dagordon

We went back last night, just to make sure that we weren't imagining anything two nights before. It was spectacular. If I were nitpicking I'd say that the octopus dish needed a touch more acid, but this is really nitpicking. The kitchen is operating at a very high level. If there's consistently better food to be had in this city, I'm all ears... Also, the front of house is very, very nice. This time we were with a baby, and they couldn't have been more accomodating. This quality of food for $45/person is borderline ridiculous. We're moving pretty close to Matyson soon, and this is definitely going to be a weekly thing for us.

I'm a little late to this, but I was very happy to see the Philly-Mag writeup about Chick's and Katie specifically. It's about damn time!

Couldn't have said it better than Yannii. Also, just to add: it's not like the only thing I said about the restaurant was that the food was 'uninspired'; this would have been unfair. I wrote about specific dishes and what I didn't like about them, and 'uninspired' comment was part of a conclusion/summation. More the point, though, my primary purpose in posting wasn't to inspire the restaurant to change its ways, but rather to warn other potential customers.

I highly recommend Matyson's Young & Delicious (aka Barely Legal) tasting menu this week -- baby vegetables and proteins. For some reason we hadn't been in a while before tonight, and as soon as the food came we started to wonder why... of the many tasting menus we've had, as I recall one was merely good, and the rest were varying degrees of excellent. This one is quite excellent. And a tremendous value at $45. The crispy smoked sweetbreads are a highlight. For a while I was turned off of the idea of smoked sweetbreads after having a poor version of the dish in this city. This is fantastic. It's smoked with what I was told are applewood and maybe some mesquite, and the result is crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside, bacony sweetbreads. The hackleback roe & lobster & gnocci is also killer. http://www.matyson.com/tasting.html

Well, our expectations were pretty low, and we were still disappointed. It's hard to imagine that Eric Ripert actually tasted much of this food. We started with corn chowder and the "grilled octupus ceviche." The corn chowder was pretty bland. We didn't care for the "ceviche." Calling a dish centered around grilled fish "ceviche" can be justified if the preparation otherwise resembles a ceviche, but in this case it was just sliced grilled octupus and yellow and red peppers. There was absolutely no acid, and it really could have used a fair amount. The octopus was a bit rubbery. The flavor of the peppers was overwhelming. We then had the striped bass and the wild salmon. The striped bass was served in a broth with some vegetables. This was a pretty austere presentation, and the quality of the ingredients wasn't up to the task. There was a flavor deficit. The salmon was the best dish of the night, but it was still underseasoned and pretty unremarkable. Even just some crispy skin would have really elevated the dish. Overall, the food was underseasoned, uninspired, and not very flavorful, and the quality of the ingredients was unremarkable. It seemed like generic hotel food. I predict two or three bells.

Di Bruno's center city has cured duck "prosciutto" from (IIRC) Buck's Country that's freaking outstanding. You can only get a full duck breast or a half, but it's totally worth it. It comes in cheesecloth which holds in a boatload of the curing spices. Also, this isn't at all a new product but it should be said that the cacciatorini from Di Bruno's is unbelievably good, by a large margin the best I've had anywhere. Just as a warning, it's really hard, so much so that it makes me realize that it's time to sharpen my knives again. If you cut it into small slices what results are more or less pork sucking candies. Available in both regular and hot; I haven't had the hot yet. I recall someone once saying that these are from somewhere in South Philly -- anyone know where exactly?

So I had my first real sushi meal at Kuruma today (I've eaten there in the past, but only at tables) and I have to say I wasn't terribly impressed. To be fair, my last sushi meal before this was at Mizutani in Tokyo, but imho the omakase I had at Kuruma was a definite notch below the omakase at Yasuda, for example. That Yasuda's rice is better is commonly accepted, but unless today was an off fish day I think Yasuda pretty clearly has the edge in terms of fish quality as well. (FWIW, we were served by Uezu-san himself, who was very nice.) Now, don't get me wrong; everything was good. There just wasn't anything particularly memorable or exceptional. And, of course, it was pretty damn pricey. (BTW, Raji, Kyubei was I think 10,000 yen per person and Mizutani I think 16,000 yen per person, and this was with the dollar at about 105 yen. Needless to say both of these meals seemed like ridiculous bargains at the time.)

This is intriguing, as they also make fantastic fresh squeezed OJ, and one of the most delicious and refreshing things I've ever had was the lemon slush with 3 orange halves squeezed directly on top I recently had at the top of the funicular in Capri. If I were prepared to leave my apartment in the next couple of days, this is where I would go...

Damn, Bruce, and Shirley was there watching this???

We were in Tokyo last week and for a long time had been struggling to get into the Ginza Jiro locaiton, without success. When we got to Tokyo the consensus among several people we bumped into (including a prominent Japanese food writer) was that it wasn't worth the hassle, and is overrated. We did eat at Mizutani, and I'll agree with the poster who described it as a reference meal. (As an aside, the night before our meal at Mizutani our hotel concierge slipped a note under our door confirming our reservation and noting that the restaurant requests that customers do not wear perfume or cologne. This was a good sign.) We had three sushi meals in Tokyo. Sushi Dai in Tsukiji at like 7am. $30/person, and at least as good as Yasuda. Kyubei was a definite notch above Sushi Dai, the rice in particular. Mizutani was on a completely different level from any other sushi we've ever had. We had a piece of uni there from Hokkaido that was perhaps the single greatest thing I've ever eaten. The flavors kept coming in waves. Having said all of this, Yasuda is still excellent sushi. In fact, that the quality of the food is so good there is all the more impressive considering that he's not 15 minutes away from Tsukiji.

Thank you so much! This is incredibly helpful.

I've heard good things about Yagenbori Nakajima shichimi togarashi and sansho (here's a picture of their 'Kona Sansho', which I'm particularly interested in). Anyone know where I might find these products in Kyoto or Osaka? I know the shop is in Tokyo, but sadly I didn't find out about it until after we left Tokyo. We did get a bunch of products from Shichimaya here in Kyoto, but I want to try the Yagenbori products. We looked around the basement of Takashimaya as well as in a couple of grocery stores and couldn't spot it, perhaps because the local places are loyal to the Shichimaya brand? Thanks!

Hi, We had a little ramen adventure today at 'Ramen Alley' in Kyoto Station. There wasn't much in English, so we don't really know what we ate; I was wondering if someone could translate! That is, if someone could tell us both the name of the shop and the name of the ramen we had. We went to three shops and had a bowl of ramen at each. This was the first shop and the first bowl of ramen: We're by no means ramen experts, but this seemed fairly unexceptional to us; the broth wasn't very interesting. The noodles did have a nice chew. This was the second shop and the second bowl of ramen: My guess is this was a hakata ramen, but I may very well be wrong. In any case, it was fantastic. A wonderfully rich, complex, porky broth with perfectly cooked noodles. This was the third shop and the third bowl of ramen: Wow. This was also fantastic. I think it was a miso ramen? If so it was our first miso ramen. In any case, it was unlike any other ramen we've had. Amazing almost curry-like flavors. Noodles perfectly al dente. Actually, it would be awesome if someone could translate the sign listing all of the ramen shops, for the good of non-Japanese speaking mankind: Thanks so much! BTW, I would have kept on going after three shops, but the wife forbade it. Maybe tomorrow...

Hi all, We have one dinner slot in Kyoto and one dinner slot in Osaka open -- any suggestions? Japanese food, of course, and we eat everything. We're on our honeymoon; cost is not a concern. We had reservations at Kikunoi in Kyoto but after hearing from a very trusted friend who ate there within the past couple of weeks and reckoned it an expensive disappointment, we've canceled. Are there any dinner spots that we absolutely can't miss? Also, where should we go for okonomiyaki and takoyaki in Osaka? And what's the best place for yakitori between Kyoto and Osaka? Oh, and any ramen recs? We hit Santouka in Shibuya in Tokyo and it was the best bowl of ramen we've ever had, though this was our first bowl in Japan. (We've only had at Setagaya and Ippudo in nyc and Santouka in NJ.) Is the "Ramen Alley" in Kyoto worth going to? We've been pretty much blown away by the food so far (Sushi Dai in Tsukiji, Kozue for kaiseki, Rakutei for tempura, Ichinoya for eel, Kyubei and Mizutani for sushi, Ryugin for “experimental” kaiseki, and Shima for beef), and we want the trend to continue. Thanks so much, David

Yeah, this was a terrific meal. We were worried when we first got there, as there was only one other table eating; but the place quickly filled up. The baby lamb rack was about twice as good as the one we had at Le Bec Fin last night, which was about twice as expensive. The cassoulet was oustanding, and craveable.

Like those people who used to speak at assemblies in grade school used to say: if I can help just one person, then my work will have been worth it. Susan, I'm glad that my post reached you.

Also, a question: anyone know what the base of the broth is in the shoyuramen? (Well, other than the shoyu?) It seemed almost beefy to me, though it's possible that my brain is just associating dark intense broth with beefiness. Or is this pork-based too? And how on earth did it take so long for a place like this to open here?

We were there on Friday night and had a blast (despite waiting for 2 hours). The two of us had the akamaru modern, shiromaru, and shoyuramen. They were fantastic. The noodles in each were perfectly al dente. The biggest surprise for me was the shoyuramen; to my tastes it was the most complex of the three. Also, though we weren't expecting much, we got the fried chicken to start and were very pleasantly surprised. A light, delicate coating that remained crispy despite the tangy, spicy sauce that was on top of it; the chicken inside was perfectly moist, tender, and flavorful. The hardest part will be deciding which ramen to get when I'm by myself -- 3 for 2 people was way too much, but at least somewhat defensible. Would it be weird to ask a stranger next to me at the counter if they'd like to split 2 different bowls with me?

Oooh, I forgot to mention this -- and this may have been the funniest moment of the evening. It was I believe while we were waiting for our check, right after my fiancee and her mother had gotten up to get their coats and leave. The two women left, and immediately someone came over to the table and proceeded to fold their napkins into pretty shapes. We nearly fell off our chairs. It's as if making sure that the napkins are folded and pretty exhausts what they take to be their service responsibility. I mentioned this in the Esca thread, but I'll repeat it here: we went to Esca for lunch that day and had a lovely meal. The rest of my party was extremely late to what was already one of Esca's last lunch reservations (which did have its benefits, as I had a "light snack" at the bar, of which my mother and fiancee remained ignorant, thus allowing me to sample more of the restaurant's menu than I otherwise would have been allowed to). The restaurant staff could not possibly have been nicer or more accommodating. I mean from the bartender to the hostess to the maitre d' to the waiter. The place just emanated hospitality. The point is that the contrast between lunch and dinner was just stunning.

I should say that I love Fairway. I think the Roque anchovies, with the yellow tops, are pretty much the Platonic form of anchovy. I make it a point to stock up on the prunes d'agen and the French raisins, both of which are outstanding, whenever I'm there. But lately I have been on somewhat of a mission to correct misconceptions about iberico pork products, one that has sometimes landed me in hot water. Yes, it's possible that I have too much free time; but I really love these products; I think that they are some of the finest edible substances on the planet. I think people should understand exactly what they are. It surprises me that my latest mission brought me to Fairway, on the UWS (though I suspect the other Fairways are suffering from the same problem). I was told by a friend that they are selling and advertising (with big, bold signage) "jamon iberico bellota." Well, this isn't available in the US right now, and won't be until around July. I suspected that they were selling paleta, which is shoulder, not jamon. Predictably, the people behind the meat counter were pretty unhelpful. I asked to see the packaging that the product they were claiming was jamon bellota came in, they told me that they didn't have the packaging. I then spoke with a store manager, Ed, who was actually very polite and helpful. He brought up the product in its packaging and we confirmed that it was, in fact, paleta. I've occasionally emailed Steve Jenkins in the past, so I shot what I thought was a very polite email about the issue, just giving him the head's up. I don't feel comfortable relaying the details of personal correspondence here, but suffice it to say their position is that ham is ham, whether it's from the front or hind quarters. Well, I called La Tienda, who was instrumental in bringing the iberico products to the US. They said that you absolutely cannot call paleta "jamon." I then called Despana, who I think pretty unarguably knows their stuff. They said that you absolutely cannot call paleta "jamon". I then called Fermin USA. They make the freaking product in question. They said that anyone who is calling paleta "jamon" is misrepresenting their product. Listen, people make honest mistakes; no problem. What matters is how they are handled. It seems like Fairway will continue to misrepresent their product, even after being informed that they are doing so. Maybe this wouldn't bug me so much if the product weren't $100/pound. Seems to me that when it's that expensive you should really be completely accurate about what it is. Please understand that this isn't an issue of terminology. The paleta is obviously a completely different cut from the jamon, plus the jamon is aged considerably longer. Part of me suspects that no one at Fairway really knew of the difference between paleta and jamon, and now they're too embarrassed to admit this.

Now we know what we've been missing. We'd been meaning to get over to Esca for a while now, but it never worked out. We made it for lunch today and had a great time. The grilled anchovies app is simply outstanding; I defy someone who claims not to like anchovies to dislike this dish. The crudo was delicious, particularly the Maine urchin (you could actually see the individual egg spheres in the urchin, which I at least haven't ever seen before in my uni -- apparently this is because they're about to spawn?). The urchin and crab pasta was outstanding. What's more, the rest of my party was extremely late to what was already one of Esca's last lunch reservations, and the staff couldn't have been more understanding and accommodating. A pleasure all around.

Well, it seems that I should have read this thread before making a reservation at Bouley. We just returned from what was undeniably our single worst service experience in recent memory. To a certain extent this makes me feel fortunate. We eat out a lot, as I suspect most reading this board do; and now that I reflect on the service aspect of the meals we've had, I realize that it has been, generally, excellent. Perhaps we're just lucky -- or, as I suspect, perhaps service is simply improving all around -- but it's really quite rare that we've had serious complaints about the service at a restaurant. Sure, there will be the occasional service blips, but rarely is it that we have gotten the sense that our server, let alone the entire FOH, just doesn't give a shit. We had a 9:00 reservation and were seated at 9:15. We were given a wine list but it took a while for menus to appear. At one point the lamp at one end of our table (a 5 top) went out. This was pretty noticeable, but it took quite a while for us to get someone's attention to come over and fix it. Moreover, even with the lamp fixed, my end of the table was excessively dark. I have young eyes, and I can't remember ever complaining about a place being too dark, but this was just ridiculous. It took a while to get someone's attention, and then we asked for a candle for our end of the table. Several minutes passed, and we asked someone else for one, and one was eventually provided. It took quite a while for our appetizers to come out. They were fairly unexceptional. I should say that the amuse, a gazpacho with green apple sorbet and slow-cooked shrimp, was excellent. But my father said that his bluefin tuna dish was mediocre; I had the "panache" of three salads, in which the shrimp and scallops were overcooked and underseasoned, the foie "Napoleon" too sweet, and the mushrooms lacking flavor. The steamed egg dish could, I think, have been quite successful, but it was overwhelmed by what I swore was coconut (though this wasn't in the dish description). The real problem was that we waited for approximately an hour and fifteen minutes for the mains to come out. At no point during this wait did anyone come to our table to apologize, let alone offer, say, a glass of champagne, or a salad, or another appetizer (all of which we would have declined, but at least the offer would have demonstrated that they cared). We were visibly tired and hungry. At one point my fiancée was essentially asleep on the table. No one came. After over an hour we managed to get someone's attention and asked about our food; we were told that it was being plated, and no apology or explanation. We waited probably ten minutes more and decided to leave. My father asked for the check. Nothing happened. After five minutes or so the mains finally arrived, and we sent them back, reiterating that we wanted to leave. We then waited over 5 minutes for the check to actually arrive. (I was urging that we should simply leave -- how long could we reasonably be expected to wait?) Now, the one thing that the restaurant could have done at this point to salvage the possibility that we would come back in the future would have been to comp what we had had so far. Of course they didn't. By now it was probably 11:15. On the way out we told someone whom I presume was the maitre d' that our experience had been pathetic. Delays happen, I told him -- what matters is how you handle the situation. At the very least simply go to the table and apologize for the wait. If it were my restaurant I would, as I said, offer the table a round of champagne, or a salad; something. Just something to suggest that you're aware of the issue, and that you care. This isn't rocket science, I explained; this is basic customer service. The gentleman's response was hilarious: he said that we didn't give them the opportunity to make the wait up to us. Normally, he said, they would have comped dessert; but we left before the mains. This guy just didn't get it. If a table is waiting for an hour and fifteen minutes in between courses, you have to do something while they're waiting -- even if it's just telling the table that dessert will be on the house. Unbelievable. My father left no tip, which I don't think he has ever done before; and ordinarily we would not want to punish all of the servers for the errors of one or two, but in this case the problems seemed so systemic. There is no way that we will return to this restaurant in, say, the next 15 years. Snootiness is one thing; you can emanate a certain snootiness and still provide the fundamentals of customer service, still show that you care. This was more like sheer and utter cluelessness and indifference, again of a level totally and completely beyond anything we have experienced anywhere in recent memory.

This is a fair point you raise.

The "of course" was not intended to suggest that my position is undeniable, just that its denial does not survive serious reflection. This really isn't a terribly appropriate place to have this debate, and there is a lot of literature on this both in the philosophy of biology and the philosophy of language. But if you think about what happens when someone dies, at precisely what point does the person go from being alive to being dead? It seems exceedingly implausible that there is a particular instant of time at which a person goes from being alive to being dead. Well for all I know the lobster that the OG serves technically qualifies as "dead" for you, as it may well be that it is "absolutely incapable of feeling pain or suffering." I just don't know, and neither do you. No one does at this point, and it's unclear that we ever will. But it is quite relevant to this discussion whether a living lobster can feel pain, as if it can't, then you are in no position objecting to a person's eating live lobster. No offense intended, but the debate over which creatures other than ourselves can feel pain is too complex to be resolved by these sorts of reflections. Again, there is a lot of literature on this, and a thread about where to find a particular variety of sashimi is hardly the place for a lesson in evolutionary biology.

Being alive or dead is, of course, a matter of degree, and the degree to which the quivering lobster that OG serves is alive is vanishingly small. And given that it's controversial whether even a quite alive lobster can feel pain, I for one am not losing any sleep over this dish.