oakapple

I dined with a couple of colleagues at Matsuri last night. While William Grimes was convinced that the sushi was in the upper third, we considered it merely mid-range — which is to say, neither bad nor particularly distinguished. We ordered a sushi/sashimi platter that was described as a selection for five people, although the three of us went ahead and ordered a bit more after consuming all of that. A shrimp tempura roll seemed the best item on the platter, with honorable mention to some extremely tender tuna belly. The post below describes the restaurant's location as Chelsea. Nowadays, one would describe it as "Meatpacking-adjacent," with the main drag of that clubby neighborhood within spitting distance of Matsuri's door. The restaurant is lovely inside, and we had a perfectly happy time, topping off the evening with Macallan 18's (and one of our party with an excellent creme brulee dessert). But we won't rush back.

A New York Magazine review recently suggested that Lo Scalo (newly starred per Michelin) is excellent for its pastas.

There is practically nothing that appears in the Times "lifestyle" sections that doesn't have the helping hand of a publicist somewhere. Where do you think Florence Fabricant gets most of her news? Most of it comes from publicists.

I would add Asiate to the list. It's an incredibly romantic space, especially at night.

Beyond that, I don't think Bruni was "given" the piece; he more-than-likely chose it himself, based on his broad remit to report on and critique trends in the NYC restaurant industry.

I saw no conflict with Bruni writing such a piece. It was an entry in his quarterly column called "Critic's Notebook." This column is often used to discuss broader trends in the dining industry. It clearly was an opinion piece (such as one would expect from a critic), going through the restaurants in Babali's empire one by one, and providing (briefly) his view of each. I see no evidence that Bruni is shilling for Batali. His first review for the Times re-affirmed Babbo's three-star status, but he was no great fan of Bistro du Vent, a conclusion he re-iterates again today. His comments on the other Batali restaurants are a mixed bag. By the way, the Bruni writes another food column for the Times—the weekly Diner's Journal—which is sometimes used to provide an "early preview" (without assigning a rating) for restaurants that will later receive a full review. I've always had the impression that the critic has pretty broad latitude to choose his subjects. I don't think this was Bruni's "assignment." He has a quarterly column to identify restaurant trends, and this was the "trend" he thought worthy of coverage on this occasion.

In today's Times, Frank Bruni surveys the Batali/Bastianich empire (list of restaurants here), with Del Posto's imminent opening the article's raison d'etre. On the website, there's an accompanying audio slideshow, which includes Bruni making a rather lame joke about trying to get a reservation at Babbo. The article suggests that he expects Del Posto to be an important restaurant, although he plants the seed for a three-star review that will complain the menu needs editing: In today's New York Post, Steve Cuozzo points wonders whether the city is ready for another high-end Italian joint:

The earlier (brief) Centrico thread is here. I stopped into Centrico a few months ago just for an appetizer. Based on that admittedly very small sample, Centrico is most definitely not a Margarita Mill. It's extremely well prepared and thoughtful Mexican cuisine that goes well beyond the standard burritos and chimichangas.

I've previously mentioned that Vong was the only restaurant in Jean-Georges Vongerichten's vast New York empire that is on OpenTable. I noticed yesterday that JoJo has recently been added. I don't know if each restaurant makes this decision independently, or if there's someone at corporate pulling the strings. I also wonder whether they see OpenTable as a sign of things to come, or if they've joined because tables are going unsold.

Today, Bob Lape awards two stars to Capital Grille in Crain's New York Business. I don't share his enthusiasm, but perhaps he sampled different menu items than I did:

On Friday night, a friend and I enjoyed the tasting menu at Vong ($65) with paired wines ($45). The selections were as follows: THE TASTING PLATE Crab spring roll, tamarind sauce Prawn satay, sweet & sour chili sauce Lobster & daikon roll, rosemary ginger sauce Duck rolls, plumb sauce Raw tuna and vegetables, namprik vinaigrette Nino Franco Rustico Prosecco, Valdobbladine This was a large plate of appetizers, mostly looking like sushi rolls or dim sum. There were four of each item (two apiece), except for the duck rolls (one apiece). We were also each presented with a sauce dish with four compartments, one for each appetizer except the duck rolls, which already had the plum sauce inside. The sauces contrasted beautifully, and all of these items were immaculately prepared. We were delighted with this hefty start to the meal, and it was difficult to wrap our minds around the fact that four more courses were to come. CHICKEN & COCONUT MILK SOUP WITH GALANGAL & SHITAKES Rudi Wlest Rhein River Riesling 2004, Rheinhessen This was a wonderful soup. I didn't taste much chicken, but the coconut and shitakes were plainly evident. STEAMED STRIPED BASS WITH SPICED CARDAMOM SAUCE, CABBAGE, & WATERCRESS Jeanne Marie Viognier 2004, California This course was less successful. The bass was rather dull, and we were given far too much of the watery cabbage, which added nothing to the dish. ROASTED VENISON WITH PUMPKIN-LEMON PUREE AND JUNIPER BERRY JUS Mas du Boislauzon Cotes du Rhone Villages 2003, Rhone This was about as good as venison gets. It didn't taste gamey at all. Two slices were prepared rare, with a wonderful crunchy char on the skin. WARM VALRHONA CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH COCONUT SORBET & PEPPERED TUILE Domaine la Tour Vielle Reserva Banyuls, Banyuls Is it any surprise that a Jean-Georges Vongerichten tasting menu would end with a chocolate cake? I'm not a big chocolate fan, but this was a dessert no one could pass up. It had a warm exterior and a molten center. Superb. Overall, the fish was the only course of the five that misfired. The cuisine had Vongerichten's fingerprints all over it, although one wonders how much time he devotes to Vong any more. (Pierre Schutz is the credited chef de cuisine.) The paired wines were generally well chosen, but I found that after three whites in a row, my tongue was a bit deadened to the red that came with the meat course. Service was attentive and precise. My only complaint was that our server spoke with such a heavy accent that we could not grasp his explanations of the courses as they were presented. After a while, we just gave up on him. (Thankfully, we were presented with a card listing the menu and the wines, which we kept with us all evening.) My companion and I felt that the courses came a shade too quickly. At more than two hours, no one would say we were rushed out of the restaurant. Yet, I sometimes had up to half-a-glass of wine remaining when the next glass was presented. Tasting menu courses tend to be small, and you don't want to be chugging the wine afterwards. By the time we left, the restaurant was full, and the noise level loud. Much as we had enjoyed our evening, we were more than ready to give our tender ears a rest.

For steak qua steak, my current favorite is Wolfgang's. I had a wonderful steak at the new Bobby Van's downtown, but I've only been there once. I think BLT Steak and BLT Prime must be on anyone's list for creatively breaking the classic steakhouse mold while still serving good steaks, but I don't think anyone would list them as best for their beef alone. I tried Capital Grille twice recently (on both occasions, someone else chose it). It flunked the test both times.

I agree with Bux that, at a great restaurant, the experience should not depend on the main chef being physically present that day. The owners of Blue Hill are curently splitting their time between the city and Stone Barns, and they are maintaining the high standards of both places. This suggests they are not merely great chefs, but also strong managers, as most executive chefs have to be. As for Daniel, even on nights when Boulud is in the house, I doubt that he is double-checking the sommelier's recommendations. Your $30 glass of wine would probably have been the same regardless of whether Boulud was there that day.

At present, the four-star restaurants (as judged by the Times) are French (JG, Daniel, Le B), American (Per Se), or Japanese (Masa). I would add that although Keller is American, there menu at Per Se clearly borrows a lot from the French. On another thread, you mentioned that the new Batali/Bastianich venture, Del Posto, is gunning to be the first four-star Italian restaurant. Is there another cuisine for which you can envision someone taking that kind of risk in New York? What would be the next likely candidate?

This bigotry is not limited to Michelin. There are currently no Chinese restaurants in New York carrying three or four stars from the New York Times. There are a handful of two-star Chinese restaurants, but the number is small when you consider the abundance of Chinese cuisine in this city. One of those at the two-star level is Shun Lee Palace, of which the Times website writes, "No restaurant in New York City can produce better Chinese food." I believe it was Ruth Reichl who awarded two stars to Shun Lee, although I'm not sure if she wrote that sentence. I haven't dined at Shun Lee Palace recently, but I visit Shun Lee West fairly regularly, and I think a reasonable case could be made that it is a three-star restaurant. The problem comes from three directions. Critics fail to dole out appropriate recognition to the better Chinese restaurants. Diners don't think a Chinese meal should be expensive. And restauranteurs are afraid to take the risk of opening a Chinese restaurant that charges Le Bernardin's prices.

Funnily enough, I was in the Pearl Oyster Bar last night (18 Cornelia St., btwn Bleecker & W 4th). There on the wall was an enlarged copy of the cover from Gourmet's July 1945 issue, which sold for 25 cents. The cover showed a lobster and a pot of boiling water on a stove.

The Harrison is the subject of today's Diner's Journal. It's a rave review, without even a whiff of complaint: The Friday column never mentions a rating, but William Grimes awarded two stars to The Harrison, and it's clear that Frank Bruni finds things still in good working order. (There is a new chef, Brian Bistrong; as mentioned upthread, the restaurant has been remodeled.) Unusually for a Diner's Journal column, Bruni mentioned that his comments were based on multiple visits.

They said that about the Cru space, and also I believe the Wolfgang's Steakhouse space, and both are now successful.

Ruch Reichl correctly noted that some restaurants are about more than just the food. However, when food was the subject, Reichl always knew what to say, and how to say it. Frank Bruni does not. I counted twelve paragraphs that discussed the food, not four. Beyond that, the restaurant's philosophy in sourcing ingredients is certainly a relevant topic for a restaurant review. Many of the non-food comments are similarly relevant (the comfortable layout of the room, the fact that the heat from the kitchen makes some tables too warm, etc.). How quickly they forget! Any of the following were worse than this one: Florent, The Red Cat, Frederick's Madison, and that silly uptown Italian place that got two stars. Those are just the ones that come immediately to mind.

Ruth, I know that you haven't been a restaurant reviewer in quite a few years, but you did spend a considerable part of your career as a critic. When you eat out, do you still find yourself sub-consciously writing an imaginary review, thinking about how you would rate the restaurant if it were still your job to do so? Or, is reviewing totally out of your system, and you simply dine as a regular patron?

120 seats, from the reports I've seen. That's at the high end, but probably not far off the number of seats at Daniel. Edit: According to the website at danielnyc.com, the main dining room there seats 140. My guess is that's tops among the current four-star restaurants in New York. Some people think that Daniel failed to get the third Michelin star because it's built for volume.

By the way, Nobu is one of those restaurants that still has a Ruth Reichl review posted. I'm sure I've seen others, but Nobu comes to mind. I don't know whether Jean Georges has Ruth's review posted, but I know that her Times review of over 8 1/2 years ago (6/6/97) remains the most current one.

The interesting thing about Montrachet is that it's the cuisine the Michelin inspectors purportedly know the most about: French. I'm personally in the camp that Montrachet's non-starred status was defensible—not provably correct, but defensible. If you think they didn't even get the French restaurants right, then we're talking a whole other ball game.

Just to add a "me too"....New York has a relatively high proportion of single people. The restaurants are used to single diners, and won't discriminate against you. That's a whole other matter from whether you personally are comfortable dining without a companion. There definitely are restaurants where dining alone is less common. I'm guessing you don't see a whole lot of them at Alain Ducasse or Per Se.

Ms Reichl, on another thread someone suggested that the "ultra luxe" dining experience is a dying phenomenon. Yet, Per Se is full every night, despite a steep fixed price of $210 per per person (and that price has gone up steadily in the relatively short time the restaurant has been open). The success of Per Se suggests that there is unmet demand for for that type of "ultra luxe" dining in New York. However, I also realize it is a risky proposition to open such a restaurant, since start-up costs are high. Keller had the advantage of replicating a formula that was already known to be successful elsewhere. I am not asking whether someone will literally open a clone of Per Se — which would be foolhardy. But I am wondering whether you think that others will be emboldened to open new restaurants at that level of luxury and expense, knowing that—if you get it right—the demand is clearly there. Or, is Per Se an anomaly?