LPShanet

As a fellow New Yorker, I have had a real problem with Subways here in NYC. For some reason, most fast food chains aren't as good in Manhattan as they are almost anywhere else in the U.S. in my observation. That presumes, of course, that you like the place in question in the first place. And Subway is one of the absolute worst, at least in my neighborhood (downtown). In most other cities I've lived in or visited, Subway is a passable option when you want something quickly, just as you mention. However, for some inexplicable reason, the Subways I've tried in the City have had bins full of decaying vegetables, and other slimy ingredients that have clearly been around past their expiration dates. They are so bad as to be repulsive. One sandwich I got near my house a few years ago was so disgusting in this regard that I had to throw it out after one bite. The same drop in quality seems to apply to Wendy's, KFC, Taco Bell and any other chain. I have no idea why this is, but my observation has been echoed by numerous friends and acquaintances. Fortunately, there are usually so many better and more interesting options here in the city that I'd choose those over even the best chain stuff anyway. But it is a conundrum. For what it's worth, Subway in Australia is surprisingly good. Everything is fresh and well made, the bread is far better, and even the meats and cheeses are notably elevated compared to the U.S. Can't explain this either, unless Subway just assumes that Americans have terrible taste and judgment.

Was hoping more people would chime in on this one, as many of the diners I liked as a kid are long gone, and I feel like it's been ages since I've had a really good diner meal. Sure, I've had a bunch of acceptable ones, but nothing really great.

I went quite a while ago, soon after it opened, and was very pleasantly surprised, actually. The food, though put forth under the guise of being healthful and natural, all had excellent flavor and was very well balanced. It's one of those places I always meant to get back to, but never managed to do so. It probably doesn't help that I live downtown and don't find myself in that 'hood that often. But I highly encourage anyone who gets a chance to try it. Everything tasted very "clean" without sacrificing flavor, texture or other pleasure-related aspects of the food. Unlike the hippie-dippie health joints, there's a high premium on cooking technique, and they don't throw their mission so aggressively in your face as to make it off-putting. While it's no Jean Georges or EMP, I really enjoyed my meal there, and didn't feel I had taken years off my life by eating it. I'll be curious to hear if it's still good.

It may not be a big moneymaker for the restaurant, but it is for the server who is pushing it on you. The truffle up-sell drastically increases the overall bill, and since most customers tip based on a percentage of the bill, the server stands to make a lot more money from that table. And regardless of the profit motives, a good restaurant should have a chef who has an opinion on whether truffles belong in the dish or not, and designs the menu accordingly. As stated above, if the dish needs truffles, it should always include them, if it doesn't, then they shouldn't be added to it at a cost of 3-6 times the entire cost of the dish.

I was there that same night. They haven't missed a beat: the food is delicious as ever, and the whole experience a lot of fun. If any eGulleters in the area haven't been yet, definitely think about signing yourselves up for an upcoming night. Very nice to have them back!

I think it depends how far down you're still willing to call UWS. The hidden west side gem, in my opinion used to be Shimizu on West 51st. I know that's more midtown, but it would be worth going down a few extra blocks. Good traditional sushi. Not quite the level of the top places, but light years ahead of the middle level.

How would you compare the overall quality of product and breadth of offering here to Yasuda and to other top places in town (Ushi Wakamaru, Kuruma, 15 East, etc.)? Also, what were the prices like? Also, do you know if Trevor Corson is still involved?

I've been to Ciano twice now, and both times the "half bottles" I ordered were full bottles that they opened in my presence, and then poured half into a caraffe. It may help that both of my visits were relatively early in the evening. I believe that any remaining half-bottles are generally sold by the glass to the bar crowd. That was my experience as well, and my visit was not early in the evening at all. Then again, our orders were a bit off the beaten path. I suspect this will also be a good thing for solo bar diners, as there may be interesting things to drink by the glass on any given night, if you think to ask what's been opened.

Absolutely. And I think there were quite a few very good French places around the US soon after that time that were also based on rustic French cuisine, even though many thought of them as "fancy". L'auberge Chez Francois in the DC area comes to mind. Maybe, if we live long enough, there will be a revival of this sort of place, much as properly made cocktails have made their comeback:)

Very good points all! However, I used to think of it as having more influence from fine French country inns than from brasseries per se, as many of the dishes were not iconic brasserie items. And while not everything bore them, certainly many signature dishes were heavily sauced (the veal medallions with morels comes to mind). Like you, I found it by far my fave at the time, but I'd guess it would be more in the 3-star realm in today's world.

Of the ones you mentioned, Strip House and Minetta are probably the ones most like to fulfill all the requirements, as they're the only two of the bunch that you might spot a celeb at. Minetta has only a couple of choices in terms of which steak you get (a cote for two, and a sirloin), but both of those steaks are excellent and Minetta is the most scene-y on your list. Strip House is less likely for celeb spotting but probably the best balanced combo of the elements you're looking for.

In the spirit of winter drinking, port (either tawny or ruby) can be excellent in a flip as well. In terms of durability, it seems that ports and the sherries with higher RS will last a bit longer than the drier ones on average.

Dropped in to Ciano last night with a friend, and ate at the bar. Overall, the food is very good, and the place was bustling, though it started to clear out quite quickly after 9pm. Service was friendly, but definitely not super-sharp yet. Not sure if this is a function of being new, or if it's going to stay that way. The food is a bit more refined than the Italian places that call themselves rustic, but certainly not as carefully tweaked as the highest end stuff (Del Posto, etc.). We ate: Dungeness crab crostino: Delicious, with very sweet crab meat and a little slice of goodness from the charcuterie/salumi dept for added unctuousness. Chicken liver crostino: The livers had been whipped before topping, which made this much lighter than you'd expect. Poached farmer's egg with garlic crostino, basil pesto and culatello: The surprising star of this dish was the roasted peppers, which added a really great flavor to the whole dish. Oxtail ravioli braised in Barolo with rosemary butter: Delicious, but very rich. The one complaint (other than the extreme richness) was that we got a couple of pieces of tail bone in two ravioli. Burrata di bufala with broccoli rabe pesto, roasted plum tomatoes and onion jam: A great tweak on the caprese salad. Reminiscent of the excellent version at Mozza in LA. Nantucket bay scallops with hazelnuts, Brussels sprouts and Hubbard squash mostarda: Very nice sear on the scallops, and the sauce was excellent. Roasted veal meatballs with creamy white polenta, herbs and truffle pecorino Malloredus with Dungeness crab, speck and bottarga di Muggine: Very tasty, and rich despite being a mostly seafood preparation. Tortellini stuffed with braised veal and sweetbreads in fontina cheese fonduta: Too rich even for me, though delicious. The order should have been 3 tortellini instead of around 10! When my s/o arrived, we doubled back and ordered another round of the crostini, scallops and meatballs, which gave us an idea of how consistent the kitchen is (or isn't). I have to say that I was slightly disappointed that the second orders of scallops and meatballs had more flaws in them than the first round. This wasn't just because the novelty had worn off, but because there were some minor technical errors made the second time around. Still, even the weaker iterations were very good. The main difference we noticed was that the second order of meatballs were a bit larger, and lacked the wonderful crusty exterior texture that the first order had. The general flavor was the same, but the second order had noticeably less of the (delicious) polenta and much less sauce, making the dish a little less balanced. The meatballs were also slightly bigger the second time. The second order of scallops were quite as caramelized on the sear, either. I wonder whether the first team line cooks had cut out by the end of the night. Something else worth noting is that they offer almost all of their wines by the half bottle, which is a great thing. They have an excellent wine selection, rife with interesting choices off the beaten path, as well as the better known stuff. The soms are well versed and made excellent recommendations. The half bottle program isn't limited to whatever they stock in pre-bottled halves. Instead, they happily open and decant half a bottle of most of the selections on the wine list, and then sell the remainder as another half bottle or by the glass. This is great for those who want to try a few things and experiment, without being limited to the by the glass selection. I wish more restaurants did this. The only caveat is that you may want to keep an eye on how long your bottle has been open if you get the second half of an already open one. All of ours were freshly opened so can't comment on that. Overall, the bar staff were really nice, but didn't seem all that well versed in the wine or cocktail offerings. My guess, based on the owner's previous efforts (e.g. Phillipe) is that it's never going to be as robust a service setup as a Danny Meyer establishment, but with luck enough of the current staff will stay so that they get more experience. Seems like I've been eating a lot of very rich Italian food lately (Ai Fiori, Ciano, L'artusi, et al.). I hope the places that do this are able to lighten things up come summer when I may not be craving such rich, heavy fare. For now, though, it hits the spot.

It's worth noting that the requirements vary a lot in in different cities, so it's not an apples to apples comparison. New York's health code is said to be more rife with arcane rules that really have little to do with actual sanitation, and some of which are not fixable. For example, the New York code includes specifications for distances between certain pieces of equipment (including sinks) that just can't be accomplished in many kitchens in the city. This means that some places are starting with points against them at the beginning of every inspection regardless of how clean they actually are, and have less margin for error. Needless to say it doesn't mean those places are any less clean that others. One of the problems is that most consumers aren't really aware of what the requirements are or how the inspections work, so they will often get the wrong impression based on the oversimplified letter grades.

Actually, I was there Friday...I just got the days muddled. I suppose I didn't make much note of heaviness, as I was in the mood for a rich meal, and it was cold out:) However, I thought the crudo and crab were both light and had enough vegetal or acidic elements to provide lightness and contrast quite a bit with some of the other heavier dishes. But it definitely wasn't spa food! Personally, I enjoyed the food much more than I did Lincoln, but it's very subjective territory. I found the flavors more arresting, and the seasoning a bit better balanced, though both meals were very good. Very interesting that you found Morini to have notably lighter elements, considering the menu there. Going to Marea in the next week or so, and will compare notes then. Looking forward to your pics.

Not to be difficult, but 10-15 minutes is very optimistic for that ride, unless you're going at 3am:) More like 20 minimum.

That's an especially pathetic example. Shame on them. And to add insult to injury, the truffle oil used in most such things doesn't cost significantly more than many standard quality kitchen ingredients. Someone there deserved a slap:)

I'd think that one bite would be sufficient to dispel (or confirm) any such concern. I agree with the OP on the shrimp: if the restaurant feels the need to leave the tail on as "proof" that the shrimp is fresh, it's probably not. For me it just makes for a better presentation... And looks, well, more substantial. Plus I like to squeeze the little bit of meat out that gets left in the tail end. My suggestion isn't to chop off the little bit of tail meat and toss it out. When you shell the shrimp entirely, that little piece stays on the shrimp intact, just as it was when the critter was alive. So fear not...you'll still get the whole shrimp, unless the prep is totally incompetent. I'm a tail eater sometimes, too, but not all types of shrimp and preparations are appropriate for shell-eating. And I'd say tail eaters are in the minority out there. There's no way that most of the places doing this are doing so because of tail-eaters, any more than they don't leave the feet on chicken preparations just because some (including me) like to eat them. How do you suggest dealing with said shrimp in an ostensibly upscale Asian restaurant in a messy sauce? Sadly, the frozen ones can be had just as easily with tails on...and in any decent restaurant, that shouldn't even be a concern. It's like sending the asparagus out with the rubber band that they were bundled with still on. As Chris H pointed out, I thin if you have to question it, you may be in the wrong place. And I think the association with freshness may be a relic of a time long past, that a few people just won't let go of...much like organic corks in wine.

A bit confused by your post here. Are you looking for two separate things entirely? You do know that Per Se is nowhere near the Financial District, yes? In terms of Financial District dining, I think that SHO Shaun Hergatt is far and away the best restaurant down there. Their 3-course prix fixe is $33 at lunch and $75 at dinner, and both are very good value. However, it might be tough to get out for less than $100 at dinner, once you've added tax, tip, beverages, etc. My suggestion would be to head up a short way to Tribeca where there are many more options for good eating. Let us know more clearly what you're looking for and what the $50 - $100 parameter includes.

Reflecting on a few recent meals, I was struck by a couple of seemingly ubiquitous practices that, despite the rapid evolution of restaurant culture, seem completely ridiculous to me. Some of these conventions are so deeply entrenched that, despite their gaucheness, annoyance or sheer stupidity, no one seems to even consider how lame they are. As a result, I wanted to see if I was being nitpicky, or if others also think they should be dispensed with as soon as possible. This thread is being started to discuss those annoyances, and submit your own for discussion. I'd like to ask that we not include speech or language-based items, such as waiters who ask "are you still working on that?" and the like. This is for actual food service practices. Here are two that recently got my blood boiling. 1. The Truffle Up-Sell: I always find myself feeling either guilty, annoyed or just uncomfortable every time I encounter the practice of truffle-shilling that seems to go on at every Italian restaurant in town (and some non-Italian joints, too) that considers itself to be upscale, from shmancy places like Del Posto on down to neighborhood trattorias that aspire to shmanciness. It's not that I don't like truffles. I love them. It's the way the whole thing is structured. The outrageous by-the-ounce pricing, the showy tableside shaving ritual, the shameless hard sell that the wait staff goes through to pad your tab. I shouldn't feel guilty or cheap just because I decline to purchase a $70 sprinkling of truffles on my $20 pasta, as if I'm a second class customer or pauper. Nor should I feel like I'm missing the real essence of the dishes I'm eating. And the sheer tackiness of doing this sort of thing in a fine dining restaurant seems out of place to me. But none of that is the core reason this practice pisses me off so much. The reason I hate the truffle up-sell is much simpler and more based in my philosophy as a restaurant patron. When I go to a high-level restaurant, I go to taste a talented chef's food, and experience his point of view. Everything on the menu at NY's top restaurants is carefully considered, and bears the chef's imprint. As the designer of the dishes, the chef has decided how they should taste, what they should include, and how they should be presented. So if the dish needs truffles to be exactly as he intended it, then the damn dish should already have truffles in it! If it doesn't need them, then shame on them for selling me these unnecessary, ridiculous and superfluous add-ons that cost more than the rest of my meal combined. There's a reason they don't put a rack of ketchup, hot sauce and other condiments on the table at a nice restaurant. Hell, most don't even put salt shakers on the table because the chef would be insulted that we wanted to tweak the seasoning. So why am I suddenly in charge of deciding on whether one of the principle flavor ingredients on the plate should be there or not? If the point is really to feature the deliciousness of truffles when they're in season, then design a dish (or several) that's specifically made to showcase truffles, and charge whatever it needs to cost for it. You don't see them offering to sprinkle foie gras, caviar, fine cognac or Swarovski crystals over every item on the menu, and they shouldn't do any differently with truffles. 2. Half-Dressed Shrimp: Why is it that so few restaurants remove the tail and last joint of shell from the end of shrimp? It seems like a vestige of what was considered fine dining in an era when "classy" meant pupu platters at Trader Vic's or Chicken a la King at some "Continental" restaurant. "Sure honey, all the classy joints in Europe serve them that way...nothing but the best for you." It's like I'm trapped in a Mad Men episode. Either that or it's a ridiculous way of reassuring the diner that these were, in fact, real shrimp and not some synthetic facsimile, with the tail there as shining proof. If shrimp are served in a seafood house with brown paper on the tables, or steamed in their shells like crawfish, then I absolutely expect to peel the entire shell off the shrimp with my hands, just as I would for a lobster at a dockside picnic. It's part of the fun, and entirely appropriate. But if I'm eating a dish that requires a knife and fork, it makes a way less sense. And if the cooks have already taken the trouble to cut off the entire rest of the shell, why didn't they take the stupid tail off?!!?!? It's actually probably harder to shell a shrimp and leave the tail on than it is to just strip the whole thing. But the really infuriating cases are when the shrimp is prepared in a messy sauce or curry, and still have the damn tails on. There is no earthly reason for this, and no way to use my chopsticks to remove it easily. Nor can it be done without doing minor surgery on every piece of shrimp with a knife and fork, if you even have both. More often, I am forced to spend the entire meal digging through the dish piece by piece, and then removing the tail by hand, all the while getting the sauce all over my hands and either licking it off, soiling half a dozen napkins, excusing myself to the restroom a few times, or simply sacrificing the pants I'm wearing. Stop the madness, please. Am I missing something here? Is there some mysterious benefit to that last half inch of tail shell? Feel free to provide vigorous agreement...dissent is less welcome:) And add to the nascent list of stuff that's gotta go before 2011 is done.

I noticed that no one had started a thread of Ai Fiori yet, and was a bit surprised at the lack of discussion. Similarly, when I ate there last night, I was a bit surprised at the relative ease with which I got a reservation at prime time, and at the fact that there were a number of tables available. This was absolutely no reflection on the quality of the restaurant, which I found really impressive. I am mystified as to why it's not exploding like White's other ventures. All aspects (food, service, wine, atmosphere) were top notch. And while the a la carte prices are fairly high, there is a $79 four-course prix fixe that is an excellent value for a place of this caliber. The room is elegant in a modern way, and is quite pleasant. It's certainly not as dramatic or memorable or special a space as those at Riverpark or Lincoln, but a nice and appropriate atmosphere nonetheless. In many ways, it's the most "adult" of White's outposts. But the reason to go certainly isn't the decor, so on to the meal we had. My two friends and I opted for the four-course prix fixe rather than the tasting menu, as they aren't the gluttons that I am. Before the appetizers arrived, we were brought a shot of warm cauliflower soup as an amuse, which was excellent and rich. For first courses, we had crudo of fluke with sea urchin, lemon oil and sturgeon caviar; blue crab with avocado mousse, grapefruit, tarragon and crispy farinata; and a lobster veloute with sweetbreads, shaved chestnut and black truffles. All of them were first rate, but the crab and the lobster really stood out. The lobster was really rich, and the liquid so addictive that we all went through several pieces of bread sopping up the remains. The crab was a much lighter and fresher flavor profile, but also outstanding in a different way. And the crudo was super clean, with the uni adding just enough richness to keep things interesting. It should be noted that unlike many Italian restaurants, quite a few luxury ingredients were included in dishes without any supplemental charges to the prix fixe, such as the caviar in the crudo dish, and the truffles in the lobster. They did offer the usual Italian restaurant truffle up-sell, which we declined. (More on the whole truffle up-sell practice in another thread...) The next course (primi) included risotto with escargots, parsley, parmesan and garlic chips; a rich veal-based tortellini and a creamy ravioli with yet more truffles. All were again fantastic, with the tortellini being the richest and most unctuous. All of them were as good as any pastas I've had in town. I don't recall all of the components in the tortellini and the ravioli, and those dishes aren't yet listed on the restaurant's website, so I apologize for the lack of detail. Mains included a butter poached lobster with root vegetable fondant and chateau chalon sauce; a rack of lamb with lamb breast crepinette, swiss chard croquette and sariette; and a beef tenderloin dish whose accompaniments elude my memory. Once again, there were no duds, although the lobster and lamb definitely outshone the steak. The lobster was among the most skillfully cooked and sauced examples I can remember having in a restaurant, and the lamb was rich and very well balanced. In fact, the lamb struck me as a better executed version of the lamb dish I had at Lincoln, in that both involved the same basic technique. The racks of lamb had been covered in a crepinette that added both size and flavor to the meat. However, I found Ai Fiori's to be much better balanced in terms of the flavors, and both lighter and more moist. Desserts were: A mandorle-cremeux, which turned out to be a sort of rich white chocolate like treat, with quince puree, caramel apple, rosemary oil and cassis sorbetto. A Dark Chocolate tartaletta with grapefruit, anise and hazelnut gelato. And an olive oil cake, with ricotta, pear confit, port cubes and coffee gelato. All were interesting and carried diverse flavors. Some worked better than others, but all were good. Since I don't have a huge sweet tooth, it seemed to me that these were the weakest link of the night, but still very good. I'm a fan of the pastry chef, Robert Truitt, who did stints at Room 4 Dessert and Corton prior to Ai Fiori. With his talent, and a little tweaking and paring down, I expect Ai Fiori's desserts to keep getting much better. They're definitely not just filler on the menu, which is nice since so many restaurants just seem to do the standard placeholder desserts. And the coffee gelato that came with the olive oil cake was fantastic. Service was very solid, and friendly, but still formal. While not as over the top as that at Per Se, Jean Georges, etc, it was very professional, and will probably continue to improve. Wine choices were quite good, and prices for them were pretty much par for the course for NYC. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were a few decent half bottles, instead of the typical junk that tends to fill that part of the list. The cocktail program was designed by Eben Freeman and looks to be a good addition to the restaurant, though it's only composed of five or six drinks at this point. The one I had, called aperitivo, was very pleasant and well balanced if a bit sweet for my taste. Again, I think this aspect of the restaurant will keep improving. Overall, a really super restaurant, and an excellent addition to White's empire. It will be interesting to see if things fill up in the coming weeks/months.

Much like discussions in sports of how the greatest of yesteryear would compare with today's stars, I think it's pretty tough to postulate how Lutece would do now. Food culture evolves, and people's desires and tastes along with it. (Remember when sun dried tomatoes were first discovered by Americans and how "new" they felt?) It might be tough going for a traditional French place to fully bloom in today's NYC, even if it were in top form, like Lutece was in its prime. Otherwise, I would think there would be at least a few of the grand old French places left, but even the few hangers on are struggling, and each year more of them close. It's not necessarily because it isn't just as good as today's places, but at least in part because most serious eaters have now eaten good versions of most of the dishes served there many times. That said, I had what may have been the most memorable meal of my entire life (and the one that gets credit for making me into the food-crazed adult I am now) at Lutece. As for the Brooklyn comments, I have to say that I have to agree on some level. It's not just a NY Times thing, but an overall bias that people tend to have towards their own neighborhoods. It's reflected not only in the NY Times reviews, but in many other publications (e.g. Time Out, which also boasts a large number of Brooklynites among its food staff) and more populist sources of food info, including, notably, the Zagat Survey. A few years ago, places located in popular residential areas outside the typical foodie hotbeds started getting high scores more often in the Zagat survey (and on Yelp and other mainstream sources) as Brooklyn became more "settled" . It first became widely noticed when Grocery scored among the top 7 restaurants in all of NYC in the 2003 Zagat survey (along with Le Bernardin, Daniel, Bouley, Jean Georges, etc.). Was the Grocery quite good? Yes. Was The Grocery on the same level as those other restaurants? No way...not even close...not ever. But just like rooting for the home team, people get excited when their local place starts to operate at a level that it can be at least compared to more prominent places. It's great for those living in Brooklyn, but makes the info harder to put into use for those of us who don't. Determining whether a place really merits a special trip and offers something that isn't replicated in Manhattan (e.g. Brooklyn Fare, Dressler), or is simply a good addition to the 'hood and an improvement over the existing standard (e.g. Saul, The Grocery), often takes a keen eye and secret decoder ring, just like any other bias among food critics.

I haven't eaten there, but a good friend who is a Sichuan fan spoke highly of Szechuan Chalet, too. However, they did mistake him for a food critic once, so he does get rockstar treatment:) Worth a try, it would seem, based on descriptions of multiple meals there.

I take it you've never been to France.

It is important, when discussing this issue, to keep in mind that some employees (e.g. servers) have wages that reflect the fact that they're likely to receive tips. In other words, they are paid less and their legal minimum wage is lower because they receive tips. So while there may well be many deserving people in other positions, the system is set up so that those who are paid less based on the expectation of tips are compensated accordingly, rather than distributing that money to those who are already paid more, regardless of how hard they work. Before you start "recognizing" everyone who works hard by including them in the tip pool, you need to make the base wages equivalent. In countries where tipping is considered optional, the base pay of a server is noticeably higher, and at a level where they can make a living on their salaries alone. (N.B. It also may be why you often receive such crappy and indifferent service in some of those countries.) For what it's worth, that would also raise the overall price level at restaurants by quite a bit.