robert40

These extended menus are planned way before hand contrary to popular belief of it being done at the spur of the moment. But yes I absolutely agree with you that you should have been told it was unavailable instead of it not existing. If it is any help just think of the money you saved! The thought of what that meal would have cost for six people makes me weak in the knees.

Let me point out one reason I believe they did not and likely could not offer you the extended menu. When my wife and I dined there last year we also had the extended menu in which we each was offered a different coarse. (See report up tread) Honesty though I don't believe that would be at all possible for a party of six? I just can't believe any kitchen or FOH staff could deliver any type of quality experience under that kind of pressure. I truly can understand your frustration if you felt service was lacking due to the VIP attention other tables were receiving. But on the flip side of the coin I don't think there is any easy answer as any type of business has investors, frequent customers, and just all around friends of the house who receive special treatment. This is anywhere from Fred's Hot Dog Stand around the corner to the French Laundry. The problem is that it is just a fact of life but not excusable at the expense of other customers. If it is any consolation I have heard that Thomas Keller may/could/will consider ending the extended menu's. I won't even try to speculate why, but if I had to guess it would be the possible pressure it puts on the kitchen. I believe without a doubt his goal is for everyone to have the best possible experience.

It'll take an hour w/o traffic. Figure two hours if you are trying to get there for a 7pm table. There are plenty of things to do down that direction, it'll be much easier to spend the day in Santa Cruz/Los Gatos/etc than it will be to fight with rush hour traffic. ← I guess I never had a chance in hell trying to make it to the airport in a half hour after dinner.

Yikes! Just noticed the two stars at the top of the review.

Calm down and don't have a heart attack on us. Lately they have not printed the stars to the next day.

For something a little unusually I would recommend the pork belly at WD50.

For those unfamiliar with the inner workings of a professional restaurant kitchen let me ensure you that it is extremely rare to see a kitchen so spotless in the middle of service. Especially breakfast/brunch service. In a lifetime of working in kitchens I have only seen one that is close to comparable. molto e, Thank you again for your wonderful photos and giving us a inside glimpse into these restaurants. Bravo!!

A few years ago I missed out on a Studio Kitchen dinner due to surgery and a major snow storm hitting the east coast. But after reading this thread which must rank as one of the best in the history of egullet and the belief that this just may be the most exciting dining experience in the country right now it's at the top of my list. Edited to add. Wow..How time flies, Just noticed at the beginning of this thread my missed opportunity was back in 2002.

I read once that after having dinner at Vetri one night Batali supposily wrote in the guest book "Great #&*%$^Dinner.

Yes I have but not recently. Really nice restaurant that I need to get back to.

That's just silly. I love Philadelphia, and think it has a lot of things New York doesn't have. (And vice-versa). But this is not a worthy comparison. Django is a New American, serving creative and innovative cuisine. Babbo is trying to bring a sampling of what is actually served in Italy to an American restaurant. Lots of offal. Lots of things Americans don't normally eat. And it's about 8 times larger than Django. Just apples and oranges. It's nice to sing the praises of Philly, but let's not get into a mindless Sports-team mode, or the like. ← I do believe I already explained myself as to not taking my statement seriously. I agree it is apples and oranges but it still don't change the fact that I enjoyed Django more. I am only comparing my preference. I will give the benifit of the doubt to Babbo and give it another try one day but at least I didn't have a twelve inch hair included in my pasta at Django. Carry on...

or the price, in my opinion. ← What makes Egullet so unique is there are many different opinions. I happened to travel from NY just to dine at the French Laundry and feel as though it was worth every mile and then some.

Please don't take my post so literary as it was closer to mid-afternoon nothing to do at the moment sap rap. Yes 100 times was a exaggeration and they are not comparable by any means in style, food or goals. Just trying to give a pat on the back to our Philly friends. Honestly though.. My meal at Babbo truly was poor.

The owner of Scallions on Broadway recently told me they are looking for another location before the end of the year. Due to the jewelry store next door expanding. I really am wishing the best for her as she is one of the hardest working restaurant owners 'Male or Female' that I've ever met. Also should disclose we are close friends.

Even though some may not call Django a destination restaurant, I once drove from upstate NY just to dine there. Which was a 100 times better then Babbo. And we all know how much New Yorkers love Babbo.

Maybe Bruni had a flash back of NY in the 70's when tables were used for cocaine use and the bathrooms were used for whatever.

Classy, Frank, classy. ← I think he's just implying that some coke use was taking place...which is probably true and worth mentioning in the context of a restaurant's vibe. I take it you read it differently than I.... ← I also wondered if it may be another case of NFL cheerleaders.But of coarse I'm guilty of having a dirty mind at least once a year.

I can't remember the last time I heard a new restaurant getting such praise. Now from Las Vegas Life. http://www.lvlife.com/dining.html

Let me add that in the case of Cello I think it was a matter of the owner thinking this is not fun anymore. Not that it failed.

Launching a restaurant is indeed a roll of the dice, but not for the reason you state. You have mediocre places like Café des Artistes and One if by Land that aren't adored by any critic, but are consistently packed, year after year. And you have places that fail, like Laurent Tourondel's late lamented Cello, despite rave reviews.Gilt will have plenty of press—three critics have already written about it, and it's been open less than a month. A welter of negative criticism would be damaging, but I see no sign of that happening. ← No? Look at Ducasse and all over a box of pens and some squab knives. Did it go out of business no, but with any other person then what may be the most popular chef in the world ? My bet is it would have been long shut down. And he's still strugging over that first wave of press. Maybe I'm wrong but I truly believe Ducasse would likely have a two month waiting list like Per Se if the initial press would have been different. And in the case of Liebrandt remember the the very first negative review in Gourmet magazine was of Atlas. Bad is not the word for it. They ripped him through the dirt. Was it the reason for it closing or his leaving? I'm not sure. But I'm willing to bet the owners were not happy campers no matter how much talent he has because in 99% of the cases its only the bottom line that matters.

I'm not sure what Liebrandt's attention was with the blind fold thing. But if it was a gimmick more power to him as far as I'm concerned. A chef in NYC needs an extra edge there to be noticed more then anywhere. My point is that more then ever chefs and restaurants need to pull tricks out of their hat more then ever hoping the press will say 'WOW' and not thumbs down. Its like throwing feathers in the air and trying to predict where there going to land. I hope the best for Liebrandt because he is determined to do the work he wants to do and has refused to sway from it. He deserves a break and I hope the critic's give him one.

We are in the day of age where it is no longer relevant how much talent a young chef has. Cooking a carrot perfectly ala Robuchon is no longer enticing to the majority and chefs and restaurants are forced to invent some type of gimmick to draw attention to themselves to stand out from the pack. Chef's now must be able to foresee the future and predict the next thing that will excite an ever easily bored customer. And these gimmicks are always a gamble when it comes to how the press is going to perceive it. Problem is chefs must push the envelope more and more to be noticed. In a more extreme case an example is Chef Liebrandt's blind folding customers and in a more simple case Ducasse's box of pens. In both cases the press trashed them and are still unrelentless to this day. Of coarse then you have Batali's orange sneaker and shorts gimmick that draws a pubic relation's pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Chef's spend years developing their talent and career and after all that sweat and sacrifice their ship finely comes in only to have to gamble on what will be the next attention grabber. Only to be sunk by some critic. It's a shame that it all comes down to a roll of the dice in the end.

From my understanding an announcement was made at Blue Hill on New Years Eve that Michael Anthony will be leaving Blue Hill Stone Barns to open his own restaurant in the near future. Wishing the very best to Michael on this new endeavor!

Doc, I have been reading your post for some time now and have a pretty good understanding of your taste. I have no doubt your going to love Manresa. I never been but people I trust praise Incanto. http://www.incanto.biz/ Another casual possibility is Canteen. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?...CMGL7CDMN11.DTL

An article in the NY Sun by JENNIFER LEUZZI. http://www.nysun.com/article/25294