smgarsh

I was there yesterday afternoon and tried the lemon and the Luna Rossa. Both flavors was really good. A bit on the expensive side but I think its worth it. I have to try Il' labortorio again to compare it against GROM.

The only thing I found wrong was the perceived value of going from the 4 course to the farmers feast. When I was there in Dec'06 the 4 course was $75 and the farmers feast was $95. Since I'm not in that area often, my dining partner and I decided to opt for the farmers feast since it is thier signature menu. The waitstaff explained to me that the farmers feast would contain items/dishes that was not on the main menu. They also asked if we had any food dislikes (None, we like EVERYTHING! ) such as offal, foie gras, or if we had any food allergies (NONE!).. It sounded like the farmers feast would be a more ambitious, adventurous menu than the 4 course and that made our decision on the farmers feast that much easier. From what I could remember, we had similar amuses. You had the fresh carrots and bok choy, we had fresh carrots and turnips. We both had the beet burgers and the beet chips. The vegetables presented in different styles was great and we thought this was a perfect way to present their greenhouse grown vegetables. But this is where our similarities end. From your report you also had the pork liver sandwich, salsify, coppa, oyster/caviar and another beet dish. We had no other amuses besides the vegetables I mentioned above. I saw another table served the salsify but I didn't know what it was until your report. For the 1st course we had the green house salad similar to your salad but with 3X the greens,winter root vegetables (beets again), apples but NO egg. It was presented on the same type of slate board but my board was smaller and rectangular. I forgot the order of the next 3 courses but there was a cured salmon dish, trout dish, and arborio rice dish. The arborio rice dish was cooked in the style of a borscht so more beets AGAIN!!! :wacko: After the salad course, we've already had beets 3 different ways. I didn't want another beet dish. With the rice dish, we had beets 4 different ways. I swore I ordered a farmers feast and not a beet tasting menu. The 5th and last course was the pork. Mine was presented differently than yours as mine was served in slices without the crispy skin you had on yours. But I have to say, it was the best tasting pork I've ever had in my life. I've might have had a pre-dessert but I don't recall. If we did it was not as lovely as the one you had. For dessert we had apple beignets (sp?) with apple sorbet. We finished the meal with mignardises. When I got home I compared what I had to what was on their menu. Basically, we paid an extra $20 pp for the cured salmon. If I had known we would be served what was on the menu, I would have opted for the 4 course menu. That way we could have ordered 8 different dishes. Overall the food was great, but I was disappointed with the farmers feast. There was nothing different than the regular menu. I would probably go the BH@SB again but probably not order the farmers feast unless I'm wearing a mask with docsconz face on it.

I agree. I went in late Dec, 06 and was underwelmed by the farmers feast. After the meal, I thought it was the most overrated, overvalued tasting menu I've ever had.

I too haven't heard about the term "Grower Champagne" until the Varietal review. For a lot of ppl like me, I don't need to know that much detail of what I'm drinking. This is the same type of criticism the craftsteak menu got when they first opened. Remember when the biography of each "cow" was on the menu.

anchor bar might have been the birthplace of buffalo wings, but DUFF's is the place to go.

I can't believe I'm rooting for Marcel now.

from http://newyorkmetro.com/restaurants/openin...323/index1.html

as others have already stated, Cafe Zaiya (41st bet Mad. and 5th Ave) sells it. I saw the melon pan when I was there on Sunday.

I've been to Nobu57 and its a huge restaurant. Even though tribeca branch is in a hipper area,it is a lot smaller it might be next to impossible to get reservations there. Of all your other reservations, I would also forget about Spice Market for the exact reasons as sneakeater stated. If you're in the mood for Italian, how about Babbo?

I went last night and tried the burger ($2) and hotdog ($1). The burger was actually good. I really enjoyed it. The hotdog is a typical boiled hotdog wrapped in bun/bread/roll that you find in a chinese bakery. Only good part of the hotdog was that the bun was warm. Otherwise try something else.

Walk into a Japanese grocery store like JASMart and notice the rather large bags of MSG they sell (often from Ajinomoto, who invented the modern manufacturing process). Please repeat with Chinese and Korean grocery stores, you'll also see rather large bags of MSG. Please repeat with your standard US grocery store, say Food Emporium for those of us in NYC. See any big bags of pure MSG for sale? I don't think so. Only a little bottle of Accent. Asian cuisine as made at home or in a restaurant often has pure MSG added by the cook, that's not something regulary done in any "western" cuisine that I know of, in "western" cusine if pure MSG is added, it's done in a factory setting. ← Why does it matter when MSG is added? MSG added in a factory setting has less of an effect to create those phantom headaches?

IIRC, at Au Pied De Cochon in Montreal they serve a tart with raw salted foie gras or something similar.

The reason I tend not to believe anyone who suffers from "MSG related symptoms" because MSG is in almost every processed/ canned food.

Everyone seems to know that CB produces great dimsum (I'm going to try it soon) but why is the other half of the restaurant so crappy? Why put so much effort and creativity in 1/2 of the menu and serve Ruby Foo'ish junk in the other half? Is it that hard to come up with a good menu not modeled after your local takeout joint?

I agree with the 1 *. I don't care if you have are using the best possible ingredients in the world if you are serving up dishes such as beef/broccoli and general tsos.

I have to say Finale is not even in the same league as R4D. IMO Finale serves "safe" desserts.

Sripraphai all the way!!!!!! 64-13 39 Ave Woodside. I think the last seating is @ 9:30pm. Take the 7 train to 61st. It's 1 to 2 blocks away from Roosevelt Ave.

I'm not sure about Manhattan, but I've bough franks hot sauce in queens (keyfood), long island (shoprite) and IIRC in Stop and Shop. Also its definitely available @ BJ's so there's a possibility that Costco's would carry it too.

having a proper website is a necessity. I don't need the flash, the retarded splash screens. Just give me your contact info, hours of business and directions if possible. Also a sample menu with PRICES would be nice. Not having a website is unexcuseable. There's been numerous times when the restaurant's website was the deciding factor. This is especially true when I'm in another city outside of NYC. If I had to choose 1 restaurant out of a few that are at the same level, cuisine, reputation etc., I would choose the one who provides me with the most useful info from their website. I want as much useful information about a restaurant. No pics, that must mean your restaurant is a dump. No sample menu, then you must be embarassed by what you serve. No prices with the menu, then it must expensive. This info gives me a good backround about the restaurant and that sets my expectations.

I don't remember what channel I flipped to but there is some sort of French news show with english sub-titles. I don't know how much of the segment I missed but it caught my eye because the word "Michelin" was in the sub-title. They were talking about the Michelin guide for NY and mentioned how only 500+ restaurants were "worthy" to be included in the guide. They flashed to a quick segment with Ducasse and then a quick blurb about Wylie/wd-50.

Honestly what is the big deal about truffles? What exactly is the allure? Is it the aroma or taste? My first ever experience with truffles was a pasta dish with shaved truffles @ Babbo 1 to 2 yrs ago. The dish at Babbos had a generous amount of truffles but I was underwelmed by the truffles lack of flavor and aroma. This was just a standard dish that just happened to have truffles in it. I couldn't complain, the pasta would have tasted delicious even without the truffles, so I saw the truffles as a bonus. Fast forward to last night. I went to Sapori D'Ischia for their truffle tasting menu. For $50 I was not expecting a lot. I was more there to experience the restaurant and see if its worthy for future visits. The first course was some sort of truffled potato soup. It was very good but if there was truffles in it, I wouldn't know. The second course was polenta with chantarelles (sp?) and shaved truffles. (I was really hoping for a pasta with shaved truffles) Another good dish, but again where is the truffles? Do truffles melt? My friend and I couldn't visually find any truffles. I wouldn't know if there was truffles in it unless someone told me. The 3rd course was a hanger steak. Another good dish. Steak was cooked perfectly to medium rare. There was 4 visible tiny shavings of truffles. As I tasted the truffles it reminded me the first time I had it @ Babbos; truffles are just shaved pieces of corkboard. The 4th course was dessert, so there's no need to go into details. I would go to Sapori D'Ischia again. Overall the dishes was very good. Someone please convince me truffles is worth the expense. I would like to try a more expensive truffle tasting menu or just a dish loaded with truffles. I just don't want to be disappointed if my $100+ plate of XXXXX with shaved truffles taste like XXXXX with shaved corkboard.

the original location might be gone but the flagship store will open on Nov 2. Its located on 42nd St between 5th and 6th Ave. More info here http://www.originalsoupman.com/ Also there's going to be franchises all over the U.S. I think the first one opened @ Roosevelt Field Mall.

I've always favored Papaya King (86th st) over Gray's, Katz's or Papaya Dog. For some reason the Hot Dogs @ Papaya King (86th St) taste better. I didn't really like the PK on 14th though.

I don't go to Chinatown often for Dim Sum, as I live in queens and Flushing is easier to get to. but I have to say I really like Dim Sum GoGo. Dim Sum GoGo is definitely worth the trip. Luckylies, I wish I could say I was exaggerating about my experience at Jin Fong, but I wasn't. Maybe it was just an off day for them. IIRC I went midweek (weds?) around 12PM or possibly earlier. But so many dishes I had that day tasted "old".

do not go to Jing Fong for Dim Sum. I think I can honestly say they have the worst Dim Sum in Chinatown. My friend who acompanied me was also shock by the crappy dim sum. I agree with Laksa. If you happen to be in Flushing go to Gala Manor. I use to go to East (both branches, Main St. and Kissena blvd) often but now I go to Gala Manor. I actually went this afternoon and I was not disappointed. IIRC they are located on the 2nd fl of a relatively new shopping center/mall on Main St and 37. The entrance is located on 37th St.