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I've never understood pasta in a restaurant. Most of the time it's much better at home. The one restaurant pasta that's worth the visit is the fettucine they serve at Sapori d'Ischia.

My wife and I went to Craft last evening and had an extraordinary meal. We skipped dessert because I had reservations at Room-4-Dessert (see that thread for comments). The amuse was a ham, shrimp cold chowder "thingy" - great flavor with a hint of smokiness. We started off with the Snails and Chicken Egg - snails in a brown hunter style sauce with a deep fried egg. I would have like the egg to be a bit more runny to mix with the sauce, but otherwise a great concept. My wife ordered artichokes which were perfectly cooked and seasoned and tasted fresh from the garden. For the entree my wife had King Salmon (rare). It was perfect, moist, rich and full of layers of flavors. I told the waitress I couldn't decide between the scallops and the Thai Red Snapper. I asked her to choose and not tell me. She brought out the Scallops and it was a great choice. Buttery, nice crust, impeccably prepared. For sides we had the Roasted Hen of the Woods Mushrooms, which were earthy and full flavored; Braised White Asparagus - crunchy, mellow and a hint of sweetness; Gnocchi - served in a cream reduction, perfect little pillows, airy, but packed with flavor. My wife started with glass of German Riesling and I had a very grassy Sauvignon Blanc - neither was spectacular but both were very good. I ordered a 2003 Luddite Zinfandel from Dry Creek (Sonoma). At $37, this is the best wine value in any NYC restaurant. I had heard good things about this wine, but didn't taste any until last night. It could be the perfect Zin - slight pepper, great fruit, a hint of tannin and herbs with a long, full finish. This rivals some of the Ridge selections. I would go to Craft just for a bottle and some bread with EVOO. My only complaint was the temperature. Craft is located within the Manhattan grid that was under electrical pressure yesterday and it showed. The room became increasingly warm as the evening progressed. Obviously, not their fault. Just mentioned it so the Con Ed honchos know they are jeopardizing people's livelihoods. Bill came to $250 after tax and tip. An outstanding dinner and experience.

First, let me wish eGullet a Happy 5th Birthday and since we share the same birthday, I will admit to being slightly older than that. Went last evening after dinner at Craft (see that thread for comments) and had a terrific time, not the least of which were the conversations with Will and the lovely young lady who sat next to me and my wife. I had the cheese course and it was outstanding - the most unique cheese presentation and choices I have ever seen. It went perfectly with an Auslese that we both had. My wife ordered the Berry Beret and I was lucky to get one small taste of one type (there were three). It was rich, but not overly sweet and tasted as if the berries were just picked. This was the perfect way to end a terrific evening. I was most impressed with Will. First, as soon as we sat down he came over and introduced himself and as soon as I said my name, he said cheese plate. I was very humbled he would remember. We spoke about the place, reviews, eGullet and a few other subjects. Toward the end he asked if I enjoyed bourbon. I said yes and he opened the bottle of the finest bourbon I vere the the pleasure of tasting. Since I was driving, I took two sips and my wife finished it. About halfway through our 90-minute stay, two exquisite young ladies sat next to us and Will introduced them. The woman sitting next to me asked my eGullet name since she is quite familiar with the site, and we spoke about the NYC restaurant scene. She reads eGullet but does not post, is a food writer and has her own blog and is quite interesting. I will not reveal her name out of respect for her privacy, but I must say she is one of the most attractive women I have ever met. During the evening, I noticed how efficient the place was designed and how meticulous and clean everything looked. It was crowded for the entire time we stayed (9:45 - 11:20) and everything ran smoothly. Will was doing yeoman work, but his help appeared most competent and didn't miss a step. After I bought some of his egg white powder we left and began our drive to Staten Island. All in all a great experience and I will be back with friends. Thanks Will.

Amy, make sure it's red with an "S" in the middle. It will open doors for you that you couldn't imagine. PS - thanks for having my name in your tag line.

Okay, now that it's settled, let's get back to this cape thing...

Great suggestion! Also, if there is any crime in the restaurant, you will be all set to fight it. ← Only if there's a nearby phone booth to change.

Always carry a spare cape in your car. It will "dress-up" any outfit.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this - think of how the oysters feel!

After all this, I'm glad I have my 10:30 reservation for tomorrow evening. Chef, I'm very fond of cheese for dessert, what would you recommend? And with a bottle of dessert wine as a kicker.

"The Wine Bar" in Saratoga is one of the best I've ever visited and can't wait to do so again this season.

They were (at least that night) and there aren't as many amuses as Robin Meredith mentioned.

I agree SE - the summer tasting is seven courses and the aquatic tasting is five. I think the five satisfies and the seven fills you. But take my word on this, the regular prix fix just won't do it. I'm not a big eater (very rarely have dessert at any restaurant) and I know I would have been hungry if I had the meal that was served to the couples next to us. My wife is not much of a bread eater and that's the reason she was still hungry after the aquatic menu (and as I mentioned she's in the 125-30 range). However, as I said upthread, the quality of the food is second to none.

No, I was okay (probably because of the bread), certainly not ready to pop. My wife was hungry, but we ordered the cheese plate and that satisfied her. However, if we ordered the three-course prix fix, then we both would have been hungry. The two couples next to us left hungry. I heard them talking about getting a burger across the street. And I must admit the portion sizes that were served to them were schockingly miniscule. In order to leave EMP satisfied I think it's imperative to order the five or seven course tasting menu. The three-course PF just won't get it done. And yes, that's the first time that's ever happened to us at a high-end resto.

I agree Megan, it's why I've petitioned the NY Times to move their chief restaurant critic to cover the restaurants of Fairbanks and Honolulu. Afterall, we NYers shouldn't be the only ones to benefit from those invaluable insights.

He just awarded me two stars for not criticizing him on eGullet anymore.

Yes, I will be going and will visit Beekman Steet (if they have any wine left), the Wine Bar and Chez Sophie. I have a three year old named Kal El (Superman's real name) who finished second in a Maiden Special at Belmont earlier in the month - Rick Violette trains. He should be running with the next 10 days in Saratoga will more than likely be the favorite. My prediction about The Green Monkey - he will never win a Grade I stakes race and will not break his maiden at the Spa. My backstretch sources tell me he has some sore tendons and has never fully recovered from his 8.4 work before the sales.

One thing I need to add. It was a long evening and I miscalculated the tip. I left $20 less than I should have (too much Vin Santo I guess). I phoned this morning with my apologies and gave my credit card so they could add the $20. Luckily I kept the receipt that had the waiter's name and table number. The manager thanked me and told me they would remove my photo from the dart board. I knew I felt sharp pains in my sleep.

My wife and I had dinner last evening and decided on the Aquatic Tasting Menu. On the whole, it was outstanding. However I will relay two points based on the observations originally made upthread by Robin Meredith. My wife, who is all of 125-30 pounds and has never in her life left a restaurant without a doggy bag, was still hungry after the last dessert. She is not a big eater, but actually complained about portion sizes. I was okay, not full by any means, but not hungry (I ate more bread). We ordered a cheese course to finish and that satisfied her - but not one morsel of food was left on either of our plates. But here's the real kicker. A foursome sitting next to us ordered the regular prix fix. After the main courses were finished they began laughing. We overheard them making jokes about the "miniscule" portions. The two men began laughing a bit louder when desserts arrived. Obviously, they were trying to treat it as joke, but it was just as obvious they weren't happy. I did notice every piece of food on their plates, both men and women, was consumed. EMP must lead the league in the smallest amount of wasted food. As for the meal itself, each course was better than the next with the highlight being the poached lobster. I'm not a big dessert guy, so I would have preferred one or two more savory courses and one or two less desserts. Three is far too much for my taste. We each had a glass of Chenin Blanc with the amuses and first course, then went with a Lincourt Syrah for the rest of the meal. With the cheese I had a glass of the Vin Santo Chianti Classico and my wife had a flight of three dessert wines, one ounce each and included a 1988 Y'quem. At $50, I thought this, along with the three cheeses for $10, were the values of the evening. I am noticing another trend with restaurants lately. They are giving their guests parting gifts as they exit. The Modern did the same thing two weeks ago. All in all an outstanding experience. My only problem is the same I've had in every upscale restaurant in recent years - the plate size. Chefs have become overly enamored with putting tiny morsels of food on huge plates. Please stop!!! But EMP should consider increasing their portion size. If customers are starting to laugh, that's not a good sign. They should nip this in the bud before it gets out of hand and they get a "reputation." Final bill with tax and tip came to $435.

As it happens, eGullet's birthday in next Friday, August 4th and by some strange coincidence it's mine as well. My wife was recently given a $200 gift certificate to Craft by her co-workers, so we will be dining there. However, since she said I can go anywhere I want afterward, we will be heading for R4D to sample some drinks and cheese after dinner. No reservations right? I'm guessing we should be there around 10 - 10:30pm. In any event, I can't think of a better way to cap off my birthday than with my first visit to R4D. After the reviews here, I am eagerly looking forward to it.

Six friends who live in Saratoga during the racing season ate at Beekman Street Bistro Sunday night and reported the food was fine but there appears to be a major area of concern - the wine list. They had to order four bottles before they found one the restaurant still had in stock and only had one bottle. Then the restaurant offered them a wine by the glass - which they enjoyed, only to be told there was no more after one pouring (for three people). Then it happened again with a second by the glass wine. In most cases when a restaurant is out of that many wines it indicates a "cash-flow" situation. I hope it doesn't affect the food. I don't understand why restaurants don't remove wines from the list when they're out. Or at the very least mention which wines are unavailable when the list is presented. Not saying anything is annoying, embarrassing (for the restaurant) and unprofessional. But I really don't get the point of making a wine recommendation (to a table of six) when only three glasses are left.

I know I'm preaching to the choir with you SE, because we share the same sentiments about the star system, but this has been one of the problems with the star system from the beginning. When the star system was developed, the layers of retaurants we now have didn't exist and the system worked to a degree. Under present conditions, the star system is archaic and adds even more confusion to the current, complex restaurant scene. The one thing about NY Mag's list is it at least makes an attempt to re-define stars based on perceived value. So in a "sub lux (price not quality) category" Franny can get five stars and DiFara four (a rating which I happen to agree). And Tia Pol can get five and on and on... PS - And we can add Sri to the NY Times two-star list as well.

According to the NY Times two-star rating, Little Owl competes with the big boys (WD-50, Gilt, The Modern and many, many, many, many more), just fine. "Cheap Eats" is just a marketing tool. It draws readers to the article and they determine what's useful. The Times does the same thing with its $25 an under column - it's quite rare you can eat in any of those places for that price, but it's poetic license. New York Magazine puts out a top 100 list in a couple of categories (my wife has been listed as one of NYC's top 100 doctors by NY Mag for the last 10 years). It's more for show and reference - a smaller version of Zagat's that attempts to eliminate the riff raff and pretenders in the "sub lux" category.

Not at all. Since the Advance revamped its food section in April, it's very much local (SI and NYC) with some national and syndicated articles on various pages. The recipes are interesting and topical, the features are timely and they do an international section (my idea) every week. The best part about the food section (it's normally eight pages) is it doesn't carry any restaurant reviews. The weekly restaurant review appears Friday within the news section along with a movie and/or theater review. The Advance has been running a recipe contest for years and selects winners in about 10 categories and awards a "best of show" to the overall winner. All the recipes (or at least most) are then published in a separate 50-80 page supplement that is included within a Sunday edition. They've had some reputible judges over the years - Sara Moulton was the head judge in last year's contest. All in all the Advance is more of a "foodie" paper than most. How would they define this over on the foodie thread? However, I must conclude by saying that food is about the only thing they do well, but it's worth the price of admission.

I can't recommend it, particularly not compared to Babbo. I think that if they could have come out and truly done 4 star "Italian by way of NYC" that the place could have been very interesting. But the service and experience (and to a certain extent, the food) just don't live up to this standard. At this point I'd like to see them rip out all of the overdone decor and reimagine the place as sort of a middle ground between Baboo and Lupa. ← Thanks for the reply. If they rip out the overdone decor, that would be admitting defeat (something Batali and Bastianich don't accomplish with great aplomb). That decor is said to have cost millions - so it's unlikely to be replaced for quite some time.