Mao

Actually I have been thinking about going for ages, and am heading there tonight. Will provide opinion soon.

Curious that they would have fugu now, as to my limited understanding its rather seasonal, and the season is winter.

Jewel Bako Artisinal Taka Cong Ly DB Bistro Can't say that I am actually dying to go to any of these, as I would have already been. I am looking fwd to them. I think the only places I am dying to go lie in France, and perhaps California (French Laundry).

That picture is killing me, everytime I see it after another one of Mr Talentless's bitter and infantile comments I crack up. I can't tell who is funny Mr Talentless and his running line of jealous insults or the silly monster.

There are some things that seem to make it into Chinese food that I can't stand: water chesnuts (capable of ruining any Chinese dish) sea cucumber those mutant dwarf thingies that resemble corn And also kidnies, thanks to a teenage summer spent in the UK, where I was being forced to eat various and vomitous kidney pies.

I have now had 3 meals there over the last 3 months with disappointing results on the last two meals. The 1st meal was the galvanizing meal that brought me back the last two times. One of the better meals I have eaten in my life. Does anyone have any insight as to why the kitchen seems to be like a switch either on/off?

I did a 4 person dinner there about 6 weeks ago, and my impressions of the place basically agree with yours. We did order the Foie Gras and it was by far the best thing we ate, besides the desserts. Its actually too bad you didn't order the desserts, because I thought they were the one part of the meal that were actually a level above the mechanical mediocrity that the kicthen seemed to be producing. Innovative, they were not. But unlike the 1st two courses, where on 1st bite you could easily dissect the flaws (my sense was that the usual cuplrit was slighty subpar ingredients executed in a style of food preparation that did nothing to disguise this) , they were well balanced and structured concoctions that seemed to be the product of much more care and thought. I mentioned that the desserts were the best part of our meal to our waiter, and he simled and said, "Everyone always says that." Like you, I feel no need to return.

Steve P- Thanks for giving me notes on Sono. Its possible that others may be organizing a private dinner with ex Sono chef cooking. Its all tentative at this point, but let me know if you or others would be interested. Re: Sugiyama. I don't mean to discourage others from going. At this point, I really hope my experiences have been anamolous, and would love to hear something positives, so I have agood reason to go back

I think there is a tendency for zealots of the two schools we seem to have created, each with their central tenets--cheap ethnic is best (authenticity > yummyiness) vs. expensive is best (better ingredients=better tasting food)--to over generalize. There are indeed examples that fit the "ethnic is best" view of the high end, meaning there are expensive restaurants that serve bland and even bad food. The existence of such establishments, despite the fact that many high end restaurants are superlative, enables this school to comfort in the generalization that indeed all high end food is overpriced artifice, i.e., that these poor restaurants are exemplary, not the exceptions. On the other hand, better ingredients do not necessarily equate to better food. Sub choice cuts of cheaper meat can be prepared with deftness to render them delicious in the right (immigrant or not) chef's hands; and it’s too readily the case that the freshest soft-shell crabs are bludgeoned by overcooking at places that are expensive. Given fresh and overcooked soft shell crabs, and the right cut of perfectly braised meat, I will take the latter. There is no doubt that superior ingredients cooked skillfully will taste better than the same inferior ingredients cooked with the same skill. But I would rather eat at a place with slightly inferior ingredients and skilled preparation, than one with superlative ingredients that are then underutilized or mishandled.

Yeah, yeah OK. I have been 3 times in the last month. The pasta tasting menu with wine pairings is superb, though I think the bolognese is disappointing. Along with Bouley and Gari, its the joint I hit most. I always go for what is usually a special, probably because I have tried decent portions of regular menu, and I actually think it tends to be what Mario was inspired to dream up that day after he went to market. Things I think are superb: the Octopus appet, the goose liver ravioli in browned butter with balsamic vingegar gets my vote for dish that has most cosnsistently converted people who don't know anything about good food to the cause, and if the waiter mentions that they have some cut of meat that has been cooking in the back for 2 days, then you are a fool if you don't order it. Quail, rabbit superb, as are mint love letters. hell, everything is very good. The pastas are in my experience the most consistently great items. Ditto fish. Just order everything.

Kaiseki (seasonal cuisine) 1) Sugiyama-seems to have potentially gone down hill, but don't know, 2 last bad trips could be random. Will try again in 2-3 months, since past experiences have been so memorable. Order omakase, as that's usually the best way to get what is freshest ($125). Cold prepared things generally better than anything cooked, and soups are terrific. A- (prior A) 2) Kai-been once and thought everything was bland. Not the same risk taking or traditionalism you will get at Sugiyama ($80-100). Cooked fish dishes most interesting and memorable as was zensai-like plate that was served first. B 3) Hatsuhana-been twice, 1st time a revelation, 2nd time a disappointment, would go back in a minute, as one of cheaper Kaiseki options in city ($75). Sushi struck me as least interesting part of meal. B+ (inconsistent) 4) Nadaman Hakubai-been once and thoroughly disappointed. Place feels like an 80s nostalgia museum. Have not tried the omakase kaiseki, and intend to do so before I completely write the place off. B- Sushi/Sashimi- 1) Gari-creative sushi. Super stuff, even on an off night. Even lots of Japanese expats seem to be fessing up to me that they think it best in city. Not what I would have thought given how untraditional it is. Do omakase and sit at the bar ($100). Yummmm! I don’t think they even necessarily always have the best fish, but the magic is in the admixture of goods/sauces that go with the fish (dreamt up by Gari). Probably the place I go to most. A 2) Kuruma-traditional straightforward stuff. Order omakase at the bar ($150) as my experience not at the bar has been mediocre (maybe it was the bad date that killed it). Probably the best end to end sushi experience I have had in NY, and they seem to have more traditional things that you won’t get often if at all elsewhere: hamachi toro, Japanese mountain trout etc. Seems like there is a direct link between fish on hand, JFK and seafood mkts in Japan. A 3) Yasuda-a close second in my book to Kuruma, though definitely second to Kuruma. But somethings are also better here: rolls are the best in city, toro is incomparable and the mackerel is always monstorously good. Again do omakase at the bar is front of Yasuda for best results ($125). A- 4) Tomoe-been once, waited for hour in line. Much cheaper than the above. Did sashimi platter. Toro was weak and scallop was superb. In the unagi dept, the place has no peer in Manhattan. Heading back soon to try omakase at bar. ($60). B+ 5) Sushisay-been once and did omakase at bar. Traditional sushi like Kuruma. Not as consistent as Yasuda or Kuruma, but the highlights (the really fresh stuff) is just as good. ($80-90). B+ Places dying to try: Hatsuhana’s sushi, Jewel Bako, and of much lower priority is Blue Ribbon. Soba- 1) Honmura An-Almoooost as good as what you will get in Kyoto, but still that crucial foot short. Still a superlative experience in a great space. Their zaru soba is as close to the slurping loud noisey messy experience as you will get over there, even down to the very Zen hot water to wash your bowl with at end of meal. ($45) A-/B+ 2) Sobaya-stuff is made on promises (like Honmura An), but some part of the taste/soul is missing from the zaru soba. A bit too bland. Strangely the strength of the place seems to be their offbeat and interesting appetizers. ($30) B Afraid I am really much less a fan of Japanese soup noodles, or Chinese soup noodles for that matter (my taste buds always take me down the Pho path when I want souped noodles), so no real thoughts/opinions on Menchenko-tei and other quick joints in midtown. More Traditionally Japanese Homecooked Stuff- 1) Donguri-went once, very nice, but too bland for my tastes. Everything was quite fresh, and I had some unshelled shrimp that were fantastic ($50). B 2) Haru-despite its appearance as an UES yuppy joint the place has some mucho good stuff, IF you order right. Skip the sushi, order all the odd appetizers like salmon tartar with quail egg, and try the tempura, which is by far the best I have eaten in the city. ($40) B+/A- (if you avoid the sushi) 3) Tatany-bleh! C 4) Sakagura-now has 3 chefs I learned on Saturday (they also own Sobaya). This sort of belongs in this category, but not completely. The stuff on the regular menu like the rice balls are traditional simple fare executed to perfection (I mean really like Okasan used to make) and their sushi is really good. The daily specials on the back of the menu are more off the wall and experimental (deeped fried brie in ponzu sauce, lobster with cheese etc). I love this place. I can eat old school, or I can be more daring, depending upon my mood. I can also drink every sake known outside Japan if I choose. On sake ordering its best to order the freshly arrived goodies, as the older stuff can get stale. ($50) A Places I keep meaning to go: Taka, Iso, Omen, Marumi, Chikibu, and a few others. Fusion- 1) Aki-sort of a hole in the wall on West 4th Street. Head of kitchen was ex private chef in the West Indies to Japanese diplomat. The otherness here is Caribbean. The appetizers are monstrously experimental, wonderful and yummy. The only problem is the place is so small. Along with Sakagura perhaps the most under appreciated Japanese joint in the city that I know of. ($45 for a ton of appetizers) A 2) Nobu-you know the reputation. Been once and had completely uninspired meal. Enough people whose food judgment I trust have had gush-worthy experiences though, that I can write off my one experience to poor luck ($60+). (Preliminary B) 3) Sushi samba-inconsistent Brazil weds Japan experience on one trip. Went with large group and consumed half the menu, however. Conclusion among frequent foodies was that 25% of menu was excellent and the rest only OK ($50). B Places I keep meaning to go: Bond St. Place I wish I had gone: Sono. Am dying to hear others suggestions as to places to try so post.

From what I saw it actually covered the triangular area running from Afghanistan to Korea to the Philippines, though he failed to mention any Manchurian, Mongolian or South Siberian restuarants, which I found offensive. How narrow minded. Really. I love Outer Mongolian food. Maybe his next piece will offer a summary of the 100 best Occidental restaurants in New York City.

What no Saka gura or Nha Trang? How dare he? Well its a list, I guess. Please not another list thread! I found a few Vietnamese rests I had not heard of, so I guess its useful. Anyone care to guesstimate the number of "Asian" restaurants that exist in NYC? 1000-2000? How many has the man tried? "Asian" food is a rather big category too, since it is referencing the cuisine of the majority of the globe's inhabitants.

Sorry to be nitpicky but that's probably not exactly right. The US current account deficit is about 4% of GDP, which is around 450 bn USD. Most of this over the last few years has been financed strangely enough by Europeans via Foreign Direct Investment (eg, Daimler purchase of Chrysler) and portfolio inflows. However, the point is that the current account is a flow like a stream of income, whereas inherited wealth should be viewed as an asset. At the end of 2001, the stock of US gross household assets was around 47.1 trn USD, assuming that 5% of those assets were inherited, that puts the stock of inherited wealth at 2.35 trn USD.

I can't tell what scares me more: sociologists like Bernays writing about economics, or economists writing about economics. The whole Bernay's argument, the way you have outlined it, sounds rather a bit like a gigantic conspiracy theory to me, not that different from the notion of a trilateral commision that runs the world economy from Brusssels confessed to by Mac Fleetwood, or theories of jewish control of the banking system that seem to break forth in the Pat Buchanon-esque speeches. Now really, markets and resources may be manipulatible over short term periods (makrtes get cornered), but effective long term control of economic resources and markets has proven almost impossible. Brazil was effectively able to pay its domestic debts and its government employees by printing money in the early 1990s, but the result was ultimately hyper inflation and economic disaster. There are reasons China chose to move toward a market economy. Control and effective distribution of resources has proven almost impossible by one or a small group of people over any reasonable length of time. The late 20th century is littered with the remnants of ex Communist countries who tried market manipulation and having failed, gave up trying.

The 17 year old Ardeg is mind boggling. Its funny I had two tastes of Bowmore recently (both aged in two distinct kinds of wood, can't recall what). I was pleasantly surprised at how rich and complex they were. My mother is a food and wine photographer who went to Scotland did some work for Bowmore and brought back all of their major vintages about 5 years ago. At the time I thought them all completely bland, and a poor excuse for an Islay malt. Now I am not sure. Worth revisiting at least.

Somewhere we got derailed from food into a discussion of wealth distribution and its relationship to hard work, luck and socio-economic opportunity. This thread definitely raises philosophical questions about the meaning of the word thread.

Places I have requested single person reservations and been rebuffed: Babbo and March and Artisinal. The places that have taken me with rsv as a single diner is too long to list, but they do include Daniel. Its funny while I have experienced extreme annoyance at the rebuff and share your anger, I will confess that in the end when I am dining alone I much prefer to eat at the bar anyway. There are a number of reasons. One, I find that I learn a great deal about the restuarant, the food and everything else about the place by eating at the bar from talking to whoever is serving drinks. With a few exceptions, like places where the bar is really a destination in itself, bar tenders are usually bored out of their minds and more than happy to converse about the food etc. Two, I don't feel at all self-conscious eating at a bar alone, and I do a bit more sitting alone in the middle of a room surrounded by amorous couples. Three, the bar has the enormous benefit of trial and comp. Most bartenders are willing to let you taste 2 wines before you settle upon a glass, and I have had more after dinner drinks comped than I can remember at several places.

Thanks for that greatly detailed description of your meal. Everything that you ate the ramps, asparagus etc sounds ike the kitchen puts an enormous emphasis on swerving whatever is fresh.

I can't recall. They are not that hard to find. Try throwing "cask-strength spingbank" or something like that into a search engine. It may take a bit of work. I don't have my scotch on hand. Its in storage. Otherwise I could tell you the distributor. There are a couple of firms that are Scotland based that go and buy casks, bottle them and resell them. You are not likely to find the gold at your local store. There is also some kind of whisky magazine that inevitably will have adverts for this sort of thing in the back. I have seen it at B&N. I think the two major ways of getting online would be via Cadenheads Gordon and MacPhail Vivin is fine, and in the midst of some residential transitions that have kept him busy.

I really like the Islay malts. Laphroig and Lagavalluin are great and readily available, but 17 year old Ardbeg really blows me away. Its been my experience that almost al of the Islay malts benefit from a splash of water. Otherwise they are simply too big. I have also tasted Springbank that is 21 years old, as well as two single bottlings from 1967 and earlier in the 1960s. I find that water dilutes what to my mind is one of the greater drinks of earth--imagine adding water to cognac, seems criminal. I have now bought several bottles of the older Springbanks because I am so in love. Vivin and I broke out a bottle a few weeks ago and sampled. That is some moving stuff.

Went to UP last night. Had the uni and scallop combination and the white Pekin [sic] duck as main course, as well as amazing cheeze course and an unmemorable dessert (the two desserts I have consumed at Bouley recently simply cast a very long shadow). Thoughts in no particular order: The uni dish is quite brilliant and super yummy, though I am a little dubious how massively original it is. It strikes me as sashimi with a slight twist (the addition of tomato water and mustard flavors adding greater levels of complexity). Its possible that the people at Saka gura are copying Rocco, but the notion of pairing Uni with another fish/seafood thing and a sauce of some kind is something I have encountered in more than one incarnation on the back of Saka gura's menu. Its also verging on some of my Sushi of Gari experiences. I don't deny its greatness, its just so evident to me that this is dish originating in textural experiences of sashimi-esque eating, some of which are eerily familiar. The Pekin white duck was superb, and I gobbled it up too quickly and with relish, because it was so damn good, to appeciate everything about the dish. Sometimes I just gobble, I guess, without pausing to savor or reflect. It happens. Sorry There is a tasting menu for $95. The guy sitting next to me at the bar ordered it, and was told by the bartender that the chef was watching his reaction to the food (there is closed circuit TV apparently that flows into the kitchen and enables Rocco to wtach but not be watched). Their cheese course really really rocks. I remember this from my prior two trips, but it was incredible.

75-160 USD including everything. Expensive, but worth every penny, I think. Despite my recent spat of poor kaiseki experiences, my ideal meal would be strung together of the memories of individually memorable kaiseki dishes I have had over the last 2 years.

Conde Nast's writers are, of course, remarkably more well travelled and knowledgeable about the state of world restuarants than anyone on this board. If you look at their top 50, they list a wonderful place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, another joint in United Arab Emirates and yet another in Oslo and another in Salt Lake City. Someone gets around! I sense that someone related to the restaurant (whose anger drove the punctuation out of him somehow) was doing his best to defend the restaurant. More evidence, along with Steve P's recent Craft experience, that restuarants may actually read egullet. Link Conde nast

By the way, I forgot to mention that the above was a stunning review, Steve. Thank you. I assume you were served very small portions, or that the meal took place over a very....very....long.....time. The number of items you were served is staggeringly large. Also, I am curious if the fact that your name is on this board has resulted in similar treatment from any other establishment.