mikeyrad

So far I have 14. Please let me if you will be bringing guests (and how many). mikeyrad (Mike and Sue) oakapple wongste picaman (Jamie and Kirk) Susanne F Holly Moore baw enrevanche (Barry and Carrie) Fat Guy (Steven) kurl (Ben) Jason Perlow It looks like our window is between the middle and end of August. I also don't hnow how many people go out of town for the weekend. Here's a tentative date: Saturday, August 21 Peter Luger: 1:30 PM Wolfgang's 7:30 PM with a possible stopover at MarkJoseph and/or party at Suzanne's afterward. Please let me know your availablity and if we should adjust the times for lunch and/or dinner.

I have no preference which restaurant we go to first. I'd actually prefer finishing the evening in Manhattan. BTW, suerad and I like our steaks rare to medium-rare.

From Frank Bruni's review in the New York Times: So here's the idea: Let's pick a date and have the steak at both establishments. The walk to Williamsburg is optional. We can compare the taste, thickness and doneness of both steaks just as Bruni did. We can share the Steak for Two between three or four people to avoid overgluttony. In addition, if we get enough people together, we can sample more than just the porterhouses. Reply if you're interested. Include how you like your steak cooked. If we have enough interest, I'll get in touch with the Times to see if they'll publish our results as a follow-up to Bruni's review.

The more I think about this comment, the more I conclude that it is totally specious. Every critic in town that has reviewed Wolfgang's has compared it to Luger. It's an unavoidable comparison, and nobody on eGullet had questioned whether those other critics had a large enough "sample size" to do this. Bruni merely did something further, which was to compare them on the same day, and furthermore, to make that excursion the focal point of his review. He could simply have done what all the other critics did, which is to include the comparison without mentioning his two-Porterhouses-in-one-day steak orgy, in which case it likely would have passed under your nose without notice, and without the accusation of a purportedly inadequate sample size. Bruni specifically compares the thickness and doneness of the porterhouses served by both restaurants. So if Bruni is an eGullet lurker I'd like to know if he measured the thickness of all of the porterhouses that he sampled at Wolfgang's? Were they all the same thickness? Were they all overbroiled? Did he sample Luger's multiple times during the review period? Did he measure the thickness of all the porterhouses that he sampled at Luger's? Were all the steaks at Luger's the same thickness, the same doneness? If the results were consistent based on multiple visits to BOTH establishments then my objection to the review would not be the testing methodoloy; but possibly even more troubling -- unclear writing.

Babbo *** Megu ** Bouley * Wolfgang's *

I don't think that this is a matter of column space. My guess is that Bruni's side-by-side comparison was done once and therefore, the results are statistically unreliable. If this is not the case, then he failed to convey that the specific results of the comparison are based on multiple visits to both restaurants. This is a critical piece of information to omit. I think that there are some good ideas in the review. I found the cardio cracks a bit dated, given that carbs are the phobia du jour. Maybe that's also dated. I haven't been in the Health and Diet section of B & N ever since I started exercising regularly. Here's an idea for an interesting spin next time Bruni reviews a steak restaurant. Steak as health food. Plenty of protein, that's for sure. I also thought that visiting both restaurants in the same day was imaginative, given that many people are asking how Wolfgang's compares to Luger. There's just something missing. Maybe Bruni should have reviewed both establishments in the same article. That would have given him the opportunity to delve into the comparison more comprehensively. Luckily, I'm not the critic. I'm just criticizing the critic. I give the review one star. (*)

I think that the idea of appoximating a side-by-side test between Wolfgang's and Peter Luger is a good idea. Bruni mentioned in the review that he had been to Wolfgang's at least twice, and I'm sure that he has visited Luger many times. However, from reading the review, it seems that the "side-by-side" was performed only once. This means that the thickness of the steak at both restaurants was measured once. Also, the doneness of the steaks was compared just a single time. No tendency to overbroil, underbroil, or sporadically over and under broil is mentioned. My problem with Bruni's "experiment" is that the sample size is too small to be reliable. Even worse is that his results could be completely inaccurate. Sorry Frank, you're going to have to clog-up your arteries a few more times at each establishment in order to convey anything of worth or meaning to your readers. What a tough job you have!

As I said on the other thread, I thought the review was inspired. Let there be more like it. The chances of the Times taking a hiatus till Labor Day are about equal to the chances that I will be the next reviewer. oakapple, there are some of us who think that you just might be Frank Bruni.

My problem with this review is that although Bruni may have visited Wolfgang's twice or more, his comparison to Luger was based on one meal at each restaurant. Obviously, this is not a large enough sample size to draw any reliable conclusions.

My wife Sue and I and our best friends dined at Wolfgang's on Saturday night. Our rezzy was at 9 PM and we were seated as soon as everyone in our party were present. Sue and I shared the porterhouse steak for two. What can I say -- food orgasm!!! The sensation of the crunch of the perfectly charred exterior followed by the buttery and juicy meat produced simultaneous "Oh my Gods" from the two of us. I've never been to Peter Luger so I have no comparison, but this was head and shoulders better than the Palm, Morton's, the Strip House or any other steak I've ever eaten. The veggies were fine, but I honestly don't remember much about them. I was so focused on the porterhouse.

Could it be that Thursday was the extra day that they were closed?

My birthday is also an Aug. 4. Cool.

The Mets have another Aussie in AAA -- P. J. Bevis. Reminds me of Monty Python's "Austrailian Table Wines" sketch:

Barbera d'Asti for me, if available. Otherwise a glass of Syrah or Petite Syrah does just fine with a burger. Thems be good choices. Barbera d'Asti go well with so many types of food. Burgers may be about the only food that I'll pair with a California red Zin. Otherwise, Zins are just way too big to match with food.

Piazza and Trachsel are oenophiles. This, ladies and gentlemen, typifies the difference between my beloved Mets and their hated cheap-American-beer guzzling rivals from the Bronx. If I remember correctly, last year when the Yankees won the American League pennant, their celebratory "Champagne" of choice was Korbel -- YECCHH!!! The Mets might get the snot kicked out them this weekend, but at least they can lick their wounds over a mag of D'Yquem. Now, THAT'S class.

Quite right! The actual name isn't really important. It's just enables us to refer to it as something other than traditional Indian cuisine. As long as there is consensus that the term (your name here), refers to the type of cuisine that is served at Tabla and not the cuisine served at the Jackson Diner it can be called just about anything. My guess is that sub-genres will also be invented as (your name here) evolves.

My suggestion for organizing the booths for next year would be to close Madison Ave between 23rd and 25th as well as the portion of 25th street that was used this year. The booths can then be distributed over a larger area. This may relieve some of the overcrowding. The police should also be patrolling the lines. Anyone who gets caught cutting in line gets to eat his or her 'cue on Rikers Island. One thing is for certain: New Yorkers LOVE good barbeque!!!

>> accepting that tomorrow's authenticity is always the child of today's inauthenticity. A example of this is New York or Chicago style pizza. Certainly not the same as what they serve in Naples, but many would argue that our versions are better than the original. Of course, these "inauthentic" renditions have now become their own authentic genres.

IMHO, the best "Indian" on 6th St is Raga, and it isn't even bet 1st and 2nd.

IMHO, the best wineries in the region are: Hermann J. Weimer (Seneca) - Rieslings, Gewurtrz, sparkling. Dr. Konstatine Frank (Keuka) - Rieslings, Gewurtrz, sparkling. Hosmer (Cayuga) - Cab Franc

This is the kind of writing that infuriates me! Pardon me for never having attended CIA. I guess I also don't understand what makes this dish so dated. Bottom line, I want to know how the dish tasted, whether the ingredients worked well together. I don't give a rat's ass how it would have fared as a CIA final exam.

I'm sorry, I simply can't take any of Hesser's reviews seriously since reading the Spice Market thread and of course the brilliant Eurotrash blog.

I think that Eli's may also be making it this year.

I don't. Parkside is much better. Tony, is that you?

I Love Parkside. Easily the best crab cakes I've ever eaten. The fish is always incredibly fresh and well prepared. I don't think that Babbo and Parkside is a fair comparison. Not because one restaurant is any better or worse than the other, but because their goals seem to be different. However, I'd compare Parkside favorably to Il Mulino any day. BTW, dining upstairs in the Marilyn Monroe room is an experience not to be missed.