Nathan

Pasha is on the UES...

Compass or Telepan if you're going to stay near there. consider Bar Room at the Modern...its not very far away either.

I don't see why that's dispositive. Restaurants might just be short-sighted. (I would predict that some will eventually embrace this while others will not.) But regardless, I 100% believe their description of the nature of their business. Why? I fail to see how it would otherwise be feasible.

if your point is that most food bloggers don't have the foggiest clue what they're talking about -- I agree. so? the same is true of many restaurant critics. although I would certainly agree that the average level of expertise among restaurant critics is higher than the average level of expertise among food bloggers. so? the only ones I bother to read are ones that I am convinced actually know what they're talking about. sure, the rest is noise -- but then so is Zagat. a lot of people are going to go by it anyway. not much we can do. I fail to see your point.

like I said, most of the hypothetical harms given here have fundamentally misunderstood the nature of the business: http://eater.com/archives/2007/01/primetimetables_4.php#more

because a few of them actually have influence (though probably not as much as they think). for example, the subject of this thread, the "Amateur Gourmet", although his culinary opinions are generally laughable, has a quite large readership. (even more curiously, the current "Amateur Gourmet" is not the original guy who started the blog...and who established its following)

Compass as well. $35 dinner is a bargain. But, neither of those places are byo. And there's really not much else on the UWS.

what is "reasonably-priced"? what sort of restaurant? is a corkage fee acceptable? your best bet for byo places somewhat near there are the ethnic restaurants dotting ninth avenue in the 50's. edit: I see you're from PA, which has many byo restaurants due to your absurd liquor and wine laws. BYO is technically illegal in NY (if a restaurant doesn't have a license they're not supposed to let customers bring their own)...but there are a small amount of restaurants (usually ethnic) that do byo. It is really not very common here though. Most the byo places are downtown or in the boroughs.

obviously the people who use the service are put in a better position than those who do not. the only relevant question is, does it put the people who don't use the service in a worse position than they would have been if the service didn't exist? its clear to me that the answer is "no" so long as the business model stays the way it is (which is the only practical one I think). in other words, the only harms that I've seen suggested are hypothetical ones....and unlikely ones at that. I'd recommend that everyone following this thread read the latest on eater. (in a nutshell, the service is aimed at expense-account dining in relatively large groups -- four or more; they also only take new customers by referral)

" why is reasonable to assume that they wouldn't expand the practice and gobble up all the reservations?" It is not reasonable. That's a lot of calls, a lot of waiting on hold, a lot of different call back numbers and names given. Not practical. And it would take a massive staff to pull off...not economically feasible. " This would leave people no choice but to pay a fee for this "service" (one that I never asked for nor wanted) and if they then failed to sell the reservations, a much higher no-show list for the restaurants." As I noted, this would be a good thing for the dining public. Is there a fine dining restaurant in NY that doesn't enforce reservation confirmations the day of (or sometimes the day before?)? I'm not aware of any.

"Let's assume that the number of tables consumed by the service is minor -- at most one or two tables at any given restaurant. Let's further assume that all the reservations always get used. In such a scenario, what's the issue?" I find it highly likely that this is the case...especially the first part. As for unused reservations -- the service ends at noon the day of the reservation. The reason is obvious -- restaurant callback confirmations. If they haven't sold the table they release it at that time. If anything, this service will increase the number of last-minute tables. As I noted above, its no secret that the best method of garnering a good table at an in-demand restaurant is to call the afternoon of the day you want to dine. This service may well increase the number of such tables available. If they don't increase the number of such table available then that means they are selling all their reservations -- which would be proof a. that the unused tables complaint is baseless (which it is anyway for the reason I noted above), and b. that restauranteurs have simply been guilty of a lack of imagination.

Doma, Joe or Jack's. Warning that Joe and Doma tend to be absolutely packed on weekend afternoons. edit: there's also an NYU hangout -- Esperanto -- quite close to SoHo, that might be up your alley

I take it they weren't sweet enough for you?

much has been inked about this spot -- concentrating on the difficulty of garnering reservations (its a lot easier if you know Carter or live nearby....I'm guilty of the latter but certainly not of the former) and the fact that it hasn't officially opened yet (although it's been in "preview" for almost four months). Bruni, of course, reviews it tomorrow. I stopped in last night for a couple drinks with a friend....both to ascertain the atmosphere and to set up a reservation for this week. Walked in about 10:30. The bar area in front is comfortable, if spartan. It was relatively full. We were the youngest people in the room by a considerable margin. Crowd was primarily locals and notables. The dining rooms and dining garden area are very pretty. Rather romantic actually -- The Place would eat its heart out for this space. Nicely appointed. Walk-ins can definitely eat in the front bar area (there are a few tables) but the atmosphere is quite different and I don't think it would be very enjoyable. Took a look at the menu. As has been written elsewhere, it's an eclectic mix with an emphasis on comfort food. Prices are.....um....interesting. Most entrees are under $20. Entree prices vary from $14 to $88. Specials (one each day) range from $18 to $88. Essentially, it's well-priced comfort food (assuming quality execution) with a few luxe items -- i.e. a special (I think it was for Wednesdays) of mac and cheese with sliced truffle for $55. They're hitting a bunch of different price points simultaneously -- I have no problem with that but I could see some reviewers finding that incoherent. It actually makes sense within the neighborhood -- there are plenty of locals for whom there is no functional difference between $15 and $80. Kudos for not cynically "keeping out the riff-raff" like some UES neighborhood places by pricing everything at the high end, regardless of quality or ingredients. I'll write about the food later this week.

Room4Dessert was doing a cocktail with this a while back...sadly, I don't recall the ingredients.

"Shit . . . I just tip the amount of additional tip I'd give if I were charged for the comped dish." yeah, they do claim that...I guess you still save the percentage of tip and tax that you would have paid if you had paid full price. of course, it really doesn't make sense if you weren't ordering the dish anyway. they claim the same thing with buy-backs in bars too. my own policy at a restaurant where I'm comped food is to up the tip from 20% to 25-35% (depending upon the generosity of the comp) and for a comped drink to tip an extra $3-10$ (depending upon what the drink was). I know this probably doesn't meet the the desired industry standard but I don't think it's actually out of line. (considering taxes, I don't think us regular folk are necessarily as well-heeled as in-the-biz types sometimes think)

Not much in the way of quite, non-commercial coffee shops in those areas, alas. Aroma and Bari are both in SoHo. Both are Israeli chains, curiously enough, and both are packed to the gills with tourists seven days of the week (Aroma is 24 hours and seems to have more of a student crowd late at night). The cafe inside the McNally Robinson book store in NoLIta is quiet and attracts a small local crowd. Frankly, your best bets are in the WV, the EV, the LES and Gramercy. (I can name pleasant coffee shops in each of those hoods.)

not in SoHo. does it have to be there?

on Spring or Prince, west of Broadway, there are a couple pseudo-coffee shops (i.e. delis with tables and signs proclaiming them a "coffee shop")....I'm not aware of any others.

"I haven't been in France for a lot of years - but just because something is served in France doesn't make it French food (just like Robuchon's food in Tokyo can't properly be called "Japanese")." Jean Georges and Ripert are very much in tune with what French chefs are cooking in France these days. Nuff said. "I used to eat at the sister restaurant to LB in Miami at least once a week in the early 80's. Very similar (identical?) menu. Believe me - it's not French food." Brassiere Le Coze never had a similar menu (other than being seafood oriented) to LB. Far from it. Both of the Brassieres were meant to be exactly that -- informal, scaled down and significantly cheaper food than LB. Any assumptions made about the menu at LB (which after all features food by a chef who was still learning how to cook in France during the early 80's) based upon what was served at an informal outpost in Miami 25 years ago are uninformed. "And now we've thrown "geriatrics" (by which I assume you mean older people with money) into the same trash heap as the B&T crowd. Do you really care so much who's in the restaurants you're eating at? Guess you do. Who do you prefer to see?" Not at all. The sole point was that practically no one under 70 eats at La Grenouille. Considering that contemporary gourmands tend to be much more demanding of food than people whose palates were set 50 years ago...that should say something about the relative quality of the meal. (I actually wouldn't mind eating at LG just to experience food of that era -- I have a healthy respect for it -- unfortunately, I'm not so enamoured of the idea that I'm going to pay that kind of tariff). "3 reviews of the Bar. 3 thumbs up. One person who ate at the Bar also ate at the Restaurant." Where do you get that? More like qualified thumbs up. It was decent, one course was extremely good. Unfortunately, to have a full meal at the London Bar one could spend less eating at RGR proper -- the difficulty is in making a reservation. Its not bad, it's just that there are better restaurants in the same milieu.

What FG is essentially describing is yield pricing...essentially what airlines do. As he noted, the pricing differentiation between lunch and dinner is an obvious example. Another one is that some restaurants serve a late night (i.e. after midnight) menu that is cheaper than the evening menu. Some offer a Sunday night menu that is cheaper than other days. Some restaurants essentially offer a ten dollar discount for reservations booked at less than prime time (they offer a 1000 points on Open Table for certain reservation times).

"Jean Georges isn't French. It is what I'd call "international fusion". Take a look at the first thing on its web site menu today (I just thought I'd list the first - seemed like the random thing to do): Black Sea Bass with Sicilian Pistachio Crust etc. LB isn't French either. It's a fish restaurant. Fish is usually a preliminary course in a French meal - not the main. And - in any event - the first item on the LB menu today is Pan Roasted Red Snapper in Gingered Lemon Scallion Broth - Asian fusion - not French." ???? Have you eaten in France recently? (for that matter, try telling the Parisians who were dining at the original LB in 1981 that it wasn't "French" because it was a seafood restaurant) "If there is such a New York bias against places like La Grenouille - why has it been in business for 45 years now? Perhaps it isn't a New York bias - but a "reviewer" or a "foodie" bias? And not a New York (people with money) bias?" I said "New York bias now" -- and yes there most certainly is. The uber-trend in NY is definitely toward "casual high end" -- think Atelier not La Grenouille -- where the clientele is entirely geriatric. (No I have not eaten there. I used to work on the same block and received a pretty comprehensive representation of who walks in the door.) As for the London Bar -- it has nothing to do with it not being avant garde. Bar Room at the Modern is even less innovative. It does happen, however, to be better. I like innovation but I don't require it. I do, however, require skill...especially when I'm paying a lot for it. I once had a quite expensive meal at a restaurant in central Europe where the best course was grilled langoustines served over seared foie gras with truffles. Obviously the taste was extraordinarily good...how could it not? However, that course (as did the others) made no demonstration of actual skill on the chef's part. Anyone can throw luxe ingredients together. I don't want to exaggerate this -- but to some extent that would describe the state of American fine dining until not so long ago. Is there still a clientele for the old standards? Sure. But as they die off those restaurants close....the contemporary NY gourmands are far more demanding than the old guard. I think another factor here is the distinction between those who live in a dining capital and those who visit them. When you can (and perhaps do) eat it every week you're going to need more differentiation and innovation then someone who as access a few times a year.

I did have two bloggers specifically in mind, both of whom purport to write reviews. With that said, both do write a lot about buzz as well. Neither of them knows much about food....(although one more than the other -- who's readership definitely depends upon other factors). so I think you're both right

I generally agree. With that said, there are well-known food bloggers that are easily impressed by comps and being invited to openings...

maybe this is the real problem: http://www.slate.com/id/2157840/