ulterior epicure

Oh, right - I forgot about Craigie. Great suggestion. Isn't Oiishi a chain? That's not, per se, bad, but it makes me a little uneasy. Of course, I could be completely mistaken; this Oiishi may just be spelled the same as sushi chain that I've heard of.

I just saw the menu for L'Espalier online. I know it's most likely not current, but my, my, it reads wonderfully. Thoughts?

Two more things: 1. Clio?? 2. Needs to be manageably accessible - I will be staying near the Institute of Contemporary Art. Will not have car. But, having lived in Boston for a while (many moons ago), I'm T/cab friendly.

Looks like I might be headed back to Boston (first time back in too many years) soon. I'm so out of the loop on the local restaurant scene, and would like some vetted advice from the local eG'ers. I'll most likely have time for two dinners. I'm looking for two high-end restaurant experiences. No. 9 Park will probably be one. Any other suggestions? I'm a sushi devotee, and I've heard Uni is good - but I also have heard that it's what I call "modern" sushi. I'm a purist. Hammersley Bistro, L'Espalier, and Locke-Ober have all been on my radar, but I have no clue as to their current status. One wrench in the monkey: One dinner inevitably will be a Monday night.

Duck fat - I think McGonigal's has it. (wench - weren't you ISO back in the colder days for duck fat for a flageolet?). Let me know if you/where you find veal bones.

I can see how this might not be the most popular "Sweet" item on the menu, but I think it was my favorite as well. If you like sour tastes, then I suspect you enjoyed the Lemon Curd "Sweet?" That was the other one that I liked as well.u.e.

Engagement - as in marriage? I would normally say Avenues (and still might, depending on your personality(ies)). However, TRU does seem to have a bit more of the "couples special night out" ambience/feel/atmosphere. Hard call. You can't really lose with either.

Recently had dinner at Momofuku Ssam Bar. The pictures (sans comments for now) are up on my flickr account. FWIW, despite being an uni-lover, I did not enjoy the uni dish as much as I would have liked to have. I think it was the tofu cream - it had a strange flavor that was unlike any tofu/soybean I've ever had.

Someone on another food forum commented on the fact that the comments with my photos seemed less positive than my "overall" review of Tailor, which I have posted upthread a few posts. Here is my response: I was, overall, positive about my experience at Tailor. Keep in mind that I was commenting on Tailor vis-a-vis other American "avant garde" restaurants, per ******'s initial inquiry/prompting. Compared with Alinea and WD~50, I did like Tailor very much. I think that Mason's food is a little more subtle and smug than Cantu's (Moto), which is very brash and knocks you over the head with bold metaphors and food concepts. As I commented to a friend who was with me at Tailor, I would return to Tailor on a semi-frequent basis, just out of curiosity, if I lived in New York. As it is, being "tourist" and "food traveller," my time and meals in the city are a premium. Their are but a handful of restaurants in NYC that I have found so utterly astounding that I'd eagerly go back for repeat visits (in case you're curious: Jean Georges, Babbo, and Sushi Yasuda - and perhaps EMP. I'd not be disappointed in re-doing Casa Mono at any time, either). Tailor, at present, is not among them. I think what Tailor did for me, that no other American restaurant has done to date, is successfully made me reconceptualize/reposition/reorient/revolutionize the way I perceive and understand the roles of savoriness (i.e. saltiness) and sweetness in a "traditional" (American) meal. I have eaten extensively throughout Asia and have had enough encounters in Scandinavia and with Scandinavian food to know that in those cultures, savory and sweet bleed into each other quite frequently in ways completely different than any other part of the world. Tailor did that for me here in the U.S. and with "Americanized" food. That, in itself, was worth my time, money, visit... and I dare say, a re-evaluation some time down the line. It's not a place I'd go back to just for the food or atmosphere (as much I enjoyed the space/service). But, I think it's a place that I "get," and I appreciate what I took away from it. Jean Georges and G. Elliot Bowles (whom I liken to a kid in a candy store), are the only other two chefs (in America) who have come close to doing what Tailor does, successfully). Caveat: I have not been to Pichet Ong's P*ong.

I'm on the road (and about to hit the 'stack after a long day of VACATION), so I'll just post some initial thoughts of my experience of Tailor, overall, here for now. More thoughts later to come. As opposed to Alinea, WD~50 and Moto, all of which I have been to, I think Tailor is, with Moto, the most successful - for my tastes. Now, for those of you who know me, althought I don't doubt the talent, craft, skill, and innovation of Achatz and Dufresne, my visits to their restaurants failed to grab me. I left Alinea (on two occasions) and WD~50 (on one visit) completely deflated. Moto was fun - mostly for theatrics, but the food was also tasty. It was the most gimmicky of the "avant garde" American restaurants... but at least the food was good, and I was amused. As a diner, I felt more "invited to participate" at Moto than at either Alinea and WD~50, where I felt removed from my food - as if I were just one more visitor to a "gallery" or "museum" of modern food (art). Tailor, to me, both in atmosphere and food, is much more primal. At core, Sam Mason is trying to create an event, as well as a pleasant, tasty, but challenging meal. The dishes may not "come as easily" to most, as would most mainstream "fine dining" food/establishments, but there is a spectacular flavor and texture schema going on here that goes beyond what others have appropriately referred to as "experimentation for experimentation's sake." The food is, for the most part, tasty. I can't say that I was ecstatic about all the combinations and flavors, but I very much enjoyed tasting all of them, and thinking about them, without over-analzying them. They were all very tasty. I would say that the only one that I found thoroughly uninteresting was the Caramel Panna Cotta from the "Sweet" side of the menu. The weakest "Salty" item was probably the Snapper. I thought the flavors were all individually interesting - and together they affected a unique combination - but the title role, 'Snapper,' seemed out of place... detached from the rest. A dining companion pointed out that The Lemon Curd seems to be exactly the same dish that Mason served at WD~50. The "Soft Chocolate" dessert course at Tailor, I thought, seemed like a coy "wink and nod" to his colleague Alex Stupak; it was near-similar to a Chocolate Twist dessert that I had eaten at Alinea, under the stewardship of then-pastry chef, Stupak. I loved the interior design of Tailor. The space must have been a garment store? I puzzled over the name of the new restaurant, but after visiting, I *think* I get it - the servers (who are all very svelte and trim) are in tailored pinstriped grey wool. The interior has a chic rusticity with a commanding back wall of pin-striped wallpaper. The bartender perches above the dining room in a separate room in the back - you can see him, and his bottles through a large opening. Upon first entering, I thought he was the DJ. The service is very professional, and rather efficient. The room was full and empty throughout different periods - they seemed to come and go in waves. More later, if you are still curious. u.e.

Always a pleasure, BryanZ. Wish you were here to play with us.

Giving this thread a bump. In lieu of my cancelled reservation at Ushiwaka Maru (due to DOH problems), I am out in search for a good sushi dinner. I have done Yasuda twice. I'm not interested in Sushi of Gari or Kurumazushi. Do not feel like spending my first child's college fund on Masa right now... Many have poo poo'ed Jewel Bako on this forum, but I can anyone, whose gone recently, give me specific reasons (i.e. specific experiences and disappointments) why I should not go?

The entire food portion of the menu, both "Salty" and "Sweet," are posted in pictorial particularity on my flickr site.

With the caveat that we're speaking in terms of Kansas City, I can vouch for that.

FYI - Had reservations at Hideo-san's station at Ushi Wakamaru... they called me and left a message on my v-mail: The Health Department made a visit today and were shut down. They do not know when they will re-open, but do not anticipate re-opening in time for my Saturday visit.

Funny you should ask, kendix - my friend just told me she's taking a knife skills class in the coming weeks at the Kansas City Culinary Center. They usually have a lot of different classes that also include tastings. I've not been, but I've heard some people really enjoy the classes. I know that the Williams Sonoma stores (Plaza and Town Center Plaza) have similar cooking/kitchen skills classes. u.e.

Don't - they open, close and move almost constantly! I'm sure you'll be sharing new-found treasures with us before we know it. ← Hush. Speak not blasphemy. We don't even have a Trader's Joe yet... please let us not lose what precious little we have. Speaking of... with the merger of WF and WO - does anyone know whether our local WO will still be operating as such, or if we get the lucky break of getting two new WF? u.e.

If between the six of you, you tried everything on the menu thrice over, and all dishes tried have been mentioned, it seems that the menu is manageably limited - that is, about 4-5 savories and the same of sweets. No?

... or, any savories that are so good that one should hold back at dinner??

If you can wait less than a week, I'll try to get there and report back (photographically). u.e.

Okay - new question. Last night, I attended an outdoor party where the host had invited a steel drum band. Awesome. It was balmy and breezy, and if you closed your eyes, the Midwest prairie plains could have been the Caribbean. (A land-locked Midwesterner can have his dreams, you know.). Well, last night's brief escape and interlude in the work week reminded me of the Bahamas, where my family used to vacation (before it because a docking station for large floating party machines). One of my favorite treats as a child was the beach cook-out that we used to attend - with a live steal drum band. Any places in Miami or the Keys where we might be able to catch some local food at sunset with a steel drum band? I think it would be a great way to re-experience an old family favorite that we've missed for years. We'll be going in late October - hopefully the weather isn't too cool by then to be en dehors at night? Thanks in advance, everyone, for your help. I promise to report back.

Oh, one more thing on L'AdJR - small plate focused. Another indicator o "less formal" dining, according Fabricant.

Some of the examples are definitely borderline, but Babbo has tablecloths and many of the traditional trappings, even if the sound track reminds you not to take it too seriously. I felt that any restaurant in Robuchon's price league simply has to be rated in that category.I have to agree with Nathan on this one, I wouldn't consider Babbo fine dining. The fact that its tables are among the hardest to book, the volume (moreso the "soundtrack"), the bar, nay sardine can, at the FOH, and the dresscode (or lack thereof) puts it squarely in the category of the "newer less-formal" restaurants that Fabricant writes about. In this respect, I suppose Babbo was ahead of its time... either that, or Babbo was never intended to be a fine dining restaurant, in the sense of per se, Daniel, Le Bernardin, etc..., which I think is closer to reality. As for Robuchon, I would also disagree. First, as Fabricant notes, hotel restaurants are shedding their gilded silverware and tuxedoed-service for something more familiar and accessible. This is the case with L'AdJR. Second, price wasn't a main factor in Fabricant's assessment/definition of formality. Yes, L'AdJR is expensive. My companion and my lunches cost us well over $100 - each. That still doesn't make it formal to me. Third, L'AdJR's clientele certainly don't treat it as a formal restaurant. The couple next to us (presumably outgoing guests of the hotel) were on their way to the airport - and they looked like it. The family on the other side of the were clearly (wealthy Japanese) OOTers; the daughter had on jeans. The father had on a short sleeve polo, as did the mother. Lastly, any place where the "bar" is the main attraction (with the exception of perhaps Masa), in my book, can't be fine dining.

Did anyone catch last night's episode of Top Chef? Chef Michael Schwartz was on as guest chef. I was seriously sorry for what they subjected him to... especially Hung's "Quick Fire" cereal landscape.

annecros, thanks for splitting off this thread and giving it one more wink. Well-prepared Nova is a favorite. Sage sounds like an all-around winner, although I guess I'll have to fill up on matzo balls elsewhere. Absolutely no spaghetti in my chicken schmaltz and mazto meal!! Blasphemy.