sethd

Fat Gut, I don't think there is any secret to becoming a regular at restaurants. Go often, be polite,, be respectful... Tipping in cash doesn't hurt either.

Many reports have indicated that the experience at Masa often leaves people cold and feeling indifferent, while Hiro Urasawa is warm, gracious, and generous with his spirit. ←

I had the opportunity to eat at JEan Georges on MOnday and Per Se last night. THough, I think that PEr Se consistently gives the best overall dining experience in the city, Jean Georges is just microns behind them.(as is Le Bernardin). The question then becomes what kind of food do you enjoy and the overall price/value ratio especially at lunch. You can't go wrong with either: THe lunch value in the main dining room at JEan Georges is the best in the city, hands down!! As for Robuchon's restaurant, the food is superb but i think it is much too overpriced for what it is.

I ate at both Le Cinq and Le Bristol in June and can recommend both highly, though I had the full menus. Some on this site have complained that there is too much variation in quality between the lunch menu and full menu at Le Bristol. If I had to choose, I would recommend Le Cinq. Le Bristol has the menu on the hotel website. If I remember, the wines by the glass prices at Le Cinq run between 15 and 40 Euros.

Le Bernardin does indeed have a cheese cart and it is excellent. The Salon Menu at Per Se does indeed mirror the tasting menu indeed changes quite often.

Since Per Se started serving food in the Salon, I have eaten there about 3 times a month. I have had very few repeats, except for the coffee and donuts which I ask for every meal. In fact, I can remember at least 5 variations of a cavier based canape. As for J.G and Le Bernardin, many of the dishes are so superb that I can easily have them multiple times and not get bored with them.

Personally I can't imagine having a bad experience once, and then writing it off as impossible of improving based upon that single visit. It would depend on what constituted a bad experience. I do realize that it is possible for a restaurant to have a bad day. Though, those days should be extremely, extremely rare (or nonexistant) at a restaurant of the supposed quality and reputation of EMP. I would gladly have returned if the reason for my bad experiece was that I didn't enjoy one or two dishes from the gourmand menu or had mild service lapses. Unfortunately, that was not the case. My meal was a complete and total failure. That is why I have no interest in returning. Especially, when I can go to Per Se, Jean Georges, and Le Bernardin and have a wonderful four star dining experience!

I consider myself an experienced diner in this city and I am not the only one on this board who is less than enamored with EMP. In fact, my meal that evening was the WORST I have had in Manhattan in the last 8 years!! DutchMuse, I would indeed be stunned, shocked, and amazed if my next meal at EMP was indeed an improvement over my first. In baseball, if a player's statitistics improved so radically, so quickly, he would be called a "steroid cheat"

Sneakeater, it may seem unfair to be so critical of a restaurant after only one visit, but unfortunately my experience at EMP that one evening in October, 2007 was so horrendous that I have never desired to return. When you have 14 unmemorable courses awful, amateurish service and spend over $300 , you too would be surprised that meal occurred at a restaurant that has just been named one of the 6 best in the city.

In my opinion, the weakest of the four star restaurants in the city.

How many restaurants have been reviewed more than twice by the same NY Times reviewer during his tenure. Is it likely that the new reviewer will also review EMP in the next few years.

That much I agree with (incredibly strongly with Per Se, less so with JG, much less so with LeB). I just don't understand why this would preclude them from also being a 4 star establishment. Daniel is certainly no way the equal of those three either. edited to add: I also agree Bruni was incredibly unfair with ADNY, and overly generous re-reviewing EMP so much. ← Because, my experience at EMP didn't even come close to the experiences I consistently have at Per Se, JG, and Le B. It failed on all levels that make for an enjoyable fine dining experience. I have had much better meals at Craft, Veritas, The Modern, and Atelier. What makes for exciting and thrilling food? How often should a chef change the menu? Should we expect new york chefs to go to the lengths that Adria does to create new dishes and new menus? I want food to be properly executed and properly served, especially at a restaurant that has obtained a NY Times four star review. I don't think EMP came close to approaching those heights the one night I ate there.

I agree completely. Why did Bruni feel the need to review EMP for the second time. What has changed over the last two years that merited a revisit. He demoted ADNY and didn't bother to return when Chef Esnault ran the kitchen. There is no doubt that ADNY under Esnault's direction was a four star establishment. There is no way that EMP is the equal of Per Se, Jean Georges, and Le Bernardin. Unfortunately, I also think that this review is the end of formal fine dining in this country. That is indeed a shame.

Can you elaborate on this? From what I can tell, you also dine regularly enough at Per Se that you get some extra perks when you go. It fascinates me that you would come close to comparing the two on the same scale, need more details! ← To fascinates, I would add shocked, surprised, etc. Per Se is the best dining experience in New York if not the entire country! EMP is not in the same league as Per Se.

I have had many dishes that I know have been created by the sous chef and they have all been superb!!!

Great news about Chef Benno; I'm having a special birthday celebration at Per Se next month, and I'm so happy that Chef Benno will still be at Per Se (of course Chef Keller will ensure that whoever is at the helm will be wonderful!). ← I have had recent meals at Per Se when Chef Benno has not been in the kitchen and the meals have been superb. If Chef Benno leaves and his second is elevated to chef de cuisine, Per Se will not miss a beat.

Seth, if you have any interest in baking, you can easily reproduce that cake at home. I'll have to look through my Jean Georges cookbooks to see which one(s) include the recipe; off the top of my head, I know it's in "Cooking at Home with Four-Star Chef." I make it regularly. (How else do you think I console myself for not living in New York?) ← Thanks. Since I live 100 yards from jean georges, I think I will leave it to the master.

Seth, there is considerable debate as to who's molten chocolate cake is the original. While J-G is the one who seems to have popularized it in the US, few give him credit for being the originator of the cake. The name that I have most often heard associated with it is Michel Bras. Regardless, J-G's is great and can serve it forever as far as I am concerned. ← Docsconz, I agree with you completely. It is a classic desert. I once had two at once. Wow!I heard that when Iuzzini started at J.G. he was given instructions not to touch that cake,

Let not forget that the Jean Georges molten chocolate cake is the original.

An excellent choice. A traditional sw bistro. I had one of my first meals in Paris at La Fontaine du Mars in 1983 and have most recently eaten there in September, 2007. Great food, nice location, excellent service. I am happy I made reservations there for the end of June before Obama ate there. I bet the restaurant will be seeing alot of American diners this summer.

I said fine dining restaurants which Corton definitely aspires to be AND 5 star hotels. Corton is in no way an inexpensive dining location and thus I think it should be held to certain high level service standards. I think the restaurant's owner who has prided himself on delivering a wonderful overall dining experience in this city for the past 20 years would agree. Also, it shouldn't be up to the customer to say, "Hey, my husband has trouble walking" before the restaurant staff , says may I assist you. I am sure the staff noticed this gentleman's physical limitations.

It independently occurred to me overnight that, as tan319 said above, if you are a visitor to New York with mobility problems, the way to address them is through your hotel, as that's the kind of thing hotels deal with. You can't expect individual service businesses you might patronize over the course of a day -- restaurants, department stores, theaters -- to be able to help you out with your transportation needs. Actually, I can and do expect that kind of service from 5 star hotels as well as premier dining establishments that I eat at whether in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, or Timbuktu. That is partly what makes these establishments highly ranked . You are right, it is not the restaurants job to get cabs for all who ask. However, it is the job of a restaurant to care of its guests. In this case, I think the restaurant was in error. In addition, having had mobility issues in the past,, I still remember acts of kindness shown to me by restaurant and bar personnel that might not have been in their "job description".

Given your relative frequency at other high-end restaurants (you make a point of giving us your per se, Jean Georges, and le Bernardin tally regularly), what would you have expected one of those restaurants to have done in a similar situation? In your many visits to any one of those restaurants, have you witnessed a physically disabled person leave the restaurant assisted by restaurant staff in any way, or known of one of those houses to hail a cab? By now, I think I know good service when I experience it. Regardless of whether my evening at Corton was "big guns night" or not, service should have been wonderful. It was excellent. I have been at restaurants when VIPs sucked all of the staff's attention. That's great for the VIPs, not so much for us Lilliputians. Circumstances shouldn't matter. I expect good service wherever I eat regardless of who I am, who I'm with, the total on my tab, or the camera that I happen to have under my seat. Why shouldn't I? I'm paying for it. My positive service experience at Corton may not overshadow the other negative reports you've heard. However, I might point out that I have read/heard about service issues at every restaurant in New York, even le Bernardin, Jean Georges, and on one occasion, per se. But those are OTHER diners' experiences, not mine. I have had excellent service at all three. I'm certainly no VIP at any of them (save one experience that was an exception). And I'm certainly no regular. You could colourably argue that I am friendlly with one of those houses, but that has only been a recent development, and I disclose that relationship up front. Am I just lucky? robyn was clearly not happy with her service. But sethd, I will tell you that, based on my experience, Corton is a restaurant that I would commend - for both food and service - to *almost* any adventurous diner in New York. You seem to fit in that category. If hearsay service issues alone are keeping you from going, I say, take one night out of your per se rotation and head downtown and find out for yourself. I traveled hundreds of miles to eat there. A cab ride across town won't hurt nearly as much. ← One of the reasons boards like this one exist is to offer information regarding restaurants and allow and aid the boardmember in making informed decisions on whether or not to try new restaurants. We all have certain members whose opinions we value more than others. I always enjoy reading your reviews, ulterior epicure. I usually and unfortunately most often eat out alone and because of that I may be more attuned to service issues. For me, service issues can usually ruin a meal even if the food is delicious. If i read numerous service related complaints from respected reviewers on this and other sites about a specific restaurant, I am less inclined to go there. Why have an evening ruined. In addition, there is no doubt that VIP guests or "friends of the house" get treated differently from a first time guest. However, the overall standard of service for any guest, especially the "lilliputians", must be exceptional at a fine dining restaurant; After all, that is one of the ways regular repeat customers are created. As for my experience watching physically challenged diners eating at restaurants, I can say that I have frequently noted how gracious the staff of Jean Georges is with customers in wheelchairs, crutches, or even with service animals and I have witnessed on many occasions staff assisting such customers leaving so said guest didn't have to walk down the stairs to the street.

I'm not sure how clear it was to the restaurant that the gentleman had difficulty walking. If it was clear, then they could have called a car service for them. If it wasn't clear, I don't think that the suggestion of walking a half a block to 6th Ave was in any way wrong. ← It is very hard to miss a gentleman wearing a heavy leg brace!