jgould

well said!! and its sort of like - UWS a great place to live, but when "I" go out, i want to go out of the neighborhood; HOWEVER, it would be nice to have a bistro-like place where one could go on a regular basis similar to the ones i mentioned above.

thx for passing along. interestingly, i have read georg riedel's answer to the same question a number of years ago - his answer then was "his vinum chardonnay" which holds 12 3/8 oz vs the chianti's 13 oz.

as a follow-up to my long post just above, i have to agree; the UWS is the UWS, wonderful as it is; however, SoHo, E. Village, TriBeCa, NoLIta are simply "more hip, more funky, & cooler" - c'est la vie, i'd still rather live here, but i want my "bistro"!!!

thanks very much. of course, now i will have to buy the riedel vinum chianti classico/riesling grand cru/zinfandel 13 oz glass so as to be able to make the comparison between my vinum red burgundy

GREAT THREAD! have lived on UWS for 22yrs. the following are my own personal observations, & NOT meant to insult anyone. one other caveat: tendency to prefer french; therefore, comments have that bias: also, UWS to me is w70 cafe lux - to - w97 alouette as to the ones mentioned being crowded, uws'er's also pack benny's burrito!!?? picholine, jean george, not really considered part of UWS & too formal for this thread. as an aside, t. brennan's steakhouse experiment in midtown east closed due to obscene price gouging, & artisanal is not the brasserie it should be. could not agree with felonious more! however, when i asked my favorite upper e. side bistro, quartorze bis, why he did not open on UWS: no business lunch crowd; UWS'er's too cheap to CONSISTENTLY support more upscale restaurants/bistros, i.e., could not get the price needed to offer the type of food, decor, service, ambience; no respect for semi-casual eating, i.e., shorts & sneakers vs. reasonable decent dress; uws'er's tendency to bring young kids without proper supervision. and, no Virginia, we can't have a balthazar or pastis on the UWS, or even an orsay, payard, la goulue, ferrier, or l'absinthe. BUT, couldn't we have a place like a jules, le pere pinard, jacque's bistro, le bateau ivre, le clown, montparnasse, provence, jubilee, bar six, quartorze bis, bistrot margot, raoul's, or even a les halles???????????????? HOW DOES THE UWS ATTRACT A RESTAURANTEUR WHO CAN MAKE US WANT TO GO THERE 2-3X PER WEEK?? just like the very successful ones on the e. side & downtown that everyone here wants. although one may quibble, the observations re: the UWS continue to ring true! on other threads or other venues, there have been numerous comments about lack of dress respect for the better restaurants, ex. ouest; i have sat next to obnoxious parents with obnoxious kids at SQC, jesus!!; in the uws "destination" restaurants, many more from outside UWS. so the comments DO ring true - UWS dominated by families looking to go out with their kids (nothing wrong), but these are not the habitues of the restaurants we claim we want or of the restaurants we most like. re: the restaurants: CAFE LUX: a destination regardless of the lack of food or wine quality. comments from others are all true. average food at above average prices, hi wine prices for below average wines, absentee ownership (keith mcnally's ex who only comes in to collect the money). as long as pacino, neeson/richardson, halberstram, conan, robin, spielberg, fashionistas, etc, etc, etc come in reguarly, it will remain. of all the restaurants on the UWS, cafe lux clearly has the most "buzz", therefore, the most fun!! long on ambience, short on everything else. could go 2x/wk due to its convenient location (to us) IF the bar wasn't so crowded, in spite of the food!!! COMPASS: too cold & not fun vs cafe lux. the food? ever since neil amis (sic?) left, not as well thought of. takes itself too serious, plus the help can be obnoxious. 'CESCA: lovely, & great bar area. but the bar menu offerings are very small with amazing high prices; therefore, don't ever consider anymore, the wines are italian (duh), but amazingly high for what they are. either valenti believes his customers are stupid OR his customers are stupid i have NOT eaten in the main dining area, so unfair to comment. for me not worth the wait or the too far in advance reservation for what it is. OUEST: supposedly french, but not really. ill-planned bar area, food has gone downhill, unfortunately prices have not. * too many partners with valenti's % relatively small; therefore, HIS risk is proportionately too small too care, even though he makes a big deal out of "helping the 'hood"?? NICE MATIN: part of a chainlet of so-called french bistros around manhattan: french roast, l'express, marseille, pigalle (actually the most authentic, & the best, unfortunately in a day's inn!!??), le monde, & 1 or 2 others i have forgotten. who designed nice matin?? he must have been on drugs OR has never been to France. couldn't wait for it to open, but somebody forgot to tell everyone associated with the restaurant, this was supposed to be the one that is upscale!!! badly designed bar, food average, ambience terrible. amazing with such a fabulous location!! can't wait for keith to take over????? @SQC: i just don't know! have eaten several times, always enjoyable, but no real ambience, that is simply MY impression. good place for the yuppie crowd. HOWEVER, mon nites are a steal: regular menu, but ALL wines 1/2 price!!! so that makes them at least reasonable AIX: when did didier virot decide what people should eat?? his previous restaurant went bankrupt based on this concept!! the combinations are simply too cute, too fusional, too early '90's. prices are high, but whose aren't? on the other hand, the food, if one likes a egotiste as chef, is good, just prefer the more traditional fare with "some" excitement thrown occassionally. the space is fabulous, not a bad seat in the house, beautifully done, intelligent & separate bar area. too much service turnover, which began as attractive & cool, now both are not as. unfortunately, too "fancy" to be the place one goes 2x/wk. some nites good ambience, most nites not. ALOUETTE: bar area too small, tired look, no ambience, food average, but ok. not conducive to returning regularly. plus, will never forget the $5 beaujolais nouveau on the table that we were charged $28 for - only a 560% markup!!! never thought to ask, because who would have thought a cheap beaujolais nouveau would be marked up so high WITHOUT informing the unsuspecting customer?? LES ROUTIERS: small bar, tired looking, no ambience, food above average! LA MIRABELLE: no bar, love the matronly waitstaff, too bright, average age ~ 65+

that's true; however, with all the riedel hype & with the mind-boggling number of different glasses for different wines they offer, i'm not sure a mere mortal could do what you are suggesting. i, for one, love & appreciate wine, & have been curious as to the effect of a wine glass's particular shape & size to maximize one's enjoyment; therefore, my topic. if you are suggesting, the difference between glasses is either nominal or non-existent, then one only needs one glass. the problem is "so many wines, so many glasses" it would be impoosible to perform enough taste tests AND remember how each tasted relative to the glass. therefore, it was my intent to query a knowledgeable wine forum, such as this, to receive comments about what glass for what wine.

my question has to do with any follow-up performed by food critics at the nytimes. specifically, when a reviewer visits a restaurant, writes a review which is somewhat negative; how does the critic go about determining when to re-visit? the concept is two-fold: a) if the review is accurate, & the restaurant is smart, then it would certainly be in the restaurant's best interests to correct whatever criticisms are fairly made. shouldn't the restaurant be rewarded & re-reviewed so the public's perception would not be biased based on the reviewer's original review? b) what is the policy of follow-up reviews in general? 1 example: Park Bistro received 3 stars a number of years & several chefs ago; however, the Times, whenever it refers to Park Bistro, includes the 3 stars, which is misleading.

do not want to buy another grouping of wine glasses (have too many already), but bought into the riedel hype & attempting to limit the selection; therefore, recently purchased the vinum bordeaux (21 1/2 oz) to use for ALL reds, & the red burgundy (24 3/4 oz) to use for pinot noirs & ALL whites. both purchased on recommendations by wine people, i.e., wine glasses should be a MINIMUM of 20 oz. however re: whites in general: due to the subtlely of whites' aromas, supposedly one should use a smaller glass to take advantage of a white's bouquet, etc. and others claim the "correct" pour is ~ 5oz, which should equal ~ 1/3 of the wine glass, for snifting & swirling, which obviously equals ~ a 15 oz wine glass!!! when using the red burgundy, "seems" to big for whites (?) the question(s) or any other comments: stick with the bordeaux & red burgundy as per the professionals' recommendation? purchase riedel's vinum chianti classico/riesling grand cru/zinfandel (13 oz) for the whites?

i guess my point was these wines were very generic, therefore felt the markups "SEEMED" fairly high.

i must have eaten at another restaurant! having been to jubilee on the east side, i assumed jubilee 51 would be pretty much the same. read the review, & decided to go anyway, since ALL my meals at the e. side bistro have been very good, & loved the ambience. therefore, i was surprised at the review, so i wanted to see for myself. of the criticisms, the mussels were not small, the escargots did not appear to be from a can, the fries were not limpid, & the roast chicken was excellent. it's a shame that this could have a negative spin on the economics of this location going forward. i, for one, will enjoy an excellent bistro in solitude until the public figures out this little gem on the west side.

MJ Grill (part of MarkJoseph Steakhouse): louis jadot macon blanc village '01 $30! - vs - retail: chat de sancerre (loire) '01 $35! michel picard chat-du-pape '01 $47! taittinger brut la francaise $75! tignanello (antinori) '99 $147!! also, why are most, not all, NV champagnes marked up 3x?? although, at Houston's, veuve cliquot $55!!!!!

additionally, this is another of my oft quoted critiques, but also falls on deaf ears??? live & learn, a la , c'est la vie???

i could not agree with you more. interestingly, i have been discussing this very same issue for many months/years, but it seems to fall on deaf ears. why now again?? it appears odd so few are passionate about this topic, & some even debate the rights of restaurants to overcharge!