kathryn

What about Jane, The Smith, or The Neptune Room? Their prices are listed on their web site, $55pp for Dinner. http://www.ctrnyc.com/CTR/ctr_html/ctr_privateparties.html I also believe 'inoteca's private room is in the same range. Large parties do the chef's tasting menu (3 courses).

I am now obsessed with the Cinema Highball. It's fantastic, very gentle, nice lingering notes of the popcorn and butter. Although I think mine was made with Coke instead of Cream Soda? Boyfriend loved the Benton's Old Fashioned. 3 cheers for Donbert.

For me, Babbo is easy, but only because I live a ten minute walk away and have a fairly flexible work schedule. They take reservations in person. I have shown up at 9:55am, waited inside the closed restaurant, and then received whatever time I wanted for the date (one calendar month ahead, of course.)

Hmm -- there's bacon in the clams/mussels stew but I can't recall any other seafood based dishes with pork/duck fat. Here's some things that are probably safe from a recent menu: Caraquet oysters with kimchi consomme Cracked Empress Jonah crab claws with yuzu mayo Spanish Mackeral tataki -- water spinach kimchi, asian pears Cured hamachi -- edamame, horseradish, pea leaves Diver sea scallops -- lemon puree, pickled cherries, seaweed Santa Barbara uni -- tapioca, whipped tofu, scallions There's also a newer cured (?) fish dish that tastes similar to yellowtail but with firmer flesh, however the name escapes me at the moment. Old Bay pan-fried skate -- roasted fingerlings, preserved lemon, spicy aioli Squid and shrimp stew -- coconut milk, galangal, sweet potato Seasonal pickles (vegetarian) Bread & butter (vegetarian) -- sea salt butter, St Helen's Farm goat's butter Roasted mushroom salad (vegetarian) -- pistachio, radish, crones Desserts sans meat: Spicy chocolate crumb cake -- banana cream, kochukaru PB&J -- concord grape jelly, crunchy peanut butter, saltine ice cream Hazelnut Dacquoise - parsnip buttercream, salted honey, grapefruit ice Definite NOT VEGETARIAN on the brussels sprouts due to the fish sauce and to the Amish Cheddar Shortcake due to the ham cream. I'm unnsure about the chawan mushi as it might be cooked with non-vegetarian additives (broth), plus there's the fish roe on top. I guess...don't bring vegetarians to Ssam Bar.

I walked in last night and lucked out, sitting in front of Hideo-san around 7pm (promised I'd be gone by 9pm for a reservation there). Most of the tables were reserved. The hostess said they were pretty much booked the rest of the week. It was a full house from when I sat down to when I left around 8:30pm. Lots of old regulars, happy to see him back in business.

#1 restaurant of of 2007 says Frank Bruni.

Eater.com reports tonight is the re-opening. Raji, can you confirm?

You win. Totally life-changing pasta moment, overshadowing most of the other dishes IMO. Can't wait to go back to Babbo.

Oops, forgot about the ham cream.

Ditto -- if you don't eat pork, but eat seafood and other meats, you'll be fine. You could get the scallops, crab claws (if they have them), spanish mackeral, brussels sprouts, fried skate, chicken ballotine, mushroom salad, hanger steak ssam, shrimp and squid stew, lamb shoulder, bread and butter, etc. and all of the desserts, of course.

Agreed - you're paying more for atmosphere, location, convenience, and variety of stuff on the menu. The otoro I had last time I was there was probably the fattiest I've ever had -- practically fell apart the second you looked at it.

Tried the shrimp and squid stew last night. Probably the best-cooked shrimp and squid I've had in a while -- tender, sweet, and perfect. Yum. The pork belly ssam was far too much food but I wasn't going to let it go to waste! We ended up not ordering dessert, opting instead to go home and pass out. Perhaps pork buns AND the belly ssam was a bit much. Noticed on the menu last night that for NYE the kitchen will be serving the regular menu but you have a choice of two tasting menus. One for $300 that includes tax, service, the champagne + unlimited beer/wine/sake with 11 courses. Another for $150 with beverage pairings that's seven courses. I'm guessing they didn't have many takers for the open bar/$300 party so they scaled it back.

What about Lan? 3rd Avenue and 11th. Open until 1am, and rumor has it that a former Ushi chef is now working there. But it'll probably be Lan or Le Miu at that hour if you're in the EV.

Madeline has great flavors, but their macarons are too moist due to the case. I like to let them dry out overnight and come to room temperature. My friends Tina and Robyn are insane with their macaron love; they haven't made it to a lot of the restaurants that serve them for dessert, but they did a tour of the retail macaron landscape in NYC in April: http://www.roboppy.net/food/2007/04/the_gr...nt_of_2007.html

At least they're throwing out the signs that say "bellota" now. Now I'm curious about the boneless one as I've been told that is the machine-sliced. Thanks for the update. Can't wait to try REAL bellota next year.

I think east of Broadway. Am I historically inaccurate? ← I'm going off of what the NYT and NY Mag say. See also, via Wikipedia:

God, I hope this is served with a piece of bacon as garnish.

Macaroon like "french macaron" or macaroon like the coconut-y kind?

I guess I'm looking for something in between, with more capacity than Chikalicious. Should we change the conversation to be not what neighborhood is more desirable but rather what intersection?! I live in the EV and I know I'm terribly spoiled in terms of food. But I'd feel lucky to live in a lot of the neighborhoods under discussion (Union Square, West Village, Soho, Nolita, HK, etc).

East Village = east of 3rd Avenue/Bowery, south of 14th Street, north of Houston Street. Dammit.

Fair enough, Mayur, but WD-50's dessert options are pricey for the every day diner. And I thought I was the only one who loved East Village Thai (hole in the wall on E 7th between 3rd/2nd, right?) I guess I'm just pointing out that unless we know the original questioner's food priorities, we don't know what neighborhood is best for that unique eG snowflake. Obviously, no neighborhood in Manhattan is 100% perfect for all food lover's every need. Small quibble: Bowery Whole Foods is technically on the LES since it's south of Houston, no? Lucky for me, I live a few blocks away but it's definitely not as convenient for other EV-denizens.

I think the grass looks greener to me in Soho/WV where you have Blue Ribbon market, Kee's, Grandaisy, Dean & Deluca (not like I'd shop there every day though), Murray's, Amy's Bread, etc. all the shops on Bleecker.

Fair enough but the EV could use more/better bread-bakeries. And a nice chocolatier. And more post-dinner dessert places than Chikalicious and Veniero (Black Hound doesn't count as it's mostly takeout, Build a Green Bakery doesn't have seating). There's no great Chinese aside from Grand Sichuan, really. The Indian and Thai options are pretty much mediocre across the board. It also depends on how much you prefer to eat out (and which cuisines) versus cook for yourself versus depend upon delivery. A really good friend of mine used to live off of West Broadway and Houston, and he'd know all the great Soho/WV places, whereas I was always more into EV/LES/Noho, but we alternated choosing places to eat and thereby kept a lot of variety going on. If you care enough, it's worth the short cab ride to the other side of town when you don't care to walk.

The apple kimchi is usually made with honeycrisp apples. I need to upload my sausage/rice cakes photo but the rest are, as always here: http://flickr.com/photos/kathryn/sets/72157594546490685/ Not all from last night, obviously.

...I figure I should at least try the beef cheek ravioli once in my lifetime to see what all the fuss is about.