Sneakeater

Here's Frank Bruni's Diner's Journal entry on the Pegu Club. Tell me what about it you would point to show that Pegu Club is a restaurant, as opposed to a bar serving (in Bruni's own words) bar food.

Set the Wayback Machine to 20 years ago and go to any of the Hungarian places on the UES.

you can't tell me that it wouldn't be prima facie evidence that they're operating a restaurant? of course it would. it may not be dispositive in and of itself...but it sure as heck would help... ← Of course it wouldn't. Do you really think Pegu Club is a restaurant under any accepted definition of the word?

Whereas "flab without texture" is my middle name.

I don't think the existence of a food write-up by Bruni is going to be considered dispositive by anyone.

I think this is exactly the CB's position.

But none of those is boiled (at least in the Jewish preparation). The question is, would you rather have flanken than Bollito Misto?

1. It may be that you have to be Mittel-to-East-European Jewish to understand the fascination with boiled meats. 2. I've had bollito misto in fine restaurants in Italy. There's a place in Milan that's rather famous for it.

Yeah. I mean, you sometimes come into Brooklyn, right? I have no idea where people who live in LA go.

I pretty much just eat whatever amount is put in front of me.

You never know. Wasn't Rice to Riches accused last year of being a front for a gambling operation? Who knows what goes on the back rooms of Le Grenouille?

The problem is, as everyone knows, that people who live in Brooklyn aren't serious about eating out.

PS to Thread Initiator -- Actually, City Center is on 55th St.

I walk into City Center from the Burger Joint all the time, and people always treat me quite cordially.

I had to fight to get Kang Suh to serve that to me. They didn't believe I would like it. I'll have to try it grilled now. Thanks.

Actually, there's one obvious point that's so obvious nobody made it. Good bistro/brasserie food is very rare in this town. So Balthazzar becomes a destination just by virtue of having it. Good straightforward Italian is not a very rare thing, though. (I now have to duck as rich starts hurling things at me in disagreement.) That's why it's a little hard to comprehend the "fever" surrounding Morandi. Another good solid Italian place. One that I'll happily revisit when I'm around there. But it's not so much of a big deal.

I have personally not had a whole lot of luck getting into Yaktori Totto before City Center performances. And it's not for lack of trying. I do a bit better sometimes after the show. Sugiyama has a pre-theater menu that, while not as awe-inspiring as their full kaiseki is supposed to be, is very good, an excellent value, and gets you out in time.

[double post]

It's a Catch-22.

Look, I don't habitually go to the Burger Joint before CC performances because I don't want to drop cash. I go because I really like the Burger Joint. Osteria del Circo's across the street. And of course, Gordon Ramsay's only a block away.

Well I like the Burger Joint's burgers better than Shake Shack's. So there.

They had Pasta con le Sarde. That's Sicilian.

Why does Cutlets keep insisting that Morandi is Sicilan? There are like two or three Sicilian dishes on a menu that jumps all over Italy. He just gets these ideas sometimes, and keeps flogging them. Like that Porchetta was "molecular."

See, you should have gone somewhere in Flushing.

Aren't you supposed to be a girl?