flinflon28

Attire is tee shirt casual for some and corporate casual for others...all are welcome.

Had dinner with a friend at WD-50 on Thursday and we had the experience we were expecting...challenging food with some hits and misses. We were greeted warmly by the hostess which was no small feat as she had been slammed with a party of fifteen ten seconds before we arrived. One thing that struck me as we were seated was that there was not the "smell" you usually experience when entering a restaurant. I suppose it depends on how rich the food is at a particular place but usually there is a mix of aromas that hit me when I am being taken to my seat. For example the smell of what I imagine is a bit of fat and other savory aromas are always linked with being taken to my seat at Daniel. And there's a scent of goat cheese and onion soup at Balthazar. I imagine that part of this is due to the fact that the restaurant wasn't at capacity when we arrived at 8:00. Upon being seated I was thrilled to have a view of the kitchen as I am starting culinary school next month and love the sight of a line in action. Wylie was in the house and I was impressed to see how calm everything seemed to be in the kitchen...especially as the orders of the large party downstsairs started flowing in along with those of the regular patrons. The house was definitely full by 8:45. My dining companion was dissapointed to hear that pastry chef Sam Mason was not in that night as my companion has a massive crush on him from the photo on the WD-50 website. Conventional bread is not served at WD-50 rather a very thin, paperlike starch sprinkled with seeds and possibly pepper. Seeing as how most of Wylie's dishes have a sauce or broth that will not be finished with the main ingrdient a bit of "sop up" bread would be nice but I have to admit that the thin bread is very addictive and most importantly not filling. Although no one on this forum has really complained about the portions being too small, I have spoken to a number of individuals who said they left hungry. To be on the safe side we ordered four appetizers to share. The server was kind enough to bring them out as two separate courses. We started with the corned duck on rye crisps and the fois gras with nori caramel. As soon as my companion cut into the fois gras his expression was priceless...it seems he'd forgotten something was going to ooze out and he looked like a gradeschooler who'd done something wrong and was looking to see if anyone had noticed. The combination of nori and cold fois gras was not one that was too appealing. The nori was VERY overpowering. The cool fois gras was tasty on it's own but unfortunately the nori distracted too much for our liking. The corned duck was just what it was...that is not to say it was bad in any sense...in fact it was quite good. I just couldn't really tell the difference between it and corned beef. The rye crisp was lovely and the purple/horseradish/mustard was visually awesome and tasty. Our next courses were the pickled tongue and the venison tartare. The pickled tongue was a pleasant surprise to me because I never thought I'd ever eat tongue in my life but this is the dish that has fried mayonaise so I HAD to have it. I have to admit that it was pretty good. To me it tasted like baloney...which I guess makes sense. The fried mayonaise is one of those sensations that makes someone stop what they're doing, smack their had like they had a damn good idea and really evaluate what is happening in their mouth. It is like warm heaven and I can't believe it hasn't been done before. A marble sized ball of fries mayo has a delicate skin which pops in your mouth releasing warm liquid on your tongue. The venison tartare was beautifully presented and must have been a huge hit with my dining companion as he would not part with a bite for me...eventually he relented and I felt the dish tasted like Chrstmas! I can't really explain this feeling but if Christmas with it's snow, pine trees and eggnog where to have a taste it would be this dish. The tartare came with edemame ice cream and cruncy pear. Entrees came next. I had the monkfish with oyster mushroom, pumpernickel cocoa, pear concome and squash. I felt the portion was quite generous and while the fish was well prepared it was quite bland. I didn't think the pear broth was strong enough to add anything but mositure to the dish and the pumpernickel coca was a jarring and somewhat unpleasant addition to the proceedings. I can almost imagine it tasting good with the squash but if that it is the case it should not have been in the pear broth with the fish. My friend had the lamb and it was truly the winning dish of the evening. Served with pickled cranberries (how refreshing to not have mint forced upon you when ordering lamb!), goat cheese consome, potato and leek. This was an almost conventional dish and I felt the cut of lamb was the perfect mixture of a bit of fat, lean meat and good flavor. Aces! Desserts were carrot ginger cake with coconut sorbet and carrot coulis. Stunning dessert and incredibly flavorful and somewhat spicy. I had the "French Toast" which though laughably small was stunning. It consisted of a french toast stick the size of a lincoln log sprinkled with what I think was cinnamon and a bit of ice cream. There is no description on the menu and I was to gone on sparkling wine to rememeber the explanation. We also asked for some ginger cotton candy which is only part of the dessert menu but they were happy to oblige...WOW! What a flavor sensation. Delicious. Our dinner of 4 appetizers, two entrees, two desserts and two bottles of sparking wine was $295 with tip. Are we going back? Probably not. Did we enjoy our meal and were we challenged? Without a doubt. And I love hearing people's reactions when I tell them about fried mayonaise!

If anything...I was glad to not see the usual suspects (Corner Bistro, Luger) at the top of the list even if those are pretty damn good burgers. This article has opened my eyes to a couple of other places that I am going to try over the next few weeks. When it comes to something like burgers, New Yorkers are going to get very combative and no list could be definitive. I prefer to look at it as an introduction to some possibly hidden treasures.

If it's been a particularly stressful week at work I treat myself to a cheeseburger from Junior's with thier "cornbread" coated onion rings....all my problems melt away. There is also a Two Boots Pizza stand there. I find their pizza is great but all of their other offerings (calzones etc.) are substandard.

I've always had great food at Jane on Houston even though the noise level can approach Grand Central Station levels. I've had dinner for two with wine and tip for $135. I am also feel Blue Ribbon Bakery is a great option.

Three friends and I dined here on Saturday. First things first...for a Williamsburg restaurant this place had very friendly service. The hostess was very welcoming and the server was a pleasure. We didn't even mind moving to another table when a large party showed up because she was so professional. The restaurant itself is incredibly dark so it was difficult to see your dining partner. I have read other reviews where people have complained about this at other establishments and I have thought it was a bunch of hoohey, but it becomes very real when you contemplate using a lighter to read your menu. We ordered four small pies to sample as much as possible and only one was a real winner. One of us had the gorgonzola pie and it was excellent. Even though the crust was a bit soggy, I found the mix of gorgonzola and carmelized onions to be delicious! My pie felt like an exercise in excess...I had the mushroom pizza which I think is called th "fungi". While the mushrooms were excellent the pie was loaded with way to much cheese and I think it was also drizzled with truffle oil which was simply overkill because the pie was already heavy and oily with too much cheese. It made for a pizza that was almost like wet carboard. One of my dining companions found a hair in his pie. He chose not to bring it up to the server. For that reason only I will not count his pizza in the final tally. I'm sure this can start another thread on things we choose not to bring up at restaurants but he just chose to let it go. The fourth pie had arugula and other greens and it was decent but not exceptional. I'll be the first to say that I am thrilled to have a restaurant in Williamsburg where the staff are not hipsters and are eager to please...and I also think that the quibbles with the quality of the pies we sampled are growing pains. I think this will be a longlasting establishment. The line as we were leaving is evidence that things should work out there. And their current BYO policy is a beautiful thing!

Thanks so much for your imput! Don't you all find it difficult to pick a place to dine when someone ELSE is paying? I feel like it's Sophie's Choice for a meal!

My birthday is in December and my girlfriend has asked if I would like to go to Le Bernadain to celebrate. We are in our mid twenties and have been on a gourmet "gorging" as of late because I am starting culinary school in January. This year we have hit Daniel, Balthazar, wd-50, 4 Seasons, Pace, Peter Lugers, Blue Hill, and Emeril's in Orlando. I have loved each of these places for different reasons but feel the food at Daniel has been tops so far. I also liked the fact that it was a formal experience but all the patrons looked like they were having a good time. I hear dining at Le Bernadain is a fishlovers nirvana but have also heard that the environment is a bit tomblike and that diners tend to act like they're in a library. We are not in the least bit raucous but definitely want to feel comfortable and smile through the meal. Any thoughts or recent experiences you'd like to share?

This sounds great! Thanks for the feedback!

Admin: An archive of previous discussion on wd-50 may be found here. Has anyone visited WD-50 recently? Wylie had a table at the Time Out New York tasting two weeks ago and it was delicious! He was also very friendly. Has anyone had a recent experience they'd like to share? I'm thinking of making a reservation for next month.

I work in he Chrysler Building (where this restaurant is located) and stopped in for lunch a few weeks ago. We had just ordered when the smoke alarms went off. The staff was very gracious as the restaurant cleared out and they recently sent me $50 gift certificate for our troubles. It's like a mini Per Se experience!! Haven't gone back yet but will report when I do.

I was just there for drinks with a friend last week and had a great time. We arrived around 6:15 and the restaurant was 25% full. By the time we left the bar at 8:45 it was roaring just like the ol' days. Drinks were well mixed but I still find the service to be a little aloof there. The servers are always very professional but there is something a little odd about their demeanor. We each had three drinks and split a mushroom salad which was so good that we were fighting over the lat forkful. I wish I'd taken better notice of the ingredients so I could go into more detail....damn all that Makers Mark! The salads certainly don't reach the heights they used to back in the day. It was also nice to see Chef Portale out and saying hi to a couple of diners (probably friends of his) at the table nearest the window. All in all a good experience but I feel people treat Gotham like a local dining establishment/bistro more than a destination spot so that is perhaps why it doesn't get the buzz it used to. It looked to me like alot of the patrons that evening were regulars (it was a Tuesday night) and the vibe was that of a golf club dining room. Very casual with a moneyed dishelveled look on some of the diners.

The mini donuts in Seattle are a work of art. I don't even care fro donuts and I had a sackfull by muself!

Hi everyone! I'm a new member and have taken the first week of memebership to read all your postings and getting a feel for the site. I'd like for some advice from all of you...My girlfriend and I are going to Daniel this aturday for her birthday. This will be our first time dining there. We've been to the 4 Seasons, Gotham and Montrachet before but for some reason I'm a little nervous about this one. We have enjoyed ourselves in all of the previous restaurants (even though we were the youngest people by 20 years at the 4 Seasons and the waiter treated us as such until he realized we weren't there to just drink water). Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for the evening? I'm thinking of going the tasting menu route with wine pairings. My girlfriend has only started eating red meat again over the past few months (mostly my doing) but she eats fish and chicken and will have no problem with a bit of red meat. will this be a problem? I believe that the 5 course menu is the biggest option on weekends due to heavy volume. We are dining a 8:00. Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks.