Azula10

I called SOS today and was quoted $50/oz for black truffles. I asked them to set one aside for me to pick up tomorrow and they were happy to do it.

This is a situation where the Times review is totally irrelevant. WI was designed specifically for celebrities and friends of the owners, and they have made it abundantly clear that they aren't looking to expand past that clientele.

I posted a while back about a negative experience at Del Posto (all around terrible). Anyway, I wrote a letter to Joe, Lidia, and Mario and Joe responded and invited me to come back. We went back with our original party, as their guests, and had a good meal. I still don't think that the service merits four stars, or anything close to it by Daniel/Per Se/JG standards, but it had certainly improved (no doubt the circumstance of our dinner played a role in this). I really liked the appetizers and salads best. Because it was a full tasting we only had one pasta (garganelli), which while good was not on Babbo/Lupa par in terms of transcendental tastes, and I still think the $50 risotto is totally silly. Halfway through the meal we decided to supplement the wine pairings with a 1990 Barbaresco which was very enjoyable. This decision was partially due to guilt about the fact that I still couldn't envision Del Posto having a space on my restaurant roster and partially because they were serving us only young wines from the Bastianich properties (understandable). Anyway, the dining room was full and I felt that having us back was a gracious gesture. Of course when it came time to talk to Joe, he had left for Babbo to entertain some VIPs. My feeling is that the owners there are too talented to not make something special out of the place, sooner or later.

I can't recommend it, particularly not compared to Babbo. I think that if they could have come out and truly done 4 star "Italian by way of NYC" that the place could have been very interesting. But the service and experience (and to a certain extent, the food) just don't live up to this standard. At this point I'd like to see them rip out all of the overdone decor and reimagine the place as sort of a middle ground between Baboo and Lupa.

When I was there I got the clear impression that the staff would not appreciate a diner doing anything less than the full 4 star treatment. I don't believe Del Posto reaches the 4 star mark (or even a three star mark, whatever that means at the NYT these days), and in fact my visit there put me off the rest of the Batali/Bastianich empire for a long time. Maybe things have changed at DP, but as I posted before, it was as though they tried to create a 4 star NYC restaurant without ever visiting Daniel, JG, etc.

I'm not sure how eGulleters feel about posting letters to restaurants; it is with no small amount of hesitation that I do so in this case. After a 6 year love affair with Mario restaurants, particularly Lupa and Babbo, my experience at Del Posto will likely be my last taste of his wonderful cooking. I was stunned by my experience there, stunned by the lack of response to my letter to Mario, Joe, and and Lidia, and stunned when I went back to Daniel this weekend for true 4 star service. DP is so far from 4 stars in any category (including cuisine) that in my judgement, it is laughable that they would have considered 4 stars a realistic goal. Letter follows: --- As we approached the door of Del Posto at 9:25 on Friday night, we received a disappointing phone call. The third couple of our party of six had reported feeling ill earlier that evening, but a hard to come by dinner reservation and thoughts of pleasant company caused them to hold out on canceling until the last moment. We were sad to hear that our six was to become a four, and as experienced restaurant goers were mindful of the inconvenience that we would be imposing on our hosts. Although the door at Lupa can be hectic and the maitre d’ at Babbo is known to play favorites, we have never encountered any treatment at Lupa, Babbo, Esca, Felidia, Casa Mono, Bar Jamon, or Italian Wine Merchants that was anything less than professional. As the new flag bearer of the most important franchise of Italian restaurants in the United States, we expected to have our problem handled at Del Posto with customary grace. As things would turn out, reception and seating were to be only a small portion of our problems Friday night at Del Posto. I personally checked in at the hostess stand for our 9:30 dinner reservation and apologized no less than five times for changing our party at literally the last moment. Living in New York City and having dined all over the world, the members in our party know something of the ballet that is restaurant seating in a busy restaurant. Although the proper course of service at a four star aspirant would be to simply seat our party at the originally planned table of six, we were more than willing to accept the delay that our actions had brought on, and started toward the bar for a bottle of prosecco. I was somewhat surprised by the handling of our situation by the two college aged women at the dais, but put my thoughts aside. After a 20 minute process of various bartenders and runners locating and serving our aperitif, we were seated in the bar area. It was a bit strange to be asked by a waitress if we wanted a magnum of prosecco for a party of four prior to a multi course meal, and still more so when she cast over a bowl of nuts from a just departed table next to us. Four star dining to me means service that understands the rhythms and customs of fine dining and it certainly means fresh bowls of bar snacks for each party of waiting diners (setting aside the question of whether there should even be parties of waiting diners at such a restaurant). At 10:00pm we asked the hostess how things were going with our 9:30 reservation and were very surprised that no clear answer was available. Not a lack of a timeframe, but a lack of an assurance that we would be seated promptly or at all! Recognizing Joe Bastianich from Babbo and from television, we approaching him with our plight. Joe apologized profusely and promised that we would personally see to it that we were taken care of during dinner, and that we would “make it up to us.” Although we were disappointed to be seated at 10:30 for a 9:30 reservation, the promise of an extra special experience at a meal we had been anticipating for several days went a long way in reassuring us that our night would still be special. The contents of the menu at Del Posto, while not, “Greek to all of you,” as Bartley, our server put it, did deserve a moment of study and some consideration. We talked with Bartley for several minutes, and due to the lateness of the hour elected to focus on a middle course of pastas rather than saving the bulk of our meal for entrees that would be served well after midnight. The two amuses we were served, a single fried vegetable and an arancino, were both tasty and I chose not to focus on the fact that this was clearly nothing above and beyond the typical pre-antipasti service. We typically share pasta dishes at Babbo and were pleased that each of the three pastas we chose was plated and served separately. We hadn’t asked for this and it seemed a nice touch and a point of differentiation from your other restaurants. We ignored the busboy’s alternating between bottled and tap water for the table, the fact that by this point (midnight) Bartley was nowhere to be found, and ultimately that our risotto was split three ways for a table of four. We were hungry, the wine was good, and the last thing that anybody wants at a three hour meal at this level of expense is to feel annoyed. We made it through the 15 minute process of splitting the pear/apple tart for two that involved no less than five service members (and didn’t end up split four ways), and even the attempt at selecting cookies in which our requests fell on deaf ears. It wasn’t until we received our bill that we began to recognize this dining experience for the complete fiasco and total it was. As an experienced New York diner, I can’t recall ever paying for drinks at the bar when I’ve been made to wait for an hour at a restaurant where reservations are made a month in advance. I also can’t recall ordering three dishes for the table (the pastas), and having the price doubled by having them plated separately without any mention of this by the server taking my order. If we had wanted the “tris,” wouldn’t we have ordered it? Or at the very least been given the option prior to service? Make no mistake, the pricing issue and the mistakes with water and cookies would have been unacceptable under normal circumstances at a restaurant of such supposed high quality. Given our circumstances, the fact that no special little dishes were delivered, no extra pasta course appeared, no bottle of dessert wine for the table was offered was nothing less than stunning. A visit by Joe or Lidia, an extra course or dessert, or a glass of something unique would have made us feel “taken care of.” If that wasn’t possible, at the very least our check might have been reduced. When we asked one of the few people from Del Posto still present in the empty dining room at this hour if he hadn’t been apprised of our situation, he made it clear that Mr. Bastianich had left no instructions. Perhaps a white lie would have been in order here. Whether I would visit Del Posto for future dining would be questionable even under competent execution. I am left wondering if your principals have ever visited Jean Georges, Daniel, Per Se, etc—let alone the standard bearers for service in Europe and Asia. But this is all beside the point. The fact that nothing whatsoever was done to make up for our wait and treatment despite the explicit communication of our dissatisfaction and Mr. Bastianich’s personal and repeated promises of recompense has me reconsidering my outlook on all things Batali/Bastianich. The thought of no more bucatini at Lupa or lamb’s tongue salad at Babbo saddens me, but it saddens me less than the utter breakdown in all aspects of service in our experience last Friday at Del Posto.

I second Magnolia Bakery. I don't generally like their cupcakes and definitely not their lines but the Red Velvet cake is great.

If my meal last night was any indication, Eric Ripert will be scrambling to get his name dissassociated with this place. A few of the tapas where passable, but you could tell by the insistence that we place our entree orders right away that the goal of the place is to soak their diners. If it wasn't obvious from the programmed waitress, then one look at the ridiculous wine list would be enough. We have a restaurant that serves serious spanish food, Casa Mono, just a few blocks away. Why didn't Steve Hanson give us what we could use, a lively restaurant with dozens of tapas and a roster of wines under $50? And yes, the fish entree was overdone.

I'm not surprised that Daniel did not make three stars, but rather that JG, and especially LB, did. With the exception of Spotted Pig, I think they did pretty well with the one stars. Great to see that Flay was snubbed, and Asian fusion for the most part as well. It has been a while since I've been there, but I found Felidia to be superior to Scalini.

I did enjoy Fork although I didn't intend to draw a comparison between Fork and Blue Hill. I also didn't qualify my rating of Blue Hill not being in the top 50 in NY with any sort of discussion of price. To be sure, dollar for dollar Blue Hill would be in my top 50 in NY, and likely in most New Yorkers' when price is a significant factor in the ratings process. However, on a pure ratings basis with cost as no object, Blue Hill in my opinion doesn't rise to top 50 status. Regarding the rest of your post, I'm sure you will find people that agree and plenty that don't. Having spent $300 pp at Per Se I can tell you that I found it well worth the expense and one of my favorite dining experiences of the past year. And as far as stemware, I am by no means "angry" at Django, they can certainly run their restaurant as they see fit and it appears that they are filling the tables. I saw the BYO policy as an opportunity to splurge on wine, and for me, that is pointless if the stemware isn't befitting the bottles. I have no doubt that Django serves many purposes well, but perhaps not my birthday. And finally, stemware to me has nothing to do with glamour and everything to do with pure enjoyment of wine.

We should officially change this thread from "Best Restaurant in Philly" to "Restaurant most suited for Craig's Birthday dinner." At any rate, I'm thinking based on all of the discussion and suggestions that Morimoto is the place for me. We will be doing a lot of cooking and wine drinking over the weekend at home, so Japanese will be a good change of pace, and I saw the Food Network program on the opening of Morimoto some time ago and can still recall the slabs of Blue Fin. Is there anything I need to know about Morimoto? I presume (and hope) that they only take reservations one month out?

Now I'm fairly conflicted! Django sounded great but my true goal is ultimate quality as opposed to bang for the buck. I'm also dismayed to hear about the stemware- I can understand why a restaurant that doesn't serve wine would be less than eager to take on the expense of replacing glasses, but Spieglau can be had for $5 a stem and how many glasses reallly get broken at a small, BYO place. Is far as Fountain and LBF- I do enjoy the best of what NY has to offer, which I would say is Per Se and Jean Georges as opposed to Daniel and ADNY, but I'm only open to that level of dining if the food truly justifies the expense. I don't have any reason to believe that the best of Philly doesn't, but perhaps my first visit isn't the best test of this. So where does that leave us. Somebody mentioned Blue Hill as a comparison to Django. Blue Hill is local to me and is very tasty but as far as where it ranks on a best of New York list I would say that top 50 is optimistic. What are the Philly equivalents to, say: Gotham Bar and Grill? I thought I remembered hearing that Portale was taking an interest in a place down there.

The stemware comment hurts, poor stemware is a pet peeve of mine. When you say theirs is lacking do you mean proper shapes but too thick, or do they only have the standard pizzeria one size fits all goblets?

I like what I'm hearing about Django, and especially like the idea of choosing my wines in advance (not to mention the cost savings). So other than calling a month to the day for reservations is there anything else I need to know? A particular table or request? Is the cheese course part of the meal or is it a supplement?

My parents recently moved to Philadelphia and I will be heading down there (I live in NYC) in August to celebrate my birthday. I've only been to Philly once but enjoyed the casual (cheesesteaks) and mid-priced (Fork) dining I did. People I know that are from Philly that now live in NY say that the best of Philly conmpares with the best up here. Need I look farther than Le Bec Fin, which I've heard of, and Fountain, which I haven't? What is the best French or New American restaurant in Philly?