Nathan

did Chodorow think he was doing something "classy" this time? (i.e. with the Kobe Club?)

Chang is getting hammered right now. kudos to him and his crew....now for figuring out how to ever get in there again...

oh gosh yeah. when I lived in NoLIta and was asked for a "good restaurant in Little Italy" I would always send people to Peasant. (hey, Elizabeth Street was part of Little Italy 30 years ago)...

Thomas Keller uses Illy pods for the espresso at Cafe Bouchon... ← NOOOOOOOOOOOO! ← T.K is a company representative of illy. I saw him speak (and he catered) a lunch for food editors (except for the main course which was done by Asiate). I'll tell you how my new pod coffee machine works out Seriously though, you want the guy to grow the beans himself? ← well, he could use La Columbe

oh my goodness, yes. (on Zen Palate). throw in Pure as far as I'm concerned too (yes, Kenny did manage to put together some palatable dishes....but to sustain that across the menu?) don't get me wrong, there are some great vegetarian restaurants in the city: Per Se, Daniel, Gramercy Tavern. some Indian places as well of course.

they upped it.

well..there is that $190 tasting menu...

I've only seen it used with cedar planked salmon (a standard Northwest dish)

the deficiencies are tolerable precisely because of the price point. sure there's a growing trend toward informality...but that doesn't mean people want those "deficiencies"...it's exploiting that trend while still retaining excellence (or at least competence) in all areas is precisely how Danny Meyer made his name. as well, CraftBar, Hearth etc are more precise examples of "restaurants of the future". as far as I can ascertain...Bouley opened Upstairs as an extension of his cooking school....the gentle pricing (your $75 tasting menu is not representative of the way everyone eats there) is simply an acknowledgment of the fact that it is not a full-service restaurant. edit: Bouley Upstairs seems to me to be a sort of "happy accident"...not a deliberate concept. edit2: additional paragraph separation and clarification

Ate at Yeah Shanghai on Saturday afternoon with a good-sized group. It was quite good (and cheap!)...I'd rate it just a notch below Shanghai Cafe. The xiao long bao were decent enough, the spicy cabbage not spicy, the shredded eel terrific, the Shanghai noodles excellent and the Tung-po pork almost terrific (it was noticeably drier than the Shanghai Cafe version....although the accompanying sauce and bok choy was first-rate)...

I never said that there are no vegetarian dishes amongst the Chinese cuisines. However, Guangdong cuisine (Cantonese) is intrinsically non-vegetarian (oyster sauce is simply a staple)...although a pescaterian might get by. Fujanese cuisine is heavily seafood oriented. I believe these the two most represented Chinese cuisines in Chinatown. Which is why your comment: "You wouldn't find a good vegetarian/vegan restaurant in Manhattan proper" proves my point.

as I'm sure everyone is by now aware, the soft opening began yesterday. I peeked in and the space is as expected, somewhat theatrical but well-appointed. the menu is here: http://www.thrillist.com//send-image.html?...img=morandi.jpg prices seem to be in line with the other McNally restaurants. I'll report on the food later in the week.

no. frankly, there wouldn't be much "authentically Chinatown" about a vegetarian/vegan restaurant. (it's like asking for "vegetarian pho")

or at least until after ten...

He's publicly admitted to using Sysco fries. I could care less.

The setting is exactly what it wants to be -- it's targeted at a specific, young, downtown, sophisticated audience, and they don't see it as a "no-star setting." They see it as the way they want to eat in this millennium. They'd rather be in that setting on any given night than at Per Se. David Bouley has tapped into the main artery of the downtown Gen X plus Y foodie culture. ← Speaking as a downtown Gen X'er, I'm not sure this is true. I don't know that anyone prefers the uncomfortable setting at Bouley Upstairs over Per Se. What we prefer is its price point over Per Se. Alinea would be a more appropriate comparison (it has a considerably younger demographic than Per Se, at a similar price point).....so would WD-50 to some extent. edit: To make my point clear, the price has everything to do with the popularity of Bouley Upstairs. Everything. ← I'm not a Gen X'er, but I think there's a definite preference for less fancy/less ritualistic dining experiences. Even among us Boomers. That doesn't mean anyone likes Upstairs's uncomfortable aspects. But I'll tell you what. I find Upstairs more congenial, as an experience, than Bouley. And I doubt I'm alone in that. ← I agree with this....but it doesn't counter my point at all.

yup... what intrigued me was that it referenced some places I have never heard of.

The setting is exactly what it wants to be -- it's targeted at a specific, young, downtown, sophisticated audience, and they don't see it as a "no-star setting." They see it as the way they want to eat in this millennium. They'd rather be in that setting on any given night than at Per Se. David Bouley has tapped into the main artery of the downtown Gen X plus Y foodie culture. ← Speaking as a downtown Gen X'er, I'm not sure this is true. I don't know that anyone prefers the uncomfortable setting at Bouley Upstairs over Per Se. What we prefer is its price point over Per Se. Alinea would be a more appropriate comparison (it has a considerably younger demographic than Per Se, at a similar price point).....so would WD-50 to some extent. edit: To make my point clear, the price has everything to do with the popularity of Bouley Upstairs. Everything.

actually the noodles are the worst part of the menu. it is the seasonal dishes that make Momofuku great. It is everything that the Tasting Room aspires to be and isn't.

I just read perhaps the worst review ever by a purported professional restaurant critic...Randall Lane in Time Out. crap. everything I wrote I just somehow erased. Look, I'm no David Chang groupie. The can be an ass. His staff can be surly (as he is). But he can cook. That covers for a multitude of sins. I don't think that he cares what anyone thinks of his personality...I think he does somewhat care what they think about his cooking...he's got his priorities straight. anyway, in a nutshell, Lane was somehow metaphysically annoyed that there were luxe and expensive dishes side by side with cheap ones. He didn't explain what the issue was. He was especially mortified at the cost of the Bo Ssam (for 8!) which he didn't try. Obviously he sees the menu as dissonant but never explains what his objection to that is. furthermore, his comparison of the shellfish stew to "a cioppino which one might find in a good Italian restaurant" makes Bruni's culinary knowledge seem consonant with that of Escoffier. (one has exactly the same chance of finding cioppino in a "good Italian restaurant" as one has of finding a dish made of spaghetti and meatballs)

some of the world's greatest beers. beer is incredibly cheap and they drink it copiously in pubs (pivonice). beer is called pivo. supposedly the highest per-capita consumption in the world (almost certainly true). most bars only serve one brand...you'll know it by the sign outside (bars on the tourist area -- Prague 1 and 2, will serve an assortment). major brands include Pilsner Urquell, Staropramen, Budvar (the original Budweiser), Radegast, Flecku, Kozel and Krusovice. major after-dinner drinks include Berovechka and Fernet Stock. they sell lots of cheap, local "absinthe"...but it's not the real thing its made by maceration instead of distillation and they add food coloring (more on this in the cocktail forum). Czech cuisine is composed of meat, dumplings and more meat. they hate vegetables. the food generally sucks. still, the pork knee and venison has its charms. everything is very heavy and hearty.

so it's really the ice and soda....

ok, since most American bars (if not all) serving mojitos presumably lack Cuban mint and sugar cane juice...what is the difference between what they are serving and a: rum julep (I have seen a Bacardi ad from the 1950's advertising exactly that drink), a Maison Charles, a Mint Rum Punch, the Movito Cocktail, or a variation on the Santiago julep?

I drink rum juleps year round

there's nothing there that's especially memorable. (except for maybe the frites.) but neither is there supposed to be. but I've never had a bad dish. not one. that says something.