Nathan

ah. The short rib was deep fried. That makes sense.

Short rib with daikon, carrot. Correctly paired with an all tempranillo Rioja. Interesting dish. Not cooked to the following apart stage. Seems seared actually. Not really comparable to say Grayz or Monday Room. Different dish. Works on its own terms.

yes, iPhone.

next part: scallop with ham dashi, nori, Manila clams and sea beans. Nice. Well paired with a mersenne? Good dish but general ssam bar level Ok. Shaved foie with a Riesling gelee, lychee and something crunchy. Paired with a dessert sake in a twist on the classic Sauternes pairing. Mind blowing, terrific. Dish of the year. Seriously. Last meal condemned type dish. Just nuts.

The following is a live account of my meal at ko. Chicharron and a rose cava to start. First dish is stellar fluke in buttermilk with sriracha. Marvelous pairing with a sancerre. Next pairing looks like it will be a sake. It is. Pork belly with oyster and napa cabbage in a kimchee consommé. All good but the consommé is amazing and subtle. Don't get the pairing. One negative. Btw. The open kitchen and small space makes things hot. Dress accordingly. Still thinking about that consommé. A characteristic Sauvignon Blanc paired with the egg and hackleback caviar. Basically a standard haute dish. Well executed.

its now password protected. yup, obviously they didn't mean to go live.

whoops... well, as Fat Guy pointed out....I wasn't the first one to point it out (whew!) so they can't blame me

I hope that it was actually ready and that they weren't just testing or something....

an anonymous comment is hardly "posted by eater"...but anyhow, it's all good.

I don't see a link on eater. and seats are available across the board (watch them all go in the next 10 minutes)

its up and reservations are currently available for every night through the next week besides Tuesday. (yes, I beat Eater to the punch) reservations.momofuku.com hurry. edit: reservations are only available for parties of 1, 2 and 4.

it's just well balanced in seasoning and spicing. sort of a Sichuan take. btw, the house pate is nice too...as were the pickled tomatillos served with it.

stopped in last night around 7:45 (I think it opened on Wednesday). very packed -- it's very small...smaller than Bar Jamon even. managed to score a lone seat at the bar. Canora and Grieco were in the house. customers were mostly not EV....seemed to be a lot of Hearth and Insieme regulars. the wine list is small but interesting. poured both by the glass and the taste. they have "happy hour" wines for $5 a glass...not that I could ever make happy hour. nothing really funky (despite Grieco's reputation)....no flights of Slovenian reds, no 100% savagnin; but interesting wines nonetheless. the menu is cheap, very cheap. selection of carne for $4 each (including a variety of wild boar items which Canora just brought back from Lombardy so when they're gone they're gone (or so he was explaining to the ladies on my left)). contorini are similar. a variety of bruschetta around $7 each. other plates are around $10 and "large plates" are $15. I was on my way to Ssam Bar and PDT so I just snacked on some simple cremini and the excellent fried sage wrapped around lamb sausage (that actually tasted of lamb).

the new beef tendon dish is simply upstanding.

because their customers don't expect it.

I thought I heard that Vintage had opened an actual wine bar with food ("WineBar"), maybe next door to the store, a couple of years ago. ← Also, to pick a nit, it covers all NY wines, not just Long Island (and because they're affiliated with an actual wine-producer in the Hudson Valley, they can be open on Sundays, unlike most wine sellers in NY). There's some good stuff to be had from the Finger Lakes, particularly for varietals like riesling and gewurztraminer. Christopher ← point taken. but the Sunday law ended years ago. that's why virtually all NYC wine and liquor stores are now open on Sundays.

"great restaurants in South Beach" is kind of an oxymoron. Sardinia is very good regional Italian but that doesn't sound like what you're going for. Places like Table 8, the restaurant in the Setai, the Blue Door, Mark's, or Wish do standard big-city trendy restaurant food...some of which is edible, some of which isn't. but the emphasis is never on the food.

also, feel free to PM some of us before you come.

at D&C really early or at prime times, give them your number and they'll call you. PDT is easiest really early or late...so you could make it your final stop. you text M&H and then they text you when they have a spot. late (2:30/3) is easier. Pegu is never a problem but I'd highly suggest early for the simple reason that for some reason it's packed with the goose and soda crowd after midnight on weekends. on the other hand, Flatiron Lounge gets the goose and soda crowd early. Angel's Share is only ok. really more of a date place. instead, go to Elettaria and Tailor -- Eben's unique creations are masterful.

the Bar at Etats Unis has a miniscule list though. it's a dining bar not a winebar. Academia de Vino actually has a decent selection of Italian wines...and solid enough food. the decor/atmosphere leaves something to be desired though. Terroir opened yesterday.

oh the model in the red dress? I saw that when I was walking home at that time. they shoot on that intersection all the time....it makes for an awesome soft-focus background... we had the octopus as well...my thoughts were similar.

I thought everyone just used godaddy?

some of those were purchased today.

word. and that's a brilliant drink....

well Ssam Bar was a happy accident. that's simply it's history. I had a conversation about a year ago which implied that Ko (or something like it) was conceived awhile ago. I'm hopeful that it's Ssam Bar on steroids. the legitimate concern is that it's "merely" Ssam Bar with reservations and a required tasting menu.