Sneakeater

Yeah, exactly.

I haven't been back to Country, but in retrospect I think I overrated it in my review post after my one visit. Thinking back, I think my opinion is closer to where Bryan is. I think EMP revealed to me how much better a place at that level of culinary pretension could be.

Compass is NOT family-friendly. It's an adult restaurant, not particularly casual, and despite the prices, not really an everyday one. Landmarc is a place you'd take your kids when you don't feel like cooking.

My opinion of the Uptown Landmarc is very similar to my opinion of the Downtown Landmarc. Which is not surprising, since the restaurants are almost identical (except this new one is MUCH bigger) and the kitchen uptown doesn't seem to be operating on a materially lower level than the kitchen downtown. What I always say about the Downtown Landmarc is that every time I eat there I'm surprised how much I enjoy it, since between visits all I can remember is how boring the food is. Well, it's boring, but on the whole it's good. Just good enough to warrant paying for food that at bottom isn't much different from what you could make yourself. But, to me, definitely NOT good enough to crave. What I realized on this visit -- something that's always nagged at me, but never came into conscious thought until my dining companions pointed it out -- is that the appetizers at Landmarc are much better, and much more interesting, than the mains. It's true: I usually have a hard time fixing on an entree choice there, cuz (unless I went there specifically cuz I'm in the mood for a steak) there are no entrees I can get really excited about. (The pork chop, for example, while perfectly fine, doesn't inspire revery like the pork chop at Little Owl does.) Last night's sweetbreads were, as always, solid but in no way notable. Whereas the appetizers are something to drool over (if not to have hanging in your mind after you've eaten them). The snail salad -- much more snail than salad -- has long been a personal favorite. The steamed clams, with an optional (and absolutely delicious) onion & chorizo sauce, are a new favorite. And the marrow bones: well, this is a trendlet Landmarc hopped onto, rather than initiated -- but theirs are as good as anybody's. The dessert program is almost as much fun as the vaunted wine program. Eight (I think) desserts for $15, each one simple yet delicous? What's not to like? (When the original Landmarc first opened, I found Amanda Hesser's criticism of the dessert program incomprehensible.) And they now have something new: "adult" cotton candy -- the first non-sickening version of this dish that I have ever ingested. The wine program remains as great -- and as much fun -- as ever. Three of us shared three half-bottles, enjoying the opportunity to compare and contrast. And this is the only restaurant in New York where you can order good Burgundies without guilt. FOH is in work-up mode. It wouldn't be fair to criticize them at this point for the few minor slip-ups. Attitudes couldn't have been better. I usually don't like to comment on my predictions as to a restaurant's success. That seems more of a concern for its owners than for me. But I think Landmarc is filling a huge hole in the Upper West Side. The only thing I wonder about is whether it's perhaps too far downtown to maximize its potential. (The place is HUGE.) But I can see UWS families flocking to this casual, friendly, fairly-priced venue.

FWIW, I think the desserts at Esca tend to be very good.

I want to emphasize, for what it's worth, that unlike DutchMuse, I don't think Del Posto is bad. I would call it "good". Just no better than that. (And, of course, on a completely personal level, the ambiance offends the hell out of me.)

Spice Market = (now) bad food, location in a touristy/B&T nightspot area, packed. (I personally don't think Del Posto is nearly as bad as Spice Market has become; nor that the proprietors of Del Posto have cynically abandoned any pretensions to running a quality restaurant, as those of Spice Market appear to have done.)

I care.

I suppose I HAVE to think that One From the Heart was a good movie, cuz I loved The Godfather?

Those are just names. The food on the plate isn't anywhere near as good as at Lupa when Ladner was there, or Felidia. And it's different from either place: so lets not pretend that the involvement of people who were good at OTHER things means I HAVE to like this place -- especially when I don't. And frankly, I have no idea whatsoever whether Lydia has been there the times I've been there or not. Although, if it makes a big difference, then the restaurant is in trouble.

One can disagree with the reviews. All the reviews in the world aren't going to convince me, based on my own experiences, that the dining room in Del Posto isn't insultingly contrived with food no better than good. Nor will they convince me that Inoteca, while a decent value, isn't uninspired and fairly lazy, especially when compared to a place like Lupa in its salad days.

I went to only one Block Party, a few years ago, and without a Bubba Pass. I just left. There was no way I was going to wait that long for plates of food that take mere minutes to consume. If there are 45-minute waits even with the Bubba Pass, I personally wouldn't even consider going to this.

Traditional Spanish food is one of the big voids in the New York dining scene. What there is, isn't very good -- the best is in no way outstanding. I wouldn't waste a meal here on it, when there's so much other stuff here that really is outstanding.

Provence isn't on Minetta. It's on MacDougal. Are you sure you're not thinking of Bellavitae -- which has the substantial advantage of being right next door to the theater?

Another place I won't be able to go to anymore.

What's going on there is that it's a restaurant-beater. I know I keep saying this, but if you can have, say, their veal chop for $21, it becomes hard to justify eating anywhere else.

My recollection (which may be wrong) is that Rivera (I hope I'm getting his name right) mentioned that first. (I'm pretty sure I'm right, because the first thing I remember Neroni saying about the warrant was a denial that it existed.)

I believe Chef Neroni shot first with an explanation that owner Morena wanted to run a neighborhood place while Neroni had higher ambitions, that Morena opposed Neroni's high ingredient costs, that Neroni resisted adding sandwiches to a lunch menu -- things like that.

Yes.

I know that definitive statements always look suspicious, but Russ & Daughters is my favorite store of any kind anywhere (that I've been) in the world.

I was there a couple of weeks ago. To me, it was the same as it ever was. Which is fine.

I don't like to keep posting these links, but it seems like it's misleading if you only post some but not all of them. More from Eater: http://eater.com/archives/2007/04/neroni_behind_b_1.php You should read all of it (and I do not want to be held responsible for editing it). But some highlights:

Ah, it's "©", then. I have to say this, though. The first time I ate in The Bar Room, I didn't see what the big deal was. It took me a couple of meals there to "get" what was so good about it. It isn't because the food is particularly subtle. I think it's because you have to sample a good portion of the menu before you can appreciate the breadth of their achievement here, the way they range from excellently-prepared rustic dishes to dishes that live up to haute pretentions. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it doesn't surprise me when a first-time visitor isn't all that impressed by The Bar Room at The Modern. I wasn't, either.

Eater's latest update (a volley from Chef Neroni's side): http://eater.com/archives/2007/04/neroni_behind_b.php (It's better for you all to read than for me to try to characterize it.)

He hasn't been found guilty of anything yet.