R Washburn

I thought the proceeds went to charity? Holly, Great report. I am sorry you didn't try the fries at Shake Shack, because they are very good. How many grease stains did your meal rate?

I took home a brisket from Blue Smoke, the other day (3#4oz. for $39), and it was a great value.

Has anyone tried the pizza at Cafe Fairway? They have added a new pizza oven in the past month or so and now sell 12" pies at the cafe for $8-10. I asked Mitchel London about the pizza and he declared it "The best in New York...or at least one of the best". I will have to return at lunch time to see if he is right.

All the numbers really mean is how consistently the meal met the diner's expectations. Looking at my 2003 votes I gave 3's in food to the following places: ADNY, Jeans-Georges, Daniel, Cafe Boulud, DB, Bouley, Blue Hill, Fairway, and Old Homestead. I felt that my experiences at these places met with the voting standards: 3 = excellent 2 = very good 1 = good 0 = fair-poor That doesn't mean that i think that Fairway is in the same league as ADNY.

Tasting menu? All I saw was a 3-course a la carte, plus amuse bouche, petit fours and the occasional comp (red bass with lavender and honey foam or pasta with white truffles). We didn't experience any service problems last night, although I am sure there are some problems.

Cafe Gray was firing on all cylinders last night. Maybe Gray Kunz wasn't in the house for your meal? He was there working the line, coming out and greeting customers, and even personally delivering the occasional course. I really enjoyed watching him work in the open kitchen, and getting a chance to interact with him. IMHO, Cafe Gray is already one of the best restaurants in New York, and will doubtlessly get even better with a little tweaking.

RobinsonCuisine, I hope you are a tough grader, since I have a 6PM reservation for this evening.

I gave up on the pre-frozen removable liner type ice cream makers, because my freezer doesn't really get cold enough to pre-chill the liner thoroughly. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. If you ran it too long your icecream started melting again. Just this past weekend I splurged and bought the new Cuisinart icecream maker with a built in chilling unit for $250 at Williams-Sonoma. It is a bit noisy, but it seems to do a decent job. Link : Cuisinart Supreme

Flapjack, I stand corrected. The website only says "premium", so it has not necessarily been graded prime by an inspector. Probably their beef graded "in house". I do find that their steaks are, on average, of better quality than the graded prime beef I buy at "Fairway" in NYC. It is also better than beef that passes as prime at some of New York's better steakhouses. I wouldn't bother grilling a choice or select steak.

Of course they are subjective, and I wouldn't bother going back to a place at that price point if I was dissapointed. I would think, though, that if you liked Delouvrier you would probably enjoy Daniel. Maybe you will if you ever revisit it someday.

Omaha beef is a Football team. I was referring to the "Omaha Steaks" company, which sells USDA PRIME wet aged steaks. Best in the world ? No. Very tender and flavorful? Yes. I wouldn't pay full price for them, though. At 50% off of list they are a bargain IMHO. I would try to get larger steaks, if possible. I find that he 4 or 5 oz. filets are a little too small to cook properly.

Well put Bux, although you don't have to be an expert to enjoy Daniel. What annoys me about these threads is the "Emporer has no clothes" aspect where a first time diner at a highly regarded restaurant exposes the place as a being a fraud. This is very similar to the way the professional reviewers treated ADNY, and I think that it is price related more than anything else. It is hard to really enjoy yourself if you think you are going bankrupt, and it is easy for reviewers to act scandalized over the menu prices of these top end places.

Is there such a restaurant in New York? I think most of the people who are very critical of Daniel (and ADNY) feel that at this price point the restaurant should achieve total perfection. They feel cheated when the restaurant doesn't live up to their expectations. I would say that my best meals at Daniel are probably the best meals I have had anywhere in NY, and my absolute worst meals there were still very good. I was more surprised when the NYT gave them 3 stars! Now THAT was a crime.

Omaha steak's has a satisfaction guarantee. They had to give you a refund. I like Omaha steaks, but they are certainly not dry aged. They are, however, tender, flavorful wet aged prime beef, superior to that served in all but the very best steakhouses. I would put them on a par with the steak served at the "Morton's" chain. If money was no object I would go with Loebel's, but I usually end up buying prime beef from either Fairway or Omaha steaks.

Tim, I am looking forward to your opening, and my wife and I will definitely make the trip down from NYC to try "Rx". Robert

It might have tasted a bit better fresh off the line. In my experience Le Bec-Fin is very close to Daniel in both quality and style. In fact my favorite captain at Daniel commented to me that when Perrier is in the kitchen at Daniel it is like having "two Daniels". As I mentioned above, if you don't like Daniel and ADNY, you won't care for Le Bec-Fin. You are right that the desserts are only very good, but not spectacular. Still, they are about 1000 times better than what you will find on the dessert cart at the Fountain. I know people in Philadelphia claim this, but it is not remotely true. Perrier is conservative and he is a perfectionist, so his menu does not change as fast as some, but I would bet that the current menu doesn't remotely resemble what was being served at the old Le Bec-fin in the '70's and 80's. Was "Roasted salmon, hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes and fava beans fricassee, green asparagus, lemongrass and ginger emulsion" really the way Perrier served salmon in the '70's? How about "Sautéed lobster with spiced pineapple and vanilla oil? Is that a recipe from Escoffier? I bet I have never tried at least 80% of the dishes on the current Le Bec-Fin menu. Not really, and the service problem that lead to the complaint was because Chef Perrier was trying to do a favor for the busboy in question (a recent immigrant from the Ivory Coast. IIRC) by hiring him even though he lacked sufficient experience. Repeated mistakes by the busboy provoked the captain into losing his temper. The main reason they lost the star was because so many new great restaurants had opened in recent years and Mobil wants to keep the list of five stars very short. Actually, one of my criticisms of Le Bec-Fin is that the service is overly familiar, rather than formal. I would say that the service is closer to Grammercy Tavern in style then ADNY. I would also say that one of the things you are paying top dollar for at Le Bec-Fin is an incredibly high level of service for EVERY customer. This is not Le Cirque, where they treat you like earwax unless you are a regular. They are trained to attempt to fulfill any reasonable request from the patrons, regular or not. Would they prepare a special menu for an unknown customer? I don't know, but I have never inquired. I emailed a minor complaint about the quality of a lunch at Le Bar-Lyonnais, and received an immediate response and apology. I didn't bother taking the manager up on his invitation to ask for him on my next visit. Sara, Le Bec-Fin may not be for everyone, but it is a fantastic restaurant that was years ahead of anything in NY when it opened at its new space on Walnut street in the late '80's. Now the bar has been raised, and there are restaurants in NY that surpass it, but Perrier is still competing and trying to make Le Bec-fin the best restaurant in the world. Philadelphians should be proud to have a restaurant of this caliber.

You should have sent a letter or emailed management. They are very responsive. I know Le Bec-Fin bashing is a popular local past time, but it really is the only restaurant in Philadelphia I would rate as "worth a trip" from New York. If Le Bec-Fin was in NY, I would rate it among the 10 best NY restaurants.

Alula10, what is your favorite restaurant in New York? If it is either Daniel or ADNY, then I would go with Le Bec-Fin. If you don't care for either of those then I wouldn't even consider Le Bec-Fin or The Fountain.

I really like "burger joint", but I have to say that New York Burger company is better in every concievable way and costs only $0.50 more. I haven't tried Shake Shack yet, but I don't know of any other $5.00 burger that comes close in quality to the one I had at New York Burger Co. this afternoon. Thanks for the heads up on this place.

xyz123, Of the 6 meals I have had at the latest incarnation of Bouley, the only ones I would place in the four star category were the two when the restaurant was running at half speed, just after it reopened. The service was much better and there were no problems with the kitchen. If my later experiences were comparable to those first two, then Bouley might well be my favorite restaurant. It is my opinion that Bouley just can't operate at the 4-star level while serving that many diners a night. If the ratings were broken down into separate categories for food, decor and service, then I might give Bouley 4-stars for food, but I can't see it rating 4-stars overall with out some changes.

chopjwu12, Thank you for your insider's report. It has inspired me to dine again at Bouley in the near future. I am curious about one thing. Has Bouley solved its chronic overbooking problem? That was one of the things that used to drive me crazy about Bouley. I have also noticed a large drop off in the quality of service when the restaurant is working near capacity. I am not sure if Bouley can consistently deliver a four star experience to a full house.

Will losing a star have any significant financial impact on Bouley? I don't think so. I know it makes no difference to my decision whether or not to dine there. Star ratings are going to mean a lot more to a new restaurant that is still trying to establish themself. There is no doubt in my mind that David Bouley is a four star chef, but I don't think he has a 4-star venue. Whatever Bouley's Zagat rating is would have a much bigger impact than a NYTimes star ranking. I am sure alot of diners check out the top rated Zagat restaurants as a starting point for deciding what might be the best restaurant to try. Whether or not Bruni properly handled the review I do think it was important to either demote Bouley to 3-stars, since it did not meet the standards opf a 4-star restaurant in all categories. It is unfair to hold Bouley to a lower standard then ADNY or Daniel.

Well put. I don't believe that an impartial reviewer would grant Bouley more than 3-stars. The standard has been raised considerably since Bouley first came on the scene.

Yes. I do think Bouley aims to serve worldclass food, but I don't think that he is trying to compete directly with the true four stars. I had the impression that he one day intended to open a true 4-star restaurant as part of his empire, and that the current restaurant is a compromise.

I have to say that I am not convinced that Bouley is even aiming to be a 4-star restaurant. I see it as a 3-star restaurant that is capable of delivering a 4-star experience. In my estimation Bouley should be compared to Grammercy Tavern or Babbo rather than ADNY, Per Se or Daniel. Grimes giving Bouley 4-stars was blatant favoritism, IMHO. ADNY and Daniel were held to much higher standards by the same reviewer.