it on that count, if not for the chow.

IMO, There are far far more worthy places to splurge if chow and elegance are the metric

Steve, I wonder if our families crossed paths on 1st Ave, as we were also in the city between Xmas and NYE, suffering through the biting cold (who says NYC can't get just as cold as Chicago??) and made a trip to Russ & Daughters among several other chow-worthy stops.

Here's a rundown of our food stops:

Nooch
143 8th Ave
Small Japanese/Thai restaurant w/ a mod flair, mentioned in a NYT article on ramen places. We came the night we got into the city. It was cold and we didn't want to venture too far from the apartment. I was expecting more of a hole-in-the-wall so it's trendy appearance was surprising. Looking at the menu, I didn't expect much, but we'd already walked in, so decided to stay. We had:

Spicy beef ramen: Surprinsgly good broth, but not spicy at all

Nooch maki: Handrolled w/ salmon, spicy mayo, avocado. Not too bad, but not something that'd floor you either.

Stir fried udon: This was probably the least exciting or tasty item we got. Noodles were gummy and flavor OK.

Tab: about $30

Katz's Deli
205 E Houston St
Originally planned to get breakfast at Magnolia's Bakery. Froze our toes to get there only to find it closed through Jan. 2! Backup plan was Katz's for lunch. First time I've ever been, and it was an interesting, though not unpleasant experience. I don't know if I could justify their prices for the quality of the food, though. It was good, but I don't usually pay $14 for a sandwich w/o expecting to be the best tasting thing b/t two slices of bread that I've ever put in my mouth. We had:

Reuben: Tasty, though I was a bit surprised that they microwaved it to warm it up and melt the cheese. By the last few bites, the bread was pretty much mush.

Matzo Ball Soup: Perfect thing to match the weather. Good broth. Huge matzo ball.

Potato Latkes: I only got a small bite, but the potatoes were crispy and had good flavor.

Egg Cream: My sister was curious to try one. Tasted like a fizzy milkshake. We didn't finish.

Dr. Brown's Black Cherry Soda

Tab: just under $40

Russ & Daughters
Stopped by after lunch. The third-generation "Russ" was there directing things behind the counter. He stopped and spoke w/ us a bit. Very nice guy. Said we'd just missed Calvin Trillin, who'd come in the day before. (I told him how I'd read about their place in a Trillin book). Picked up some nice Scottish smoked salmon, cream cheese, and smoked whitefish. Wish I'd known to try the belly lox. Sounds interesting.

Il Laboratoria del Gelato
95 Orchard St
Randomly found this tiny place while walking aimlessly toward Chinatown. Despite the cold, we had to try something. Got a scoop of honey lavender and a scoop of a dark chocolate (can't remember exact flavor). Heavenly combination. The rich, bittersweet chocolate actually matched well w/ the more subtle honey lavender flavors. A great unexpected find.

Babbo
110 Waverly Place
We couldn't get reservations, but they told us to try to come anyway as they reserve 6 tables at the front for walk-ins. We got there before official serving time and put our names down for a 1 1/2 hr wait. It was only about 5:30, so we would still be eating at a decent hour. We wandered around for a bit, came back and waited to be seated. I would have to say that our food was worth the wait, especially the desserts. We had:

Grilled Octopus: Good flavor, but the texture was kind of mushy. I preferred our second appetizer (read below)

Warm Lamb's Tongue Vinaigrette: Served w/ chanterelles and topped w/ a 3-minute egg: This was very good. The runny egg yolk brought everything together, and the tongue was cooked perfectly.

Gnocchi w/ Braised Oxtail: This was my dish, and I really liked it. Rich, hearty flavor, and light, fluffy gnocchi

Beef Cheek Ravoli w/ Crushed Squab Liver and Black Truffles: Definitely a flavor combination I've never tasted before. My mom wasn't fond of the pasty/grainy texture, but it was tasty.

Garganelli w/ Funghi Trifolati: Basically pasta w/ mushrooms, little parsley, in a light sauce (forget exactly what). My mom and sister liked this best. I thought it was good, but preferred the stronger flavors of my gnocchi.

Spicy 2-minute Calamari: My friend ordered this. It was pretty good, light in flavor. Basically calamari served in a light tomato sauce.

We split 3 desserts: Chocolate Hazelnut Cake w/ Orange Sauce and Hazelnut Gelato, Saffron Panna Cotta, and a Pear Crostata w/ Ricotta Gelato. Oh, man....Hats off to the pastry chef. Each dessert had its own unique flavors and everything tasted heavenly.

After having a very disappointing dessert experience at Spiaggia, I'm happy to say that Babbo's handsdown outshines it's Chicago upscale Italian counterpart. Spiaggia's ricotta gelato tasted like vanilla w/ only a mere whiff of ricotta. I don't know if either of these places make their own, but Babbo's version was far superior. Richer and a definitely discernible tang from the ricotta.

Service wasn't stellar. I think our waitress was having an off-night, but food amply made up for it.

Tab: $160 w/o tip. Not bad considering how much we ate b/t 4 people. We didn't order any wine.

Republic
37 Union Sq W
A trendy noodle place in Union Square that my sister visted on a previous trip and recommended. We all ordered noodle soups: Beef noodle (their version of pho); a Seafood noodle; and a vegetarian. Mine tasted the best, though not nearly as good as the pho you can get in Argyle. On reflection, my sister said they'd only had the stir-fried noodles, which were better. Guess they do sauces better than broths.

Grand Central Oyster Bar
Grand Central Terminal, 89 E 42nd St
Snack stop. We sat at the bar. My sis and I shared the raw shellfish combo platter. Mom had the oyster chowder. Chowder could've been more flavorful IMO, but the shellfish was pretty good and fresh. A nice mix of clams, mussels, oysters, and large steamed shrimp.

Minamoto Kitchoan
608 5TH Ave
A cute, albeit expensive, Japanese mochi and pastry store we happened upon right by Rockefeller Center, next to a large Japanese bookstore. We were trying to locate this Japanese tea/mochi place Martha Stewart once featured on her show. This wasn't it, but they did have some very elegant mochi (for a price).

Shun Lee West
43 W 65th St.
Came here after attending a Met performance. Was recommended by someone on LTH. Looking at the menu, I wasn't initially that impressed, and it seemed kind of pricey for not terribly unique sounding food. It was late and we weren't super hungry, so we just ordered the Singapore Curry Noodles to go. It was actually very good. Tasty curry flavor, generous meat and veggies. Made me wish we had picked up a few other dishes as well.

Payard's Patisserie
1032 Lexington Ave
Came a bit out of our way Wednesday morn, but it was worth it. Picked up some flaky, buttery croissants, couple brioches. Then my mom spied their sorbets, and even though we hadn't eaten anything yet, she had to try the mango-passionfruit. It was good, very smooth and creamy, but not something I'd normally eat first thing in the morn. Also picked up an assortment of cookies and pates de fruits.

Joe's Shanghai
24 W 56TH St
Went to the midtown location for lunch (since we were going to the MoMA), only to discover we'd already been here the last time we visited. It wasn't great the first time, and it wasn't all that much better this time either. I still think Phoenix makes a better soup dumpling. Joe's was too greasy (lot of floating fatty particles...not attractive). Their Shanghai noodle soup was pretty good, though. The drunken chicken apparently never came up for air. Tasted overwhelmingly of rice wine. My mom makes a better version. Not sure what the hype is all about. Maybe their Chinatown location is better....but I'm hands down sold on Phoenix now.

Ray's Pizza
736 7TH Ave
Our last food stop. I'd wanted to try John's Pizzeria out in Times Square, but we weren't able to make it there. Ray's was in the area and on our way out of the city, so I stopped in for 3 cheese slices and a root beer. Large, fresh, w/ the chewy kind of crust I like best. Their sauce could have had more salt and flavor, though. Still, it was good to have something to munch on as we sat for an 1 1/2 in traffic trying to make it to the Holland Tunnel.

I will try to post pictures later when I have access to my home PC.[/b]

I mistakenly stated that Katz' uses some form of liquid smoke. I was thinking of last year's NYT roundup of pastrami, in which Mike Katz of Sarge's Deli is criticized for the practice. Microwaving might not be quite as bad, but it is a tossup. No microwaves in Langer's or Manny's that I've seen.

Re Katz':

http://www.e-cookbooks.net/articles/deli.htm

Thanks very much to this and other threads on LTH for the NYC suggestions. We just got back from a 4-day weekend in Manhattan. Brief summary:

Katz's pastrami sandwich is one of the best sandwiches I've had in my life and certainly takes the cake for best pastrami. Incredibly good.

Our other food highlight would be Lupa. It was a long wait at 10:00 PM, but we had no problem eating at the bar. The place is charming and the food was incredible, with some of the better pasta dishes I've tried in a while. The Bucatini All' Amatriciana is a must have.

Other brief summaries:

-Nobu lived up to both the hype and price, led by their amazing black miso cod dish.
-A new-ish tapas restaurant in SoHo called Las Ramblas was wonderful. A tiny but quintessential NY spot with terrific pear sangria and one of the best tapas dishes I've tasted (chorizo w/ cannellini beans).
-A lobster roll at Pearl Oyster Bar was good but not great and their clam chowder was rather average, compounded by a fairly rude and hurried host trying to seat a packed house.
-Fallafel at Mamoud's was above average but certainly nothing to write home about.
-The cuban sandwich at Havana Chelsea which is highly touted on that other food site was actually pretty bad. Anyone singing it's praises must never have been to South Florida, or La Unica for that matter.


Nobu - 105 Hudson St. (Franklin St.)
Las Ramblas - 170 W. Fourth St. (bet. Cornelia & Jones Sts.)
Pearl Oyster Bar - 18 Cornelia St. (bet. Bleecker & W. 4th Sts.)
Mamoun's - 119 MacDougal St (near Washington Sq Park)
Havana Chelsea - 190 Eighth Avenue (between 19th and 20th)

I noted, when I stayed in New York a few weeks ago, that il Menestrello has closed its doors.

I just got back from NYC, too. Highlights include excellent Greek food at Niko's in the Upper West Side, great breakfast at the Popover Cafe, also on the UWC; decent pizza at Joe's in the Village; and red-hot, authentic Thai food at Topaz in Midtown (my mouth still hurts from their food!).

YourPalWill wrote:I noted, when I stayed in New York a few weeks ago, that il Menestrello has closed its doors.

They sold the building for $12.8 Mm about a year ago after 28 years. It is greatly missed.

I'll remember it fondly. As a southern boy of 24, it was the first really good restaurant meal I had upon moving to New York City.

This will be my first trip to NYC as a tourist since my previous trips as a kid involved visiting family and not leaving their house!

I'm starting to put together a map using LiveLocal so that I can optimize our weekend in NYC next month. I'll probably be posting more questions as I continue my research, but can someone please tell me if there is a notable difference between the 3 locations of Joe's Shanghai? Is Dean & DeLuca still good and worth a trip? If so, which location? My sister requested some black & whites from D&D - is this my best bet? Thanks!

Pucca wrote:Is Dean & DeLuca still good and worth a trip? If so, which location?

It's a very nice shop, but I don't feel like it's anything that requires a special detour to go there. If you are near one, stop in. Otherwise, there's plenty of other interesting places to go.

To aid your food research, here's another New York food travel post. Also, be sure to read through GAF's posts on the "Beyond Chicagoland" section of the site.

Best,
Michael

Pucca, in my opinion, the now closed Balducci's in Greenwich Village was worth a special trip. I'm not so sure Dean and DeLuca is as there isn't much difference between the Dean and DeLuca in Manhattan and Dean and DeLuca in Charlotte. I was always fond of the gourmet store Agata and Valentina on the upper east side (around First Avenue and 81st or 82nd). They have a really nice selection of ready to eat foods there that are a good combination of both comforting and unusual.

For Pizza, there is better to be found in town. But, you'll find great pizza plus a really unique and enjoayable room at John's Pizza in midtown. I believe its 44th near Eighth Ave. The room is an old church that was once abandoned and has been refurbished by John's. It has an incredible wall filling mural of New York viewed from the helix leading into the Lincoln Tunnel over in Hoboken.

Word of warning: It's in the theater district. Avoid the pre-theater crowd here as the wait can be up to an hour and service can get really spotty when they're busy. The Pizza is a very solid brick oven type. The prices are very reasonable.

The place doesn't get much love here from the Oizza enthusiasts. During the years that I lived there, it was my go to place in Manhattan.

If the weather is nice on Saturday, be sure to take in the Union Square farmer's market. Lots of interesting organic vegetables and baked goods are available. If the weather is good, there will be some very talented street musicians play there too. You can have a nice brunch at any number of places in Union Square.

Regarding the Black and White Cookie, the best in New York and maybe the world can be found at Rocco's Bakery on Bleecker Street in the West Village. They give them a tiny schmear of apricot preserve under the icing that sets them apart from everything else in New York.

I was at the Dean and DeLuca Soho location this weekend, because we had brunch nearby (Balthazar). I, too, wouldn't suggest going out of your way for a visit, although it's worth a stop if you're in the area.

Jonah

Jonah wrote:I was at the Dean and DeLuca Soho location this weekend, because we had brunch nearby (Balthazar). I, too, wouldn't suggest going out of your way for a visit, although it's worth a stop if you're in the area.

Jonah

Jonah,

I'd like to hear a bit more about brunch at Balthazar. I'm slowly cooking my way through their cookbook and there is quite a bit written about their brunch operation. I'd love to hear about it from a front of house perspective.

Stevez:

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by the front house operation, but here goes. They take only a limited number of reservations, leaving many tables open for walk ups. Still, at 10:00 on Saturday there was a wait they thought would be 45 minutes. We took a walk, and came back 30 minutes later and were seated. They seem to move a very high volume of people through fairly quickly, although we were never rushed.

As for food, they hand you what is essentially a lunch menu, with a limited (about 10) items of breakfast food. That's probably why they can keep things moving in so busy a place. A popluar item is a $15.00 bread basket from their bakery that's more than 2 can eat, and they quickly tell you they'll pack up an remainders to go. We took a pass.

I had what is essentially eggs benedict, but they substitute smoked salmon for the ham. Not only healthier, but actually better. The eggs come on a bed of cooked potatoes and caramalized onions. Not crispy but oh so tasty. The poached egg, english muffin and sauce were spot on. My wife had the pecan and sour cream waffle. Its got pecan in the batter and comes with sour cream and maple syrup to add. It also comes with a marvelous fruit compote.

In short, this is a very popular (I'd say mostly locals, but quite a few tourists), high volume place that seems to work brunch very smoothly.

Hope that helps!

Jonah

Jonah wrote:I'm not sure exactly what you mean by the front house operation

I didn't say "front of house operation", I said "front of house perspective"; meaning how it was to be a customer. Your post was exactly what I was interested in. In the cookbook they talk at length about how they prepare hundreds of poached eggs and quarts/gallons of hollandaise sauce ahead of time and reheat everything a la minute as ordered. It's nice to hear that they can pull off this volume of service while still turning out a quality product. It's something that Keith McNally seems quite proud of, judging by the way he waxes poetic in the Balthazar Cookbook.

YourPalWill wrote:Regarding the Black and White Cookie, the best in New York and maybe the world can be found at Rocco's Bakery on Bleecker Street in the West Village. They give them a tiny schmear of apricot preserve under the icing that sets them apart from everything else in New York.

While at Rocco's definitely get some of the filled-to-order canolli. I've enjoyed them so much that I make my hubby pick some up to bring back to Chicago whenever he's there for business.

Stevez:

Glad I bungled into what you needed!

Jonah

The 3 of us girls are trying to pick a restaurant for dinner on a Thurs evening. This will be our "splurge" for the weekend. Here's the criteria:
* $75 pp excl drinks but including tax and tip (We'll order 1-2 appetizer and 1-2 dessert split between the three of us)
* Don't really want a French Bistro
* Would love to try Sushi Yashuda, but fear that one of us will not truly enjoy/appreciate the experience
* Should we consider one of Mario Batali's or Todd English's restaurants?

So if you had to choose 1 restaurant w/$75 in your wallet, which would you recommend? Thanks!

This is a somewhat difficult question because of the different definitions of splurge. For $75.00 (not including drinks) one can get a three course meal. Is that sufficient, or would you like a full tasting menu.

I would recommend Annisa (they have a 5-course tasting menu for $68 - which would put you over $75 by about $10), but three courses would be a bit under $75. It is lovely and serene, and Anita Lo is an excellent chef - and should it matter, this is a restaurant that is run by women.

The truth is that at most NY restaurants, you can get an appetizer for $15, an entree for $35, and a dessert for $10, and that will run you about $75 with tip and tax. Granted this excludes the grand restaurants (Per Se, Jean-Georges, Le Bernardin), but places like Eleven Madison Park, Grammercy Tavern, Gotham Bar and Grill, Tasting Room, Babbo, or Craft should all be in this range.

(I have reviews of each of these restaurants on LTH and on my blog:
http://www.vealcheeks.blogspot.com

My wife and I went to Annisa, based on GAF's recommedation, a year or so ago, and thought the food and service excellent. It also places you in the heart of the West Village, which makes for a fun after dinner stroll if the weather cooperates.

Jonah

Blue Hill.

My friend just emailed me and recommended Buddakan as it is the "IT" restaurant right now. However, she is more pretentious than I am. So I'm not sure what to make of her rec. Is anyone familiar w/it?

Or how about Hearth? I came across it in DonRockwell.

I think that both restaurants are at your price point.

Hearth is an East Village Italian. I didn't eat there in my year in New York, although it was on my list of places to try. It has generally received high marks, with some dissenters. It is small and friendly.

Buddhakan is another matter. It is a mega-pan-Asian place in the meat-packing district (or nearby - perhaps it is in Chelsea - those borders merge together). If you like a place where food is entertainment that Buddhakan might be right. I believe that it received a fairly decent, although not wildly enthusiastic review in the Times, but I haven't checked recently.

Do you want homey comfort or mega-wildness?

I think my friends and I prefer homey. I got the impression that Baddakan might be along the lines of Japonais or SushiSamba.

I wish there was more time to eat more meals during our short trip. What's your take on Chelsea Market? Is it worth a trip?

Thank you very much for letting me pick your brain.

I was disappointed in Chelsea Market. At first I thought that it would be like Reading Market in Philadelphia or the similar market in Baltimore - a lot of purveyors - including ethic purveyors - jammed together. It is really a building with a few (a dozen?) fairly high-end purveyors. I find it less interesting that the food court at Grand Central Terminal that has more outlets, and not nearly as interesting as wandering in Chinatown, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Flushing, or Sunset Park. Nothing wrong with CM, but don't have too high expectations. Of course, not only does Chicago lack a Reading Market, but even a Chelsea Market.