Mulcahy

Thank you very much for the suggestions. Kalypso, we do have a car. Can you point me in the direction of good tacos? Thanks for the help.

Hi, all. Need some help with restaurant recs in the Del Mar/La Jolla area. Husband and I are staying at the Grand Del Mar. We are game for anything, but would like recs for good waterfront dining. Also, any good taco truck recs would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Gennaro is excellent, but there can be a loooong wait. Indus Valley is terrific -- is Indian exotic? Roth's is very good for what it is, as is Carmine's. Lisca, across the street from Gennaro is a decent alternative, if you don't feel like dealing with the line at Gennaro. It is also less cramped. But the food isn't as good. For what it's worth, I've hated Pampa everytime I've been. Dock's, for seafood, isn't bad.

My husband and I ate there last night. It was terrific. He had the bucatini (excellent, not as spicy as I would like), and hanger steak (really excellent and well cooked). I had the snail salad, which I loved. You really have to like snails though as there are a lot of them in the salad. I followed with the littlenecks and fries. We also shared the ricotta/smoked gouda fritters, which were light and delicious. My only complaint about the food was that I found it a little too agressively seasoned. We'd never been to the downtown landmarc so have no comparison. I agree with Sneakeater that this is not food I will be craving, but I will go back a lot because the options on the UWS are very limited for food of this type. French Roast is terrible. Nice Matin more expensive. And the number of places that line Amsterdam Avenue are largely just ok. I, for one, think they'll be mobbed.

I had dinner in the tavern room (at the bar) last night, and was dissapointed. I started with the spinach salad, pecorino, lemon vinaigrette, squash and merguez sausage salad. It was ok. The sausage was well flavored but very grainy and not a great texture. The greens themselves were fine, with the exception of the squash, which had no flavor. Entree was seafood chowder with clams. This was several pieces of a white fish, well prepared, one mussel, one clam, some beans in a broth. The fish was cooked well. The mussel and the clam were not (overcooked). The broth, unfortunately, should have had a nice flavor, but was intensely alcoholic, as though the wine hadn't cooked out. I really wanted to like the meal. I love the tavern room, and hadn't been there in about a year. I also love the main restaurant, but on the strength of the meal I had last night, I probably won't go back to both for a while. As an aside, the service was excellent, as always. As were the cheeses I had after dinner.

The restaurant has been market as of 1/2006. I am guessing they finally found a buyer.

I didn't object to the assertive use of spices, I objected to the assertive use of salt and truffle oil, both of which overpowered much of what I ate. But I will be a good sport and give Loft another chance.

I had a meal there about a month ago which was not nearly as memorable as the one Fat Guy had. Angelo Sosa was already installed as consulting chef (one of our party knows him well). We were sent a variety of food, all of which was either over seasoned or fairly unmemorable. I had the mason jar lobster, and while I loved the presentation, found it difficult to get all the food out of the jar. I really wanted to like the experience, because we were being comped some food, and a drink or two, but the service was so atrocious, and the food so completely unmemorable, I probably won't go back. (Although Fat Guy's review makes me question my decision).

I agree. Have now eaten the NY Strip twice, and I think it's fantastic.

I couldn't agree more. Why is that? You would think that someone, somewhere in NYC could do traditional Spanish food right. Especially now that so many of the importation laws have been relaxed.

Went last night with two other people. Service was excellent, with a few tiny timing issues. We waited a bit for menus, and there was some confusion when we wanted to order single malts at the end of the dinner. 20% discount appeared on our bill without our requesting it. The room is really lovely and comfortable. They are definitely going for Haute, not Traditional Steakhouse. We had to start: Shrimp Cocktail: fine, good shrimp. Acceptable Sauces Oyster Pan Roast: delicious Clams Casino: flavorful, could have been hotter, good ratio of clam to breading Chopped Salad: didn't taste this, dining companion loved it The two gentlemen I was with shared the Porterhouse, Medium Rare. It was cooked perfectly. They loved it. My husband eats at a huge number of steakhouses for work reasons, thought it was good, but not the best Porterhouse he has had in NY. I had the NY Strip on the bone (also mid-rare, also perfect). The charring was terrific. It was the best NYC steak I have had (I do not eat at many steakhouses, but have been to Lugers, Sparks, Smith and Wollensky, and Maloney and Porcelli). The sides are not enormously huge. We ordered too many, but managed to get through a lot of the following. We split for sides: Ginger carrots: tasty, maybe a bit too much ginger. But beautiful multi-colored baby carrots cooked through but not mushy. Garlic Spinach: very good Fries: Superb. fluffy and cispy all at the same time, like good fries should be. Mac and Cheese: not the best I've ever had, but a very fine tangy cheesy, crunchy rendition. Onion Rings: very very good rendition. Dessert: Coconut Cake: this was a beautifully textured and frosted cake. I couldn't eat much of it, but it was very good. Cheesecake: Unmemorable Devils Food Cake: very very chocolatey (too much so for my taste). I would absolutely go back. The combo of the service, good bar (I had a drink there pre-dinner) with a spot to watch sports and really terrific steaks will make it a welcome addition on what I consider the outer reach of my neighborhood. Edited to change husband's opinion of his steak and cheesecake, since I got them wrong. Probably due to too much wine last night.

Yep. Just checked the menu and they deliver from 6-10 M-F, 5-10 S-S from 72nd to 92nd street. Their delivery packaging is really excellent, so the food shows up in good (and hot) shape.

Gennaro is excellent, but their delivery is terrible. Rain is good pan-asian, with excellent delivery. Ouest is great for a drink at the bar and solid food. Haven't been to new 'Cesca, but might be worth a stop in at the bar. Roth's Westside Steakhouse has excellent burgers, only available at the bar. Shun-Lee delivers (and is sort of on the Upper West Side). Haru is the best sushi, unfortunately, other than Gari.

I get your point, Rich, but I still think it's weird. I recognize that some truly great horses have been gelded, but I know a number of folks (including horse people) who have been so put off by the name they haven't gone in. And I agree, ridgling would have been by far weirder.

I realize this is a bit off-topic, but does anyone else think Grey Gelding is a horrible name for a restaurant? I don't really want to think about, well, gelding, while I'm eating.

I have to agree with Sneakeater. My husband and I went to Picholine for the first time about a month and a half ago. We had an 8:30 reservation and the food, service, and entire experience was extraordinary.

It's brutally difficult to evict a commercial tenant who has been paying its rent in NYC. Cases like the DelPosto/Somerset dispute invariably end up settling and can drag on for quite a while without resolution. Even if Somerset did get an eviction order, it wouldn't be for quite some time. (This assumes that Del Posto has, in fact, been paying its rent. If they hadn't, the case would have been filed in a different court).

Run, do not walk, to Beso in New Paltz. In the interest of full disclosure, I used to work for Chad Greer, the chef (as an extern) and so was naturally biased. What my husband and I discovered, though, is that it is inded an excellent restaurant. The service was professional. The food was fresh, local, and lovingly prepared. Go.

I work at a restaurant about a block from Pegu Club, and last night which was my Friday, when I got off my day shift on the line at about 6:00, I decided to give it a try. I was enormously impressed. First, let me say that I was dressed inappropriately for the exceptionally sexy environs. Jeans, short sleeve shirt, boots. I had also just gotten off work on the line so was sweaty and more than likely smelled a little bit like food. The staff was extraordinarily welcoming (which I had hoped they would be). The hostess was pleasant. Chad, the bartender, was extremely helpful and made me two wonderful drinks from the menu. First I started with the Whiskey Smash, a drink of muddled lemons, mint, and rye. It was refreshing and light with no cloying sweetness. Then I had the Jamaican Firefly which is homemade ginger beer and dark rum. It was the best, most satisfying after work drink I have ever had. The garnish was a spicy piece of candied ginger. What a wonderful concoction. Chad and I chatted about cocktails and booze a bit (a topic about which I am admittedly a novice) but he was also in tune enough with my need to relax that he left me alone to read my book for some time. As a snack I had the smoked trout deviled eggs, which were delicious. I am counting the days until I can go back. (Which will likely be on my next "Friday").

Here's the link to the article. The price has been at least $100 per person for a table for quite a while now. The fact that NYRA allowed it to go on is ludicrous. This is a practice for which many restaurants will fire their Maitre D's.

Ate there last Saturday (July 2) with my husband. Appetizers, though interesting, were lukewarm. I had the pizzelles, he had the shrimp. They both tasted good but had been clearly sitting for some time. Pastas and entrees (ordered as separate courses) came out together. They took the entrees back and returned them later. The pastas were extraordinary, and worth a repeat visit. Entrees were mediocre. My husband's steak was cooked properly but had a very odd tasting sauce. My involtini, which were supposed to contain sausage and parmesan, contained liver. The wine was fine. Service, both waitstaff and bussers, were indifferent. I will go back, because the pastas were that good, and I am sure they are working out new service problems. And I will also go for salumi and cheese, a personal favorite.

Congratulations, Katie! The next time I am in Philly, I will be sure to come on by. Best of luck to you on your new endeavor. I am sure that you will do wonderfully.

For me, a fairly novice wine drinker, it really depends. For the record, I have never lived on the West Coast. Sometimes I love the big big big zins and sometimes I am looking for a more delicate pinot noir. I am likely, when I come home from work, to open a bottle of either a) rioja (Marques de Riscal, usually) or b) Storybook Zin, because we usually have some of either in the house. But I love elegant pinot noirs just as much (just don't tend to have much of it in the house). If I am planning a meal, I will make an effort not to overpower meal with our wine or vice versa. I don't discriminate because of where the wine is from, its grape varietal, or any other presupposition. You just can't know what's inside the bottgle until you try it. Exactly. I am baffled on all fronts, whether it is food or wine being discussed by people who say things like "all California wine is oaky and out of balance." How can you know? Sure, I have had some California wine where the alcohol actually burned my nose as I smelled it (zin). But I have had more that, to me, were balanced and gave me a sense of place. I have spent a decent amount of time in the Napa Valley as a tourist over the last three years, and there are certain wines that when I open them, I can smell the Valley. There is, and this may open a can of worms, a tendency by people on the East Coast (particularly in New York) to denigrate anything happening in the rest of the country as not, well, good. And it has become fashionable to criticize California wines. As in "oh, anything not from California." Or, "not another California cab," please. Puhleaase. Sorry those of you in the business in California (Mary and Carolyn) need to deal with it. It's crap. If you make good wines, that should be enough. (Rant over now).

I agree with Oakapple. I do not presume to know what field Oakapple is in, but I do know (from my own experiences) that the amount of money spent by Wall Street and big New York law firms on entertaining clients is simply unimaginable in many parts of the country. I know of traders who have taken four or five clients (with spouses) away for two or three days for golf and gambling. A $350 per person tab at Masa just isn't a lot of money to these folks when we are talking about profits and revenue in the millions, and sometimes billions of dollars. I doubt it too, but not for the reasons that DanaT does. At any major New York restaurant on any given night you can overhear snippets of siginificant corporate conversations. Particularly at the steakhouses, which are still a bastion of legal and stockmarket clientele. I doubt it because the Masa experience is so unique that there are, presumably, a limited number of people who will appreciate the experience. Going to Masa is an intimate experience. If you don't know your client well there is no way to know whether he or she will appreciate the delicacy of Uni or Toro and so this is not a place that you would invite them.

I haven't been since November and am now noticably chunkier than I was. Off to the gym with me. I'm doing two weeks alcohol free and reducing fried and fatty foods in my diet because I feel crappy. I did nothing but eat and drink for the last three-four weeks and my body sorely needs a rest. That, plus the fact that my husband and I are vacationing in the Napa Valley at the end of the month (where there is nothing but food and drink) has led us to a modified "detox" diet. Lots of vegetables, very limited carbs, fried foods, etc. We need it. This is actually the first time in my life that I've done this.