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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.

Yeah, I agree; it doesn't test any relevant skill. ← It was supposed too, that quick fire was just a gimick. And Holly's right - all that wasted talent. But hey, it's TV, it's entertainment. Why move away from what has worked for them in the past? ← The whole show is a gimmick, but some of the challenges are more sensible than others. I mean, the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game is a gimmick, but it tests a skill baseball players are supposed to be good at. Cooking with a hand behind the back is not a skill chefs are expected to have.

Yeah, I agree; it doesn't test any relevant skill.

And if you'd known them, you would have guessed differently?

Nathan points this out every time RW comes along. In the early days, RW really was a deal. At some places that might still be true, but an awful lot of them have some version of this deal all year long. You can probably look at their online menus and see which are actual deals, and which are not.

FloFab has the explanation. It seems the private party business is picking up again.

Eater reports that Damon Frugal Fridays (DFF) will be discontinued after tomorrow. I have not seen any signs that the recession is over, and by most accounts the place was popular, so it's an odd decision.

We loved it too (blog report here). I dined there with a friend from out of town; he later emailed me that he loved it so much that he went back alone the next evening. It's practically scandalous that Bruni did not bother to review the place.

While the Shake Shack line can take that long - 2 innings, I've never waited on line at Blue Smoke for more than 5 minutes. Also, if you had gone back there Oak, you would have realized that there is a huge LED screen overlooking Danny's area, so you don't miss a beat of the game.I was aware of the screen. But just as I don't get the point of buying a ticket only to miss a third of the game, I don't get the point of buying a ticket only to watch it on a TV screen. If it's more inconsistent, I'd class that as "inferior to its Manhattan equivalent."

The difference is that Arthur Avenue is still an Italian residential neighborhood, while Little Italy is a kind of Potemkin Village. By the way, the best Osso Buco I've ever had, I had in Little Italy. I don't remember which place, though. If Daisy cooks like that at home, then I want to marry Daisy.

As I said, I don't go there by myself. On numerous occasions I have taken by visitors (or visitors asked me to take them), and the visitors are practically always happy. On another level, I find it hilarious that in a neighborhood with upwards of 50 restaurants, people here are prepared to assume that they are absolutely identical, and that they refer to Arthur Avenue as if it were a completely different concept, when in fact they are different shades of fundamentally the same thing.

Why, that's answered in the original post: Obviously, if the question had been, "Where is the best Italian food in NYC?" the answer would be different.

I think most people become regulars because they like the restaurant, and because it's convenient. At some of these places, that effort is repaid with benefits unavailable to the occasional or one-time visitor. At others, all you get is the opportunity to keep paying for more of what you enjoyed in the first place.So what FG is trying to suss out is: Which are those places where it actually makes a difference? Whether you would want to be a regular there is a whole other question. For a whole bunch of reasons, the answer may be no, but it's useful (or at least interesting) information.

But have you actually been to the place Nieporent recommends? I can see disagreeing about a restaurant you've actually visited. But I cannot understand categorical condemnation of a neighborhood with upwards of 30–50 restaurants.

How many insults and stereotypes is it possible to pack into one post? Are you going for the new indoor record? I mean, really... None of these things are true.

I agree with this one, though as you note it's polarizing because the people who don't like Mason's cuisine are rather vocal about it. The place changed considerably after the reviews, but unfortunately there's usually no way to get the critics back again.Seäsonal is another great example. The Times didn't review it at all. ← I thought they got one star? ← Nope. Not reviewed in The Times. I am positive. It was covered only in Dining Briefs.

Little Italy has an allure that NYC natives sometimes fail to grasp. Most U.S. cities do not have anyplace like Little Italy, and most cities do not have a restaurant anything like Peasant or Lupa. To the visitor, Little Italy is fascinating, and many of the restaurants there execute the Italian standards competently—which often is precisely what the visitor is looking for. I have taken visitors to dinner there on numerous occasions, and not once has anyone been disappointed.When a visitor asks to visit Little Italy, it is not a ridiculous request, and if you dine there they probably won't be disappointed. The fact that NYC has better Italian food elsewhere is utterly beside the point. So next time a visitor asks you to take them to Little Italy, you should indulge them. You might be surprised to find that they actually like it.

This is what I wrote after a visit three years ago:

The best line was where he said, "I usually have 5 people to help me do this."

The market hasn't forced him to.

I agree with this one, though as you note it's polarizing because the people who don't like Mason's cuisine are rather vocal about it. The place changed considerably after the reviews, but unfortunately there's usually no way to get the critics back again.Seäsonal is another great example. The Times didn't review it at all.

Of course they don't, just as some Americans go to Europe and leave 20% on top of a check that already has service included.

Although I like Mas better than LPShanet does, it is over-priced for what you get. Pastis...absolutely: the perfect example. For Per Se, just read the account of FG's recent meal there: no other restaurant in New York can do this. Telepan has slowed down considerably since it opened, so at this point I would say the market has it fairly valued.Hill Country regularly makes lists of the top handful of BBQ places in the city, practically no matter who is doing the ratings, so I can't agree with that one. I've no recent experience with Cookshop or Devi, but Cookshop seems to have fallen off the radar, so it may again be a case of the market having adjusted to the right level.

That was always my understanding too. When we dined there, I left nothing else besides that, and I was warmly thanked as I left—something they'd hardly be likely to do if they considered themselves stiffed.

I don't quite get it either. Hanson has a knack for opening places that are incredibly crowded (he closes the ones that aren't), and the quality is not commensurate with that. Of course, that's also true of the Times Square Olive Garden.