Sneakeater

It may be important to note that Xian's Famous Food now has a Manhattan location: 88 East Broadway #106 (btw Forsyth St. & Pike St.)

The bread sticks at Sorella are as good as the ones at Maialino (none of the rest of the food is, unfortunately).

Just to pile on, I think the Henry's End wine list is one of the hidden gems of the New York food scene. It really IS just what you're looking for.

Does anyone know how that works, practically, though? If they open a bottle for you that they don't usually use for pairings, what do they do with the rest of the bottle?

Shouldn't the name of this thread be "Inauthentic Italian"? Or, at least, "Authentic Inauthentic Italian"?

It's a tribute to how special this restaurant was.

True. But sometimes, really, if commercial enterprises fail, you've got to think of why. Unless you just want to be smug. Which is not a very good posture for a discussion board.

This is unfair. I liked Tailor a lot. But I know a lot of people (whose opinions are otherwise trustworthy) who didn't like it at all. To act as if Ochowie's dislike of his meal there had to be the result of some fault in his palate or some strange one-off kitchen failure is simply closed-minded. If EVERBODY liked Tailor as much as I and most others in this thread did, then it would still be open. Let's not forget that. And please let's cut off the groupthink and permit contrary opinions. Please.

THEN NOW Any review that ends with a quote from the Wire's resident philosopher Snoop (“Deserve got nothin’ to do with it") has me hooked, sure, but I don't think it's merely the (very) clever allusions. "[A]s safe as Cal Ripken"? Ouch. Bangs would be proud. Chris, what turned you around?

Because it was, to my knowledge, the first -- and it is still one of the very few (if not the only one) -- of the "new" cocktails that really took off at a broad range of bars other than those at which its creator worked.

As an objective matter, you'd have to say that the Gin Gin Mule is probably the most significant (and we all want to honor Audrey). My personal favorites of the decade are the Oaxaca Old Fashioned and Eben Freeman's Waylon. And of course Don's Benton's Old Fashioned was a mind blower (and we all want to honor Don).

I was being totally facetious. Bacon is the LEAST underappreciated food in the world.

Bacon.

Bad part of town. For cocktails: King Cole Bar at the St. Regis Ma Peche in the Chambers Hotel Unless anyone can think of anything, pizza will be ordinary. (Although ordinary NYC slice pizza can be pretty good.)

You're in a tough spot. I could never really recommend eating dinner at 5:15. But in the end, yeah. (Nurse your cocktails, and delay putting in your dinner order -- that's what I'd recommend.)

It's a bit cramped. The tables are smaller, and closer together. I think the ceiling is lower (although it may just SEEM that way). It just isn't as nice as the dining room. I mean, it's the bar.

Also, if you mean your wife likes the look of the DINING ROOM at Daniel, then eating in the lounge won't give her that look. I eat alone at the bar at Daniel with some frequency, but I wouldn't really recommend the lounge for a dinner a deux. For that I'd hold out for the dining room.

I too like the look of the menu at Daniel better than Jean Georges. So I hope your wife will believe me when I say that food at Daniel, while sometimes excellent, can be disappointingly uninspired in execution (no matter how good it looks in theory). I like going there -- but only because I live in New York, and so can stand the risk of a so-so meal on a given night here. Jean Georges is the better restaurant.

Not only do they, but Victor the bartender is one of the great hosts in New York. The problem with the bar at Esca is that in its current iteration, it's tiny: no more than six seats. (It used to be huge.) So if you walk in during prime time, you can't count on getting seating there.

Re: grabbing seats at the bar at Maialino. THEY DO NOT SERVE THE FULL MENU AT THE BAR AT MAIALINO. THEY SERVE A BAR MENU. NO ONE I KNOW WHO HAS HAD THE BAR MENU THINKS VERY MUCH OF IT. (We all must collectively insist on this being changed.)

This is an interesting sidelight. If I'm eating before (rather than after) a performance, I always strongly prefer to do so in the neighborhood of the performance, so I don't have to travel there. There's too much angst in needing to get a cab on time (and not getting caught in unexpected traffic) when you're on a tight schedule. (This is one of the many reasons why I hate to eat before rather than after things.)

Birdland is great. If I had a 9:30 show there, I'd try to snag a hard-to-get 7 PM reservation at Esca. Barring that, consider the not-great-but-perfectly-acceptable Chimmichurri Grill.

Also in the Theater District, Casallula (52nd St. -- I think? -- just west of 9th Ave.) for wine and a snack. Great place (even if their legendary cheeseologist -- OK, what's the word for that? -- recently left).

WAIT! I just thought of a good place for drinks near Les Halles: the uptown 'inoteca, on 25th St. (I think?) & 3rd Ave. (Also, when you see the food they serve you'll feel even sorrier you ate in Les Halles.) Also, in the Theater District, the Blue Bar in the Algonquin Hotel is Not Terrible. Just don't expect to see any New Yorkers there (or in anywhere in the Theater District, for that matter).

This may be hard to believe, but the answer to this is actually no. The Rye House, which just opened down the block from Aldea, is very nice. There's nothing good near Les Halles. (You'll be sorry you're eating there, BTW. It's pretty bad.) For Jean Georges, you might consider the lobby bar in the Mandarin Hotel across the street. (Non-guests can still get in, right?) I wouldn't be caught dead there myself, but you might not be as much of a snob as I am. The view is concededly great. I can't help but recommend Bar Boulud, which IMO towers over everything else in the area (with the caveat that you order gently).