erha2

Maison Premiere is pretty much right in the middle of Dram and the Counting Room. Check it out... http://maisonpremiere.com/

Txacoli, That is good to hear. I decided to pass on 41 degrees (it's still probably too early to make a reservation for April) and made a reservation at Tickets for my last night in Spain. I will be having lunch at Can Roca that same day but I figure I should be okay by 21:30 for dinner at Tickets, right? It seems most people had great meals at Tickets by just allowing the waiter to bring out a variety of dishes. Did you just give them a limit in terms of price?

I'm going to Barcelona/San Sebastian in early April so I emailed 41 degrees at experience@41grados.es. They responded that booking for April will start in mid-March.

Stopped by the Counting Room last night around 7:30 and was greeted downstairs by Maks who was by himself behind the bar. This will undoubtedly be my new cocktail destination outside of my neighborhood spots Death and Co. and PDT. I loved the casual, unpretentious atmosphere. The entire cocktail menu (on their website) was quite enticing and in the same vein as the cocktails in rogue (beta) cocktails. Tried the Salt & Ash, Vanishing Sun, Italian Heirloom, and an Improved Holland Gin Cocktail. All were outstanding. Maks is a super nice (and super talented) guy and I was honestly shocked by how slow business was on a Wednesday night. The wife and I were just about the only people (in the downstairs cocktail bar area) for the hour we were there. I'm pretty sure he now has all the ingredients he needs and they definitely have the Kold-Draft machine too so I hope that anyone who is into this high-end cocktail scene gives this place a chance. I don't want to place too much pressure on Maks but prepare to be blown away by his cocktails.

i got my nick and nora glasses here in NYC on the UWS. http://www.pourwines.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=915!MIN not cheap at $9 a glass but it's the only place i've ever seen them in NYC.

is there any way to get this book online now or anywhere in nyc? i saw there were the trademark issues but i don't know if anything has been resolved.

That paints midtown with too broad a brush. Even on CPS, there are expectations that a restaurant violates at its peril. ← you are 100% right about that so i take that back. anyway, i think the price/value at marea is about what i expected with respect to the location and type of cuisine. the portions of the crudo and primi are definitely smallish.

i would agree with you about the small portions but it is central park south. if you are concerned about value, you shouldn't be eating in midtown.

there were about 3 tables occupied this past saturday night at 7:30. maybe b/c of the beautiful weather? pretty much agree with bryanz and tazerowe about the various dishes. the crepes were terrible for dessert, the pizza with bacon was ehh. i did enjoy the flatiron steak on a stick with cheese (that doesn't melt). the bone marrow hit the spot as did the ice cream sandwiches (oreo cookie with coconut sorbet, snickerdoodle with espresso ice cream, and can't remember the 3rd flavor/cookie).

Great shape, but kinda big though, no? 8.5 oz is way bigger than I've grown accustomed to.... Christopher ← i would guess that is how much the glass weighs rather than how much liquid it holds. ← I would guess, based on knowing (and owning some of) Crate and Barrel's other cocktail glasses, that it's volume and not weight. I don't recall ever seeing glassware listed by weight. But who knows? Christopher ← i stand corrected...stopped by crate and barrel last night and the things were huge!

Same here. Didn't order it but the couple next to us did. The smell was intoxicating. ← it wasn't there on the menu last week on 1/20. there were no special pies that night.

Great shape, but kinda big though, no? 8.5 oz is way bigger than I've grown accustomed to.... Christopher ← i would guess that is how much the glass weighs rather than how much liquid it holds.

if you are in nyc, the bar kit at astor wines is the way to go. $19.99 for the Julep Strainer, hawthorne strainer, two jiggers (.5-.75 and 1-2 oz.), 2 metal shakers (28 and 18 oz.), 16 oz. mixing Glass, a Bar Spoon, and a Wood Muddler. of course you still need a measuring spoon but the kit is more than enough to get started.

here's a little more about the guest bartender if you are curious... http://drinkboston.com/2008/09/12/please-dont-tell/

To expand a bit on Nathan's comments: Places like Bobo, Elettaria, etc. are places where you can go there on a certain night and avail yourself of a cocktailian heavy hitter (Naren at the former, Brian at the latter). ← I'm pretty sure Brian no longer has a relationship with Elettaria.

I personally haven't. Unfortunately, you can't tell from the participating brewery list how good the beer is - there are breweries going that have put out some great new and/or draft-only stuff (like Ommegang Rouge... mmmm...), but there's no way of knowing if they'll actually bring it. I don't think this festival has been that amazing historically, but who knows? You could try and contact them and see what beers they're anticipating. From experience, $50 is a pretty standard price for a beer festival. However, you can try to contact the organizers to volunteer to try and get in for free for a few hours of service. ← looking at the list of breweries, it's hard to imagine that the beer won't be great. you have a good variety of best craft breweries from all over the country like victory, great divide, green flash, arcadia, weyerbacher in addition to some of the big belgian (or belgian style) brewers.

landmarc i much prefer the tribeca location. the service at time warner has always been a mess for me.

if you like unusual combinations of textures and flavors, try wd-50 or tailor. however, i wouldn't even begin to try to compare them to el bulli (especially considering i've never dined there).

yes, you and your companion will probably be the only people there. if i had to guess, you'd get 2 seats with no problem until 7ish.

just curious what the crowd is like...is it all the corporate-type suits or tourists? could you wear nice jeans and sneakers? also b/c it's in midtown, are the cocktails close to $20?

Actually, I believe that he has been several days/week. He was not at the restaurant while I was there, but apparently does devote quite a lot of time to it. For fairly obvious reasons, I am particularly intrigued by the dichotomy of his existence and the quality of his food. I can not attest to his neurological acumen and skills, though. ← fwiw, pim called it one of her worst meals ever... http://www.chezpim.com/blogs/2008/03/lesguard-quite.html

Between the lines... and grrr...my friends planned to go today for lunch but I informed them how the soft opening was apparently only for the press...based on egullet info. ← i went for lunch yesterday...the soft open hours for thurs-saturday are 5 pm till 12 am. they are closed sunday and then officially open for both lunch and dinner on monday. ← Well thanks to you, I'm going tonight at 8:30. If anyone wants to join, look for the guy slurping his noodles! Anywhere to find their menu? what do you remember of it? ← http://the-itis.blogspot.com/2008/03/ippudos-menu.html this menu wasn't exactly what was presented to me yesterday for lunch but it's pretty close. i had a bowl of the akamaru shin-aji. broth was heavy and quite flavorful. the restaurant had a nice buzz. mostly communal tables which were about 3/4 full. there will undoubtedly be lines out the door when they offically open for dinner.

Between the lines... and grrr...my friends planned to go today for lunch but I informed them how the soft opening was apparently only for the press...based on egullet info. ← i went for lunch yesterday...the soft open hours for thurs-saturday are 5 pm till 12 am. they are closed sunday and then officially open for both lunch and dinner on monday.

why haven't you gone yet? soft opening this whole week...

you can basically wear whatever you want...t-shirts, sneakers, whatever...as long as you don't look like a homeless person.