LPShanet

Thanks for the info. That's what I figured based on our experiences. It's funny that you can go across the street to Craftsteak and have an exponentially better meal and environment. ← Or you could skip all the "chains" and go to a really good original restaurant. While you're at it, you could go to a better 'hood for food. One note about Morimoto, though: While its main dining room food has been largely and universally panned since its opening, it was possible (at least a couple of years ago) to have a truly spectacular meal there, albeit at a price. If you sit at the omakase bar (separate from the sushi bar), you'll be served by either Morimoto himself (if he's there) or his assistant (who is very talented). They will serve you dishes not on the menu, and usually items that change daily. It's a true omakase, unlike the one on the menu. You can only do this at the omakase bar, and it starts around $200 a person, but it can be well worth it. The one time I did this, I had one of the best Japanese meals I've ever had anywhere...and I've had a LOT. It's a completely separate experience from dining in the main restaurant. Different ingredients, different dishes and different level entirely. I can't vouch that it's still as good, but it may be.

Another one you might check out is En Brasserie. Although it's got the splashy-looking room a la the Fauxpanese places, the food is very good, and is genuinely Japanese (the original is in Tokyo). It's not a sushi place, but serves a wide variety of authentic dishes. Barring that, I'd second Matsuri.

Agree 100% with Nathan. Public is lively and not bad at all. But Monday Room is better and has a better atmosphere.

It seems pretty rare that I don't find myself getting the exact same impressions of a place as Nathan. However, I ate at Bar Blanc tonight and was quite disappointed. The food was all satisfactory, although not particularly memorable, but the service was atrocious. Considering that I've had food at this level (and at the same or lower prices) at quite a few places in the city, it wasn't enough to make me want to visit again. I just don't have the time to spare. I should clarify that when we did see our waiter, he was very friendly and solicitous. Nonetheless, it took us over 45 minutes after ordering to get our starters. This followed not getting menus at all for the first 10-15 minutes we were seated, then waiting another ten minutes before being told one of the items we had ordered wasn't available. Despite these long waits, there was no effort to make our next course (main) come out any faster. It was at least 30 minutes after we finished our starters before we finally tracked down our waiter (not an easy task, considering his remarkable invisibility) and asked about our food. He apologized and finally appeared with the mains, which were not at all bad, but certainly didn't make up for the wait. They did, however, slightly top off our glasses of wine as a service gesture. On to the food. We started with seared scallops and a special of snapper carpaccio. The scallops were decent, although far from the best I've had at similar places. No complaints on them, but I wouldn't be able to tell you much about them a few days from now. The carpaccio was surprisingly fishy, which wasn't helped by the anchovy dressing, but was most notable for being served a bit above room temperature. Warm fish carpaccio is a bit unnerving and probably not the way most chefs would suggest it be done. I'm pretty sure it was an error or a factor of how the fish was stored, rather than an intentional decision. Our mains were the porcelet and fettucine with rabbit. The porcelet was fairly nice, although again not outstanding, and could have used a little judicious trimming. Still, not bad overall. The rabbit fettucine was actually very nice, and I'd order it again if given the chance. In the net, I don't have any strong negatives about the food, but at the price levels being charged, and considering the place's Bouley-based pedigree, I'd have expected more. The service was just inexcusable, and it seemed that the worse things were going, the more our waiter tried to avoid us. As a side note, the table next to us included a guy who clearly was friendly with one or more of the employees. I spent a large portion of the meal with various people leaning over my shoulder to talk to him. Maybe they should have been in the kitchen preparing our food. It should also be noted that he got his stuff well before we did, despite the fact that he arrived 20-30 minutes later. I'd guess that Bouley himself, who is a famous taskmaster, would have had the whole lot fired.

Not sure if the menu still indicates this, but there are actually multiple versions of the omakase at 15 East. They have a general omakase that includes hot kitchen items as well as sushi, and they have a sushi bar omakase that only includes sushi bar items.

Iberico is spreading. I spotted the Fermin today at Essex Market (at Formaggio Essex).

Yasuda's uni is clearly on wooden trays...whether it came that way or he put it onto the tray, I have no idea. I'm not sure that uni fresh from the shell is best anyway(though I haven't tried so I don't know either way), just like the "freshest" tuna isn't the best. Tuna is actually supposed to be aged until it's texture is perfect (something like a week I believe). But yea, every sushi place I've ever been to serves uni from the wooden tray. MS will often serve uni in it's shell,but I'd bet money he just keeps uni shells and places the uni from teh tray back into the shell, so I am extremely curious to try this "fresh" uni to see if it's just a cute gimmick/presentation or if the freshest/best uni can only be had from a freshly cracked live one. ← The times that I've been served uni by Yasuda, the uni were on trays - but not the kind that are sold to "mere mortal" consumers. I have a feeling that Yasuda receives them in some other form (than tray packages) and then stores them on his own trays (which, as I recall, was lined with towels of some sort). I'll be interested in what raji finds out. ← I'm pretty sure Yasuda gets most of his uni from Santa Barbara and Catalina (he confirmed this once), as do most of the sushi chefs in the area. There are very few providers of top notch uni to NYC and there may be some advantage realized from the relationship a chef cultivates with one of the two or three providers. As Raji and others have pointed out, though, there's quite a bit of variability inherent in uni. So you might find a better or worse piece on a given night at one place, even though they got it from the same source. Overall, the variation can be greater from week to week than it is from place to place at the top end. As for the comparisons made between sushi places, I agree that Shimizu (the restaurant) seems to have slightly less variety than Ushi or 15 East, but with close to comparable quality. And I really like 15 East overall...it's one of my 2 or 3 faves, but have one complaint (that is probably a nitpick): every time I've eaten there and ordered sushi omakase, I've received the exact same assortment provided in the exact same order. At a really great sushi bar, I expect the chef to give me whatever's great that day, and throw in some new, unusual or interesting things that make it different from the last visit and that reflect what is the best stuff currently available. Having this choreographed sushi assortment instead (while top notch) suggests a slightly lower level of service and personalization. By contrast, when I order sushi omakase at Ushi Wakamaru, it's always completely different. The pre-set thing can still be very good, as it often is at Sasabune for example, but it's not the same as having the chef create the procession for you, which is the way great sushiya do things. At the top places in Japan, they watch you when you eat each thing, and use the info from your reaction to decide what else to give you. Kind of like a good poker player. Can't wait to get back to Ushi....

Yes yes yes. Definitely overlooked since it's been open and to some extent I hope it stays that way. The food is really nice, and the pairings have been done expertly all three times I've gone. But it's the atmosphere that makes it such a find. It's just like sitting in the library at someone's rich uncle's mansion. Very mellow. So please do try it, but please don't tell anyone other than your close friends and those who will properly appreciate it:)

I agree with Nathan on pretty much all of his comments, but would add that despite the fact that no one goes to Dennis Foy, the food was actually a pleasant surprise. It's not innovative by any stretch (although maybe slightly more so that the other two), but it's the only one of the three that might be mistaken for romantic and is the only one that tries to do anything with the decor. Little Owl is much more "down home" in its cuisine (think meatballs, roasted birds, etc.) and is truly like a neighborhood cafe in its feel although the food is very tasty. Perilla is somewhere in between...a neighborhood bistro with good food and some culinary ambition. As Nathan also mentioned, if you want creative and innovative, with real NYC atmosphere, you'll do much better at Tailor or WD-50. The Momofukus are great culinarily and in terms of innovation/creativity, but the romance/decor factor is nil, despite their hipness. You might also enjoy P*ong, though people seem to love it or hate it. As you've been warned already, The Harrison and Duane Park are both no longer nearly as good as they once were...you can do better with the other suggestions. I'm going to throw out another way of thinking, which might be to go to one of the city's great cocktail destinations, several of which have excellent small plates that you could either make a meal out of, or hit before your dinner. That would be a very NYC evening. The top such places are Death & Co., Pegu Club (both of which have excellent small plates) and PDT (which only has hot dogs in the food department, but the drinks are great). Another idea is The Monday Room, which is sort of a wine-oriented lounge with excellent small plates, that is hidden in a corner of the restaurant Public. Good luck!

Any plans to do this again? It looks great. (Sorry for the double post.)

Any plans to do this again? It looks great.

I was there the other day, high hopes in tow. The tacos al pastor were first rate, but I was a bit disappointed by the seafood options...the fish tacos and the shrimp iteration were fairly boring and covered with mayo. Not impressive at all. Also, they seem to have taken the tripe off the menu, which was one of the ones that got early buzz. I'd like to go back to give them a fair shake, but after all the bluster about being the first authentic tacqueria in town, I left feeling a bit empty. As for great-tasting tacos, I'd take the camarones and al pastor versions at Mercadito over Pinche's. Slightly less authetic, and more expensive to be sure, but way stronger on flavor.

Your information is good. Kuruma may cost as much as double 15 East (which isn't particularly cheap). And Ushi is still closed. Seki is fun, but it's focus is more on creativity and less on the ingredient quality, although quality is still very good. If you're an Ushi fan, I think you'll like 15 East quite a bit. Also worth of consideration is Shimizu (but 15 East is a little swankier in atmosphere and maybe better for a b'day). Also, Soto is pretty good, but the real stars there are the prepared dishes more than the sushi.

If you can get in, the $48 tasting menu is a real bargain. It's been a while since I've been though. I hear the food can be a little inconsistent. ← On a less ambitious level, a lot of people like East Village spots Frank, Max and Il Baggato. Also, Lavagna and Gnocco. Also, I'm not sure if Peasant qualifies.

It may well be bellota that Dean and Deluca has. I was only speaking about the Despana stuff, as I haven't checked out Dean and Deluca's product. One caveat, though: like with many DO (controlled region of origin) products, there are specific rules, and also many attempts to circumvent them by clever labeling. So it's also possible that this is not the real stuff. You'd want to read the label and look for a few other signs to make sure that it said the right magic words:) Either way, as long as it's real Iberico, it's bound to be pretty good. Were they hand slicing?

Dropped by Despana today for a 1/4 pound of the Iberico. To confirm, it is the free range stuff, not bellota, and it's quite good, though not nearly of the level of the best that I've had in Spain (various bellotas, notably Joselito Gran Reserva). They sell it machine-sliced for $90 a pound or hand sliced for $99. If you care about slicing method, make sure to say so, or they will default to machine slicing, sometimes without asking. Serious ham geeks say machine slicing raises the temperature of the ham, which isn't desirable, though it could be argued how much this is perceptible. They told me that Despana would be getting some bellota in the spring some time. Still, it's worth knowing that the really elite hams won't make it to the States any time soon, as the Gran Reservas and other really desirable Joselito hams are spoken for even before they are made...kind of like buying wine futures.

I totally agree. What Adria is known for is isolating the essence of a product (for example, olives) and making an item that tastes even more like an olive than the original olive does. If that's not about flavor, I'd have a hard time imagining what is.

They/I have already done that option very thoroughly, as described in another thread:)

Thanks for the input. Luckily, it seems I've talked them into going to Pamplona instead, which is probably a more interesting choice than either. Cheers.

I have been asked which is the better of these two, and haven't been to either. Anyone have an opinion, input or comparison for me?

That sounds like quite a few things. Any chance of a pic or further info?

Glad to help. You could also enlist a civilian (read: non sodium restricted) taster for a neutral opinion before serving. But having a salt shaker (or good Portuguese rock salt) around can't hurt.

There is a definite and physiologically supported "attenuation" factor with regard to perception of saltiness. In other words, it is scientifically supportable that you get used to salt, and conversely that if you've become used to low salt, that normally salted items will taste very salty to you. Our palates become acclimated to the level of salinity that's typical in our food. Anyone who's gone back and forth between low sodium diets and more standard ones have seen this. So to Special K, it's very likely that the standard Thanksgiving food would taste salty to someone on a low sodium diet. And yes, you may want to take that into account with your guests in the future:) I've been caught in that trap and really didn't love eating at friends' houses who were on low sodium kicks for whatever reasons (medical or superstitious or other). That said, there may be some truth to an increased progression on the saltiness of food in NY restaurants. Though I must admit that I often don't notice it, I have seen my mother complain of excessive saltiness quite a few times in the last few years, and she's traditionally someone who likes her food very salty. This may be because I eat out much more often than she does and my palate is more acclimated to these increased salt levels.

Oops, was about to post, and then saw slkinsey beat me to both of my references (though I'd specifically mention the gelato at Otto, as I haven't been overly impressed by that much else there).

He has broad knowledge and even gives cocktails their due. In his review of Tailor, he notes: I find his descriptions of food to be consistently more useful than those of most any other reviewer. From his review of A Voce: In one recent review, Adams was confronted with fried grasshoppers at the new Mexican restaurant Toloache. Here, he allows himself a bit of fun, but he keeps his eye on the ball and gives a solid description of the dish: So, now you've heard of Paul Adams, my favorite restaurant reviewer. ← Great find, FG. Many thanks for the tip. It's a little sad that one of the world's best food cities has such a dearth of great food criticism and writing, so this is a little light in a dark category.