DanaT

Sounds cool chopjwu, where's your restaurant? Suzanne, I'm guessing that bartender was a real Hottie. Going back anytime soon? insectrights, control freaks are a pain. A business colleague embarassed me by giving the waitstaff detailed instructions on making an iced cappucino every time we had a business lunch.

I got reservations this Thursday evening at Yasuda-san's counter!

That doesn't mean I'm not up for L'il Frankies. Or even Forninos by the look of the Fornino thread here. Maybe most people aren't into pizza during the holidays?

insectrights, I may have been a bit hasty. Do you find the restaurants have to change their approach for first time diners (for this type of establishment) during the holidays?

Suzanne, I think these two points are related. Why bring out your best staff and food if the clientele is unrefined, unappreciative and doesn't know how to behave?

Suzanne, you've got a point. Just curious to see what they'd do with the holiday. Like going to Sushi Yasuda to see what he'll do with eel and toro. In fall and winter Rolf's specializes in wildfleisch and I've heard its very good.

Granted that Menupages.com doesn't always cover restaurants fully, completely accurately, or in a totally updated way, but it can at least give you some idea of what the menu and prices are like. Here's Li'l Frankie's menupages.com page. ← Pan, the pizzas Neapolitano and Romana look delicious and right within my budget. After all the luscious talk about pizzas with seafood toppings at restaurants the group has previously gone to, though I was really looking forward to trying a seafood pizza. I've never tried one. Lobster salad pizza.

My mom and I went out to Cafe des Artistes for Thanksgiving a couple of years back. It was OK. I remember the soup was really good - a mushroom broth. I don't think the meal was CdA's normal fare. Everything was enjoyable but nothing really struck us saying WOW we have to come back. I'd love to go to Rolf's one day for the holidays. That's a restaurant that's made for dinners like this.

Hi all. I'd be interested in going to the next place if you're accepting anybody else. Franny's sounds good. I took a look at their website. The dining room looks like it has 8-10 tables along one wall that each seat 2 for 16-20 people total with room for about 6-8 on the other side. I couldn't find much on L'il Frankies though I'd be up for it. I think you've gone to Patsy's already but another interesting place is Angelo's Coal Oven pizza on 117 W. 57th St. (bet. 6th & 7th Aves.) Tel: (212) 333-4333 They can fit large groups.

OK I'm booking my place at the bar! You've got me hungering for Yasuda-san's fine cuisine. Now I know that warasa is 2-3 year old yellowtail (a little older than hamachi) and akami is red tuna, but what is aka ika? I know its squid but how is it different than regular squid. Ika is one of my guilty pleasures along with butterfish. Its cheap but its good.

So, how did it go? ← It was amazing, as usual. After every meal at Yasuda, I wonder why I spend that kind of money anywhere else. It's just so satisfying. Proof that Yasuda isn't as expensive as people seem to think: the check for two was $120. ← Geez, JJ, I spent $70 just for myself tonight at Hasaki on 9th Street and 3rd. It was good though - Alaska King Salmon, soy cured tuna, chu-toro, ikura, baby abalone, spicy cod roe, hamachi, kampachi. The sushi chef was so funny - he made sure to tell me not to use soy sauce on the baby abalone but he neglected to tell me to stay clear of soy sauce with the soy cured tuna. I think I got my yearly salt intake allowance right there. So what did y'all have? Man, if my sushi partner in crime doesn' call me back I may have to see if Yasuda takes single reservations.

So, how did it go?

hmm, what do you guys think about japanese pike? I had it last night at another restaurant but it was forgettable. Also the baby hamachi was disappointing although I remember at another time it was very firm and good.

smart move, JJ! I hope you give us the full report! Ah, anago, I love it. The one piece of fish I didn't order at my favorite neighborhood sushi place, Mishima because it didn't look good. But their red snapper was to die for and also the much maligned medium toro. Anago I gotta try at Yasuda! I also see a bluefin toro order in my future, maybe botan?

No, not a bash. Actually our meal and service were quite good and pricewise it compared favorably to meals in Manhattan so it was worth the trip. The only person who was really out of whack about the miscalculated bill was the lawyer who got his jacket spilled on the year before and never got reimbursed. I think CIA Escoffier is still a good place to try a fine dining experience at less than Manhattan prices. I never tried Caterina, Ore. What's the difference?

Oooh cool, thanks JJ! Now I just gotta use my persuasive powers when my partner in culinary crime gets back from the Bahamas next week. Normally it would be a piece of cake but right after a weeklong cruise and right before Christmas is usually NOT the opportune time to say to a pal, Hey wanna spend a hundred or so on lunch? I'll definitely want to try the omokase and maybe a couple of ala carte pieces of sushi. Does Yasuda have a must-try fish? What price range do you recommend for the omokase?

Thank you wannabechef for a truly mouthwatering review. Now I've simply got to go to Yasuda! I am a glutton for fabulous sushi. Yasuda-san is so right - its all about the rice - at least for me. Was the toro you tried the medium toro that's always on the menu when I'm ordering sushi or the delicious bluefin toro? I'm surprised the place takes reservations for the sushi counter. I never heard of that.

Hi, I've been lurking in the forum for a year or more. Finally got around to posting. I love the area of the Lower Hudson Valley for food, hiking, and cultural events. A couple of my favorite places are in Cold Spring. http://www.hvgateway.com/CS25.HTM Le Bouchon had the best fois gras I have ever tasted. The chef at the Hudson House Inn is also a CIA graduate.

Hmm, that's too bad. Its not the first time I've heard of poor service there. I ate dinner there a couple of summers ago. From what I remember the meal and service were both excellent except, a lobster/citrus appetizer didn't do much for me and they miscalculated the bill and took about 30 minutes to fix. But we had about 5 courses for $70 each including three wines and a cocktail so even with the lackluster appetizer and waiting for the bill, we came out ahead of a full service New York restaurant. Still you wish they could at least get the service portion of the package down. One couple that ate with us had eaten there before and the man told us a waiter had spilled wine on his jacket. The manager responded promptly and offered to pay the dry cleaning bill if he would send it to them which he did but then CIA never reimbursed him until he came back with our group a year later. Needless to say he wasn't impressed.

I've been reading this thread for awhile and no better time than now to come out of lurkdom. I share recipes but I don't write everything down with precise measurements. I just give the overall process; most of my friends know how to cook. Example: lamb with potato au gratin: layer of potato slices, then layer of onion slices, then layer of tomato slices all very thin in a round layer cake pan. On each layer sprinkle some chopped garlic, dried thyme, salt and pepper. Pour 2/3 olive oil 1/3 white wine over and place a round roasting rack on top. Salt and pepper the lamb and put on rack. Bake in oven for rare lamb. Incidentally this recipe came from the Silver Palette Basics cookbook and they got from Patricia Wells who got it from her butcher in France. As I was reading this, I tried to think of a reason NOT to share a recipe. The only time I regretted it was when a friend got a new ice cream maker and wanted to make fig ice cream. My great aunt had made fig ice cream when I was a child so I passed her what I remembered: dissolve sugar in heavy cream, then add vanilla, put in ice cream maker till it its medium firm, then add peeled and crushed figs and finish freezing. She later told me that the first day it was delicious, but by the third day, the cream had turned into this nasty consistency and it wouldn't melt. I was shocked and a little embarassed, she made over a gallon for one person which was more than my great-aunt would make for 15-16 children. Needless to say I hadn't remembered any leftovers or else I'd have know what frozen cream does in the freezer after awhile.