Todd36

When I wandered by last week and asked about the wait for a table, I was told two hours, which is unusual for a place where no one was waiting. I guess they thought they were 100% booked by reservation. I happened to be hanging around the area for 30 minutes waiting for a friend, and I noted during that time that several tables remained empty. They seem to lack experience in managing tables. I didn't find the hostess very friendly and her English was weak. My friend is a native Japanese speaker and couldn't make any headway with the hostess either. Based on your experience, I'm thinking they have management problems.

Precisely. Without derailing this thread too much, I think we can all agree that subtlety in Indian cuisine encompasses several degrees of separation, so a phrase such as "an especially subtle curry" isn't really very descriptive. It's a piece of information that's not particularly informative. I'd never have thought that that was possible until now. Soba ← But I don't think food reviews ever really go that far in their descriptions. For example, here's my take on a good piece of Uni: Rough on the outside when first put in the mouth, served at slightly below room tempature, quickly changing to a creamy and fatty texture that melts in your mouth but persists for several seconds, leaving a coating on the inside of your mouth, with a slight and pleasant taste of the sea with little iodine. The flavor should be subltle and not strong, with a richness that reminds me in some ways of citrus fruit. Ever seen anything like that in a review? Have any idea what I like in Uni?

His Donguri review was shocking for a lack of knowledge about Japanese food, which makes me wonder about his Masa review. I am debating now about having dinner at Masa, in which case I will give my own view. If anyone else wants to join a sushi fest, send me an email. I'll bring along my Japanese dining friend who knows their sushi.

← "an especially subtle curry" What in blazes is that supposed to mean? In what way was it subtle? Soba ← It means "a very delicate typical Indian gravy." You can hammer Bruni, but in this case I have a pretty good idea what he meant. And if you want to know what delicate means, to me it means light and not full flavored. So if you prefer "a light and not full flavored sauce with a flavor similar to that found in a typical Indian gravy" This is like trying to parse wine reviews. I have a good idea as to what Bruni was saying. Try reading Wine Spectator or anything similar and then try the reviewed wine. Can you find all of the flavors they describe? Do you think their description is always accurate? We can scream all we want about Bruni's writing and his perceived lack of percision, but the real issue is that people don't like the way he assigns stars.

Last night, I walked by the new Sushi of Gari west side location, on Columbus Avenue between 77th and 78th. Space used to be the bar Potion. Very crowded, with a two hour wait for a table, and an upscale looking crowd. Makes you wonder why someone hasn't opened a good upscale sushi place in the area before. There is clearly enough market there. The menu includes many cooked items that are not the typical things at a sushi bar, it's a little upscale like EN for example. Anyone eaten there yet?

It's easy enough to say "among others" if that's what you mean. He did not. He gave a list and, if anything, the preferred interpretation of a list is that it is complete unless otherwise specified. As you know, in the law, where intent often needs to be ascertained from written documents like statutes, this basic principle of interpretation is known as Expressio unius est exclusio alterius: roughly, "the express mention of one thing implies the exclusion of others not mentioned." Who should get the benefit of the doubt here: the writer who had a chance to make it clear in the first place, or the restaurant that has no voice, no opportunity to respond, no ability to explain why it cooks veal the way it does? ← As someone who spends a large chunk of their time reading old bond indentures, I can state loudly that lawyers do not have statutory rules of construction in mind when they write them. I don't think Bruni did when he wrote his review either. And in any case, the preceeding sentence in the review could fairly be read to indicate that the suceeding lsentence is but a mere non-exhaustive set of examples. But regardless of whether that list were exhaustive, there are several sentences in the review that indicate that he was not universally thrilled with the food: "In Air So Rarefied, Only Ambrosia Will Do" (the title of the article) "Over subsequent months and repeated visits to Ducasse, I had a few enchanting evenings (how, in a certain sense, could I not?) and a few insanely indulgent dishes of the sort that I would like to be fed just before my death, the timing of which has probably been advanced considerably by the aged rib-eye that a friend and I shared. " (not all of his evenings at ADNY were enchanting is my reading) "I did not, however, experience the magnitude of magic implicitly promised by this restaurant's braggadocio: the glossy tomes by Mr. Ducasse on display in the plush parlor that serves as a cocktail lounge; the matte booklet on every table that lists his bibliography; the gold-crowned columns at the center of the dining room, which is as simultaneously sumptuous and sepulchral as a pharaoh's tomb. " (speaks for itself) "I did not experience the intensity -- or rather consistency -- of pleasure that should accompany the prices." (ditto) "Something about Ducasse did not entirely click, and this was true of the food as well. " (ditto) "But beneath an unfettered pageant is an uneven performance, a wow that wavers, a spell less binding than a restaurant with this much vanity can possibly wish it to be. " (ditto) We can argue about whether Bruni provided enough information in the review to indicate why ADNY did not receive 4 stars. But I think it is quite clear that Bruni thought that ADNY, given the price, was not serving 4 star food. I think that star was docked for the food, and not for anything else. The next question is whether Bruni knows what he is doing. That I do not know. The NYT reviews of Japanese restaurants lately have been odd, and that is the area about which I have the most information. I suppose one or more of us should offer to take him to dinner and see if we agree with his view on the food served. I'm sure I have insufficent clout at attact his attention, but perhaps someone else can.

At least in the first three instances, it is quite clear from the language that these were single and not recurring instances. We know the veal was not overcooked on a recurring basis, because it says "on one occasion." This tracks for the lamb and sea bream as well. Now when it comes to the pasta dishes, which were "beset with pasta problems," I don't know whether these examples recurred or not, but I suspect it would not be relevant: it seems to me the most likely explanation is that the dishes were as intended and were just not to the critic's liking. So if they were that way ten times instead of one, it wouldn't make a difference. So if no individual dish was a "recurring letdown," the term "recurring" must be redundant with "numerous." In terms of "numerous lackluster dishes," I suppose there's no way to know if we're seeing a complete list or a list of examples. And that's not our fault; it's the writer's fault. It would have taken two or three words to clear that up, and the lack of those words cuts in favor of this being a complete list. Certainly, though, given the shallowness of what analysis we can see, I would be very reluctant to presume a deep reservoir of backup analysis and examples that were kept from us. ← We can keep on parsing the language, but we'll never know exactly what Bruni meant. I think the prefered reading is that the sea bream et al were examples of a larger problem. In any case, I thinking the following sentence from the review is indictive: "The final phases of my meals here were the most dependable. " He's talking about dessert. I think that indicates that he had problems with the mains and starters, and more problems than the examples he gave. I would agree based on my experience that the desserts at ADNY are very, very good.

At Daniel's price point, a defective soft shell crab never should have left the kitchen. That is the sort of thing that is supposed to be noticed. I eat a lot of sushi, and at the the better places I go to, I can't remember the last time I had a piece of sushi that was close to bad. An expensive and fine restaurant should have high quality control. Some things like salting are subjective and of course, some dishes may just not work or suffer from ingredents that are just not at their best today. But a soft shell crab should not be hard and no four star place should let it escape from the kitchen. ADNY has a huge staff, there is no excuse for problem dishes to escape the kitchen, such as the fish Fat Guy noted was cooked inconsistently. Not supposed to happen. We can argue about whether a dish like my ADNY veal was a good idea, but it's execution I think was what ADNY wanted.

I understand your point about rich people, for whom chipped beef with Cambell's Cream of Mushroom soup on Toast is a fine thing. But I don't think that is ADNY's target audience. That why we have things like "21" I suppose. ADNY is supposed to be fine French dining. We can argue about what that means. I would like to point out that the Gunina Hen in maderia truffle sauce I enjoyed so much is a very old style dish, exactly the sort of thing I expect an older, not food sophisticed crowd to like. The veal is plain, and if you view it as a foil for the very good vegtables, I suppose it works. But I think it is too plain, even for the old rich people you think might be the target audience. It's not like a nice piece of plain sushi which I like, it's a fairly bland, very subtle piece of veal. I would argue that to like it well requires a very sophisticated palatte. Need to get a spelling checker. I don't need super complex food. After all, I live on Sushi. But when I eat something that costs as much as ADNY, I would like to remember the flavors of what I ate. The two kinds of cabbage served with the veal are still remembed well. The veal didn't leave much impression as to taste. Looking at the crowd when I ate at ADNY, most of them looked very interested in the food, as opposed to say Jean Georges where at least some people want to be seen. I think ADNY's target audience is one that likes food. With respect to steak, other places may have the same idea. Eleven Madison Park has something on the menu like that, although I assume at 20% the price of ADNY's version, they are not directly compable. Speaking of which, I had dinner at Eleven Madison Park last night ($35 special) and while not bad, so far away from ADNY as not to be even funny. But it is about 20% of the price, with a wine special at $5.12 a glass.

Blame ADNY. They roll a cart to your table when you first sit down and they try to sell you cocktails.

I had the veal when I ate there and they served it quite rare. It's also quite pink, which makes it look even rarer. The veal itself was good, but it was not the most impressive dish they served. It is quite subtle, basically a large, very tender very plain piece of veal. I don't think it can stand on its own as much as ADNY thinks. My friend's guenia hen in a maderia truffle sauce was much more impressive, one of the best things I have ever had. The vegetables served with the veal were the best I have ever had.

We've argued the cost of Masa back and forth several times on eGullet, but I think conventional wisdom says Masa is not much more expensive than several other sushi places in town, if you order the same quantity and kind of food. Kuruma comes to mind for example, and I suspect Kurmua could top Masa in price if you wanted to. And if you went to Sugiyama and pre-ordered lobster, kobe beef, best uni and blowfish, I think the food price would well exceed $200 and would start getting pretty close to Masa. What makes Masa expensive is that they give you no choice, "food will be $350." Kuruma et al allow for cheaper options. Also, the price of wine at ADNY is sticker shock inducing. A 5 glass pairing with the tasting menu starts at $130. $130 is a lot for Sake, even at Masa. And note that once of the things they gave me in my tasting at ADNY was Sake!!!!! Stuff that retails for about $50 a bottle BTW. I liked ADNY, but is roughly a $500 per person option. That's equal to about three dinners at Danube with wine pairings.

I have eaten at ADNY. I think the price was the consideration that cost it a star. It is so expensive that you do have to stop and think what about it is so much better than say JG.

It may very well be private label made according to Dino's recipe. That would be fine if they were selling it in the supermarket. They use the pre-pack stuff on the table, and that's a problem. It's a BBQ place remember? They should be giving me fresh sauce on the table. Or, to put it another way, what would you say if Rao's gave you a pre-pack jar of marnia and told you to pour in on your plate..... Semestra in the curent Village Voice goes on a Texas BBQ review, in which he mentins that he attended UTexas and real BBQ places have big stacks of wood. I think he is reinforcing his Dino review. It also seems like the food at Dino continues to be inconsistent, judging by these most recent reports.

This place in Philly is pretty good; I've eaten there twice (although not in two years). It's pretty large and a tiny bit upscale. http://www.phillychinatown.com/rangoon.htm

Good point. Maybe there is a translation problem (given that the recipe uses metric measurements, I wonder where it came from originally). Or maybe when you cook it, you wind up with a ball? I admit that doesn't make sense to me either. On the other hand, the input ingredents seem right compared to what you usually see, pork skin and chinese ham make sense to me for something that you might actually find in Shangahi. Don't know about the Chicken Breast though... I found this: "The article includes a recipe to make the dumplings at home, and Ms. True reveals the secret behind the soup. The rich liquid comes from small cubes of aspic made from pork skin that is mixed into the filling. As the filling steams, the aspic melts--turning from solid into liquid--and soup dumplings are born." Maybe mixing is the way to go? http://www.thefoodsection.com/foodsection/..._soup_dump.html I can't figure out how to link to it, but there is an eGullet thread on this, "Little Steamed Juicy Buns, Should I add gelatin to filling?" It seems standard recipes do mix the soup right into the filling.

I found this recipe at http://www.galaxylink.com.hk/~john/food/co...xiaolongbao.htm The "soup" part only reads: I am sure the pork skin is the source of the gelatin, interesting how they puree the pork skin as well.

There was an article years ago in the Hartford Courant about the making of Smironoff. They were founded in Hartford and their main plant was in Hartford until fairly recently. From what I remember, they bought 190 proof industrial alchohol in tanker car loads from the midwest, based on corn, redistilled it several times, cut it with water, filtered it, and bottled it. Heublin, the owners of Smironoff at the time, had a big business making various flavored liquors under the Arrow name, and I suspect they used the the same raw alchohol in their Arrow products. Given that vodka is not aged, is filtered through something neutral, uses something neutral as a starch source and is distilled to a high proof before being cut down, I'm not surprised that most vodka tastes similar. If people are picking up significant differences, that may be the result of bad manufacturing, not better ingredents!!!! It's also not surpreising to me that a large volume produce like Smironoff could turn out something inexpensive and good in this catagory. Vodka is exactly the sort of product that lends itself well to carefully controlled mass production. There are other products like that as well. Jack Daniels is a very mass-produced product and yet people think it is a very good example of its type.

I guess I was thinking that while there are places that survive selling 5 dumplings for a dollar, the normal price for soup dumplings is about 5 times as high. The wholesale place has a smaller difference in pricing ratio I think. I don't think that "stock" inside a soup dumpling is "stock" (or aspic) in the French sense....one website says it's boiled pig skin, which makes sense, a very low cost ingredent loaded with the gelatin needed for a soup dumpling. This goes back to the aspic point people were making. All of these dumpling places must have some techniques for reducing costs. Much as I like them myself..... I don't know if people care about this but I think at least one well known dumpling place was recently closed by the board of health for a while.

There is a retail/wholesale dumpling place that I think is on the north side of Grand Street, pretty far to the east. They sell all sorts of buns and dumplings retail and wholesale. Their soup dumplings are more expensive than their plain pork dumplings, but if I'm thinking right not 5 times more expensive.

Was at the bar Thursday night. They do a good job with mixed drinks and they do serve the full menu at the bar (I did not eat anything). They had a good business and were drawing an older, well dressed crowd.

in the true NYC experience..... 1. You have to try a good pizza somewhere, maybe more than one place. I leave it to more of a pizza expert to suggest something. I don't eat as much pizza as I used to. 2. Katz's, for a very good hot dog and pastrami. The meats are the things to get here. 3. Barney Greenglass the Sturgeon King. Herring in cream sauce, nova with eggs. If you like this sort of thing, this is a must. 4. Zabar's. Just walk though it. All of my out of town friends really enjoy it. 5. A coffee cafe. There are dozens of them in town, and many people have their favorites. examples include things like Cafe Dante. These can be a little bit past their prime and touristy, but still, are interesting. 6. It may be too cold, but the Green Market at Union Square is interesting if you like the idea of a pretty large farmer's market in a very big city. 7. A good bread bakery like Sullivan Street. 8. If you have never experienced a large scale Chinatown, Manhattan has a large and interesting one. 9. A good bagel place. I favor Murry's.

I think their sake is top notch and well valued. It's the main reason I go there. I think my second favorite sake place these days is Sushi Seki. Both places seem to have access to the unusual and have enough turn over to keep things fresh.

The ribs were not good and the brisket tasted reheated, like it had spent time in a microwave. Objectively, by any standard, it wans't good. The sides were good, better than average for a BBQ joint, and the pulled pork wasn't bad, but they had an acrid taste of smoke that stayed in my mouth for two hours. It wasn't good stuff in the view of the three other people I was eating with. Either we had an unluckly meal or.....

That's actually what my friend said (she's from Rochester and went to college near Syracuse). After eating the food in the Manhattan version, she said something to the effect of "upstate, it's more of a cultural place than a food place." And she thought what made the upstate versions so interesting was missing in the Manhattan location, which may be why I keep saying chain restaurant feel. She pointed out that some scary looking people hang out in their Syracuse location, and that makes it. She also described it as much smaller and not very nice inside. She also mentioned that because of the wait for a table, she usually drinks for one to two hours at the bar first.