Sneakeater

I believe her words were "mushy and unpleasant."

FWIW, there's a list of "Brooklyn cuisine" restaurants in the current issue of New York that (accepting the basic misguidedness of attempting such a list) actually sort of captures what's best about the "new" Brooklyn restaurant scene.

It's a major peeve of mine, too, and I'm grateful to learn a way to deal with it.

I don't think you could say a 1973 Pichon-Lalande was "well-aged" in 1977. If anything, at that point it would have been a young wine that you'd have expected would benefit from breathing.

I love Kim Severson, but if she says one more bad thing about shad we're going to have to step outside.

Reading this is making me wonder how and to what extent Bolivian food differs from Peruvian. I'm guessing that it's more dependent on region than nation, and that the cuisine is not coterminous with borders (so that Andean food is pretty much Andean food whichever of those countries it's eaten in, whereas the Peruvian coastal and jungle regions have no Bolivian counterparts). ?

You know, when I think about how much I don't spend on bottled water in restaurants, I almost don't feel bad about my wild overspending on wine.

Does it need to be added that you should be sure to stop in the back for some tacos, tortas, and/or sopes before you leave?

Pan, are you saying that this water that people pay for doesn't have a different taste????????? I am shocked . . . SHOCKED . . . . to hear that.

If I were going to pay for water (and I hope that day never comes), I'd sure want to make sure it didn't get mixed with free tap water either. I mean, otherwise, what's the point? Don't you change glasses when you switch wines?

I walked past the Kiev the weekend before last, and there was a sign out front that looked like it was a few days old saying that they were serving their last meals (as of the date of the sign, which as I said looked a few days old). The Kiev itself looked like it was getting prepared to be dismantled.

I read that, and I wanted to buy you an Adios Motherfucker myself.

Thank you, thank you!. All I can say is that after a day of explaining to presbyopic 45 year old women that the colored vanity lens would only fix a friction of their vision issues and being bitched out about it and then going to my other job and selling gadgets such as a cheap forks that tell you when your meat is done (don't get me started on those things I hated them!) to people who considered "Sizzler" to be the home of the BEST steak ever, well by the end of that day I was ready to stab said blind women with those forks. Bad fajitas and cheap liquar won't solve your problems but they will lull you into a slightly drunken slug-like nitrite lull- and somedays that is as close to relaxing as you can get. ← Wow, that's even more persuasive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, don't they have weirdly restrictive seating requirements (to prevent undue stress on the kitchen)? Don't they pretty much refuse to seat you at 7 or even 8, instead preferring 6 (or 6:30 if you beg nicely) and then 9? I don't think I'm alone in finding a 6 o'clock seating a bit rough. Anyway, in that case, you'd expect the restaurant to be pretty empty for the first seating, and to fill up later. But the place still misses out on what I'd consider the prime seating time. So it may be that some of their problems (if indeed they're having any) are of their own creation.

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.

I don't want to be defensive about this. I have no stake in this place and really don't care if anyone else likes it. (I hope that didn't come out sounding nasty; I just mean that I don't want to be forcing my opinion down anyone else's throat.) But I've got to say that a multi-course pre-theater meal is almost necessarily going to involve some rushing. If the eaters don't rush, then the servers must. As someone noted upthread, multi-course pre-theater meals are almost a bad idea (although one that both of us, obviously, can't resist).* I remember thinking, even back from the many times I went to this restaurant back when it was new(er), that Picholine was kind of miraculous in getting pre-theater customers out in time. I've never missed a curtain from there (and I've often cut it close). _____________________________________________________ * Not that this is of any conceivable interest to anyone, but I much prefer to have a late supper after theater than to try to dine beforehand. But last Friday's opera didn't end till eleven, and even if I can eat that late, I didn't want to force that on my guest.

And very persuasive, too!

The two lower levels of Au Bon Climat (from Santa Barbara, CA). The cheaper one is about $18. The next most expensive one is $35-$40.

Frankly, speaking only for myself and no one else, I've never drunk any cat's pee, either. (Although I like Villa Maria so much that it makes me think I ought to try.)

We were, too. It was sort of comical the way we were looking for things we could put it on. You're right. If I didn't mention that in my report, I should have.

I guess the reason I'm so enthusiastic is that here's this meal I had at this place you hardly hear mentioned anymore, and it was better than any meal I've had recently at any comparable lower-end-of-expensive establishment in New York. Better than Tocqueville. Better than Hearth. Better than Cru. Better than Wallsee. Better than Town (I can't speak to Country yet). Better than Jovia. Better than 5 Ninth. Better than Cafe Boulud (well, OK, maybe not, actually). Better than any of the places that always (almost reflexively, it seems) get recommended here. I'm not knocking any of those other places. I like all of them, some of them a lot. But here is this place that, to me, Friday night, seemed better.* It's a shame if it gets lost in the shuffle. ____________________________________________________________ * I know: it was just one meal. It could have been the company, it could have been the occassion, it could have been my mood. We all have to understand the limitations of the one-shot hit-and-run reporting we get on sites like this.

Believe me, it more than works!

I should add something about the duck risotto that I stole off my dining companion's plate. What a great dish. I note from the a la carte menu that it's one of their cheaper options -- but I'll bet it's one of their best. Too often, risotto is simply too rich. Not here (and you'd be especially concerned because of the richness of the duck). It was exquisite.

You spread the butter on the toast you put the foie gras on.

I went to Picholine for the first time in years -- maybe a decade -- Friday night. Yes, we went for pre-theater (pre-opera, actually). But I still have to say that I completely failed to remember how good this restaurant is. If that was their second-best experience, then I MUST go back for a 9 PM reservation to see what they can really do. Because my meal on Friday was simply excellent. The pre-theater meal is a three-course prix fixe for $78. As far as I can tell, everything on the menu is available. I started with the Veal Sweetbread Boudin Blanc, with fava beans and other greenery. This sausage was superb. Using sweetbreads makes for the lightest boudin blanc you've ever had. Then the Wagyu Beef Shortribs Two Ways (I can't tell you what two ways they were cooked, but one was soft and one wasn't). Very good. One of the sides was a Kim Chee Puree -- a great idea, beautifully executed, interesting and delicious and a perfect complement to the rather plain meat. Cheese tray for third course. What is there to say? Picholine remains an excellent source for imaginative, well-thought-out, well-executed food. (If the execution was this good when the kitchen was obviously stressed, I can only imagine what they turn out later in the evening.) The prices are more than reasonable for what you get. So why don't you hear much about Picholine any more? I think it's because Picholine has gotten pegged as a pre-Lincoln Center place, and people don't really think of going there for its own sake. It used to be that you could say that it's the neighborhood (who'd go for a serious fancy meal on West 64th St.? That's Cafe des Artistes territory, for God's sake). But now that Jean-Georges and the Time Warner places have opened, that no longer holds. I haven't been to Telepan yet -- I'm eager to try it -- but quite frankly, I'd be very surprised if it turned out to be better than, or even as good as, I now realize Picholine still is. I really think people should start considering Picholine a serious dining destination again.