kathryn

Three baby squid of varying size, each one wrapped in a single ribbon of pancetta with just enough pancetta to cover the surface area. Then spear the squid with a sprig of rosemary in order of size. Place the speared squid upon a bed of black rice, add a light (and foamy) saffron sauce.

Ended up with: Tarte Flambee (creamy, onion, maybe a little too big and heavy to start with, as I gave 3 pieces away to my companions) Seared foie gras (amazingly good thanks to the fruit chutney and roasted nuts, as usual) Pancetta wrapped squid (delicious black rice accompanying, tender and perfectly cooked squid, couldn't really taste the pancetta that well, though, but beautiful presentation) Pistachio and strawberry filled macaron with strawberry sorbet (tasty and the sorbet was wonderful, the macaron was good but not great)

Nathan, what's the new duck preparation? More importantly, does it mean that the roasted Long Island duck breast with the peppercorned apples and pistachio dipping sauce is gone? I'm going to the Bar Room tonight for a last minute dinner with out of town guests (8pm reservation for 4 available the day before is kind of a minor miracle) -- what else is new? Having dined at the Bar Room 4-5 times already this year, I've fallen into a rut of always ordering: Egg in a jar Arctic char tartare Seared foie gras Long Island duck breast Sage and garlic gnocchi Beignets What have I missed? I suppose the liverwurst. And the tarte flambee (which I've actually heard negative intelligence on recently)?

I love the Amish Cheddar Cheesecake. Last night, however, I had the new PB&J dessert. Growing up in California, my mother always bought green seedless grapes. I rarely had seeded grapes until I moved to the East Coast, when I discovered that grape flavored items of my childhood were aping these perfect, tiny purple grapes. They were sweet, bursting with flavor, but full of annoying seeds. Tasty but a lot of work. Last night's Concord grape jelly with peanut butter flakes and saltine (yes, saltine, like the cracker, and yes, it was salty) was perfect. I think I've changed my mind on grapes.

New dog at PDT, via New York Magazine: I know this has got to be Donbert's doing! My question is: why not the green scallion sauce?!

(You mean cheddar shortcake, no? Not cheesecake in the traditional NY cheese cake sense...) Something about the food really hits the spot. I've been to nicer and fancier and more expensive places, but there's just something about Ssam Bar...

I'm sure this won't help: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathryn/sets/...6490685/detail/

I just realized that it's been just about a year since the "late-night menu" was introduced. Below, Sneakeater's post:

Soon, I hope. Tried to get intel from Ssam Bar servers but no dice. NYT said that Momofuku Noodle Bar was moving to its new space this/next week, so hopefully very soon after that Ko will open? Nathan, the spicy tripe salad I had last week was definitely spicy. Not overwhelmingly so but had a kick to it! I wonder what happened.

The braised escarole was from the Local section. We actually got chided by a server for not getting the lamb shoulder but my rationale was that we could get the shortcake, brussels sprouts, escarole, and apple kimchi, thereby trying a lot of new/back in season stuff, rather than fill up on the lamb. How big is the lamb? We liked but did not love the lamb belly. Ended up going there around 10:30pm as I was stuck at work, and the place was only half-full. The servers were complaining about the repaving of 2nd Avenue, which meant less foot traffic than normal.

Brussels sprouts are back! Brussels sprouts are back! Brussels sprouts are back! The Honeycrisp Apple Kimchi continues to be beautiful. Braised escarole also good with flavorful, tender chicken and a poached egg. Lots of garlic. Kind of like a composed chicken and leafy vegetable stew with a bit of heat. Hearty and tasty and something that would be perfect on a colder night. Oh, and the Amish Cheddar Shortcake? Words cannot describe. Warm Empire apple compote, ham cream (yes, you read that right, ham cream), some cider syrup on top. Ham + apples + cheese = amazing. The servers said that very few people had been ordering it; those people are idiots (possibly). With the apple salad, the apple/cheddar shortcake, and apple kimchi, I think I might end up eating only apples at my next meal. My boyfriend said to me, "They should change their name to Lucky Apple."

The new Momofuku Noodle Bar space is set to open soon according to the NYT:

Newish on the menu: Four Story Hill Farm Chicken Ballontine -- porcini mushrooms, walnuts (new preparation) Honeycrisp Apple Kimchi -- Burgers' Smoked Jowl, maple labne, arugula Roasted Mushroom Salad -- pistachio, radish, crosnes Crispy Pig's Head Torchon -- red adzuki beans, spicy mustard (new treatment) Spicy Tripe Salad -- poached egg, frisee Apple kimchi? Amazing. Fantastic. Perfect. The smoked jowl is like the best bacon I've ever eaten. And the apples were wonderful. Spicy Tripe Salad was also very good with some croutons and honeycomb in there, nice and spicy. They've gone back to the clams/mussels preparation with kimchi and bacon and poached egg; I loved the duck sausage version and am now sad. There are also now some daily specials that come and go. Last night they had a Bell and Evans chicken dish.

Could be ten minutes, could be forty five. If the weather is nice, more like 45 minutes. They have a web cam on their site, too. Don't forget that everything is cooked to order, so you have to wait a little longer while they actually make your food.

They do save some tables for walk-ins; if your heart is set on Five Points, show up the second they open.

Strawberry short cake is gone, now, too, as is the tomato and anchovy tartine and the brook trout. Alas. But the apple salad is back! This time with delfino and mint. Absolutely wonderful. There's also a new preparation of spicy clams with poached egg, rice cakes, and duck sausage. Out of this world, hearty, and filling. Definitely a dish for those cold winter nights.

Are you looking for brunch for both Saturday and Sunday, or just Sunday? Or...*gasp* a weekday? It's not the slow service that'll kill you in NYC, it's waiting around for a table. Doing brunch in Manhattan is often a blood sport. If you're not willing to wait for a table, the choices narrow a bit. I rarely find that my brunches take longer than an hour, but I'm not usually in a hurry. Places that have good brunch and you can reserve: Cookshop Five Points (as mentioned earlier) The Neptune Room Devin Tavern Balthazar Ouest The Tasting Room You can use opentable.com to reserve most of these. The intersection between place that have great brunch in Manhattan and aren't obscenely crowded/have a mile long line is very small.

I concur. My opinion is that given the excellence of EMP now, and the recent revitalization of Gramercy Tavern, Tabla and Union Square Cafe are probably the weakest links of the Danny Meyer chain (pun intended). They're not bad restaurants, per se, just not as great as some of his other places. I was also going to suggest that you include some East Asian cuisine in your itinerary.

I think the Usinger's stuff is great, although I find myself still drawn more to the Shack burger. My boyfriend, on the other hand, grew up near Milwaukee, and rolled his eyes at my excitement.

Thanks for doing this legwork, FG! When I went in last, we tipped about 20% and felt a little strange about it. We were actually worried that the meatcutters weren't going get what they deserved, especially since one had spent some time consulting with us on how much meat to get. Had there been a separate tips cup at that counter, we would have tipped there.

Some changes in the lunch menu: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/440601

It's possible he was confused, but he said no photography whatsoever.My usual practice is to use the flash if there's no one sitting nearby, and to turn it off otherwise. As I mentioned, the restaurant was empty, so I used the flash. (Had I kept it off, it's probable he wouldn't have noticed.) The host said, "Sorry, no flash photography." "No flash photography?" I replied. He came back, "Sorry, please no photography." ← Interesting. Were you using a point and shoot camera (pocket digital) or an SLR (with removable lenses, like a Canon Rebel or similar)? Sometimes when I pull my SLR out I get asked if the photos are for "personal use." Or I have to pretend that I'm taking photos of my companion rather than the food. I mean Mr. Mason has worked at WD-50 and tons and tons of people take photos of their food at WD-50...

Wow, the entire menu? How many were you? What was the total bill? And I noticed you didn't single out any cocktails for mentioning... What would you recommend off of the "sweets" menu for a group coming after dinner?

I've done this before and discovered all sorts of wonderful nuances, some being more smoky, more fatty (Burgers'), a little spicy, mmmmm. There's also a new eggplant and tomato tartine on the menu. It's more like a fancy bruschetta, with an eggplant-based puree on top of toasted bread, topped by heirloom tomatoes. Amazing.

According to Grub Street, DM said this about a New Shake Shack at Shea: "We think it’s a great idea and would love to do it. If you can help us figure out how to make that deal happen, Shack burgers are on the house!" Also, Aramark denies that Shake Shack is in the works for Citi Field. In other news, Pat LaFrieda's famous ground-beef mixture will soon be sold at restaurant Market Table. And that meat will be very close in flavor to the burgers he supplies to Shake Shack. And they're also added some new wurst options to the menu and some sort of vitamin shake concoction: WISCONSIN BRATWURST Usinger’s veal and pork bratwurst simmered in beer and onions. Served with spicy German mustard $4.75 SHEBOYGAN BRAT Usinger’s veal and pork bratwurst simmered in beer and onions. Served with spicy German mustard, ketchup, onion and pickle $4.75 VITAMIN CREAMSICLE SHAKE throw away your vitamin jar and eat more custard. Vanilla shake blended with David Kirsch Vitamin-Mineral Orange Super Juice