oakapple

I have to admit, this is a fascinating observation!

It's starting to look that way, but we'll need a few more data points before we can say for sure. As a result, there's a lot more overlap between the two columns, and it becomes almost a random event whether the restaurant is eligible to be rated or not. In her recent eGullet Q&A, Mimi Sheraton argued that the $25-and-under column has drifted too high. She thinks that a "$25 meal" should include three courses. Measured that way, an awful lot of the restaurants in that column don't belong there.

The trouble is, appetizers at Convivium top out at $17, and entrées at $31. The "$25-and-under" category would completely lose its integrity if it included restaurants at Convivium's price level.

db bistro moderne (55 W. 44th St., bet. 5th & 6th) is the least formal of Daniel Boulud's New York properties. The menu is organized by ingredients, instead of the usual appetizer/entrée split. The categories are in French (hommard, thon, artichaut, etc.), but the descriptions of the items in each category are in English. You have to notice an "AP" or "MC" next to the price to identify whether the item is an appetizer or a main course. You can also look at the price itself: db's entrées are remarkably consistent, at about $28-34 apiece regardless of the item. I just had to try the "Original db Burger," to find out what a $29 hamburger tastes like. The menu says it's a "Sirloin Burger filled with Braised Short Ribs, Foie Gras and Black Tuffles." I was not able to identify all of those ingredients from the taste. It's thick (to accommodate all of the goodies stuffed inside), but not very large. Getting your mouth around it is a challenge, somewhat like a three-decker sandwhich at a Jewish deli. Was it a very fine hamburger? Yes. Do I recommend spending $29 on it? No. Rounding out the meal was a smoked salmon appetizer ($14) that was perfectly competent, but not a patch on what I had at Ouest a couple of weeks ago. The burger and the salmon are both in a section of the menu labeled "Specialitieés De La Maison." Gimmicks of the house seemed more like it. I saw a lot coming out of the db kitchen that appealed to me. Neither of these really did the trick. If I go again, I'll try something else. At $72 per person (including drinks, tax, and tip), I think there are better bargains for your money.

I've responded in the "Bruni and Beyond" thread, as I interpret this to be a meta-reviewing question.

In the Convivium Osteria thread, Jinmyo asked: I'm replying here, as the question seems to belong in the meta-reviewing thread. There are some restaurants the Times must review. We could argue what the "must-review" population consists of, but it most likely includes every new restaurant in Manhattan that aspires to two stars or higher. Not all of those restaurants will actually receive two stars, because in some cases the critic will deem them to have failed. But any restaurant shooting for that level certainly merits a review. However, I think the Times reviewing system would be fatally flawed if the one-star rating were reserved for restaurants that had aimed for higher ratings, and failed. The category would be full of under-achieving two-star wannabees. There needs to be room for the "true" one-star restaurant, and not just failed two- or three-star places. Frank Bruni has 52 reviewing slots per year, which is more than he needs to cover the "must-review" restaurants. With the balance, he can go wherever he pleases. Although it is not possible to review every "true" one-star restaurant, this does not mean he should never review any of them. I suspect he chose Convivium Osteria because its unusual mix of Portugese-Italian cuisine — executed, in his view, successfully and innovatively — elevates the restaurant above purely neighborhood interest. (Whether that's actually true would require a visit, but this is what I interpreted him to be saying with his choice.) Also, Bruni has said publicly that he wants to use some of his reviewing clout to give more prominence to worthy outer-borough destinations. By the way, the critic's discretion to choose worthy out-of-the-way subjects isn't limited to the restaurant beat. In the Theater department, the Times reviews every Broadway production, but only a subset of Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway.

Atelier has lost its chef, Gabriel Kreuther, who is launching a new restaurant at the Museum of Modern Art. I'm sure Atelier is still a nice place, but whether it is at the same level as before remains to be seen. The website still shows Kreuther as chef, which we know is not the case.

Ms. Sheraton, what are the criteria for awarding four stars, and have those criteria changed over time? For instance, it was pointed out recently that Peter Luger was once four stars, which is pretty hard to imagine by current standards. That's just an example — there are, of course, others. Another surprising example is Le Veau d'Or, which was once four stars and is now unrated. Also, to your knowledge, are there actual criteria for the other star levels (one, two, and three)? Or is it just the critic's impressionistic judgment?

Bruni sometimes uses the DJ column to talk about places that he doesn't intend to cover in a full review. This read like that type of column.

I had a wonderful dinner at Danube last night. A vendor was buying, and he asked if I had a favorite. I approach my restaurant life a little differently. An invitation to dinner is opportunity to try someplace I've never been. Danube came immediately to mind. This is one of those restaurants that hardly ever attracts an unfavorable comment. It is almost universally adored, and for good reason. From its Klimmt-inspired décor to its impeccable service, everything at Danube is well thought out and smartly executed. Whether it's a romantic occasion, a business dinner, or a birthday celebration, Danube delivers a memorable experience. The amuse bouche was a tiny salmon square on a bed of avocado cream. To start, my dining companion and I both chose the what I called the double foie gras ($19), which came with a conventional seared Hudson Valley foie gras and an odd confection called "Crème Brûlée of Foie Gras with Harvest Corn Goulash." If you love foie gras, then twice as much of it is heaven. My only complaint is that the crème brûlée was at an in-between temperature: it had been allowed to cool a bit too long. I almost never order Wiener Schnitzel, but I figured that if any restaurant was going to make it memorable, Danube would. (I also concluded that if you're at an Austrian-themed restaurant, you should try some Austrian food. My colleague concluded the same, and ordered the goulash.) The Wiener Schnitzel came with austrian crescent potatoes, cucumber salad, and a lingonberry sauce. I must say that I was initially underwhelmed, but the dish grew on me, and I was sad to take the last bite. The light breading was just perfectly fluffy, the veal succulent and tender. Still, part of me wondered if this really deserved to be a $30 entrée. Desserts at Danube are mostly Austro-Germanic specialities, such as Caramel Strudel and Sacher Torte. I tried a pina colada ice cream dish, which is not shown on the restaurant's website, and I can't quite recall how it was put together. After this, a plate full of chocolates arrived, which I struggled (in vain) to resist. Danube offers a vast array of menus. As at many uscale restaurants, the first page shows the tasting menu (five courses, $75; or, $135 with wine pairings). The nine-course degustation is $95. A four-course seasonal menu is $55. There are three à la carte sections of the menu: the Austrian specialties, "Modern Eclectic," and the chef's weekly market choices. Appetizers are $9-19; entrées are $26-35. You'll pay handsomely for your experience at Danube, but it is well worth it. A glance at the bill showed a bottom line of $270, which included more wine than was strictly necessary. But then, there's no point in doing Danube half-way. Go and enjoy yourself.

It's either an old menu on Menupages or an error by the Times, which lists $20 as the top price entrée. (I love Menupages, but I do wish they'd date their menus. You have no idea if what you're looking at was uploaded last week or last year.) I am not suggesting that starred restaurants must have tablecloths — there are others that do not. I am suggesting that, overall, this restaurant is a tenuous candidate to have been rated at all, much less to be awarded two stars.

Frank Bruni has developed a severe case of grade inflation. Petrosino seems to be the kind of place that typically would be covered in the $25-and-under column: Exceedingly informal; no tablecloths; nothing over $20 on the menu. Today, it received two stars. Note that the companion $25-and-under entry, Freeman's, actually seems to be more expensive, with its $22 top-price entrée.

I suspect the three-to-two demotion merely made public what had already been happening. The Burros review appeared on February 11, 2004. I don't think the Times can tank a restaurant that quickly. UP that had been open for several years, and was not dependent on a favorable Times review to bring in business.

He certainly had credibility. Union Pacific was a serious restaurant, and he was behind it. But as a restaurant empire expands, a different management style is required, else quality will suffer. Some restauranteurs have succeeded at this (e.g., Mario Batali, Jean-Georges Vongerichten). Others have not. Rocco did not. I'd say the reality show was a symptom of this problem, rather than being the problem itself.

Steve Cuozzo likewise awards 2 1/2 stars to Pace in today's New York Post:

Bob Lape awards 2 1/2 stars to V Steakhouse in today's Crain's New York Business: Lape also praises the steaks and the ranches (mostly Niman) from which they come: "The results of all this top-end sourcing are front and center in juicy, flavorful meats presented with your choice of a dozen sauces."

Gael Greene had a mini-review in last week's New York. I wouldn't call it a rave: According to Menupages, appetizers are $15-28, and entrées $35-52, making La Grenouille extremely expensive for a three-star restaurant. The frog's legs entrée Gael mentioned is $52, probably making it the most expensive preparation of that dish in America, if not the world. According to the La Grenouille website, the prix fixe dinner menu is $87.50. There's also a theatre menu at $49, offered from 5:30-6:30 and 10:00-11:00pm. However, by most accounts you'll be pampered at La Grenouille. It and the slightly-less-expensive Le Perigord are the only two restaurants of the kind left in New York.

The New York Daily News beats the field with the first rated review of Pace (Hudson & North Moore Streets, in TriBeCa). Joe Dziemianowicz awards 2 1/2 stars: From my recollection of that space (it used to be Plumeri), it has a large footprint. They'll have to sell a lot of dinners to make their monthly nut.

The review did not leave me with any eagerness to visit 5 Ninth. It sounds like an awful lot of trouble for an experience of unpredictable quality. I would say that a restaurant with the unevenness and service issues mentioned in the review would be highly unlikely to garner two stars, much less three. Whether 5 Ninth was in fact gunning for that level is an interesting discussion. I could believe two, but not three. Customarily, Times reviews don't say how close a restaurant came to getting the next higher (or lower) rating. They also don't say, "This is a restaurant trying to be two stars, and would be if only the following N things were fixed." That's for all of us to guess at, but it sounded to me that 5 Ninth has more than just a few things to improve.

This week's New York Magazine has a short piece on Per Se, "The Price of Four Stars": Changing the subject slightly... Thanks to the poster who noticed that Per Se is now on OpenTable. Naturally, the site shows no available reservations. I'd be interested to know the first person who actually gets in this way.

Has there ever been an eGullet thread on Rao's — the legendary Italian restaurant in Harlem that's practically impossible to get into? The eGullet search engine returns nothing, but it's hard to imagine that it has never garnered so much as a mention. I haven't found any account of Rao's that places it on the level of Babbo, Felidia, L'Impero, etc. I believe Ruth Reichl reviewed it for the Times, and found the food competent but not transporting. How exactly did it come to be so hard to get into? (admin: Rao's threads merged)

Maybe the mainstream press aren't on this issue because it's a non-issue. eGullet has company, however. Many of the Chowhounds say the same thing. I'd like to know which 'established' restaurants were 'mysteriously' eliminated. Generally when you look up any prominent restaurant in Zagat, it's there. I can't imagine that all of them did so by bribery. If so, you'd expect a lot of ridiculous omissions, as well as neighborhood noodle shops being rated as highly as Gramercy Tavern, and so forth. That just isn't the case. The last Zagat survey had about 1,500 restaurants rated. Even the "corpulent" Tim and Nina couldn't have collected bribes from all of them. As for Zagat being audited....I'm in favor of that, as long as the Times also allows an independent audit of Frank Bruni. Why should the demand for an audit apply to just one publication? Did anyone ever audit Seymour Britchky?

Bond Girl, was that a tasting menu you had, or did you order all of that food a la cart?

I suspect all of us would be delighted to see 5 full reviews a week. Trouble is, it would blow the budget. I suspect there's no other reviewing gig that costs the paper anything like the amount spent on restaurant reviewing. That's a minimum bar to clear. Amanda Hesser's problem was that she was pressed into critiquing chefs with whom she'd become cozy in her long history as a food feature writer. Food writing is tough, because it is all metaphorical. At some point, unless you are extremely resourceful, you run out of metaphors. You then fall back on "subtle zing," "perfect accent," and "exquisitely balanced." I feel embarrassed when I write such phrases on eGullet (as I sometimes do). However, I am not getting paid for it. I suspect it takes years of experience to find the perfect metaphor to describe every taste sensation, without resorting to cliché. By the time Bruni reaches that point, assuming he ever does, he'll have about reached his sell-by date. The restaurant critic's gig seems to have a high burn-out factor, judging by the turnover.

Bluecabochon said most of what I'd have put in my review, so I'll just touch on a few points. The New York Times had an article a few weeks ago about the ascent of bar dining. As bluecabochon mentioned, for parties of two or three it's really no less comfortable than table dining, and it has the advantage that you can just show up any day, without a reservation. The bar at BHSB has obviously been designed with this in mind, as it is a much wider surface than the typical bar. The bar stools have backs, so they are comfortable to sit in for a long meal. Everyone who sat there had come to dine at the bar. There is also a separate lounge with sofa seating nearby, and people with reservations who want a pre-dinner cocktail seem to prefer that area. The menu at BHSB offers a choice of two, three, or four courses for $46, $56, or $66. Our server, Tina, who is also the bartender, explained that if you choose two or three courses, the kitchen adjusts the portion sizes accordingly, so you're getting a full meal no matter which option you choose. I like the fact that there are no supplements for the more expensive dishes. It's the same price, no matter what you order. The menu is structured in four categories, with generally four choices per category. The example posted on the BHSB website, dating from early spring, is divided as: "Farm Eggs," "From the Sea," "From the Pastures," and "Hudson Valley Pastures." On the night we were there, the first two were "Tomatoes and "More Tomatoes," the latter being seafood dishes with tomato accents. This is consistent with Frank Bruni's observation that when BHSB decides a vegetable is in season, they don't go half-way. My tomato appetizer even included a small helping of tomato sorbet. We had the three-course meal, and my entrée was the Braised Bacon and Roasted Pig. This dish consisted of three separate preparations of pig that my limited food vocabulary doesn't permit me to describe, but they were all excellent. (One of the reviews mentioned that they slaughter two pigs a week.) Earlier in the evening, I noticed that another diner had ordered the same, but he got a larger portion than I did. Sure enough, Tina mentioned that they'd ordered two courses, rather than three. I had a taste of bluecabochon's poached egg with hazelnuts, sesame seeds, and homemade pancetta. This must be BHSB's signature appetizer. (Well, they don't call anything an appetizer, but that's in effect what it is.) Every reviewer has mentioned it. It's out-of-this-world. My tomato app was acceptable, but it's not what I'll remember about the meal. It's an excursion to get out to BHSB, but well worth it.