Nathan

fwiw, R4D doesn't really have savory items. MB apparently does. edit: I could have dinner at MB, I couldn't at R4D.

I guess I just don't have a problem with occasional whimsicality....

I used the word "scene" because I didn't mean concentration of "restaurants" (a very broad term...virtually every deli sells some made to order food)....but I didn't mean "Scene" in the page 6 sense either. I meant serious restaurant neighborhoods. (although they're improving...its possible to count the number of restaurants worth a trip on each side of Central Park above the TWC on two hands for each side.) if you want empirical data on that...simply plot the restaurants reviewed by professional critics and serious food bloggers (heck...just look at the TONY 100) on a map. I daresay that your blog would illustrate the point.

Chinatown? Neighborhood places in Tribeca? People with children take them to restaurants all the time. Just not fine-dining restaurants. Although I agree with oakapple that, if there ever was a restaurant that should have anticipated having family groups eat there, it's Kefi. ← which neighborhood places in Tribeca?

That's more a function of the kind of neighborhoods you've lived in and frequented, and the kind of restaurants you go to, than any kind of reflection on the reality of restaurants in NYC. I would guess that the neighborhoods in which you see children in restaurants outnumber those in which you don't. (Although I'd also guess that, on the whole, they tend to have worse restaurants.) ← that's my point though. for better or worse, today's NY dining scene is concentrated downtown...precisely the area where you don't see too many kids. (there are actually a fair amount of toddlers in my building (no one of school age that I can see)...but I don't see them at local restaurants).

I was specifically responding to the takeout post...but I think one aspect of this illustrated by your post is that restauranteurs will have far more family diners on the UWS than in other parts of the city (since I've moved to NY I've virtually never seen children in a restaurant). its certainly something they need to consider when opening up there (and its especially something they need to address in FOH training).

Actually, I think some of the oldest recipes don't call for maraschino, and some of them do call for curaçao. JT's recipe calls for 2 ounces of (red) vermouth, one of Old Tom gin, 2 dashes of maraschino (let's call that a teaspoon) and a dash Boker's -- this is interesting because it is a vermouth drink, not a gin drink. Other recipes (see here for some historical examples) call for equal parts of (London dry?) gin and vermouth, a few dashes of bitters and either simple syrup or, you guessed it, curaçao. In some recipes (like this one) it's maraschino that's given as the optional liqueur, and curaçao that's given as standard. ← I have DeGroff's Craft of the Cocktail in front of me (don't ask how I have that at the office!). J.T.'s recipe appears to be the first one known. the Fancy Gin Cocktail from 1850 or before used curacao...but it also didn't use vermouth (which wasn't available in the U.S. yet). every cocktail book I have (including any likely to be referred to by a modern bartender) includes maraschino.... the cocktail d.b. recipe simply appears to be similar to a number of other cocktail d.b. recipes that sub out hard to find ingredients (which maraschino was until quite recently).

the fastest way to do it is to simply compare the menus. www.momofuku.com

I agree with your larger point...assuming that someone was aware that the marketing was a joke. In my experience, most people aren't. As for the martinez...I've never heard of any version that didn't include maraschino liqueur (to the best of my knowledge...versions only differ in the proportions.....there are early gin cocktails similar to the martinez that use orange curacao...but I haven't seen them referred to as the martinez)

They have removed the kiddie size from the menu for this season, although I'm sure you could probably get it if you asked nicely. ← there's always the pooch-ini.

um, Gin Lane was marketed as a top-notch cocktail den with a staff trained by DeGroff himself. furthemore, the Martinez is most definitely supremely simple and would show up on any list of the 5-10 seminal cocktails.

I don't have the foggiest clue why there are 20 posts on this thread on this awful place. there are five top-notch cocktail bars in NY: Pegu Club, Milk & Honey, Little Branch, Flatiron Lounge and Death & Co. (I haven't been to the Bemelman's in years so I can't comment on that). a rung below that are places like Angel's Share, Employees Only, Temple Bar, East Side Company Bar...etc. (at these places there's usually one or two bartenders that are really good...and some of house drinks that they can all make are usually quite palatable. all of them tend to freepour unfortunately) Gin Lane doesn't even make the third tier (which includes many decent restaurant and hotel bars).

hmm...I wonder how they get that taste then...good for them.

ah...the butter on the bun could do it.. (if the burger is sufficiently hot when the bun with butter is placed over it...the butter would instantly melt into the burger creating that butter burger crispness)

This isn't inconsistent with an experience we had recently there as well. Just after the restaurant opened, we stopped by and got some food to take out. Chef Psilakis was sitting in the bar and my wife chatted with him, as he indicated that takeout was something they were planning on doing. Fast forward a couple of weeks. The manager (not Michael Psilakis, to be clear) informs us, now that the restaurant is so busy, they will not be doing takeout, they have never done takeout, and that if we desire takeout, we should be somewhere else. The guy is, frankly, an asshole, which it pains me to say since the food is great and the couple of times I have spoken with Chef Psilakis, he seems like a genuinely nice guy. ← I don't get your point. So they changed their minds. BFD. They're probably busier than they ever hoped to be and can't do it (it's not like a restaurant would turn down additional revenue otherwise). Besides, it's not like the food would travel well. edit: of course, an attitude on the part of the staff (if he gave you one) is inexcusable. but I'm beginning to see why serious restauranteurs are so adverse to opening on the UWS...it seems like the neighborhood expectations (for things other than food) are pretty high.

I don't think he just dropped into Ssam Bar, Robert's, E.U. or Sfoglia. Each of those places had surrounding buzz. They were somewhat in the pipeline to begin with. Being in media, he almost certainly gets lunch at the Four Seasons on occasion anyway. Esca is the type of restaurant that by definition gets visited by a critic on occasion over time.... edit: as for Robert's, three visits is a lot for a steakhouse...that's about the one type of restaurant that you can do a fair review off of one visit (across the pond even major newspaper restaurant reviewers seem to review off of just one visit)

I've never bothered with the crab either (I've never found crabs to be especially interesting anyway....yes, there's a joke there...no, you don't have to make it!) like many such small-to-medium plates places...it's significantly more expensive for solo than group dining.

in terms of the neighborhood (the far northwest WV -- thankfully FC is really bordering the MPD rather than actually being in that benighted place)...it's inexpensive and priced at a "neighborhood restaurant level". with residential real estate in that area now approaching CPW prices (see this week's New York magazine) and the fact that $50-75 a head is a standard meal at any neighborhood restaurant (excepting Corner Bistro), it's in line with the hood. Jay: Pelaccio has a more upscale, refined and expensive restaurant here, 5 Ninth, it's nowhere near the Suka price point though (not much here is). Fatty Crab is his rustic, non-fancy (including the decor and no-reservations policy) take on Malaysian food.

I don't buy it. (this whole conversation is becoming rather arcane and pointless but....) I'd guess that for full meals it's about 70% restaurants in the pipeline and 30% elsewhere. easily. you're assuming that he can visit at most two restaurants a day. I don't see that. when this is what you do for a living and you can eat at odd hours (3-7 PM)...it's easy enough to check out several different spots for dinner and see if any of them strike you as deserving a longer take.

the closest taste you can get to maraschino (it's by no means a very good or complex substitute...but it's more similar than anything else)...is equal parts apricot brandy and kirsch combined.

they taste (and look) like Wisconsin butter burgers (basically you put a pat of butter down on the burger while it's on the grill). if they're not, they've somehow found the secret to replicating that taste without the butter...which would be awfully impressive.

I just don't think a DM place could slip up on burgers.

finally got around to Kefi last night. for a Sunday night...it was packed...we ended up eating at the bar. this is very good, rustic food, prepared at an insanely low price point. although I'm kind of getting over the whole sweetbreads thing (do I really need to see them on every menu?)...these were very good...the caperberries were a perfect accompaniment...texturally and taste-wise. another app was somewhat forgettable...but pleasant enough. the pappardelle was also quite good. the dried fruit sauce (with shreds of braised rabbit) reminded me of a similar mole -- Machamanteles Amerillo. grilled shrimp with orzo was fine...the price was beyond a steal though. I really liked the pork medallions...they came with loads of fennel, onions, whole cloves of roasted garlic. there was nothing sophisticated or nuanced about this dish. it didn't have to be. just throw some strong flavors on a plate and enjoy. (the pork was a little overcooked though....I imagine they might have difficulty in the neighborhood serving it medium rare or rare).

its only burgers, hot-dogs and custard. there's nothing for them difficult to slip on. the waits and buzz became insane because they offer three things otherwise unobtainable in NY: custard, Chicago-style dogs and butter burgers (although they don't advertise them as such).

in sum, this place was as good as Tia Pol...and a heck of a lot easier to get a table at. Tasca is roughly Spanish for "bar" (as is taberna) and has taken on a meaning somewhat similar to today's faux gastropub trend....except that tascas have been around for a lot longer. the menu is divided into a long list of tapas and a few larger entrees. we only ordered tapas....the portion sizes were surprisingly generous...think the size of the plates at Bar Room at the Modern. the Tortilla Espanola was by far the best rendition of this traditional dish that I've had in NY. the Albondigas were quite nice....I'd compare these to the veal meatballs at Falai Paneteria and Cafe Falai. Chorizo E Higos (chorizo with figs) was addictive. the Pinchos Morunos (lamb skewers) were perfectly cooked and excellent cuts of meat. the oysters were merely fine. pulpo may be all over NY menus right now...but this was nicely grilled (a la plancha I assume)... the wine list is small (maybe 40-50 bottles with about 10 by the glass) but with a reasonable range of selections.