Sneakeater

As I recall, they use stuff on the level of Tanqueray. No way it's worth it. Although, in their favor, when I used to go to that bar when it was new (and the martinis were only $14), they served them to you in the shaker and you really got more like 1 1/2 maritinis -- two, even, if you consider how enormous their glasses were (at least then). OTOH, the Old Fashioned I had at the counter at Atelier (which AFAIK was made at the bar and brought over) was just a normal-sized Old Fashioned. $20 was rather shocking for it.

It seems to me that for a lot things on Pan's list, you could find them in New York if you could do time travel.

Mainland is indeed closed. I could SWEAR I've ordered Peking Duck for two at the Peking Duck House. But maybe my memory is faulty.

I have personally found it a mistake to eat them before.

Omigod, I forgot Russ & Daughters. It could replace one of the "pizza"s.

Pizza Steak Roast Meats at a place like Noodletown Pizza Corned Beef Pizza Pizza Cheesecake Pizza Dim Sum even if it isn't as good as in Hong Kong (or Vancouver)

Maybe Wesley Genovart will be there.

http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=130#more-130

Thanks. Now I can live.

It's now functioning as a private-party space.

(To forestall a debate -- on the off chance that oakapple isn't more mature than I am, although I'm pretty sure he is -- I know the Homestead is between 14th & 15th. But Chelsea technically reaches down to 14th, and the Meatpacking District -- at least as I've understood it -- traditionally starts on the south side of 14th.) (I'm pathetic.)

Ummm, then so is the Old Homestead's. (That was actually the ridiculous post I deleted above. But I can only hold myself back so long. I sincerely apologize, oakapple.)

I've got one word for you, oakapple: Frank's

The List (with stupid promotional addenda from the promotor) Ferran Adrià: Spain’s Culinary Wizard Juan Mari Arzak: New Basque Cuisine Martín Berasategui: The Art of Learning, The Virtue of Teaching Alberto Chicote: Fusión by Principle Paco Roncero: Ambassador in Madrid of the Genius of Roses Quique Dacosta: Unlimited Cuisine Daniel García: Andalusian Talent Enrique Martínez: From the Kitchen Garden, A Vegetable Purist Joan Roca: Discoverer of Extraordinary Techniques Paco Torreblanca: Pioneer and Maestro of the Sweetest Art (Fuck. It's been nice knowing you all.)

Probably everybody knew about this but me: http://nymag.com/daily/food/2006/10/greate...make_bes_1.html I'm going to be away this weekend, but I'm sure someone here will go. (Who are the other nine chefs? If one of them is Arzak, we may be approaching self-immolation territory at my end of this computer connection.)

That was actually going to be my non-jocular recommendation. I was put off, though, by the consideration that it's not Southern but rather Emilia-Romagnan. And since it's a fairly new (brand new as far as its new location is concerned) and very low-key place, whether it's "classic" depends on what Mark means by "classic".

It's easy. Rao's. (I'm so funny I crack myself up sometimes.)

Actually, I do. They source, to the extent possible, from Eberhard Muller's Satur Farms on Long Island. (The chef at Flatbush Farm used to work under Muller at Bayard's.)

Since one of the things I ordered was singled out for dispraise in the generally favorable "Underground Gourmet" review on the New York Magazine "Grub Street" food blog, I guess I should specify, as perhaps I'm being unfair to this place as a result of ordering poorly on one visit. 1. Tuna Belly over Slow-Cooked Beans with Olive Oil -- Not as unctuous as I'd expect tuna belly to be. And much more cooked. 2. Pork Goulash over Egg Noodles -- Boring. 3. Fruit Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream -- Of course this was good. If you can't do a fruit crisp, get out of the industry. 4. Orange Blossom Cocktail (sake & cointreau & other stuff) -- Bland. 5. Scotch & Mead -- Fine.

I would guess you're doing it from memory. And of course you remember the ones you know. Actually take the walk and you'll see what I mean. There are places you can't even think of, because they don't register. They're just there. (PS -- "In any direction" from Little Owl means walking up and down Grove as well as Bedford.)

I could be glib and say once CAN'T come up with their names, because one doesn't know them. But seriously: go to Little Owl and walk two or three blocks in any direction. Or walk up W. 4th St. between 6th Ave. and 8th Ave. You'll pass tons of these places.

Even Jarnac may be pushing it. I mean, any place (especially any place that's been reviewed by the Times) that has a website where it calls itself a "quintessential neighborhood bistro" is probably selling that status as much as it's providing it. I think more to the point is that many blocks in the West Village have a multitude of spots that none of us could even name. Most of them look very attractive. But nobody's gonna travel to the neighborhood for the express purpose of eating in any particular one of them. Nobody's really heard of them. They're places that people in the neighborhood know, and that visitors might stumble upon almost randomly. They're quintessentially neighborhood places.

This is reaching the point of insanity, but there are loads of "charming" spots a couple strolling around the West Village might stumble upon and decide to eat in. But that doesn't make them "destination restaurants" as much as it makes the West Village a "destination neighborhood." For the restaurant to be the "destination," the visitors would have to be there specifically for the restaurant.

This is going to sound over-the-top, but maybe part of it is that downtown neighborhoods tend to have such cache that people will travel in order to go where the locals go, just to be with the locals. No offence to Megan, but nobody's gonna go to Andre's so they can eat brunch among people who live in Yorkville. But plenty of people would go to Bubby's. To get at it a different way, there's a world of difference between a "small cute Village spot" and a "Third Avenue storefront". Just a thought. I apologize if it's stupid.

In combination with this one: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=90748&hl=bacon