Nathan

You most certainly can! I have eaten at otto at least thirty times. All but once at the bar. One of my favorite bar dining places

that's a de facto $100 difference

according to bruni, the bar room at the modern is not the same restaurant as the The Modern. I daresay the same is true of the tavern room at gramercy tavern

heh, posting from Sardinia in Miami this second. Gramercy tavern serves the same menu at the bar as it does to the tables in that room.

bed of grilled bread. Regular menu. Not aware of any ny restaurant where you are limited to just the bar menu

oh, had a pretty good side of pommes frites too.

according to a friend with direct knowledge...friends and family begins in about a week with the official opening still set for the 28th...

sorry, nope

they're overt about the wine list being preliminary and it seemed like the sommelier was offering additional selections by the glass that weren't printed... so I imagine with time that will be fleshed out.

Ate here last night, the second night that it's officially open. When we arrived for our 9:00 reservation it was pretty much full and we were pretty much the youngest people in the room, besides staff. Decor is a little corporate-sterile (think pre-makeover JG or the original Aquavit sans waterfall). Staff are plentiful...albeit still getting the kinks worked out. Nothing unexpected there. I think there were multiple sommeliers working. As a note on its first page informs you, the wine list is very much a work in progress. 13 wines by the glass (not counting dessert wines) at present. probably a couple hundred bottles....I would imagine that this will be heavily filled out with time. There is a very long bar (though it was mostly full the entire night) so walk-ins shouldn't ever have a problem eating. The front tables are probably intended to be Siberia but they do overlook Broadway.....due to the arrangement of the restaurant, I'm not sure there are any great tables....the main bar or the wine-tasting bar are probably best. the menu is composed of the fabled charcuterie and then a standard bistro selection (think Balthazar uptown) of soups, salads, fish, steaks and the like. the desserts are, however, more ambitious, numerous and varied (at least on paper) than other NY French bistros... there are also a couple housemade sausages, boudin noir and the like... we ordered: a petit degustation of charcuterie, coquille st. jacques and a navarin. the charcuterie are good...very good. not mind-blowingly transcendent, but very good. especially the lapin. my charcuterie-phobic companion was converted to the dark side. both the coquille and the navarin (generously portioned) were exactly what you would expect: well-made, traditional, bistro classics. not something I would travel uptown for but for residents of the UWS it'll beat the heck out of Cafe Luxembourg or Nice Matin. $140 all-in...including three glasses of wine (a blanc cote du rhone (very nice and mineral-y), an Italian pinot noir (something doesn't seem quite right with that nomenclature) and a chardonnay), tax and tip.

I just don't like the "plain slice".... edit: I realize this is simply a result of the truism that "authentic" pizza is simply whichever pizza you were raised on.

it really is ubiquitous outside of major urban centers. edit: and even then, say here in NY there are plenty of Dominican or whatever lunch only places tucked away that are serving what is basically a meat and three.

Very good stuff at Pala, but far removed from a NY style pizza, don't you think? Though you can get a "slice," as opposed to having to order a whole pie at some of the favorites. ← yeah, but NY style sucks.

Pala is the best I've had.

all over the place! it's not ubiquitous but it's certainly not uncommon. for example, in Philly: http://search.cityguide.aol.com/philadelph...unch/v-45-1392- (I'll also note that many restaurants have "plate lunches" and still serve a dinner menu) here's an interesting explanation...apparently the term began with the Hawaiian variant (which I had never heard of until this thread): http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-plate-lunch.htm googling finds that "Old Town Cafe" in Tallahassee serves a "blue plate lunch" ("blue plate" and "plate lunch" appear to be analogous terms). its interesting...this appears to be more complicated than I thought...you have various regional terms that are similar and cross regional boundaries at some point..or even become conflated ("blue plate" and "plate lunch")....what they all seem to have in common is composition: meat with a couple starches/sides. edit: I'll also note that I've mostly run across the term "plate lunch" in rural areas. however, it appears that a Hawaiian plate lunch is easily found in San Francisco or Seattle: http://www.yelp.com/list_details?list_id=q...P4sbnekPSpg0dsA http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/212468_ask18.html and in NY the Hawaiian plate lunch is available here: http://www.seamlessweb.com/AtHome/LLHawaii...YorkCity.2274.r

"plate lunches" are common across the U.S. the constituents vary based upon the regional cuisine.

desserts generally don't interest me but while dining here last night after a Hill Country debacle, I ended up ordering one (as did Sneakeater). they are seriously ambitious. like three-star ambitious. were they always this way? (and at $9...for people that are into dessert...this should be an option when in the area)

I can't eat lunch out during the week but based on location I would imagine that it's pretty dead. these days it's relatively busy for weekend lunch but there are always a couple tables available

what's your complete budget (wine, tax and tip)? only Italian? do you have to have a reservation or are you willing to eat at the bar?

if you're not going to be open on your regular hours (here's looking at you Hill Country), it's your job to put it on your website (or alter your hours on the site). edit: oh, and then don't have your staff lie and tell people that the Monday closing is mentioned on the website. it's not.

any other recent experiences in the upstairs portion of BLT Fish? I noticed that on his blog oakapple had good things to say about his most recent visit. anyone else? I'm planning on dining there in a couple weeks.

the maraschino is essential...proportions used vary widely.

finally got around to eating here at the bar last night. its exactly what I expected, unassuming, casual...slotted right into that "American Bistro" genre. right along with the Red Cat, the Harrison, Little Owl, Market Table, Back Forty, Allen & Delancey. prices are gentle. decor is nice. service competent and friendly. virtually entirely Saturday date night couples. had the cuttlefish to start. prepared with water chestnuts, bread, little nuggets of guanciale and in some sort of savory broth. thought this was cooking by numbers. everything technically worked out, this for texture, this for contrast, this for kick. nothing especially tasty or interesting. but nothing to complain about. duck entree was almost very good. two large and long slices of duck served boneless. served over a bed of winter greens, some sort of pudding (corn I think) and with pomegranate seeds. everything worked together...its just that part of my duck was seasoned properly and part of it needed salt (I tend to think that duck needs a fair amount of salt). but good enough to return again (especially since its in my hood), absolutely.

that range is mostly due to alcohol cost. edit: but I agree that food costs at Ssam Bar can vary widely

I'd say my average check (with wine/beer, tax and tip) has been in the $40-80 range. Really hard to complain about that.