mogsob

Lupa violates the FoodTV Rule Wallese violates the Page Six Rule Meet sounds like it violates that Page Six Rule, but can't recall Otherwise, I agree on Le Jardin, Florent (food just ok, but always open), and Country Cafe.

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Interesting. In any list of restaurants with attitude, I would have thought Il Bagatto would have nearly topped the list (along with Babbo, Balthazar, Daniel). A few simple rules for eating out in NY: 1. Never go to a restaurant unless it has been open for one year. Few restaurants, if any, hit their stride until they have been open for several months, and if their is any kind of buzz about it, you can be assured that you will be ignored, sat next to the kitchen/loos, and served cold food. Wait for the shiny happy people to move on to the next hot place before you go. 2. Never go to a restaurant that has just received 3+ stars from the NY Times. Once such stars are secured, these restaurants tend to bathe in their own reflected glory for several months before realizing that they actually need to do some work. 3. Read Page Six every day. Never go to a restaurant listed therein. Never, ever. 4. Avoid all restaurants whose chefs have shows on FoodTV. High concentrations of actor/waiters there. 5. Get NY Magazine's annual Best of NY issue -- avoid all restaurants listed for four months. 6. If in doubt, eat progressively uptown. Attidude breeds in Soho lofts, and spreads outwards in concentric circles. The further uptown you go, the less attitude you will get. Restaurants Under $100 For Two Etats Unis Il Buco Savoy Prune L'Impero Tasting Room Home Le Gigot Home First

It is pointless to argue the degree to which second hand smoke affects the human body based on statistical studies. All of these studies are inherently flawed, as they do not prove causation but merely coincidence. Until quite recently, such studies were considered indadmissible in court (and IMHO should have stayed that way). It is also quite pointless to argue about how many cigarettes someone "smokes" per hour in a smoke filled room, as no two people "smoke" the same amount per cigarette. Put differently, smokers addicted to nicotine will inhale enough smoke (regardless of the level of nicotine in the cigarette) to satisfy their addiction levels. As such, smokers will "smoke" more of a light cigarette than of a regular cigarette. Moreover, I agree that the legal causation case based on second hand smoke is quite inconclusive. Medical science cannot prove how first hand smoke causes cancer or lung disease, so causation here is far from established. However, the same noxious toxins found in first hand smoke are also present in second hand smoke -- if you accept the health risks of first hand smoke, you therefore must also agree that some degree of exposure to second hand smoke also presents those same health risks. My problem with smokers is purely based on annoyance factor. As I have said previously, smoking cannot be confined to the area around a smoker. Thus, if one person smokes, everyone around them smokes as well. This causes problems for people who are allergic to smoke, or who otherwise find smoke annoying. As there is no inherent right to smoke, such behavior must give way to the rights of those who do not want to be smoked upon. As for the economic effect on restaurants and bars, I can accept that some of these businesses have been negatively impacted by the ban. However, to blame the woes of an industry on a behavioral ban when there are multiple superseding economic causes is quite simply idiotic.

I'm trying hard to understand the cause and effect here. As M. Bourdain noted, there are several strong economic factor weighing down the industry right now, namely a weak economy, a weak dollar, high unemployment, and increasing taxes. I can accept that the smoking ban has had some effect on restaurants/bars, but (especially those that nitpick about a 16% margin of error in tobacco studies) can you seriously maintain that non-economic factors such as a smoking ban have had a greater effect than the economic factors listed above. Such arguments are spurious, meritless, and unquestionably naive. Moreover, the rise of corporate dining in NYC (Olive Garden etc.) is long overdue, given how quickly NYers succumed to other corporate sources (supermarkets over green grocers, The Gap, Tower Records/HMV, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Starbucks etc.). And last I checked, you couldn't smoke their either.

I could not disagree more. Triangolo is at best a very ordinary neighborhood Italian restaurant (and not even one of the better ones in a 4 block radius), and at worst, well, just bad. Friendly service is not a substitute for ordinary food. Besides, where are you eating that you get such attitude? Perhaps you are taking your dining recommendations from Page Six? There are plenty of great restaurants in New York with no attitude at all. Also, "nuveau" went out in the 1980s. Is this code for "the portions are too small"?

Dub Prais (sp?). Fantastic. The Witchery is as advertised, pretty to look at, but not much to write home about.

With all the truly great beer brewed in France, it is a shame that this is your standard bearer. Sort of like Stella and Belgium. Here's a question: why don't any of the great microbrewers in the States (e.g., Rogue) make bottle conditioned beers? I think the best bottled beer to be had is Green King's Abbot Ale.

Must be all the Italians who eat there. I like Passione quite a bit. I like Al Duca better. Il Vicolo (sp?) in Crown Passage, St. James's is very reasonable.

Them theres fighting talk...bring it on! it's more than just opinion -- it's a fact. I'd love to be proven wrong -- any suggestions?

Paul -- I'm not sure where you are based, but if you are in NYC, Sherry-Lehmann has as good a Cahors selection as anywhere. They primarily sell Lagrazette, which is by reputation the leading wine of Cahors, but they also have a few other bottlings (that I like but am struggling to recall the names of). FWIW, I find that Cahors is often the best wine deal on a restaurant list.

Brown ale seems to be a style of beer that has died, or is dying in Britain. Neither Newcastle nor Samuel Smiths make a real brown ale (cask or bottle conditioned, that is). Bitters are the likely substitute here (think Bass, Fuller's ESB).

Wow -- you guys (most of you, at any rate) and/or your friends really drink crap beer. Anyone who brings me a "gift" of American lager gets thrown out -- ass first. In my fridge right now there are 2 bottles of Young's chocolate stout and 3 bottles of Abbot Ale. Good reason as any to leave work right now!

Holly, if you can hold out to Sunday, there are several good pubs that do the roast beef/Yorkshire pudding thing (at a fraction of the cost of Simpsons). The Anglesea Arms 15 Selwood Terrace SW7 (a great old pub) has the best Yorkshire pudding I've had to date, while The Phoenix 23 Smith Street SW3 (a loathesome gastropub) has the better beef. Those are my two regular Sunday destinations.

Do take Andy to Etats Unis (or their wine bar) if only to prove that the best sticky toffee pudding is made by a Yank.

A few months ago, I had dinner at a very nice bistro in Paris, which has a wine list chock full of aged Bordeaux. We had a lovely 82 St. Emilion, and over the last year or so have enjoyed several wines off of their list -- all old wines from Bordeaux. None were from "great" name producers, and were nothing to get excited about -- until the food arived. They married so well with the food, and I've been on a Bordeaux kick ever since. My question is this. I loathe the overextracted monster wines coming out of California, but as America drives the wine business, more and more Bordelaise are copying the New World style. Many on this forum have posited that 1983 was the last true vintage in Bordeaux, and that 89, 90, 95, 00 are not representative of the old-world style. To great extent, I agree. These wines may be stunning on their own, but they overpower the food served with them -- which, for me, is 90% the purpose of drinking wine in the first place. Have we pursued wine for its own sake, and have lost the magic along the way?

These are not the restaurants that define Italian cuisine. Worthless list.

Holly -- Fish n' Chips -- Seashell NW1 Fry-up -- Any of the morning pubs in Smithfield -- the Fox & Anchor is the most famous. Steak & Kidney Pie -- the Guinea in Mayfair -- I prefer lunch at the pub (get there early!), but their restaurant behind has the same pie. Burger -- off menu at Joe Allen (ok NY-style) -- I prefer the burger at Lot's Road Dining Room SW10 (near Chelsea Harbour) -- excellent burger and they make the best sticky toffee pudding in town. Pizza -- Made In Italy in the Kings Road SW3 Sunday Roast (roast beef and Yorkshire pud) -- Anglesea Arms SW7

Meritage matters if only because they are some of the better wines produced in California. In the race to see who can extract the most fruit from the poor Cabernet grape, Californians have apparently convinced themselves that fruit is the only thing that matters in wine, when, in fact, it is the balance of the various elements of wine that is paramount. Perhaps blending forces these winebutchers to think like a Frenchman (and that, when it comes to wine, is a very good thing).

Couldn't have put it better myself. And you're right about editing my post. I like Gamay -- and prefer other wines from the south of France for wines the feature that grape.

What about PlumpJack? My meals there have been consistently better than at many on this list.

Debit cards are the best in Europe, as you avoid conversion fees and ATM fees. Mine is through Chase Private Bank.

One of the many reasons I am thankful that French civil courts do not have jurisdiction over my person or my assets. Moreover, even if I were sued in absentia, the plaintiff would not be able to enforce a judgment predicated on the violation of the First Amendment in US courts. So, I say again, while not all Beaujolais is crap, a frightening high percentage of it is. Now -- come get me!

A few general thoughts on Beaujolais: Moulin-a-Vent -- most powerful and age worthy Morgon -- sturdy, deep and expansive Brouilly -- earthy, fruity and supple Cote de Brouilly -- elegant and intense Julienas -- lush, spicy, smooth Chiroubles -- light and delicate Fleurie -- floral, fragrant and silky-textured Saint-Armour -- bright and charming Regnie -- fresh, full-bodied, meaty Chenas -- rich and luscious The problem is that there is so much crap coming out of Beaujolais, that finding good wine is very difficult. The 2000 vintage was particularly good, and the Moulins I had from that year were very good value, but not pinot and below what I would consider a good burgundy.

Baruch -- the classic wine parings are port/stilton, sauternes/roquefort, muenster/gewurtztraminer, gorgonzola/amarone, chevere/sancerre, camebert/montrachet. Open for debate, I presume, but these are the time-honored ones. Busboy -- well, if it makes you feel better, there is nothing I like better on a lazy Sunday in Paris than to go to a good brasserie and have an omlette with a pichet of house red wine. If you were serious about your tourist post -- skip the Eiffel Tower and go to the top of the Pompidou center for a better view with no line. Avoid the lines at the Louvre by entering off the rue de Rivoli instead of the pyramid and seek out the other Leonardos (especially his John the Baptist) instead.