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In spite of the name this place is really on the Brooklyn side of the border in Greenpoint. It's a tiny place (20 seats) and has a small garden area in thr back (too cold last night). The menu changes daily and deapending on market ingredients. There is no liquor license and the corkage fee is $5 a bottle. Last night the highlight was the smoked chicken, crsipy, smoky and juciy on the inside - simply outstanding. There were four of us and five available appetizers - so we ordered one of each and just passed the plates. The smoked sausage over escarole was tasty and well prepared as was the souther-style biscuit served with butter and honey. The mussels in a saffron soup was light and flavorful. The other entries included a perfectly cooked buttermilk and corn meal coated deep-fried flouder, a vegetarian dish of pasta rags and several seasonal vegetables. Finally there was a rolled and fried jalapeno crepe filled with sausage and veggies - very tasty and fulling. As for a bowl of the complementary boiled peanuts - quite good. I'm not a dessert eater but had to try the homemade apple pie in cheddar crust. The crust was simply outstanding, but the apples a just a bit too much lemon and took away some of the apple flavor. Apps are $4-6, entrees $13-15 and desserts are $5. The address is 222 Franklin St. Don't blink or you will miss it. There is no place to wait and they don't take reservations, but there is a small wine bar a block away and they will call when your table is ready. Not a destination place, but worth the 25-minute drive from Staten Island. Call after 6pm if you want to know what's on the evening's menu - not before, they don't know and won't answer the phone.

Almost 50,000 hits and almost 400 posts - what more publicity could a food book author have hoped for on eGullet? I think we made the book a success beyond its author's wildest dreams.

Please with the kitchen excuses. A good chef can cook an excellent meal with some fire, wood and top ingredients - the other stuff is extraneous bull. You should have witnessed the dinners I put out from a galley kitchen - and at times I was cooking for a Christmas Party of 80.

Mimi, please tell us what you really thought of the dinner - don't hold anything back. A refreshing, honest post - thanks

Those who are not saints are allowed to open. The next days is All Souls Day and the same rules apply.

Interesting concept. I hope he doesn't slap the hand that feeds him. So, when you enter the restaurant, you sit down and just wait for the food? No menus, ordering (except for wine) or other choices?

← I see the makings of a new restaurant reality show - good title too.

Having read this from the beginning and not offered an opinion because the facts or lack thereof kept getting in the way of an interesting story, I can say with certainty only one thing. The book has achieved a status that most authors could only hope. People are talking about it, reviews of reviews have appeared in the NY Times and it has been the preferred subject of discussion in a number of the higher halls of "restaurantdom." What more could the author have hoped to achieve? The only real opinion I have is on the blurbs. While I agree with Steve, that most blurbs are written without having read the "complete" or final version, it is dangerous to one's credibility to retract after the fact. It makes the retractor look like a fool. If you choose to blurb without reading and you get caught with your pants down, bend over and take the punishment. The pain will be sharp but brief, not lasting and damaging.

I find it totally baffling to contemplate what the logic behind this statement could possibly be.... At any rate, to touch briefly upon a point raised by the previous poster, I had dinner at Bolo sometime around the time this thread appeared (I never noticed this thread at the time, or probably just rolled my eyes if I did), and my meal was so relentlessly mediocre, I never for a moment considered returning for another one, ever. ← The reference to being a Thoroughbred owner was simply a way to say he can't be all bad as many have suggested. Thoroughbred owners go into the business knowing full well that 95% of them will lose money, yet do it anyway for love of the greatest sport on earth. How can anyone be all bad and still invest in that business? A love and respect for horses indicates some level of compassion. As far as his restaurants in NYC - Bolo and Mesa are very good - Bar Americain is not.

But the real question is does being a food writer make him a amateur lawyer?

The laws vary from state to state on this. While it is illegal to serve alcohol (or allowing them to purchase) to people under a certain age in bars, restaurants etc., many states do not prohibit serving your own children at home. What is illegal is the abuse of children at home at that includes abuse of alcohol as well as other things. But then again, it's illegal to serve alcohol to adults at home to the point of intoxication.

Well, major restaurants get re-reviewed every once in a while. Nobu hasn't been reviewed in the Times since the Reichl era, and this was as much a re-review of Nobu as it was a new review of Nobu 57. I mean, if one took the above quote to its logical conclusion, no restaurant would ever be re-reviewed. I haven't counted, but I'd say Bruni does about one rated re-review every two months, or about six of them a year. ← Actually not. If Cuozzo is correct (and I believe he is) a restaurant should be re-reviewed at least every month or two. Since you can't do something like that in NYC, then the NY Times reviewer should had just stated that Nobu 57 and Nobu are the same, both worth the same three stars as they were years ago and devoted the column to another restaurant.

Or, one could argue, if it's a clone, why bother reviewing it all? Possibly just a mention in the Diner's Journal that one has the same food as the other. Why waste one of the precious 52 reviews on a clone?

← Bravo - a food critic that gets it. No more stars, no more broken bathrooms, no more music appreciation. Someone should send this column to the NY Times before it's too late. I'm totally impressed - someone is actually thinking outside the box

Yep. Which is why we are not making it taboo by demonizing it or eliminating it. Rather, we are trying to teach and model responsibility. And all the professionals we're working with tell us we're doing the right thing. ← Brad, I'm sure your are. In my original post I referred to a medical reason exception and certainly a family history of alcohol abuse falls into that category. My step-father was an alcoholic and it became a sad situation. What you're doing for your step daughter is more than admirable.

Just for the record. I tried that once when I was an altar boy - very ugly stuff.

I'm still wondering.

I can't stop thinking about the scene in Brave New World -- where the embryos get dripped with alcohol to form an underclass/working class. An ounce of wine to an infant ... oy. ← Do you think it should be more? I honestly don't see the difference between 15, 18, 21 years of age. Naturally, if there is a history of alcohol abuse in the family, that falls under the medical exception I made. But to prevent a 15 or 16 year old from sharing wine during dinner could be asking for trouble. What is taboo in the house becomes a desire outside the house and you can't follow teenagers everywhere. I used to dip my finger in red wine and let my niece lick it when she was a couple of months old. She's 19 now and enjoys wine with dinner. She has never been "drunk" nor has she developed a craving. She is a beautiful, smart healthy girl who is away at college who thoroughly enjoys the pleasures of wine. I should mention that my wife is a nationally-known pediatrician and her thinking is very similar.

My grandfather served me wine with dinner when I was four years old and I never stopped. I see no reason why anyone at any age should avoid wine (unless there is a medical reason). Wine is an important part of the food chain and a gift to us from nature - enjoy. Newborns would probably be healthier with an ounce of wine than several ounces of canned formula.

EGADS - someone who agrees with me - my sympathies.....

With the limited information on hand, you may want to try the 2000 Norman Vineyards (San Luis Obispo) Zinfandel. It's a good everyday day wine, a bit smoky, nice fruit and medium bodied - goes for $9-12.

Actually back in 1997, those stories were very true and I'm not talking about the two restaurant areas in Saratoga, but the management of the New York Racing Association. The people that were running the track then have all been replaced and most left disgraced, but with little other punishment. Graft was so bad, that in order to get a concesssion or construction contract, management actually asked for kickbacks. This was the subject of a state and federal investigation and is the reason why NYRA may not get its franchise renewed when the current agreement expires at the end of 2007. I want to make it clear, this had nothing to do with the integrity of the sport of Thoroughbred racing. While the Thoroughbred racing industry certainly had and has its share of cheats, Thoroughbred racing is and has been the cleanest sport in the country. Thoroughbred racing has been closely monitored for years and has levied lifetime bans against proven cheaters. It's only recently, other sports have follwed suit. Finally, paying for a table at the restaurants in Saratoga is not extortion. You call, make a reservation and tip the captain and get a better table to view the races. You don't have a reservation? Show up, slip the captain a few and maybe there will be a table - maybe there won't. I've done this in many restaurants over the years and I certainly don't consider it extortion - it's the cost of doing business.

I'm irregular but I never had the same meal twice - ever.

Glens Falls isn't that bad - the rooms at the Queensbury are nice. I could stay there for the night, unless my friends at the Chestnut Tree Inn in Saratoga got upset.

Yes, they are - when you add in the tips for the captain and the amount of photos sold to owners by the track photographer. As far as base salaries - very low for the captains (actually paid as waiters by the concession firm) and the track photographer owns the "franchise."