Nathan

ah...I like the sausages at RVR...but you're right that once you've had a bit of the vodka none of it matters. alas, I am no longer in contact with my Brighton Beach guide...

For house-infused vodkas I also recommend the Russian Vodka Room close by. The food is simple, sausages and potatoes but as well (or poorly) cooked as at the Russian Samovar.

true. it's not Bal Harbor or Phipps Plaza. with that said, neither of those malls is any sort of culinary destination.

I should add that it was shredded pork with "dried squid"...in this case the squid seemed to be used solely for texture. it stood in negative contrast to GS's wonderful shredded pork and squid dish.

I have found a precedent for the SP's star....the Star Inn in the UK is a Michelin-starred gastropub. No clue how the food compares.

its amusing...someone posted a review of Thor today on chowhound complaining about service issues that were clearly strike related. I responded that one should give restaurants a pass this week, including Thor, and it was promptly deleted. let's just say that some are of the view that if the restaurant is open it should be at its full capabilities....

my law firm (and numerous others) are putting partners (those who live in Westchester and the like) up in hotel rooms...we may have done so for critical support staff as well..I'm not sure...but I imagine enough law and financial firms are doing this that there simply can't be any excess hotel capacity. But I think that will generally help room service, hotel restaurants and even diners down the block more than most restaurants. I did discover that south-north/north-south cabs are easy to get so more centrally located restaurants may do alright...

ah...but the real reason to go to Keens is the Scotch list.

I think it's the airiness and windows that are so appealing.

we're just going to have to disagree about One if by Land. I haven't read the entire thread but 2 places that I haven't seen mentioned that should be are: Il Buco and Petrosino

funny, some insist in the Del Posto thread that Bruni's objectivity on Batali is completely gone...I'm beginning to think that Bruni's writing functions as a Rorschach test.

This is getting off-topic so I'll post no more on this topic...but the following statement is either laughable or intended hyperbole: "Another point was made regarding the NY Times losing its "gravitas." This has been going on for years. The Times, once the paper of record, lost its direction years ago - long before the scandals became public. Most industry insiders will say privately the Times doesn't make the top ten list of America's newspapers anymore." I'd dare anyone to come up with ten more respected newspapers. For political and international news coverage the Washington Post may now be more respected than the Times. That's about it. For cultural and literary criticism there's no question the Times reigns supreme. There are no competitors -- the LA Times has its own doldrums. the Toledo Blade has its little investigative niche, the Christian Science Monitor pulls out the occasional international story, etc. Were you serious when you made that statement?

I didn't quite read it as a "puff piece"...though it was certainly positive in overall tone there were enough negative remarks made about specific Batali restaurants that I don't think it could be read in that way. With that said, I wish that there would have been some sort of comment to the effect that its a little worrisome what might happen to other Batali restaurants with this many veterans moving to Del Posto.

I didn't necessarily mean that Bruni was specifically given the article...shorthand for they probably came up with the project in an editorial meeting and he said that he would do it -- or who knows, maybe he pitched it. I sincerely doubt he's visited the restaurant...didn't get that impression from the review at all. on the other hand, he's perfectly recognizable so it doesn't really matter.

I'm going to disagree with most of you. "Those Times reporters sure have their favourites. For Hesser it's Vongerichten. And for Bruni it's obviously Batali. " I don't agree...he's given Batali good reviews but not out-of-line ones (like Amanda did for JG). The survey of the Batali empire clearly contains some negative notes (i.e. the comments on deficiencies at Otto and Bistro du Vent). Furthermore, I think Bruni was given this piece for one simple reason -- he is the specialist on Italian cuisine at the Times (and his reviews of Italian restaurants have been uniformly better than his other reviews). He was, quite simply, the best person to write this article. I simply don't see the conflict of interest.

Twas there last night...ordered an Aviation and the bartender suggested a variation known as the Blue Moon (as well as giving a brief exposition on its origin)...it was terrific.

This wasn't a bad review. It gave a clear sense of the restaurant and actually spent a lot of space on the food.

Hmmm....one thought-question on this topic: I've noted elsewhere that the primary defense of the Michelin Guide that I can see is that it's more accurate than any other single-source published ranking that I've seen -- i.e. Zagat or the Times stars taken together. although a couple of their inclusions and omissions are quite outlandish (did anyone expect that there wouldn't be a few?)...I doubt that if egullet posters put together a list of 29 restaurants that it wouldn't have at least 70% commonality with the Michelin list of starred restaurants. If you had your own list of 29 would you find that level of commonality?

seriously, does anyone contest that OIBLTIBS serves the worst food in its price range? that it may be better than CDA or TOG isn't saying much considering that both of those are tourist destination restaurants at a lower price point (that you can eat there as expensively doesn't change the fact that you can also eat there for considerably cheaper). If I'm going to be ripped off I'd prefer to keep the costs down.

fair enough...but if it shows up in all of a couple menus...I would think it would still be classified as unusual (I haven't seen it before).

salmon and yellowtail neck/collar is common. I haven't seen tuna collar before (which is what Bruni specifically stated was unusual).

the chong qing is an absolute must...after that...I'm sure everyone has a favorite. oh and pickled cabbage and 5 spiced beef as apps.

I lived in Tallahassee for a few months a couple years ago. Kool Beanz was pretty decent. by far the best dining in town was at this wine store cum restaurant: Grapes and Grain or something like that. nothing else is even close (if it's still open). some of the local downscale fish shacks are pretty good. everything else sucked.

easy...if your appetites aren't huge and you just have a glass of wine apiece....you could do the Bar Room at the Modern for that. best bargain in the city.

btw, Robyn, reading up the thread (I've been in Rome the last few days so I was catching up)....I noticed that you referenced Brassiere Le Coze....I've eaten at the one in Atlanta (I think it's still in operation) and should note that it's not really to be compared to LB -- they're very different restaurants...one is casual seafood at a low price point and the other is a much more upscale take.