juuceman

there's a new ramen place on 5th (or is it 6th) between A & B that the chef at jewel bako makimono told me about.. said it's the bomb..

On Saturday, that stand was the very first one closest to the intersection of 5th and 26th. It is also known as Memphis Championship and Mike Mills. I wasn't there Sunday, but I think it should have been in the same spot. all the booths were in the same places on sunday as saturday..

had dinner there friday night and was thinking about how, after i'd signed the check and they'd picked it up, although we were one of the last tables left in the place, they came back around and offered another round of espresso.. for some reason it's stuck out in my head, and i see, yours as well..

the 17th street ribs i had at noon on sunday were a completely different animal than those i had on saturday at noon.. mike mills was opening up steam trays of ribs, breaking them and looking at the smoke ring and how the meat was breaking.. he didn't seem happy..

ok.. it's not even 12:30 yet.. the lines are there and were there before noon.. they're moving somewhat quickly.. there are barricades set up at each stand but they hold, maybe, 50 people.. they're basically taking up space because you still have lines snaking all over the place once you're no longer corralled within them.. it was a fifteen minute wait to get ribs at memphis championship.. the thing that was holding it up was the ladling of beans.. which were the highlight today.. the ribs were fine, but a whole lot drier than yesterday and they're putting a healthy dose of sauce on them before handing them out.. i'm thinking it must just be a batch issue, seeing as how they were pretty cold as well.. mike mills on the other hand was luxuriating in the adoring attentions of the press.. three reporters were lined up the speak with him.. had some of the blue smoke spare ribs today and they blew away today's sampling of memphis championship.. meatier, better temperature and a lot moister.. enjoy.. it's going to be a long day.. the line at ed mitchell's weaves through the barricades they set up to try and control the crowds and the lines and comes about halfway down the block.. at 12:15..

ribs at 12:03.. as good as they were last year.. which is to say the best i've had.. mike mills was out and talking with anyone who wanted to speak with him all morning.. moved down to the shoulder and had it in hand by 12:12.. it was good, their beans much better than mike mills's places, but the lack of slaw was troubling for me.. ed mitchell's hog had a line even at noon when the tickets started being sold.. but it was barely a ten minute wait at that point.. when i came back at two the line wrapped around on itself multiple times.. brisket at three was great.. but the 45 minute wait on line to get to it, especaially when half ot was spent in front of ed mitchell's pits while they were raking the coals, wasn't the most pleasant of ways to do it.. early is definitely the way to go.. i stopped by around ten when everyone was drinking coffee and still recovering from the evening before.. ed mitchell literally tripped over his own feet to get to the dallis coffee guy.. but he was talking with everyone around and laughing and cracking jokes.. his publicist was so excited to be doing the job that she approached everyone with a camera early on.. it was nice to speak with her and get her viewpoint on the spread of barbecue.. my photos should follow in the next day or two..

2nd Avenue between 5th and 6th.. opened last Friday.. simply decorated with bamboo playing the focal point in the design, similar to the original Jewel Bako around the corner but a lot simpler and more low key.. six or eight tables up front, seating for about eight to ten at the bar.. menu offers about eight starters but i skipped right to the sushi.. they offer a small and a large platter of either sushi or sushimi as well as a platter for two containing both.. there are 18 specialty 'makimono' rolls available a la carte as well as individual pieces and standard rolls on request.. maybe half a dozen saki's on the menu and the standard saporro/asahi beers.. unfortunately, the asahi dark offered at jewel bako didn't make it on to the menu.. i had the large sushi platter. at $28 it was a steal.. ten pieces of pristinely fresh, individually sauced and/or garnished pieces of fish as well as half of a spicy tuna roll.. nothing particularly out of the ordinary in terms of the fish offered, e.g. tuna/salmon/kanpachi/fresh shrimp/cooked shrimp/sea eel and a bunch of other fish i don't recall offhand.. followed this up (although it was plenty at this point) with a makimono of salmon, avocado, and shiso leaf.. this was interesting and nice and fresh tasting.. the shiso with the salmon was great.. then moved into a scallop hand roll with golden caviar, a bit of shiso, and some chives.. highlight of the meal right here.. Grace brought out a small dish of ice cream, vanilla and green tea, which were very interesting. They were two large gumdrop sized things, coated with a gelatinous rice coating.. the vanilla was great.. the green tea was ok.. no reservations.. the press has been in.. the photos have been taken.. i walked in and sat at the half empty bar at nine thirty and there were a few tables open.. once ny magazine covers it, it's over.. think lines tomoe style..

eggplant parmesan at lupa.. spicy cauliflower ragu at lupa.. whitefish salad at russ and daughters.. hot sesame bagels at h & h.. crab salad from zabars.. pastrami on rye with mustard at katz's.. tuna with fresh mozzarella, peppers and arugula on semolina at melampo.. petit fours at balthazar.. chocolate chip cookies at levaine.. large pie with mushrooms and sausage at lombardi's.. cold sesame noodles at new green bo.. steamed pork buns at mei lei wah.. a grandma slice from maffei's.. two well done with mustard at grey's..

well.. they WERE closed for years before the recent reincarnation..

gramercy tavern has a lovely bar and serves the full tavern menu.. lupa has a great, more casual, bar and serves the restaurant's full menu.. it's a lot tighter than gramercy though.. same deal with babbo.. gotham bar and grill has a great bar menu and is in the same line as gramercy in that it's dressier/much less casual than lupa.. any sushi place will have a sushi bar that should make a single diner comfortable..

we are

has everyone eating at per se to date been a rescheduled reservation?? if not, this could explain the variances in service..

I don't think so. A sub-par Luger steak is no better than what you would get in a 2nd-tier steakhouse like Smith and Wollensky or The Strip House. Possibly worse, given the practice of slicing the hapless thing up, or even worse, flashing it in the salamander before bringing it out, which they do all the time at Luger. Sparks is the place. Other places better than an imperfect luger steak include: Sammy's Roumanian, Nebraska, Beacon, Les Halles, and numerous others. Josh

brunch there is generally a madhouse.. but the thing is, the place doesn't start to pickup until close to eleven.. i attribute this behavior to the same thing that gets me an outdoor table at coffee shop at the same time, people have realized that there's no alcohol served prior to noon and adjust their schedules accordingly..

Essex, in the old Essex Marketplace, offers a similar deal.. except their $14 brunch includes your first three cocktails.. they house cure their own lox, include great whitefish salad and a Kossar's bialy, along with the other accompaniments you mention.. imagine when it used to be unlimited cocktails with brunch before half the lower east side discovered it..

melampo sullivan street bakery il mulino

just think of it as the new nyc smoking tax..

not a big fan of mercer kitchen.. place is pretty enough but not real serious food.. nice for a cocktail and maybe a light bite.. what i like about the place is the profusion of bars housed within.. they have the lounge with attached bar upstairs.. they have the library abr connected to the lounger, reserved for guests of the mercer hotel next door on the weekends.. they have the hidden rand gerber bar downstairs..

it's the reason i'd go back and deal with the service glitches..

funny you mention this.. went to tribeca film monday night and my date wanted to hit one of the price fixes.. we couldn't get into afrazan, which i'm dying to try after having some of their stuff at the Spanish Embassy's City Harvest benefit, so we hit Thalassa Monday night and had the price fixe.. the food was wonderful.. we started with salads of baby spinach with blue cheese and sliced lamb.. she had some sort of grilled white fish over garlicky mashed potatoes/fish roe.. i had the plain grilled john dory.. it was amazing.. desserts were a molten chocolate cake and some sort of greek/cream/honey dessert, which was fine.. my problems were with the service.. and there were a few.. we had an open table reservation and received the obviously worst table in the restaurant, literally right next to the waiter's closet.. the way they arranged the table and the seats around it, with my date in the prime seat, i had the option of facing the curtain and the corner of the restaurant or sitting directly in the path of the waitstaff.. they couldn't have possibly designed the seating to be any more demeaning or uncomfortable if they had tried.. given my company, i really couldn't have cared less.. we were completely abandoned once we indicated we would be ordering from the price fixe menu.. drinks we ordered pre-menus being delivered weren't delivered until well after our order was placed and we had asked for them.. like the waiter never coming back to discuss anything.. to bring us any of our food.. to ask whether anything was ok.. like having to flag down a waiter so we could order espressos, which were suprisingly good.. like having to get the manager involved to get the check so we could make it out of the place in time to make our movie, which we'd indicated to the waiter upon sitting.. basically the waiter sucked.. schmuck that i am, i still gave him 20%.. i suck.. but still.. for a hundred twenty bucks, couple cocktails, couple glasses of wine, couple espressos, all in with tax and tip, considering the room and the quality of the food, i'll be back and order the amazing fish.. that waiter really would have really pissed me off though, if i wasn't so enchanted with my company..

your essay about the week you spent at Gramercy Tavern and the shopping expedition you took with Mosto to the Greenmarket still run through my head every time i wander through the market and see chefs from Union Square Cafe, Eleven Madison Park, even Mesa Grill stopping in to pickup things.. while i'm pretty sure they're just filling in, rather than relying upon, with seasonal things and stuff that catches their eyes, i do love the union square greenmarket.. it's convenient for me.. it keeps me in touch with what's going on in the world surrounding this city we live in.. the sprout people are great.. some of the best micro greens around as well.. Fred Price's baked goods are wonderful.. our daily bread has decent scones.. knoll crest eggs and chickens.. enough said.. quatro farms meats, duck and other poultry is great.. the organic dairy is nice.. as the spring rolls around into the summer, we'll get more fruit and vegetables and it's a nice way to shop.. leave a lot behind.. wander thru the crowds.. enjoy the sun.. plan a meal with stuff that's local and seasonal.. no it's not ideal.. yes, it could be better..

FWIW, from what I can remember, Citarella is generally one of the first fishmongers to have them available to the general retail public.. EDIT: just confirmed that they're fresh and in stock on the UWS store.. $5.99 each..

I was bumped from a Thursday 7:30 p.m. to a Friday 9 p.m.

i HAD an eight o'clock reservation on a thursday night.. i've yet to be called to reschedule.. interested to see how they handle it, as i'm not apt to sit at five thirty or ten o'clock..

April 5 Post Article basically saying the restaurant won't reopen before May 1.