Personally I think the NY Times ratings are becoming a bunch of crap. No better then the zagat ratings. Otto should be in the under $25.00 catagory. I cant realy say that it is any cheeper then some two star restaurants but I do know that it should be. I went and paid $4.00 for 8 olives as a side dish. I like all of the batali restaurants that I have eaten at including Otto, but I think Otto is way over priced. Back on the rating track. I spent the last three years cooking at long islands top rated (Zagat, NY Times, Newsday) French Reastarant. I will say It is definetly a great restaurant. I do want to know how the zagat people know it has the best service on the island they have not eaten there in years? The NY Times gave us three stars back when the restaurant first opend. That was 20 years ago. Basicaly what I am saying is everything is revolving around what is trendy and in right now, the new hot chef, or the in type of food and not the actual work that goes into the place. Most of these new restaurants being reviewed have no subsistence. They are just the flavor of the week and will be gone in a few years. I like to read Mr. Grimes reviews but I think he is falling into the same dark pit alot of New Yorkers are falling into. Instead of leading us in the right direction he is pulling us right down. I think the reviews should be about how amazing the service was or how much work went into everything they ate. Not how long the wait is or how popular the chef is. Hell you want to talk about waits, go review olive garden. I think you will probobly wait an hour to get in their as well. Hey maybe next week they will give Katze's deli ( my personal fav) two stars. I herd sandwiches are becoming popular and trendy now.
