kathryn

It's white bean and chili pepper puree and lemon juice, and some herbs. I was in there last Thursday and asked!

I always have trouble getting a seat at Death & Co on a Friday or Saturday, so I've stopped trying. Last call is some time between 11:15 and 11:30 because they close at midnight. If you try to stop by after dinner and the list is already long, you won't get in before closing.

Don't forget that you can also buy merchandise (except for books), drinks (except for the Eleven Madison Park and Tabla stands), sides, and desserts with the $100 card. If you go both days with another person, you'll run out of money at some point. If you don't, go buy some sauces or rubs!

I would say Jean Georges for lunch. Jean Georges: For gentlemen, jackets required for dinner but not lunch. For lunch, they ask no sneakers or jeans. EMP: For gentlemen, jackets not required but preferred. I wouldn't really wear jeans to EMP though.

Vinny Vincenz's round pie tends to be a little underdone, but it's a good gas-oven slice, nothing more. Get it well done if you want a litlte more char. The square slice is among the better square slices in town. Artichoke's pies have too much crust. It's all out of proportion. The artichoke pie is a novelty, but way too big and gloppy. The crab slice seemed really unappetizing to me, so I didn't try it. The regular slice has a too sweet sauce, too much cheese, and again, really thick crust. The only one I like there is the square.

No Southside Market & BBQ, from Elgin, Texas? They were there in 2007 but not 2008....

Jean Georges recently opened its dining room for lunch on Saturdays, for what it's worth.

I don't think the lean brisket is worth the stomach space. Can you request that you only get the moist? That's what I would do. As for the sauce, most traditional Lockhart-style BBQ enthusiasts hate sauce. I'm not surprised that Hill Country's sauce is not very good.

Really nice ones by Time Out New York (The Feed Blog): http://www.flickr.com/photos/31356424@N08/

According to the NYT, the room that holds Tom: Tuesday Dinner was Craftbar's original location (until it moved to be around the corner, on Broadway) and served as Craft's private dining room until Tom: Tuesday Dinner began. http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/200...olicchio-cooks/

As BryanZ mentioned, plenty of restaurants are doing recession-specials, especially for off days, off times, or weekday lunches: http://eater.com/archives/2009/01/eater_deaflfeed_map.php http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/11/recession_dining.html The best deals in town are usually for weekday lunch (Eleven Madison Park, Jean Georges). Gramercy Tavern also offers a weekdays-only (I think) lunch special of a soup and sandwich in the casual tavern room in front (no reservations). My favorite cheap eats are Grand Sichuan International (St. Marks location), Gray's Papaya, the take out lunch at Pamplona, a burger at Shake Shack, a sandwich and a slice of Roman-style pizza at Grandaisy or Sullivan Street Bakery, Katz's Deli (the sandwich is big enough to split), Crif Dogs, New Green Bo, the halal cart on 53rd and 6th, and there are tons more if you expand into Queens or Brooklyn (I've been enamored of Flushing, Queens for the last several months). And there's always pizza, too. Street Vendor map: http://nymag.com/restaurants/features/33526/

Formal dining room or the casual room in front? I've eaten in the formal room 5-6 times in the last year or so, and each meal has been very good.

The new sweetbreads are great: sweet, carmelized nuggets of lamb sweetbread, sauteed king oyster mushrooms, chopped chestnuts, deep fried and crispy chestnut slices, radish, cipollini onions.

Second the Crumble at Tailor, and add on the Nutty Monk or some of the solid cocktails (my favorite was the White Russian). For Little Branch, ask for an East Side (and/or try it with tequila instead of gin).

Little Owl is a neighborhood restaurant that happens to be in a great location, have a cozy vibe, and good food. But it's not impressive food, per se, and I thought their famous pork chop was overcooked and bland. Hearth is more ambitious and like a "Craft"-light, but not in a bad way. I would choose Hearth. It's also more spacious and comfortable. If you are interested in desserts, Hearth definitely has a stronger dessert program whereas dessert is more of an afterthought at Little Owl.

Bar Milano has closed for renovations and will re-open as another 'inoteca location so scratch that from your list. Grayz has closed and reopened as Atria, no idea how the bar is faring there. Clover Club is fairly new, but out of the way if you are doing a Manhattan-centric crawl. I don't think Tailor gets enough love, overall, as Eben definitely is doing his own thing. Otherwise, I think the lists above are solid.

Reposting my earlier review (in a different thread) I stopped into the soft opening of Co. two nights ago on a tip-off from a friend. (They were taking lots of walk-ins from the neighborhood, too.) It opens officially tomorrow (Friday, January 2). It's a new pizza-centric restaurant by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery and the infamous no-knead bread recipe. He is making excellent Naples-style pizza and challenging Una Pizza Napoletana (formerly my favorite) with lower prices, more interesting topping combinations, a much more spacious room than UPN, and an actual bar and space inside to wait for your table. The pies are about the same size. One pie is about the right size for a hungry person. They also come pre-sliced into quarters. The crust is delicious. Not as puffy and light as UPN, but has a nice hole structure and the oven gives the crust a good char on the bottom. The pies are also well-seasoned (I often need to add a bit of salt to UPN's). I really liked the "Ham and Cheese" pizza ($14): pecorino, gruyere, buffalo mozzarella, proscuitto, and caraway. It reads as very heavy and filling, but it's surprisingly light. The other standout I tried was "Boscaiola," ($17) which was tomato, mushroom, buffalo mozzarella, pork sausage, red onion, and chili. The red onions were just assertive enough to balance out the other ingredients, and the addition of a little bit of chile pepper gave it a satisfying kick on the finish. There are also cheeses, salads, toasts, gelato, etc. on the menu. Cheapest pie there is the cheese-less one, only $7. If you're after a good margherita pizza, I still think UPN's is better, as I found Co's tomato sauce to be too acidic. However, UPN charges $21 and Co charges $13. And for the unique topping combos and all other non-food amentities, I think Co. wins. Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/kathryn/sets/72157611925399980/

Those look like cheung fun (rice noodle rolls, usually found at dim sum) to me, and I've seen a similar machine being used on the street in Flushing (outside Corner 28). http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathryn/28130...57607030835636/

Went to Shang with a large group this past Friday. My observations: We sat down, a busboy swoops away the glasses on the table, and then someone brought us filled water glasses (we asked for tap). I also was a little confused by why the water came with a lemon slice already in it. (Do they think NYC tap water tastes bad?) Also found the weighted chopsticks (heavy on the top end) to be awkward at first. We too had to wait a little to get the cocktail menu and then again to get the food menu. Also I think some patrons have been stealing the pages out of the menus (it's a single piece of paper folded into two columns tucked under a piece of string) as 1 of the 3 cocktail menus we were given were empty. The other oddity was that the server described Shang to us as a Chinese (not "Chinese-influenced" or "Chinese-fusion") restaurant that serves family style. Other than that, service was fine, and our server made some dish recommendations which were spot on. She also offered to put in some orders as 1 1/2 orders, without prompting, which was helpful for dishes that come in 4 pieces. Serving utensils were provided, our personal plates were refreshed with new plates periodically, empty plates were cleared quickly. We ordered: - Singapore slaw with salted plum dressing was excellent, not much more I can say about it that hasn't already been said. Our group of 6 demolished our two orders. Big thumbs up. - Braised oxtail soup dumpling with tapioca enoki mushrooms and salted pork. A total misnomer on the menu where it says "oxtail soup dumpling." (I'm holding the menu in my hands, it says "soup dumpling.") This is NOT a soup dumpling as understood in Shanghai cuisine (xiao long bao). This is a single large dumpling in a single bowl of clear, light soup with a small shooter of vinegar to the side. Not a dumpling filled with soup. The dumpling itself had a nice wrapper and was a generous size but the oxtail filling was on the bland side (I expected more flavor). Very one-note. I really wanted it like this dish. The soup did nothing for me, either. For $10 per serving, this dish was not worth the trouble. - Foie gras and chicken liver pate with green onion pancakes, wheat mantou crisps and black currant jam. This was quite good and the petite scallion pancakes were quite cute. The jam contrasted nicely with the pate. I would order this again. - Turnip cake, steamed eggplant with Cantonese preserved black bean and shiitake mushrooms. The turnip cake was perfectly cooked and had a good texture, with a bit of crispness on the outsides. But the eggplant didn't seem to fit. - Crispy lobster, salted duck egg, lemon balm, shallot, chili lime juice in lettuce wrap. Really more of a croquette with miniature greens on top, and then wrapped in lettuce. The lettuce seemed more like an after thought (why make something into a croquette and then put it in a leaf of lettuce). I thought the lobster filling needed a bit of salt. Overall: eh, especially for $9.50 each. - Homemade steamed tofu custard with crab, shrimp, lobster, mussels and air dried scallop, dessert moss, Tanjin bouillon. Tasty and essentially a fancy chawanmushi. Comforting but not impressive. - Diver scallop with 8 treasure rice steamed in fresh bamboo leaf, salt chili tomato sauce. The rice was excellent and very reminiscent of other glutinous rice dishes in Chinese cuisine. The scallops, being steamed, had a slippery texture that I wasn't wild about, but they tasted OK, if a little mushy and bland to me. I probably wouldn't get this again. - Mongolian lamb chops, glazed bananas, chili mint, carrot cardamom chutney and peanut sauce. These were good. I was impressed with the sauces and glazed bananas but I felt that the lamb on its own wasn't seasoned enough. Maybe I just prefer more char on my lamb chops. - Shang’s spiced slow cooked Berkshire pork belly with puree of lily bulb, red cabbage and apple puree. The mantou that came on the side had only 5 pieces, so we had to ask for another order in order for everyone to have at least one mantou ($3 for another 5 pieces). It felt odd to pair a wheat mantou to pork belly. And the mantou seemed a bit flat (not fluffy at all). Also the mantou were too small and thin to really hold a piece of the belly plus some of the purees, so eating this dish was a bit messy. The belly was really nice and soft but had less flavor than I expected. I still prefer the pork buns at Momofuku Noodle and Ssam Bars, though, particularly because there's a bit of variety in taste and texture from the vegetables. The Shang pork belly in the mantou plus some purees lacked any variety in texture. - Crispy taro puffs with curry beef. The curry, beef, and taro flavors blended together in a really harmonious way. Good. But felt overpriced at $3 a puff. As for dessert: - Coconut crème caramel with cantilly crème and black rice pudding and ladyfingers. Tasty and the ladyfinger was quite good (like a freshly made Milano cookie). I was impressed that the dish came in a cup with a saucer, with a smear of marshmallow fluff on the saucer, where the smear had also been toasted. Beautiful presentation. - Warm Banana Chocolate Cake with Jackfruit and Pineapple, Rum Butterscotch Sauce, Chocolate Pave and Spiced Macadamia Brittle. Nice texture (excellent crumb) in the banana cake, without the banana becoming overwhelming. And I'm not usually one for banana desserts. Our group's favorite of the three. - Almond Crusted Warm Chocolate and Vanilla Custards, Huckleberry Compote, Lemon & Apple Cider Sauce. Like a pairing of hot custard-filled donuts. The chocolate was too milky for me and not chocolate-y enough, I preferred the vanilla one. Overall, I thought the savories were hit or miss and the sweets were fine but nothing extraordinary. I appreciated that as a whole the meal felt elegant, clean, and light. But there is such a thing as a dish being too balanced as to be unmemorable. Only a few dishes stood out flavor-wise. I wanted a little more boldness and more seasoning in nearly everything. With judicious ordering you can put together a pretty good meal, but a lot of what looked good on the menu was ultimately disappointing.

2nding Kanoyama (just be ready for a long wait on Fridays/Saturdays). Blue Ribbon Sushi is nowhere near as good. Good for maki and cooked dishes, but not nigiri. I've had very sloppy nigiri there. Additionally, I've heard very disappointing reports from Jewel Bako in the last 1-2 years (cold, dry rice). If Kanoyama is full up, I'd go to Lan (one of the chefs is ex-Ushi), Le Miu (ex-Nobu), or Nori (ex-Takahachi manager). I like Ushi a lot but I've had trouble trying to walk in or getting a reservation on short notice. From a single visit, I'd say Sushi Azabu is on par with Kanoyama in terms of quality but has a MUCH smaller selection. But they take reservations and serve you one nigiri piece at a time, freshly-sauced, at the sushi counter. (I wouldn't try to walk in, it's tiny.)

Sorry, northEAST.

Chelsea, 9th avenue, on the NW corner of 24th. It's kind of a desolate block that doesn't have any restaurants but has a surprising amount of foot traffic. Co is located literally across the street from Grand Sichuan International. And they have a wine list: http://slice.seriouseats.com/images/200812...-menu-menu.html

In terms of pizza recommendations, especially in Manhattan, I think Co. (aka Company) is going to become very popular, very quickly. I stopped into the soft opening of Co. two nights ago on a tip-off from a friend. (They were taking lots of walk-ins from the neighborhood, too.) It opens officially tomorrow (Friday, January 2). It's a new pizza-centric restaurant by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery and the infamous no-knead bread recipe. He is making excellent Naples-style pizza and challenging Una Pizza Napoletana (formerly my favorite) with lower prices, more interesting topping combinations, a much more spacious room than UPN, and an actual bar and space inside to wait for your table. The pies are about the same size. One pie is about the right size for a hungry person. They also come pre-sliced into quarters. The crust is delicious. Not as puffy and light as UPN, but has a nice hole structure and the oven gives the crust a good char on the bottom. The pies are also well-seasoned (I often need to add a bit of salt to UPN's). I really liked the "Ham and Cheese" pizza ($14): pecorino, gruyere, buffalo mozzarella, proscuitto, and caraway. It reads as very heavy and filling, but it's surprisingly light. The other standout I tried was "Boscaiola," ($17) which was tomato, mushroom, buffalo mozzarella, pork sausage, red onion, and chili. The red onions were just assertive enough to balance out the other ingredients, and the addition of a little bit of chile pepper gave it a satisfying kick on the finish. There are also cheeses, salads, toasts, gelato, etc. on the menu. Cheapest pie there is the cheese-less one, only $7. If you're after a good margherita pizza, I still think UPN's is better, as I found Co's tomato sauce to be too acidic. However, UPN charges $21 and Co charges $13. And for the unique topping combos and all other non-food amentities, I think Co. wins.

Had you eaten the burger at Resto before he left for Irving Mill? If so, how does it compare?

Two lists that may help: http://www.zagat.com/Blog/Detail.aspx?SCID=40&BLGID=16964 http://www.restaurantgirl.com/best_of/dini...ut_on_xmas.html Did you check OpenTable at all?