Nathan

personally, I think the habit of informing us the purported name of the cow that furnished the butter...or the exact farms behind each ingredient is rather precious and annoying....and way too many restaurants are engaging in it. but that's also light years away from using a common term in oenophiliac parlance.

hmm...maybe I'm confusing it with the filter that my parents had later.

ok, I figured my definition wasn't entirely accurate...I was under the impression that grower champagnes were generally single-vineyard.

no, no, they don't really produce any waste water at all. you put in one unit and you end up with about .97. I agree that they're pointless in NYC.

Sam, are you sure this isn't a figure for treated sea water? I think the reverse osmosis filters sold for light-duty purification of tap water essentially produce 1:1. ← they do. my parents used to have one.

Yes, they're not Cremant. "grower Champagne" refers to Champagne made from the grapes of a single vineyard. (virtually every standard Champagne, even the most highly regarded V and NV, is blended from the grapes of several vineyards.) grower Champagne is primarily made by small producers. they are very diverse in flavor since they are so expressive of the terroir due to their origin. in contrast, standard Champagnes are specifically designed to reflect the house "feel" year after year.

restaurant reviews serve one important purpose to me. my dining budget is limited. since I can only afford so many $100-300 meals a month I really hate having a bad experience at that price point. over time, a consistent reviewer (which, with all his faults, Bruni is....and Richman, without Bruni's faults, always has been -- compare them to the all-over-the-map tendencies of Platt or Lane or Cuozzo) reveals to me his/her tastes, tendencies and biases. Thus, their reviews reveal to me a lot about whether I will find a restaurant worth it. I know that Bruni has similar tastes to me in Italian or Asian, I know that he doesn't get hypermodern or even French. But I know how he reacts to them so even those reviews are of value.

considering that Esca is certainly in midtown, I don't see why it isn't the obvious choice.

well, the quality of NY's tap water is only competed with by Vancouver's....imo. but agreed that bottled water purchases are quite low here.

it did look like he was unfamiliar with the term, didn't it? I thought that was an egregious error. of course, he's the second professional reviewer to make a bizarre reference to the grower champagne list. someone else complained that none of them were below $20 a glass....that has an easy explanation...to the best of my knowledge there are no grower champagnes available for below $40 a bottle (cremant is another story). Bruni's just not a wine guy (I'm not one either so I don't have an inherent issue with that in a restaurant reviewer...but I think they should still have at least a baseline knowledge equal to that of mine own)

I think he is getting fatigued.... the most joy he's shown was in the Sriphithai, S&T, Ssam Bar, Babbo, Robert's and the Bar Room/EMP review...

Esca is easily the best Italian restaurant in midtown.

It's a 7:00 performance! the number of places that are even open at 5 or 5:30 is quite limited. I hope they meant after the show. I forgot about 5 Points which is very close to the theater (and it has an early bird oysters and martini special)

Colors and CB are both very close (the general consensus on Colors is underwhelming) to there. I assume that you plan on eating in the 9-10 range? frankly...you could still go almost anywhere in the city...but within relative walking range are Balthazar, Public, Momofoku Noodle, Momofuku Ssam, Bread, 15 East, Grand Sichuan (St. Mark's), Savoy and the Tasting Room, just for starters. Not much further than that you have the entire "north-of-union-square" restaurant row. I highly recommend giving us your general culinary inclinations as well as a general price range (including wine, tax and tip).

for once, NY restaurant industry insiders should be happy with Bruni: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/200...avior/#more-209 I also highly recommend reading comments 8 and 24 for their amusement factor.

What are their foodie snobs like compared to us? Come on we can take'em ← we have eater.com

The article was one of fifteen articles (surveying drama, fashion, finance, pulchritude and the like) under the title "London v. New York" edit: I should note that Platt is not taken that seriously here (he's perhaps better known for who is brother is). Its not as if Bruni or Richman wrote the piece.

that was a bit strong...but the context for the sushi remark was probably that among sushi snobs today New York's top echelon is compared favorably with that of Tokyo (NY's lower sushi rungs are another matter).

I'm not aware of there having been a restriction on Sunday alcohol sells at a restaurant. maybe there was or is a before noon restriction but no in NY eats before two on Sundays anyway.

I stopped in the last two nights...great to see it open again. fwiw, they seem very optimistic that their problems will be over soon.

hmm....do you know if they plan to take reservations for the pub part? (I think it would make more sense for them to reserve that for walk-ins and make the dining room reservable). as for poutine, I've had it in Hull and Montreal and never understood the attraction...

Daniel does a desert tasting menu that you can order on its own in the Cafe. The other four stars do not. You could get away with just ordering desserts at Robuchon (the sugar globe is well worth trying).

oh they're different at Mozza? my mistake. the descriptions of the toppings are identical (i.e. the funghi and taleggio, etc.)

I have to give a shoutout to an off the menu pasta dish they're serving right now...its the best pasta I've had in years. literally. oriecchette with crumbled sausage and sauteed kale. I'm pretty sure the oriecchette is cooked in chicken stock and its definitely finished with butter. incredibly simple and incredibly delicious. combined with the contorini and the superb cured duck breast plate....it made a meal which to me was perhaps the most Italian like of any that I've had in NY. as a sidenote: they apparently really like those pizzas in L.A.: http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo...-headlines-food

cool. I'll have something to do tonight...