kathryn

I suppose they will negotiate/announce more vendors. Last year there were 15 total. 8 not from NYC. At least I can rest, knowing that Chris Lilly, Mike Mills, and Ed Mitchell will be back. Blue Smoke - Did chicken last year. I think ribs the year before. Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q - Pulled pork shoulder. This is a must eat item. Bow down to Chris Lilly. 17th Street Bar & Grill - Baby back ribs. Delicious. Popular. Another must eat. I also bow down to Mike Mills. Mitchell’s BBQ - Thank the lord for Ed Mitchell's whole hog. I ate 3 of these last year in one day. Ubon's - Pulled pork shoulder last year. The Salt Lick BBQ - Perennially popular brisket and sausage. I liked Southside's brisket and sausage better last year (where is Southside?! I hope they come back!). Comes with an unusual sauce. Long lines. Ask for a fattier cut (from the deckle). Dinosaur Bar-B-Que - Pulled pork last year. Black Jack BBQ - Also pulled pork. Hill Country - Beef ribs last year. Rack & Soul - Baby back ribs last year.

Strongbuzz's review: http://thestrongbuzz.com/buzz/details.php?item_id=298 So...the original or the modern?

No brussels sprouts were available on Sunday. The season is over very soon, I think. Asparagus is coming, though! And then tomato season!

Nice jeans, shoes, button-up shirt and sport coat sounds perfect to me. It's not required, as others have said, but these aren't dive bars, you know? I was at D&C on Easter Sunday, around 6:45, and the place was already 75% full, with a few large parties in the booths and all but 2 bar seats claimed. By 7pm, people were getting turned away at the door. And it was still light out, outside!

As long as Ed Mitchell is there, I'll be there.

Agreed. Perfectly cooked, succulent fish. Tender leeks, flavorful olive oil, and perfectly crisp strips of salsify. This came last in our parade of dishes last night, and I thought I was full but I must have had a sudden surge of hunger after tasting this. Absolutely marvelous, especially with a healthy dose of that olive oil.

The reservations page says "we apologize but the current menu at momofuku ko does not accommodate guests who do not eat meat, fish or dairy." I did see, however, during friends and family, someone who didn't eat foie gras get something else instead (tofu dish I believe).

Ditto. It's long and narrow. On one side is a standing-height counters and on the side side is standing-height table-shelves things jutting out of the wall. But there are hooks for bags and coats underneath, which is the nice. The espresso is excellent. Smooth, tasty.

Thirding that the Sichuan Beef Tendon with tat soi and pickled green mango is really good. I also like the new sliced Wild Striped Bass with huckleberry sauce, shredded daikon, and what I think were fried lily bulbs on top. It's a raw bar menu item. Nice heat and textural contrasts as well given the crunch of the fried topping. On other recent visits, I've had a special of duck pancetta with grapes and a perfectly dressed salad. Basically like eating thinly sliced, delicious, duck bacon. Yum. Also had the pleasure of eating their wonderfully decadent house-made lardo on toast. Mizuna salad, house pickled banana peppers, and green grapes, on Sullivan Street Bakery bread. Fabulous, but very very fatty. (It wasn't on the menu last time I went though. Alas.) They have also been experimenting with more pates and the like. I've had a few variations, with the last version one coming with mustard and a flaky, buttery crust on the outside, in a loaf form, as well as tomatillos. It was served room temperature, nicely done, but not my style. I'm a warm pate, spread it on warm toast kind of girl. However, the house made Crossabaw Pork Mortadella was excellent, made with delicious chunks of fat and tender pistachios, accompanied by pickled cauliflower and mizuna. The mortadella looks like it's made it to the menu. I would've chosen the duck pancetta or lardo as well. Cough, cough. Looking forward to trying the fried Bell & Evans chicken with tat soi and trumpet mushrooms that is new on the menu. New to me, at least. That's the problem with all of these daily specials -- you never know if that delicious thing you had last time will make it to the menu. Oh, and they've returned to an earlier prep of the raw diver scallops. Back to the pickled cherries and lemon, although my friends thought the lemon was sweeter this time around. "Like lemon meringue pie" said one of my friends, though I didn't think it was really that supersweet. I would have preferred it a tad more sour and a healthier portion of the lemon puree. There wasn't really enough to go around. The cured/dried topping (seaweed?), however, was twice as good as I remembered it. I want a big can of that for home. I think I've eaten every single item on the menu except for the $140 ribeye.

FYI there's a 9 page (!) story on David Chang in this week's New Yorker magazine. March 24 issue. It gives a little background on Serpico and some of the other Ko chefs, as well. It's not online (yet?) as the New Yorker's web site dribbles out stories from that week's issue slowly over the course of the week. And some stories never get put online.

I really like the black sesame and green tea. The articles on the wall say that they use high quality green tea from Japan, which accounts for the lack of bitterness in the tea. I don't, however, like the chocolate chip -- for whatever reason, the chocolate chips they use taste like Magic Shell. It's very odd.

I suppose it depends how close to the different stations you are. When I went, we were seats 1/2 I think, right by the bathrooms, in front of Chef Serpico's station. We didn't feel any sort of uncomfortable warmth until someone was searing scallops towards the end of our meal. I too loved the Simpson's donut guy by the door. Nice to know how they're handling no-shows. I wonder if the person then gets a strike against them on their permanent Ko record.

Really, John's of Bleecker? Tien says John's?! Last few times I've been, the crust has been too thick, not charred enough, and there's way too much cheese on the pies there. Joe's was never as good after they moved. I gave up on Lombardi's (too wet) and Grimaldi's (ditto but their sauce is very good) a while ago. Patsy's of East Harlem has great, perfect crust but I've been told of inconsistencies, and the quality of toppings isn't that spectacular. However, that particular Patsy's is my Manhattan go-to, alongside Luzzo's (but be careful what you order, sometimes the crust needs a bit of salt to help). Luzzo's pies are on the smaller size, which is good against fighting soggy centers. I'm assuming you don't want to make the trek out to Totonno's (Coney Island) or Di Fara in Brooklyn. Or pay a premium for Una Pizza Napoletana. If you do trek it out to Di Fara on a weekend, make sure you're first in line, that's the only way I've been able to do it without going insane. Although, if you're already full, the line fights can be entertaining.

Possibly. I was so busy with the food I ignored most of the wine unless prodded. Iporos Rioja Crianza Vendimia 2004, says the fiance, although that spelling may not be exact (messy handwriting transcription).

The two wine pairings that I remember are the Iporos Rioja (with the fried shortribs) and the Masumi Okuden Kantsukuri "Mirror of Truth" Junmai Sake (can't remember what course this was with, but it was the second sake of the evening).

http://flickr.com/photos/kathryn/2309788460/

I was at PDT at 7pm last night with a group of friends. We had a reservation for a booth, but most seats were already taken when we got there. I think they let in a one or two more folks at the bar, and after 7:10pm, there was a really long waitlist. We were sitting at the booth by the coats/hostess station and saw numerous parties get turned away. It was freezing cold last night, but it was also a Thursday. The burger was tasty. As usual, the Chang dog was great. My friend loved his Speakcheesy, and I had my first John John Deragon dog. Yum! I wish the toppings would stick better to the top though. The scallions were a nice touch. I loved my Cinema Highball. Fiance had the Benton's, and turned on another friend to the awesomeness of the Benton's. A Harvest Moon was also ordered. Very nice. We also devoured three orders of the waffle fries and enjoyed the melted cheese and jalapenos.

Or: stop into Otto one afternoon, get an olive oil gelato at the bar, and then be on your way. Kyotofu definitely does cappucinos, lattes, etc. I haven't heard anything, about the Tasting Room Wine Bar since the "main restaurant" opened up in Nolita. It just didn't seem special or unique enough to go out of your way for if you're visiting from out of town.

For coffee: ditto on Gimme Coffee and Abraco. I might replace the Tasting Room's Wine and Bar with somewhere else -- maybe Kyotofu? Chikalicious? Cafe Grumpy? For bars: PDT? Death & Co? The only restaurant I really go to these days in the Times Square area is Szechuan Gourmet. Esca? db bistro moderne? I noticed you don't have a lot of Asian on your list aside from Tabla (which isn't Indian, per se, and which I don't think is as good as the rest of the places on your list) and Setagaya.

The Korean market underneath Grand Sichuan? That's St. Mark's Market. Did you try Sunrise Mart? I was in Flushing last weekend, went into the mall with Hong Kong supermarket, seemed to be a lot of sushi-grade fish out for sale.

Congrats!

From the web site: I would try Chinatown -- recently had a company dinner at Golden Unicorn, who were empty on a weekday night. What about Congee Village or Congee Bowery? How big is their biggest private room?

I was in Cancun last month, ate lots of "vuelva a la vida" ceviche for a week, and now am missing it badly... Google tells me that it got opening write-ups from Grub Street and Thrillist, and reviews from Andrea Strong as well at the NY Sun. Toloache was also recently in the New Yorker's Tables for Two.

http://nymag.com/daily/food/2008/02/momofu...e_prevails.html

Had an amazing dinner here on Saturday night (40 minute wait or so for 3 people) with an amuse of spicy duck ham on an piece of apple (oh my god), oysters, scallops (though I think I like the old prep better, couldn't really taste the lychee or lime), Benton's ham, Burger's ham, steamed buns, apple kimchi, fried brussels sprouts, sweetbreads, the pork belly ssam, the hazelnut torte, and new dessert, brown butter shortcake with raisins and stout. Oh, and the kitchen brought out a new dish: roasted Jerusalem artichokes with bacon and a fried egg on top. I hope it makes it to the real menu because it was amazing. I thought the ones at Craft were good. These are even better. I'm going to be thinking of the brown butter shortcake and the Jerusalem artichokes all week long.