jaquavella

We use radishes, and red onion, usually some oregano and halopeno on a routine basis. On occasion olives or avacado, or green onion in season. Balsamic and olive oil vinagrette.

A number of defunct restaurants ran out of steam, or lost clientele. Over the past decade we have witnessed three restaurants close while they were at the top of thier game. We regret the loss of Quilted Giraffe, Lespinase, and Cello.

Those both strike me as excellent examples of tried-and-true restaurants, and Gotham has the additional distinction of being neglected by the press. Some of the tried-and-true places manage to get on various informal media short lists and get plenty of coverage: Peter Luger, Katz's, Papaya King. Meanwhile, you have places like Gotham that have to fight hard against far inferior places for coverage. Picholine is another example of a restaurant in this category: excellent food year-in-year-out, but mostly relegated to lists of "top 10 cheese carts" and "top 10 places to eat before Lincoln Center." ← Gotham has been a favorite for years. Last visited a few weeks ago, top notch. Unlike many of the newer chefs, Alfred attends to buisness in the kitchen and keeps his consulting to a minimum. I understand he spends one day per week in Philalphia.

You should check out tetsujustin's detailed review posted last week here (toward the bottom of the page, posted Dec. 20). ← All reviews have something to impart, this one can benefit from another decade at least in the wood.

We still feel David is at the top of his game. We experienced another superb dinner two weeks ago. The concentration of flavors is unsurpassed. The same week we had dinner at Per Se, Cafe Gray, Gotham, and Le Bernadin. All very good but not up to Bouley. Yes the service while, good may not be as polished and up to the level formerly present at the origional Bouley, but I understand there is a new individual on board charged with overseeing this area. You will notice from the above list of our favorites, all are chacterized by the fact that the Chef is almost always in attendance and not off on some development boondoggle

We visited twice last week. Once for dinner when Chef was in attendance. While the service was not as yet polished, it was attentive. Our special dietary problem was handled smoothly. The venue is clearly not Lespinase but one can sense the beginings of a very successful venture in its own right. The intense flavors, a hallmark of Lespinase, were apparent. Our return for a Saturday lunch before the opera was not as successful. Chef was not in attendanc, and we were seated where we could observe the kitchen. Both waiter and kitchen seemed unable to cope with the dietary problem. Despite the fact that the restaurant was empty, the food preperation was tardy and not well organized, clearly the maestro needs to be present personally to insure proper orchestration at this early point. We all need to withhold criticism and give the operation, new concept and all, sufficient time to come togeather. We look forward to return visits in a few months