LPShanet

In addition to all the above recommendations, which I think make up a pretty good list, you might also want to look into Il Bagatto, Frank and Max in the East Village. Not fancy at all, but each is solid for Southern Italian, homey kind of fare. Also, Lavagna used to be very good value, as did Gnocco. All are in the East Village.

I had excellent service at Corton, which sounds like it fits your bill in most every way.

I went last night with my mother and my girlfriend and have to say that my impressions EXACTLY matched those of Oakapple. The food is certainly not trying to be literally Chinese, but rather is a modern international fusion that has been informed and inspired by various Asian cuisines, including Chinese. I also thought the flavors were excellent and well-balanced, and I would certainly return (soon), given the food, price points, etc. I hope Lee is successful enough with this venture that we eventually get to experience the more ambitious experience of his former Toronto restaurant, which I understand he closed this summer to focus on Shang. In addition to the positive of our experience, I also agree with previous reports that the service had a few noticeable gaps in it. The servers were very pleasant and seemed quite knowledgeable about the food, but would often disappear for long periods when they shouldn't have. There were extended waits between receiving cocktail menus and ordering drinks, before getting food menus at all, and at most junctures where service would be required (getting the bill, etc.). I don't think the issues were related to "back of house" at all, as the food and drinks all came to us in very reasonable time once they were ordered. Seems they just need a better system (or bigger staff) to cover the actual waiting of tables. On the positive side; at least in our case, the upthread complaints about service utensils seem to have been addressed. There was always at least one pair of serving utensils on the table on a separate dish at all times. In addition, we each were given fresh forks, knives and chopsticks whenever we used any of them, so that at any time there was always the choice of all three. Further, we were able to add additional items to the portion where needed to facilitate everyone at the table tasting a given dish. For example, not only was there no trouble getting an additional (third) lamb chop added to the dish, but the server actually offered to do so before I had a chance to request it. The cocktails, of which we tried four, were quite good for this type of restaurant and were unique enough to be interesting while not overwhelming most of the food. The bulk of the cocktail list focused on modern "Asianized" interpretations of existing classic cocktails. A caiparinha added lychee and tarragon to the lime and cachaca, with pleasant results. There was a slightly too tart, but very nice whiskey smash that incoporated sour plums. My mother enjoyed a riff on a Pimm's cup that turned up the ginger quotient a bit and added a subtle exotic note. And a gin and galangal concoction was both light and flavorful. The food we tried included their signature "Singapore Slaw", which was superb and memorable. Light, intensely flavored and easy to eat a lot of. It was loosely inspired by the green papaya salads found in Vietnamese and Thai cuisine, but with a few unexpected twists, including hazelnuts, among the 19 ingredients. We had the squab/foie rolls in lotus crepe mentioned above, which were very nice, and given a little kick by the inclusion of Holland peppers. Sort of a riff on the Peking Duck presentation and flavors. The potato dim sum were hard to separate, but the flavors worked. Onion and chick pea fritters employed Indian flavors, including a chutney garnish, and was ultimately a very skillful iteration of what dozens of tacky fern bars had in mind when they created their fried onion clusters (e.g. "bloomin' onion" at Outback). Lobster and shrimp croquettes were pleasant, though not outstanding, and gained little from the disk of daikon they were presented on. Still, nothing unpleasant about them and the shrimp and lobster inside were pleasantly distinct, rather than achieving the monotonous mush that sometimes happens inside a fried shell. Finally, the Mongolian Lamb Chops with glazed bananas, chili mint, carrot cardamom chutney and peanut sauce were really special. Cooked perfectly, and very flavorful on their own, the added sauces/garnishes added another layer of flavor. The chili mint was very fiery but delicious, and the carrot cardamom was very subtle but addictive. As a final note, we squeezed in room for one dessert. The almond panna cotta was not at all to my taste, but well-executed. I'm probably not the best person to judge it, as the sweet almond oil flavor found in marzipan is one of the few food flavors on earth that I really don't care for, and that was the central note. Still, the passion fruit sauce was excellent and the garnishes of raspberry and mango almost made up for it. I hope that Shang continues to work out the kinks as they move forward and that it becomes what Wakiya and several others failed to be, as Shang is clearly a superior effort.

Welcome to the boards...you're a kindred spirit. When I was in high school, I made a deal with my parents that if I scored higher than a certain level on my SAT's, they would have to take me to the restaurant of my choice. Much to their dismay, I chose Lutece, which at that time was roughly the equivalent of what Per Se is now. And I certainly made sure to get my money's worth. Great post.

I've heard very good things second hand, and hope to get there within the week... Anyone who goes sooner, please post impressions.

Excellent point. I was unaware of the marriage development, as I stopped reading the blog quite a while ago after being frustrated at the lack of detailed food information at the expense of social randomness. Maybe marriage is a good thing after all...

Even if it is to be considered a blog, it's roughly 10% about food and restaurants, and 90% about the travails and inner workings of her (mostly unsuccessful) dating life

For better or for worse, it's one of the few ways we have to compare restaurants across international lines. It's the only respected agency that rates restaurants on multiple continents with the same supposed standards.

← In light of that, it'll also be interesting to see where Tony Esnault goes. I'm a bit surprised that AD canned him totally, given their long track record together and his solid food, even if the reviews were often not total raves. It would seem AD is trying to "modernize" both restaurants.

And yet Jewel Bako retains its star. I'm not surprised the devi lost its star, though Babbo's loss does surprise me. ← Devi has deteriorated? That would be strange, since Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur are still co-owners. ← Well, the last time I checked, Colicchio still owns the now starless Craft. And Batali still owns Babbo. ← The Craft point brings up an interesting question. Does Michelin recognize restaurants of the format of Tom: Tuesday Dinner? It's not really a full time thing, but from my limited experience, the food would certainly merit a couple of stars. I'm guessing the answer is no, due to limited exposure and atypical format, but it's an interesting question.

Anyone have any thoughts on what the best place might be for a large group/banquet kind of thing anywhere in Chinatown? I've done this type of dinner at Kam Chueh with pretty good success, but as just discussed, it's now closed. Have had mixed experiences at both Fulleen and Congee Village. Maybe Oriental Garden? Mandarin Court? Anyone? To be more specific, we'll be a group of somewhere between 10 and 30 people. We'll order a wide variety of dishes, probably in advance. We'll do it family style, as is appropriate, not each person ordering.

As a manager, this has been my experience 60-75% of the time. (2 star level) ← The only problem with that theory is that, as a manager, you're only seeing the table that's still there. So your viewpoint isn't an accurate or complete representation of how both parties feel after this has happened. And not to be snotty, but it really doesn't matter how the restaurant feels. I know it's fairly common wisdom among restaurant folk that it's better to piss them off on the way in than the way out, but I totally disagree. It's easier to maintain good will after having done something to generate it. It's tough to ask for a favor or forgiveness if you haven't provided anything pleasurable or of value. It's just like a friendship: you can't really ask favors of new people as readily as those whom you've established a good rapport with. In my experience, as a diner, when I have a great meal, and then I'm asked if I'm willing to free up a table, even if I'm upset, I'm less likely to remember it in light of the top notch meal and established high standard of service/food. However, when I start a meal off on the wrong foot, it's almost impossible for the restaurant to totally recover, no matter how well they do for the rest of the meal. If something isn't done at the bar while I'm waiting, I'll always remember it as a place with crappy service, even if the food is good. This is the case with Convivio, which I would probably recommend to friends had I not had the problems waiting, but now have a bad taste in my mouth (no pun intended), even though things were quite good all around once we were seated. There's no amount of good service that can be added later that makes up for the mistreatment on the front end. On the other hand, if I'd been asked (and it can be presented as a favor) if I was willing to vacate my seat after an excellent meal, I'd still feel good about the meal. The key is how you're asked. If you ask the table in a way that suggests they're doing you a favor (and you offer them something in return) rather than you're kicking them out (i.e. present it as the restaurant's fault for poor scheduling, not the table's for lingering), then there's little risk. And you can ask in such a way that they can say no if they want, even though I'm sure very few people would actually say no.

Has anyone been to Kam Chueh (on Bowery) lately? I had a number of good meals there a few years ago (including many interesting off-menu items), but haven't been back in a while.

At a restaurant like GR, which at the time was considered a NYT 4-star contender, it was unacceptable. For the prices GR was charging (and still does charge), you should have the table as long as you reasonably want it. Most of the places mentioned on this thread are far lower on the dining spectrum.Also, I think GR did a number of things early on that made them seem arrogant. It's one thing to tell prospective customers in isolated cases that they'll need the table back after two hours. It's another thing to make a categorical public statement, especially for a new place at the apex of luxury dining that is trying to win over a new audience. ← These are good points. And the fact that GR was an outsider (read: non-NYer) didn't help. It might have been slightly easier to swallow from an already revered local (though not much).

It's no different than any other glitch. I wouldn't write off a well known restaurant based on one report. At a busy place, this policy actually works to everyone's benefit—the restaurant's, as well as most diners. It's not acceptable at a fine dining restaurant, or if the place isn't busy. Otherwise, I don't have a problem with it. ← If I did a statistical analysis, it would have to be more than just unlucky, as I know I had fewer such experiences in all of 1998 - 2004 than I did in the last three months. But as discussed, it amazed me that places like Convivio and Peasant were so rude about it. Especially Convivio, which gives the pretense of being a fairly high end place. But I think it's worthy of separate discussion why so many places are so afraid to make the after dinner drink offer. Doesn't make sense to me. As you said, a good manager would do this, but almost no one does (at any level). They should be doing this without even telling the waiting party, as it's the restaurant's problem, not the reservation-holder's. The idea of a time limit doesn't bother me at all, as long as the amount of time is reasonable. I have seen that a number of times, mostly at Japanese restaurants. I was given this option at various junctures at Sakagura and at Kyo Ya, for example, and was grateful that they had managed to squeeze me in. It might also go a long way to having diners be aware of their lingering.

NB: I went to Scarpetta a few weeks after it opened and got in without a res on a busy night in just 10 minutes. Seems it's better to do that than have an actual res at the less "hot" places in my post above. And no, I haven't been hitting the hot spots more recently than before, though I'm not sure I even know what that means.

Took the family to Corton on Thursday night and had a great meal. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to talk the whole group into doing the tasting menu, so we all had to do the 3 course prix fixe. I'll certainly be heading back for a tasting in the very near future. Fortunately, however, we're all sharers, so I got to try most of the other dishes at the table. We ordered: First Courses Red Kuri Squash Soup w/ Tempura of King Crab Tail Foie Gras w/ Hibiscus-Beet Gelée, Blood Orange Octopus w/ Apple Cider, Golden Nugget Potatoes, Potato Consommé Nantucket Bay Scallops w/ Uni Crème, Ama Ebi, Marcona Almond All were very good. I especially liked the scallops (though I wished the dish were bigger...an ongoing theme), and was pleasantly surprised by the foie, which blended flavors really nicely and managed to be different from the standard foie offerings around town. The beet and citrus flavors complemented the richness of foie very well and made the richness less cloying than some iterations. Second Courses Golden Amadai w/ Sweet Onion, Razor Clam Chowder Squab w/ Chestnut Crème, Smoked Bacon, Pain d’Epices Milk Cobia w/ Potato-Eggplant Terrine, Black Olive, Vadouvan Spice Black Angus Beef w/ Sirloin, Short Rib, Horseradish Bone Marrow Crust Again, all were excellent, but the squab is especially noteworthy, as has been previously noted on this thread. Great balance and cooked perfectly. I could have eaten three orders. The amadai is very nice if you're into subtlety. The flavors aren't overwhelming or intense, but it's a very nice light-profile dish. Desserts ‘Crème’ Cake w/ Amaretto, Orange, Vanilla-Tamarind Caramel Brioche w/ Passion Fruit, Coffee, Banana a number of us opted for cheese intstead Again, no real weak links, but the caramel brioche was memorable. Since I'm not a huge sweet tooth guy, I opted for cheese, which was very nice, if not revelatory. It might be nice for them to do something interesting with the cheese plate, maybe some inventive sauce, fruit or garnish combos. Still, no complaints. Other reflections: I think the portion size is really small in the three course prix fixe. I really needed all the amuses, mignardises, etc. to be full. I think they could bump up the size of the dishes a little, as I normally wouldn't go totally to town on the chocolates served at the end of the meal (some of which were really nice, though, especially the salted caramel). The small size of the food, and the fact that I was still craving some savory satisfaction, is also what caused me to order cheese, when normally I might try dessert. Alternately, they might offer an option to make a larger prix fixe, say 4 or 5 courses, or give you the option of having both cheese and dessert. Still, this is a minor complaint, as overall the food was more than excellent. As others have noticed, Liebrandt has reined in his avante garde tendencies a bit. Personally, I really liked his more edgy cooking at Gilt, but I'm hoping that once he has an accepting audience here, he'll branch out more and expand his "chance taking". My only other negative was a cocktail that (in my very subjective opinion) wasn't well conceived. The "autumn" sounded good on paper (whiskey, tamarind, spices, root beer), but the result was pretty nasty. It should be noted that I have a very "open minded palate", and tend to appreciate many different flavor profiles. I also like all of the major ingredients individually. But combined, the effect was sort of chemical/industrial tasting...like you might imagine some sort of cleaning fluid to be. I kept wanting to like it but couldn't. By contrast, the wine was excellent, and there are quite a few good choices. The sommelier, Elizabeth Hartcourt, was very nice (and made a very nice suggestion). By all means, any serious foodie should get to Corton soon. It's already among my fave NYC restaurants, and I think they're still working out a few last kinks.

This is by no means a listing of all of the cases that have happened, but a few that come to mind. (All occurred within the last 2-3 months): Peasant: I had a reservation for four at 8:30. I showed up a few minutes early, and our whole party had arrived by 8:32. We arrived promptly for our 8:30 reservation. We were told that the table was not ready and were asked to wait. Mind you, we weren't offered any particular place to wait, just an instruction. As the bar was fairly full, we ended up having to stand in front of the hostess stand. A quarter of an hour later, we were told that the check had been delivered to the table which was to be ours. Still, no offer of a place to sit was made. We had been standing in the space near the hostess stand the whole time. Another 10 minutes later, we still had not been seated, and no one had bothered to talk to us again, nor to apologize any further. Finally, we were seated a full half an hour after the time of our reservation, having stood in the vestibule the whole time. In the intervening time, no one had apologized, we were never offered a drink, a snack or a glass of wine to put off our hunger, nor were we even given anywhere to sit in the bar while we waited. While it's far from compulsory to make some sort of gesture after completely dishonoring our reservation like this, most good restaurants would have made some effort. Instead we were totally ignored. I fully understand that it's difficult to politely ask a table to leave promptly once they've paid the bill, but the offer of a drink at the bar for either them or us would have gone a long way towards soothing annoyed people and moving the proceedings along. It's one thing if we walk in hoping to be seated without a reservation, but to dishonor an advance reservation by a full half hour without proper apology or attempt at managing the situation is rude and unprofessional. I emailed the restaurant twice afterward to discuss how things went down with a manager. No reply. I left a message by phone a few days later. Also no reply. To date, they've not contacted me back in any way. A shame, as I used to like Peasant. Convivio: I had a reservation last night for five people at 8:30. We arrived at 8:29 and were told our table wasn't ready. I asked when it would be and was told rather snottily that they'd be sure to tell us when it was. We sat for 15 minutes in the front vestibule area/lounge. During this time no one ever came up to us and said anything. I then went up and asked how we were doing on being seated. Without even looking up or making eye contact, the hostess said, "I told you we'd tell you when it was ready." We waited 15 minutes more. A kind and concerned waiter walked by just as I was about to make my way again to the hostess stand, and seemed amazed that we were still waiting. He went up to the hostess on our behalf and talked to her for a bit. I'm not sure what the magic words he said were, but he then came and got us, and we were seated...just 35 minutes after the time of our reservation! Never during that time did they offer us a drink or a snack of any kind, nor did they even talk to us or apologize! In fact, they refused to look us in the eye. To add insult to injury, the table at which we were eventually seated HAD BEEN EMPTY SINCE WE FIRST ARRIVED!!! When we confronted the hostess about this, there was no satisfactory explanation. To the kind waiter's credit, he did his best to smooth things over, and even sent a few free sfizi to the table once we were finally seated. Still, if it were my place, the hostess team would be quickly fired. And you can bet we noticed the lags in service (and there were lags) after we were seated, which probably would have gone unnoticed had our arrival/seating not been so poorly handled. Aurora (Soho): Reservation for a group of 9. We showed up and were told our table wasn't ready. We waited in the narrow bar area, and had been waiting for about 15 minutes, before being told the table we were waiting for had received their check. We figured it would be only a few more minutes. We figured wrong. Another 15 later, the somewhat apologetic hostess told us that the bill had long been paid, but the people were lingering. For some reason she was completely unable/unwilling/too paralyzed to say anything to them. I strolled back to have a look. It was three people hogging our 10 top!!!! First off, I was amazed that they had seated a group of three at such a big table on a busy night. But certainly it made no sense to piss off all nine of us while the three of them chatted away at the vast real estate they had been given. I'm guessing that if they'd said anything to them, they'd happily have gotten up, but even in a worst case scenario, why wouldn't you risk slightly offending a group of three rather than a group of nine people that included two (now possibly former) regulars? And if the three people had enjoyed their meal, they were surely in a better mood than the nine hungry folk who had now been waiting over 30 minutes! Eventually, they got up and left, and we were seated about 40 - 45 minutes late. They did eventually send a few free starters to the table. Hearth: Had a reservation for 6 or 7 people, and showed up to find out they had completely lost it in the system (even thought it was made and confirmed via OpenTable). I honestly believe this was some kind of processing error, as they claimed they eventually found the res on some other random day. Still, we waited an hour before being seated! They did little in the way of apology and never sent anything over to us as far as I can remember. Piccolo Angolo: Had a res for a large group for a birthday dinner on a Tuesday at 8:30. We were all there within about 10 minutes of the stated time. We were seated after 9:15. I'm not going to go into the details of this one, as I know the owner did his best for us, and it's a small place with few provisions for large parties. But I note it as part of the topic. Also, it's kind of creepy how all of the examples so far are Italian places with 8:30ish reservations. Maybe there's a lesson in there somewhere. Double Crown: Reservation for four at 8:45 on a Friday. Considering this was a newly opened "hot spot", this could easily have been expected to be a likely offender. However, it should be noted that this was the only place that I thought handled the problem really well. ALL OTHER RESTAURANTS IN THIS POST, TAKE NOTE OF DOUBLE CROWN AND TRY TO IMITATE THEM, PLEASE! Three of our four arrived on time at 8:45 and were told the table wasn't ready yet. We were offered a seat at the bar, and almost immediately, a manager came over and offered to buy us all a drink for the inconvenience. We accepted, and noted not only how good the cocktails were, but also how nicely and professionally the problem was handled. Our fourth guest arrived about 7 or 8 minutes later, and before we could even finish our drinks (our late fourth was offered one as well), the table was ready. The wait had been shorter than any of the other experiences mentioned (about 15-20 minutes total), and we came away from it liking the restaurant even more than if we'd been seated on time, if that's possible. It's not rocket science, just good service and common sense. The problems occurred in a variety of neighborhoods on reservations for a variety of party sizes, on a variety of days of the week. It seems logical that if you're going to make people wait on a fixed reservation, you might at least buy them a drink...even better send some food over. And do it right away, not after you've been complained to or hounded about an ETA for the table. Obviously people make reservations at mealtimes, and are therefore likely to be hungry. Trying to reason with hungry people is never smart. Pissing them off or making hungry people wait can't be a good customer service idea. It should be noted that in all the cases above, we were polite throughout and did not create a massive scene. Maybe we should have in a few cases (Convivio and especially Peasant, I'm looking at you.)

After many recent experiences, and comparing notes with a number of friends, I'm convinced that this problem is becoming much more frequent. You make a reservation, you show up, and your table isn't ready. Sometimes it's "just" 10 or 15 minutes. (It's worth noting that if you're that amount late for your reservation, the restaurant will usually give your table away, but they don't hold themselves to that same standard.) Other times, it's been more than 30. And certainly, how the restaurant handles this problem has as much to do with the final outcome/satisfaction as the length of wait itself. Has anyone else noticed an increase in this? Any thoughts on whether restaurants are changing their procedurals in a way that might be causing it? Allowing less time for turns? Overbooking more tables to allow for no shows? In my experience, many restaurants are also increasingly unapologetic about it. Also, as a supplement to this issue, I think it's worth discussing how a restaurant should respond when a group is waiting for a table, and the table they're waiting for has lingered after paying the check. Restaurants seem positively TERRIFIED of saying anything to the customers who have wrapped up their meals, while they're more than happy to make groups of waiting diners stew even longer before being seated. From where I stand, this seems like really bad business. In many cases, the people who have paid their check would happily clear out and make room, but simply aren't aware that they're holding up some hungry future diners. I know I've been on the other side of that equation, and would happily have moved, but was simply unaware that I was hogging a needed table (caught up in conversation or whatever). The free drink would just be a bonus...I'd usually happily move for free, and in many cases be apologetic myself for not having realized the problem I'd caused. There's surprisingly little risk of a problematic outcome with saying something to the finished table. Meanwhile, the group waiting is probably hungry, short-fused and angry that their reservation isn't being honored. And once you get off on the wrong foot, it's much tougher to make those people happy, as they are probably looking for any additional little thing that goes wrong. By simply offering the finished group some free drinks at the bar or lounge as a thanks for moving and helping everyone out, the restaurant could avoid the problem at a much lesser cost, but almost none seem to want to pursue this strategy. I've seen the problem at both high and low end establishments, and much to my surprise, the relative skill in handling the problem of a late reservation doesn't always seem to correlate to the level of the restaurant.

Incidentally, yes, the cat thing is illegal.

Specifically for pho, I'd also try Cong Ly.

Obviously, this is very subjective. As has been said, Wylie is mentioned in the same breath as all of the international culinary stars in the genre. I've had some really amazing meals at WD-50. Still, on a personal level, I found Alinea to be even better, by a notable margin. While the food at WD-50 was and is groundbreaking, original and fun to eat, the entire experience at Alinea was, for me, really special. Not only did everything taste incredible, but the meal itself was elevated to the level of a performance rather than just a dinner, but without coming off as stuffy. The food there was among the best-tasting I've had at any restaurant, while also being the most conceptual and creative. Having been to quite a few restaurants in this genre around the world, and notably in Spain, which has long been considered the leading edge of this whole movement, I'd have to say that Alinea ranks for me in the very top echelon anywhere in the world (along with El Bulli). It was in my top two, just as it was in Doc's. I'd put WD-50 in the top 10, but definitely not in the top 3-4 for my personal taste. At its best, I think WD-50 belongs well inside that top 10, but I've also had meals there that didn't come together in all ways that they could. Maybe some of that is the price of experimentation, but there are places that have succeeded with me on an even higher level.

I haven't yet eaten at Mugaritz and was disappointed with El Poblet, though clearly it has a place on a list such as this - just not my personal one. Another contender for this list, which I hope to try soon is Paul Liebrandt's Corton. The other restaurants mentioned sound interesting as well. ← I think Mugaritz was actually on my original list at the top of the thread. Eating there was a great experience, sort of a combination of elements from Blue Hill (the setting and farm-like ethos) and El Bulli (the high tech food served in a low tech ambience). While he was still refining his craft at the time I was there, it was one of the most memorable meals I can remember having, if a bit inconsistent in terms of deliciousness. It's the only time in my life I can say that I distinctly tasted each individual leaf in a salad (because each one was different and notable)...and I'm not even a salad person. Apparently, Aduriz has come a long way since (and added two more Michelin stars), but it was very memorable even then. From what I've heard, Corton might not really go in this category, even though many of Liebrandt's previous efforts definitely did (like what he was doing at Gilt). The techno component is apparently quite toned down at Corton. Will have a full report on that in two weeks or so, as I'm going there at least once during that time.

Danube was definitely on the wane. And its reviews had plummeted as well. I think Secession was a response to the fact that Danube was a destination restaurant and wasn't doing that well as such. The extravagance, high price points, etc. were a problem. At its peak, I thought it was very good, but it definitely was just a shadow of its former self in the last couple of years. From what I could see, they were hoping to create a neighborhood place in Secession, that also brought in some outside traffic. The menu is designed sort of like a schizophrenic version of Balthazar, with some Italian influences added (though fewer than originally promised). I went to Secession with my mother the other day. It was quite crowded, but not totally full. They told me it would be about 5 minutes until they could seat us, and that we should wait in the (amazingly noisy) bar/lounge area. Ten minutes later, they came by and said it should only be another 5 minutes, and made a quick apology. Ten minutes after that, the hostess was clearly avoiding eye contact, and still no sign of a seat. After 35 minutes of waiting, we left and grabbed a bite at Odeon, which was the only place still open in the area, as everything else had closed while we were waiting as Secession. For the record, I think someone new may be in the kitchen at Odeon of late, as the food has markedly improved again. As for Secession, I think Bouley needs to take a page from his own book and do more of what is working so well at Upstairs.

How could I forget to add Moto to this list? There are probably others I've missed as well, but that was a glaring omission. ← Great list, Doc. Now I'm really going to put you on the spot and ask you to rank them. Or at least list your top 10. I've been to about half of your list, and am curious to compare. ← I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not sure that I can outside of 1 & 2, which would be elBulli and Alinea in that order. They all have special memories for me and were sources of unique and wonderful meals. I might go so far as to put Ca Sento as number 3. ← As it happens, those are my top two as well! Clearly, if our tastes continue to have so much in common, I'm going to have to consult you regularly on my eating travels:)