Sneakeater

This is absurd.

My wife and I had many many wonderful lunches and Ferdinando's. May I ask what year your picnic was? ← Getting personal, aren't we? May, 1986. The last time the Mets won the World Series. ← I was just curious, for some reason, if it was before we started going there, or when we were going there. Not that you care, but we overlapped.

When I heard that Trout, an outdoor bar on the corner of Smith and Pacific in Brooklyn, was serving that legendary Rochester specialty the garbage plate (http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=82797&hl=), I knew I had to go. And of course I had to get, as a guide, the only Rochester-generated foodie I'm aware of in New York (or at least Brooklyn), H. du Bois. Trout is sort of the back yard of a bar called Gravy that Alan Harding runs at the very north end of the Smith St. strip. It's one of those downscale-by-design places, to me at least very comfortable and very fun. The cocktails are, to be kind, not good. The beer is good and copious. Alan Harding still being Alan Harding (credentialed chef who also runs serious restaurants), I gather this was a relatively upmarket garbage plate, despite the surroundings. It was also delicious. At the bottom was a bed of french fries, which appeared to be hand-cut and were, in fact, very good. Next to them was a mound of macaroni salad. There was also some sort of mayonaissey salad or something (one of the main appeals of a garbage plate is that it's hard to tell exactly what you're eating) with grated cheese (I think it was cheddar) on top of it. Topping all this off were two hamburgers with some chili-ish sauce. It tasted really good. My only complaint about this imported (and perhaps somewhat sanitized) garbage-plate experience is the same complaint I have about the new Meatpacking District: you really miss the trannie hookers. Now that I've fulfilled my dream and had a garbage plate, I'm not sure I'll be rushning back for another. But it was at least as good as I'd hoped it would be. Perhaps H. can give us the insider's perspective.

My wife and I had many many wonderful lunches and Ferdinando's. May I ask what year your picnic was?

Yeah, sorry.

Sorry. Missed that when I posted the above.

Yeah, but that's sort of what I mean. It isn't "really" a one-star restaurant. The food is much better than that. It just doesn't make sense to analyze it in those terms. It's sort of a hybrid existing outside the borders of that kind of analysis. (And it makes even less sense here, where the local "star" analysis has so much to do with how much the food costs.) That's why I think all the agonizing about whether it's a NYT "four star" or "two star" is beside the point.

Isn't the problem with fitting Atelier into the star system that the whole point of the enterprise is that it isn't supposed to fit into the star system?

For the record: 1. The two times I ate at Atelier (both during the "soft opening" phase in August), the counter, at least, was completely full. 2. There was only a $160 tasting menu then. 3. Unlike Nathan, I didn't feel any pressure to order any particular amount of food. 4. Both times I was there, most Americans at the counter were ordering tasting menus, and most Europeans and Asians seemed to be ordering a la carte. (I attributed this to the exchange rate.*) Few people were ordering very little (or, to eliminate the double negative, the people who were ordering a la carte seemed to be ordering a lot). 5. Both times, I had to ask for bread, and then I had to ask separately for butter. I found the bread unexceptional. 6. Both times, I found the service friendly (but not overly familiar or obtrusive) and -- except for the bread service -- fully competent. ______________________________________________________________ * I understand that, theoretically, you could order very little off the a la carte menu and get off relatively cheaply. As a practical matter, though, I can't imagine waiting an hour for a seat and then ordering only a little. It isn't just a matter of "self control"; it's a matter of the value of time. So from a value perpsective, the tasting menu seems to me (and, apparently, many of my fellow diners) to be a much better deal than the a la carte menu. I do agree, though, that no opprobrium would be heaped on anyone who only ordered a small plate or two.

I always stop in LeNell's, too, and make it a trifecta.

It's not like you have to choose.

You are leading a VERY charmed life.

I think a nice Vodka and Tonic would be nice.

Hudson Square? (New realtors' term for far west area around the tunnel entrance -- which genuinely used to be called Hudson Square before it was torn up to make room for that entrance.)

The staff there is very knowledgable about the wines on offer and are more than happy to assist you in your selection if you tell them what kind of thing you like in general.

Cocktails. They're not just for breakfast anymore.

If they wouldn't be impressed by trannie hookers with guns, I don't know WHAT would impress them. My offer stands.

I'm not johnder (and I'm not proud of these businesses), but as someone from an adjoining neighborhood (John can give his more truly local list when he logs back on): Al Di La Tempo Rose Water Stone Park Cafe

Still do (although in what may be a telling sign it's gotten much bigger and somewhat worse over the last couple of years).

(To me, the "unique" "authentic" New York experience is really something like Daniel.)

Since, by mentioning Little Italy, the original poster signaled he's probably looking for "unique" "authentic" New York experiences (which Little Italy no longer provides), what would we recommend instead? Katz's? (Delicatessen on Lower East Side, corner of Houston & Ludlow)

You don't usually look to Jules Langbein's Bruni Digest for substantive analysis. But she said what I was trying to say in defense of Freeman's and its clientele (to be clear, I was defending them against ewindels, not against Bruni) so much better than I did that I thought I'd quote her (in part): My point is, Manhattan is squeezing out its mid-priced restaurants, and I love Brooklyn, but sometimes you just want to wear a party dress and go to the Big Island. Freemans’ popularity isn't a perverse result of its hidden locale. Freemans is crowded because people without a ton of cash can have a rich night out in a place full of character. And the artichoke dip is nothing to shake your Osetra tin at. Which doesn't mean it deserves a star. http://brunidigest.blogspot.com/2006/09/fr...music-died.html

Re: Italian. People don't talk about Jonathan Waxman's Barbuto much (Washington St. at W. 12th St.), but I've enjoyed it everytime I've eaten there.

I'll bet to Dr. Sconzo, 5th Ave.'s being bohemian is a pretty big change.

Well, you know, we all have different interests. Give me a good cocktail and I probably wouldn't notice Wylie DuFresne's kitchen at WD-50.