WK2

I'd also add, given the OP, that the idea of going to New York and getting mexican food is probably not likely to be the most successful thing on the planet. As a general thought on an angle, I'd probably go to some of the new pizza and burger places. To my mind, they're sort of the analogue to the gastropub movement in England (someone will tell me, I'm sure, that american gastropubs are the analogues to English gastropubs), but I think they're interesting and new and cheap, so you can do them in quantity. Maybe there's too much press exposure to these things already, but that may just be in crazy new york. Also, it's probably worth hitting the speakeasies in the evenings if you're interested in drink as it is evolving here. The 5 top cocktail destination thread is the place to go for that.

I think the threshold question here is what's in oakapple's last paragraph. LB is a bit of an odd duck, as it serves only fish and shellfish (so far as I know) in its tasting menu. To my mind, it's a very focused meal. Surgical (as I think I may even have said somewhere in this thread). Very great, but utterly precise and walking a sort of line with antiseptic. Per Se is very different - a much more traditional progression, light to heavier, a nicer room, maybe even a little more formal for me. But the difference between the two comes down to what you want to spend, and what you want to eat. I think in terms of objective quality they're playing the same game. No one can answer this question for you, and anyone who claims they can is wrong. They are both superb, internationally recognized restaurants. For either one, you can easily find plenty of reviews by people who were absolutely blown away, along with a minority who say the opposite. Per Se is materially more expensive, as its only option at dinner is a $275 menu, whereas Le Bernardin offers tasting menus at both $135 and $185 ($220 and $325 respectively with wine pairings). The price at Per Se includes service, so you really need to inflate the LeB prices by 20% for comparison purposes. There are no set wine pairings at Per Se, but you can count on $100 per person as the floor, and it goes up from there. A sommelier will design a pairing for you after discussing your budget and preferences. As far as I know, Per Se is the only restaurant in town where this is the default offering (plenty of others will do it if you ask). For this reason, the wine pairing at Per Se is especially worthwhile, and even at relatively inexpensive levels you will probably get a couple of unusual items you never would have thought to order. The food at Le Bernardin is more homogeneous, so it arguably lends itself better to ordering by the bottle. If you order the more expensive tasting menu, the wine pairing is $140pp. For the same price, you could order a couple of terrific contrasting half-bottles, or a single "blow-the-doors-off" full bottle, and perhaps still be ahead. That, again, is a choice only you can make. ←

We had a go at White Star last night before 9 pm. There's no better deal I know of in Manhattan. $7 a drink is not far off what some dive bar charges with a rum and coke. And the drinks are good. We had a bit of a mixup with a sazerac and a margarita (suffice it to say that I now know what a sazerac with cointreau and a margarita without taste like) but they were remade cheerily and were very good when they turned up. Our verdict is that when you're out to celebrate or to forget something, D&Co. is better for being blown away by quality, for spending the entire evening sinking ever deeper into a drowsy funk. But for a couple of quick drinks, we liked White Star.

I always thought they must have been telling her to glare. I'm not sure why, though.

I took my summer associate (intern, for you non-law people) to JG today, and given that our budget is rather more than the $28 lunch, I sprung for the egg caviar. I do think this is a startling dish, but I'm not sure I would pay for it out of my own wallet. Now, the scrambled egg on its own as a dish, perhaps topped with something else, or with brioche "soldiers" to dip? My perfect breakfast. Also, I had the sweetbreads with the pickled peach, which I thought was excellent, though perhaps not quite enough food for a second course if I were hungrier. I'm not a huge fan of the rhubarb dessert pairing, but I think that may have something to do with the "float" which I didn't enjoy that much. Too candy like in terms of flavor to me.

I haven't been to Keste, but I've been to Motorino and Co. twice each, and agree. It's just better pizza, and I found the wine at Co. bizarrely expensive. And I can't get over the fact that what I really want to eat from Lahey is that darned pane de commune, and that costs $3 at Sullivan Street.

We visited Co. last night - it was a second visit for me. We found the pizzas still good, though I now notice that the ham and cheese appears to have more ham on it than the picture at the start of this thread. The flavor of the crust is impeccable, as one might expect, but for some reason I still prefer Motorino's effort. Maybe it is Co.'s sauce, as some people upthread speculate. I'm not sure how strong Co.'s side dishes are. It's approaching tomato season, and our heirloom caprese was in fact very good. But I was utterly left cold by the "toasts". What is a table supposed to do with one piece of toast with spread? I guess the answer is "order more", but it just seems an odd menu item. The only other thing I'd note is that Co. might be more convivial if there were a couple of real budget wine by the glass choices. As in, $6. Perhaps that just doesn't work as a matter of economics.

This is an interesting point. So much of our experiences of restaurants are quite subjective, especially with a limited dining dollar. For example, I had one bad experience at Peasant, which really wasn't the restaurant's fault. (an obnoxious customer). Will I return? Probably not, but mostly because it is New York and I can move on with almost no consequences. I promise you if this were Wilmington DE, where I lived for a year, a place like Peasant would get a second and third and fourth chance.

What did people think about the challenge last night? It seemed to me, as I think Jay said on the show, that the pig's ear was the most difficult, though I was surprised it wasn't turned crispy. I thought people would do better with a crisp texture than what they got - doesn't April Bloomfield, among others, do quite a famous crispy ear salad at The Spotted Pig? The tongue seemed to me the most obvious, and especially lucky that it fell to Bayless, who must know to cook it in his sleep.

We thought it was very good too. The only caveat I had about Dutch Kills is that the seating area is so isolated from the action at the bar, and that hurts the experience a bit for me if I'm with a big enough group to need a table. Having said that, it's surprising how quickly the $4 difference in price between a DK and a Death adds up.

Do you know whether restaurants pay opentable for cancelled reservations? I recently dined at two separate restaurants through opentable where I received an email saying my reservation was cancelled after I ate, even though I showed up and dined. I've got to suspect this was policy - cancel reservations who show up to save money.

Have people seen the potential bond offering by Milk Thistle farms? http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/200...k-invest-in-it/ I have had a scan through the offering materials, and even if one is not interested in investing, they are a fascinating look into the economics of a dairy farm. Maybe we can discuss the whole venture in this thread.

I liked the show too, and I thought that the quality of food the contestants were able to prepare given the challenge was pretty remarkable, and certainly better than TC contestants. Plus, I think this was probably the most restrictive "twist" for a top chef episode I've seen - I think even in the foo fighters one, they had more of an oven (no?)

The difference between going somewhere with friends or an SO on your birthday and enduring a horribly awkward summer associate lunch? ← Fair enough. Though I recall that the actual associate had to leave, and I was left there with some law school buddies, which is the best possible situation.

We had lunch for my birthday at Jean Georges today, adding a shared foie gras brulee and a shared dessert to the standard menu, along with 3 oz. pours with each savoury course (the 12.50 chassagne-montrachet that we had with the foie gras was extremely good, we thought). Like Oakapple, JG is starting to grow on me. I had dined there five years ago as a summer associate at a law firm, and had thought the brulee foie was bad. This time I was impressed, and I can't quite tell whether it was a result of a maturation of my taste or the wine or just being wrong the first time around. But to me, the star of the show was the frog's legs with garlic soup. I could eat that soup every day, with frog's legs or snails, or anything else, and I'd be happy. And I can't possibly complain about the price. 3 glasses of very good wine each, a full lunch, along with the mignardises and and amuse (a terrific mozzarella with dehydrated pineaplle, peekytoe crab fritter, and herb soup) for $160, with tax and tip.

Are the four stuffed morels really $21? Are they bigger than the typical morel, or some such? Just struck me as a little enthusiastic on the pricing. More generally, what do people think about the value that Marea offers?

Yikes - talk about diminishing returns. How much more pleasure could someone possibly derive from an extension of the already extended Per Se menu? I'm genuinely curious whether people would think they'd enjoy this. I frankly start stalling a bit at the end of any tasting, much less Per Se's marathon (which I enjoyed, but was definitely long enough).

We visited last night, and had an Astoria cocktail and a martinez, among a few other things. Great drinks. We were surprised to see that the bar really wasn't mobbed at all - I mean, arriving at 8:45 in a city cocktail bar of this quality would mean no entry, usually. Anyway, very chill place, and the fact that drinks are ony $9, in aggregate, does actually make a bit of a difference.

Agree with everyone else. I think more responses would flow if the budget were higher, or if the requirements were "rustic, friendly, great food". I've been working on finding a caterer for my wedding, and I promise you that (while the situations aren't really analagous) New York is a crazy place when it comes to parties. Given the high stakes (people coming in from all over the country and all) I'd maybe give up on visual stunningness cto oncentrate on something identifiably New York. Could you possibly stretch to something like Blue Hill? I think they have a small second room. Or maybe a Momofuku? They've got a private dining option at Ssam Bar.

I don't know anything downtown, but in my experience people are happy to either give or sell you bones (it's never run me more than 2 dollars-ish a pound, which I guess is too much for bones, but there you are) if you just ask. I suppose being a regular might get you them free.

We visited Mayahuel last night. Didn't have too much trouble getting in - the fellow at the door led us to a small standing alcove near the umbrella depository first, but quickly got us over to the bar. I'm probably the least knowledgeable person about cocktails in this thread, but I loved the drinks. The Italian Inquisition was fantastic - to be honest, it tasted a little like my favorite standard cocktail, the martinez. Laugh at me all you like. But I have to give my prize for the night to the Whoopsy Daisy, which is outrageously good, and the Division Bell(sp?), which I got when I asked the bartender for something with more pronounced mezcal. The DB reminds me of the Laphroiag based drinks I order sometimes at D&co - almost peaty. We were starving, so dug into a quesadilla - although small, it was darned tasty. A nice combination of spicy and sweet (it's topped with mango,I think, though by that time I was getting a little shaky). Makes me excited to consider a more full menu. So, one little complaint - if you could catch swine flu from air conditioning or a draught or whatever, I swear we would have caught it sitting at the bar right under the look-through to the top floor. I think the seats at the bar nearest the door don't have this problem. It was just pretty cold.

I agree that I the show is actually quite enjoyable, and I'd say further that it is unmistakeably British in a very understated way. I studied in the UK, and as I always joke, the first draft of my professor's, to his mind very positive, recommendation for law school back here at home said something like "WK2 is not entirely untalented". The show reminds me of reading that letter for the first time. Things don't always translate as easily as you might imagine between the US and the UK (for that matter, watch some early UK episodes of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - the screaming is toned down by 500%). But still - the competitors on LRS are so gruesomely bad it really bothers me. Even the winners, to the point that I think even the worst Top Chef competitor would have cleaned their clocks.

I haven't really seen Hell's kitchen, but the thing that stuck in my mind in LRS as the most abominable was the "ethnic cuisine" episode. I'm being a little tongue in cheek, but some of the efforts were so bad that I think they would have elicited accusations of racism on American tv.

Does anyone think this show would be more entertaining if the contestants were a *little* more talented? The early part of the season is so bad in terms of performances that it seems ridiculous that anyone would open any kind of business with these people.

Ah, Big Kahuna. All I know is that they had air hockey. Harry's is oysters, seafood, etc. We had a work shindig there. Quite decent, excellent for a group, come to think of it. It's not cheap by any means, though.