Sneakeater

One problem with this thread is that people are applying criteria that I don't think CaliPoutine meant to have applied. I'm sure lunch at JG is a wondrous thing and a great value, but not everybody wants to spend that kind of time and money on lunch. I'm sure that most people here spend less than $15 on lunch every day. And I'm sure they try to go to good places rather than bad places. I'm not saying that every workday lunch spot is a worthy answer to CaliPoutine's question, but there MUST be a lot of places that people here would recommend for a lunch that will cost up to $15. (OTOH, CaliPoutine should realize that what she's requesting aren't "destinations," so the answer to her question really depends on where she's going to be.) I've already mentioned the turkey club (with rice pudding for dessert) at the Viand in Midtown. In Soho, Alidoro on Sullivan St. between Prince and Spring is a fabulously good Italian sandwich shop. (Seating is very limited, so you may have to carry out to the park next door.) In the Financial District, Alfanoose on Maiden Lane just east of Broadway is some of the best Middle Eastern I've had in New York.

Viand. Madison Ave. around 60th St.

Viand. Madison near 60th St. Get the turkey club, and then a rice pudding.

Probably you forgot where you were and asked in Portuguese.

Viand. Madison Ave. around 60th St. (No I'm not telling anyone to run around town to eat in a coffee shop. But it IS the best turkey club of its type in New York, that I'm aware of.)

Viand. Madison Ave. around 60th St.

But if the chef leaves and the restaurant stays open, the restaurant keeps the star. Until the next edition, that is.

It's interesting to compare gaf's review of Xavier's with his review of Saul in Brooklyn. Considering that other review -- of a restaurant with which I'm familiar -- together with this one, I can see exactly what Xavier's must be like (and can also see that the prejudices which have kept me from trying it, despite the good notices I've heard, may well be right).

I had a great time recently at Locanta Jaristea in Bucharest. The website captures how weirdly entertaining it is. The food is good (for Romanian food). Leave your preconceptions about kitsch at home. And notice that the place is filled mainly with locals.

Actually, that's more like what I meant to say originally. Both apologies and thanks, Julie.

But he asked for something within walking distance of Times Square . . . .

It occurs to me that there are some things on the pub menu (NOT the dining room menu: the pub menu) at Keen's (36th St. right off 6th Ave.) that are very good and wouldn't break your budget.

NOTE TO EATER: NOBODY SAID YASUDA IS PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE. IN FACT, MOST AGREE THAT YASUDA'S A GREAT DEAL.

FWIW, I find Sam much more chatty than anyone else there.

In anticipation of your asking me why not: To me, the great glory of D&C is the house cocktail list, which features drinks that fascinatingly combine and, more impressive, layer flavors to an extent I haven't ever experienced anywhere else. That's why I think D&C is the best cocktail bar in New York at present. It's so hard to get in there that I think it would be a waste to order an "ordinary" drink that you could get a well-made version of most places. If you're lucky enough to get into D&C, I think you should take advantage of the house drinks.

Don't get me wrong: I LOVE Mojitos. I did five years ago, and I do today. They just aren't what a place like D&C is about.

I recently took a non-cocktailian bud to D&C. Someone had ordered mojitos, and the bartender sent out a pair of mojitos that were like works of art. You've never seen more beautiful cocktails. I'll bet they were two of the best mojitos ever served in the City of New York. My friend said to the bartender, "I'll have one of those." I quickly suggested that he try something more special, as he didn't have to go to D&C (which we'd tried to get into together several times in the past, but never with success) for a mojito. The bartender looked relieved.

Except for Table Sex at M&H.

While these places don't carry many different vodkas, don't tend to serve flavored vodkas, and don't feature vodka cocktails, all of them do, in fact, have vodka behind the bar. And, more to the point, all of them will be perfectly happy to prepare you a vodka cocktail or a vodka soda or a vodka on the rocks with not an iota of attitude. I remember talking with Audrey about this back when we were talking about how she was going to stock Pegu Club, and she said that she would only carry two or three brands of vodka and no flavored vodka. "Why not just carry no vodka at all," I asked. And she replied that, while they weren't "about" vodka drinks (although one of her signature cocktails, the Dreamy Dorini Smoking Martini, is a vodka cocktail), if someone asked for a vodka on the rocks, they would have a good vodka and would endeavor to make them the best vodka on the rocks they could offer. At the end of the day, its about service. Interestingly, I have once upon a time in the wee hours of the morning, sat in a booth of Mlik & Honey with Audrey and Sasha, drinking Moscow Mules -- vodka drinks. That said, there are vodka drinks and there are vodka drinks. Whereas it's true that the staff at D&C will serve you a vodka tonic without attitude, it breaks my heart whenever I see it done. I think about all the multitude of times I've gotten turned away, and reflect on the space wasted by people who have zero appreciation whatsoever of what the place is doing. I think people like that should be discouraged from going, just because of undercapacity.

I agree with this. And not just because I live in Brooklyn.

The other thing about "off-menu" is that what I really mean by it is more Bartender's Choice. But nine times out of ten, given cocktailian conventions and bartenders' vanity, that means I end up with something that isn't on the menu.

I'm not saying it was bad then. Not at all. Only that it's much better now. As you said, it's grown up.

That's funny. I just edited my post above in a way that accords/responds to that post (by adding the final sentence).

What I think has to be made clear is that, at least to my mind, Tailor is now materially better than it was when it opened.

Nathan is exactly right about that. I do see (and partly agree with) slkinsey's point, though. Which is why my usual approach is two-drinks-from-menu, one-drink-off.