[Dave H]

I'll also note (courtesy of the website) the same $15 corkage policy as at the other Momofukus.

[spaetzle_maker]

ulterior epicure, on Mar 13 2008, 12:05 PM, said:

donbert, on Mar 13 2008, 10:59 AM, said:

Once again, but this time in bold. How about we stop obsessing over this and give them the benefit of the doubt?

Or not, and try as we may, according to our own levels of curiosity, to get a reservation and experience his food, regardless.

I, for one, would like to know how the wine list is set up. I realize that they have a pairing for the set menu. But, will there be other selections in addition to the pairing option, for those (like me) who can (barely) handle/want only a glass of wine? Or would I be limited to choosing a wine from the pairing list?

UE, I'm generally a one glass diner as well. I experienced the pairing on two occassions. Each beverage in the pairing was very small - maybe 3 or 4 sips. The amount was enough so I could enjoy the pairing but not too overwhelming for me.

This post has been edited by spaetzle_maker: 13 March 2008 - 11:59 AM

[flinflon28]

Secrured a 4 person reservation for next Thursday 3/20 this morning. Even got the confirmation email this time! Looking forward to it.

[oakapple]

flinflon28, on Mar 14 2008, 07:12 AM, said:

Secrured a 4 person reservation for next Thursday 3/20  this morning. Even got the confirmation email this time!  Looking forward to it.

I got farther today than I did yesterday. I actually got back the screen with some green checkmarks available, but didn't click fast enough to get one.

[flinflon28]

That's what happened to me yesterday. Got through today.

This post has been edited by flinflon28: 14 March 2008 - 07:27 AM

[jimk]

A really outstanding dinner last night ... No dishes different from what others have described here so I won't give you the course-by-course.

A few minor changes and unreported tidbits though ...

The house-carbonated sherry was replaced with a house-carbonated banyuls which was just excellent.

LOVED the house-made english muffins with whipped pork far and fresh bay leaves.

Pretty comprehensive wine list - I counted about 20 reds, for example, some available by the glass and some by the bottle. In general, the wine list was dominated by half-bottles, which makes sense for the format. We did the pairing though.

Watching the guys cook was great, although we seemed to be the only ones chatting with them about what they were doing ... which they seemed to like. At one point one chef brought us a plate and asked us to tell him what it was - fun! Didn't tell him I'd already read about pretty much everything here.

Chang showed up for an hour or so but didn't do any cooking. Peter runs a tight ship though.

An interesting final note - there was, it seems, only one no-show party of two last night. Someone made a call to noodle bar and the staff there sent a party who had been waiting for a spot there down to Ko. They were seated next to us and were just thrilled by their luck. So thay answers the question of how to handle the no-show issue. Lots of attempted walk-ins, all gently turned away.

Finally, interesting to note that my wife and I (I'm in my late 30's and she's in her mid 40's) appeared to be the oldest people in the room all evening. No sign of friends, insiders or other industry types as far as I could tell.

This post has been edited by jimk: 16 March 2008 - 12:54 PM

[Dryden]

We were there Friday night for the last seating. Same story on Chang, and they were doing the banyuls instead of the sherry.

No tea available, by the way. They do also have a couple of non-alcoholic drinks in the beverage list.

And the hooks are still there under the counter for purses.

The changes on the dishes from the pictures on page 1:

The caviar was hackleback, and the onions were soubise, as noted by many. The scallops now have a mushroom paste to go with the nori. The foie has a pine nut brittle, as noted earlier.

The funniest moment came at the end of the night. My wife asked the wine steward if we could buy all of the chefs a round of beer, to which she replied, "They have too much beer as is, but I'll let them know."

Oh, and at $85 +$50 for the wine, this is a phenomenal deal.

This post has been edited by Dryden: 16 March 2008 - 09:49 AM

[Dryden]

Wanted to echo another point Nathan made earlier, which I don't think anyone has repeated - it is hot in Ko. Much, much warmer than even the warmest restaurant, since you are sitting less than 6 feet from the entire kitchen. No idea what this will feel like in June, but definitely important to not dress overly wrapped up.

The front door is interesting too (I hadn't popped by to look until we ate there) - it almost looks like a gate is down and the restaurant isn't there. We walked by twice until we looked more carefully...

[spaetzle_maker]

Has anyone noticed the little mascot Ko has to the left of the door (on the inside of the restaurant, not the outside)? It's a little stuffed toy - a donut man. Very funny. The food is refined, but there's certainly still a sense of humor.

[jimk]

Dryden, on Mar 16 2008, 12:55 PM, said:

Wanted to echo another point Nathan made earlier, which I don't think anyone has repeated - it is hot in Ko.  Much, much warmer than even the warmest restaurant, since you are sitting less than 6 feet from the entire kitchen.  No idea what this will feel like in June, but definitely important to not dress overly wrapped up.

The front door is interesting too (I hadn't popped by to look until we ate there) - it almost looks like a gate is down and the restaurant isn't there.  We walked by twice until we looked more carefully...

Actually I think they've cranked up the AC to compensate. We were there last night and I found it comfortable but my wife actually found it uncomfortably chilly.

[spaetzle_maker]

jimk, on Mar 16 2008, 02:57 PM, said:

Dryden, on Mar 16 2008, 12:55 PM, said:

Wanted to echo another point Nathan made earlier, which I don't think anyone has repeated - it is hot in Ko.  Much, much warmer than even the warmest restaurant, since you are sitting less than 6 feet from the entire kitchen.  No idea what this will feel like in June, but definitely important to not dress overly wrapped up.

The front door is interesting too (I hadn't popped by to look until we ate there) - it almost looks like a gate is down and the restaurant isn't there.  We walked by twice until we looked more carefully...

Actually I think they've cranked up the AC to compensate. We were there last night and I found it comfortable but my wife actually found it uncomfortably chilly.

I was comfortable the first time I went, but felt a bit chilled the second time I went.

[Dryden]

spaetzle_maker, on Mar 16 2008, 01:47 PM, said:

Has anyone noticed the little mascot Ko has to the left of the door (on the inside of the restaurant, not the outside)?  It's a little stuffed toy - a donut man.  Very funny.  The food is refined, but there's certainly still a sense of humor.

Yes. He's labeled with a name - he is "Lard Lad"... From the Simpsons Movie!



http://www.kollectab...ns-Lard-Lad.jpg

This post has been edited by Dryden: 16 March 2008 - 01:22 PM

[kathryn]

I suppose it depends how close to the different stations you are. When I went, we were seats 1/2 I think, right by the bathrooms, in front of Chef Serpico's station. We didn't feel any sort of uncomfortable warmth until someone was searing scallops towards the end of our meal.

I too loved the Simpson's donut guy by the door.

Nice to know how they're handling no-shows. I wonder if the person then gets a strike against them on their permanent Ko record.

[adamru]

I started the night at Terroir before going to Ko, and I couldn't figure out why the door was kept open at the former until I sat down, it was much warmer in there.

The food and pairings were remarkable but I thought they started coming faster than I was ready for them, my wines started stacking up and I felt like I hit a wall by the time I got to the short ribs. I never felt like I was being rushed, it just seemed like dishes were being served when they were ready rather than when we were ready for them; the apple pies were in hand to be served while we were finishing the sorbet.

I'd love to repeat the experience as the menu evolves but with the menu open to evolve everyday and there being no menu online, I wonder if they'll take advantage of the database of e-mail addresses knowing who ate there when to inform them of drastic overhauls in the menu.

And I'd go back for the foie and the egg with hackleback anytime; the portions seemed plenty generous and the smaller dishes, for anyone who doesn't think it's worth the price, the richness in flavor more than makes up for portion size.

[Sneakeater]

One big problem with the F&F was pacing. The courses came too fast. I didn't comment on that, and hoped they'd take care of it upon opening. Seems like they haven't yet.

[spaetzle_maker]

I was able to eat the food fast enough, but I did have trouble drinking my wine fast enough.

[jimk]

Sneakeater, on Mar 16 2008, 05:04 PM, said:

One big problem with the F&F was pacing.  The courses came too fast.  I didn't comment on that, and hoped they'd take care of it upon opening.  Seems like they haven't yet.

Pacing was right on the mark last night ... chefs were very tuned in to where we were on each course ... no long waits, but nothing arrived before we wanted it to. True, there was still wine in our glass from time to time when the next wine but that was more about us than them.

Incidentally they appeared to be comping everyone a small glass of a very nice rose lambrusco as an aperatif ... that was a nice touch ...

As high as my expectations were, they were really exceeded last night. And watching the chefs in action made me a slightly better cook I think. But ask me again next time I cook scallops.

[kathryn]

FYI there's a 9 page (!) story on David Chang in this week's New Yorker magazine. March 24 issue. It gives a little background on Serpico and some of the other Ko chefs, as well.

It's not online (yet?) as the New Yorker's web site dribbles out stories from that week's issue slowly over the course of the week. And some stories never get put online.

This post has been edited by kathryn: 17 March 2008 - 12:58 PM

[spaetzle_maker]

kathryn, on Mar 17 2008, 03:55 PM, said:

FYI there's a 9 page (!) story on David Chang in this week's New Yorker magazine. March 24 issue. It gives a little background on Serpico and some of the other Ko chefs, as well.

It's not online (yet?) as the New Yorker's web site dribbles out stories from that week's issue slowly over the course of the week. And some stories never get put online.

This was an amazing article.

[Nathan]

Sneakeater, on Mar 16 2008, 02:04 PM, said:

One big problem with the F&F was pacing.  The courses came too fast.  I didn't comment on that, and hoped they'd take care of it upon opening.  Seems like they haven't yet.

agreed.

[oakapple]

spaetzle_maker, on Mar 16 2008, 02:08 PM, said:

I was able to eat the food fast enough, but I did have trouble drinking my wine fast enough.

That's a problem with tasting menu wine pairings all over town. People will eat great food fairly quickly, but they want time to savor the wine.

[Fat Guy]

Tasting menus with course-by-course wine pairings are great for a lot of reasons. They do, however, require a lot of service in order to be effective and pleasurable. Trouble is, what was once something that only Lespinasse-level restaurants attempted has now become commonplace -- and most restaurants can't pull it off reliably. This would be a good topic.

[jimk]

Fat Guy, on Mar 17 2008, 04:58 PM, said:

Tasting menus with course-by-course wine pairings are great for a lot of reasons. They do, however, require a lot of service in order to be effective and pleasurable. Trouble is, what was once something that only Lespinasse-level restaurants attempted has now become commonplace -- and most restaurants can't pull it off reliably. This would be a good topic.

Agreed. Rarely do pairings with tasting menus any more ... when the food course is only a few bites and so many courses it's a struggle for my palate to keep up with everything that's happening.

I thought el bulli's approach worked well - when we were there they recommended a bottle of white that they though would be what would work best with most of the courses, and then every now and again when a course wasn't going to work with the wine, the somellier would pop over with a taste of a rioja or a sherry or whatever. I'll probably do something like that if/when I return to Ko although we're glad we did the wine pairing this time. With corkage at only $15 it would have worked to have brought a nice riesling that would have complemented most courses and then done by-the-glass for the others.

[johnder]

I had dinner tonight again at Ko, this time with Weinoo who managed to take up my extra seat at a moments notice thankfully.

Nothing has changed much with the menu from when I was there at F&F with the exception of the additional english muffin with whipped lard. Man, that was tasty.


Of the remaining dishes they remained pretty much exactly the same as F&F with a few minor tweaks. The fluke dish with whipped buttermilk was slighly more spicy than the first time. The rice cake served with the miso course was no longer dredged in seaweed. In this case the seaweed was sprinkled over the pickled vegetables.

Those were the big changes. The wine was pretty much unchanged, aside from the carbonated banyuls with the desert course which was pretty amazing.

Oh, I also got to try a new desert. A panna cotta desert, served with chocolate and hazelnut with an avocado mouse. The fat and luscious in the avocado worked great in pairing with the milk in the panna cotta and the bitter chocolate and hazelnuts that garnished it. Pretty great. Just sad I didn't have my camera.

The guys on the line looked a lot more relaxed and in the groove as well and them along with the 2 floor staff had everything moving smoothly. The wines for the pairing were always served 2-3 minutes before the next course with a great description of what we were drinking.

Overall, another great meal.

[Fat Guy]

Those who have been, did they ask you for ID? (Assuming you're not already known to the staff.)

[Dryden]

No.

[adamru]

The hostess said they weren't going to check IDs until someone spoils it for everyone. Hopefully she didn't mean, by talking about the fact they're not checking IDs.

[Daniel]

Johnder you have offically become Momofuku Ko's first regular..

[madziast]

ok, people, how do you manage to get those reservations? i've been at it since the aborted online-too-soon false start every single day and i guess my internet connection is just not fast enough (verizon dsl) - i've seen a green check or two a couple of times but when i click it turns to red... it's going to be months, isn't it? i hope they keep the foie and egg dishes on for a while, at least till i get there (which, optimistcally, could be in July)

anyone who needs extra stomachs to fill in, let me know!

[bobg01]

i did it last sunday; had tried on friday and saturday (and before) withou success; i just got lucky. opened the site in a couple windows, have cable modem, refreshed, logged in, got a 2.

but when i got in, i clicked on my first choice (green) and then it brought me back with an X through it. i then did it with another one, and this time got through.

i think all reservations were red Xed within 1 or 2 minutes.