tommy

i was going to mention the tasting room, especially after reading wingding's prune suggestion (on the same block). personally i would go to the tasting room. i don't know if i'd travel 6 thousand miles for it, but if i found myself in the area, you can bet that i'd go. all american wine list. very interesting. food is very good. cramped quarters. great relaxed service. my kind of place overall.

um, one of my favorites. that may or may not mean much to you. but i do highly recommend it. i haven't been back since they expanded a while ago, but i'm hoping it's even better (read: roomier) than it was! i hope you go. edit: ok, so re-reading i suppose you *are* going. are you familiar with the menu? the selections aren't delimited into "apps" and "entrees". this makes for a very exciting dining experience, imho. wayne nish generally has a bit of an asian slant (although he doesn't recognize that fact if you ask him), and often those dishes can be very interesting. on my most recent visit, however, there was nothing that seemed "asian" influenced. it was all good though. all very good.

Ilo is quite good. everyone is beautiful at ilo. and bryant park, across the street, is beautiful as well. although you can't see it very well from the dining area, you can see it from the bar through the floor to ceiling windows. if you find yourself in the area, i would stop by for a glass of wine at the very least.

can someone throw me a bone and give me a common name for this dish so i can look it up on epicurious?

jaybee, do you have a skeleton of a recipe i might try? as an aside, i've been on egullet for about 8 months now. that means that i've pretended and/or attempted to understand what "artisinal" means for about 8 months now. at this point, i think i understand "pie" even better than "artisinal", which really isn't saying much.

the article is here. click me click me click you. and the discussion is on the "questionable career choice" thread.

after reading Robin Rinaldi's article over on the Media board, i got to thinking about the pasta dish with olive oil, red pepper flakes, and that's about it. what is it called anyway? i'm thinking i want to whip up some tonite or tomorrow. any suggestions? i'm guessing: olive oil garlic red pepper flakes grated cheese some bread crumbs maybe mint or parsley any info would, as always, be appreciated,

$30 per head? how much were the rest of the dishes?

i thought that at first, but by the time i finished her description i (think) i realized that she was suggesting that even though the flavors weren't sitting there in front of her in large parcels, plain as day, they were there, as if magically. i despise raw tomato. i love cooked tomato.

i have to admit, i started posting to this topic even before i read through the article thoroughly. but in my defense, i kinda knew where this thread was headed, so i figured i'd jump right in. no one has ever accused me of thinking before i speak. (perhaps that should be my sig?)

glad to hear that you'll give it another go. they make a wonderful crispy duck salad. if you are inclined to order it, make sure it is the crispy duck salad, rather than the duck larb. the duck larb is good as well, but that duck salad is sure sometin special.

you definitely have to make sure you are coming across sincere when ordering spicy at most ethnic places. all too often dishes are sent back when ordered "spicy" because people don't know what they're getting into. i rarely use satay as a barometer. i think by nature it's pretty insipid. they make a nice marinated pork at wondee's called moo ping which is a nice change from satay.

i edited it for speeling. and i still missed the double-word error. i can't type for crap this morning. my opinions, however, remain as inane and juvenile as they always were, with or without the disclaimer as a sig.

oh the poor poor reader. c'mon!!!! i didn't like blue cheese until recently. that didn't stop lots of people from asking my opinions and following my suggestions on restaurants. just to clarify, i only like the *expensive fancy* blue cheese, not the cheap pedestrian stuff.

interestingly enough, i was using that as my email email sig for quite some time. seemed *very* fitting for me.

additional resources for i trulli info. i have no idea why i started researching this, but i might as well share... click me for a menu and their website click here for some info click here for citysearch.com's info

steve, how would you define a "decent job" in restaurant/food criticism?

as i suggested, i don't like classical. i don't get it. you might even say that i don't appreciate it. so does that make me incapable of writing for the indie mags that i write for? i think not. am i a capable and effective reviewer of music even with this missing piece? yes. am i qualified? you'd better believe it. also, i think robin has exaggerated in her piece a bit. i think she might have been over emphasizing her disdain for sushi and truffles to make that point that you can't beat a simple pasta dish done well. that will never happen considering the average shmucks like us can get online and babble about anything under the sun.

to put it in perspective, i wouldn't travel 6000 miles to go to vong. judging by the restaurants that you've listed, vong wouldn't necessarily impress from a purely culinary standpoint. however, it is a "fun" place. might be a good place to go for lunch if you just want to check it out. or maybe for some apps in the bar area early evening? blue water has always come across as a purely twenty-somethings place. very loud. very scene-y. i would say that there are better seafood options in NYC. however, if you are looking for a fun loud evening, it's a fine choice. I Trulli, on 27th and park, is very good italian. if you don't make it to il mulino you may want to consider it.

not only am i a restaurant/food critic, but i'm also a music critic. however, i do not like classical music. i just don't get it. consequently, i don't buy classical CDs, i don't go to see yo-yo at carnegie, and i certainly don't review yo-yo or any other classical artist. i stick to things like blue grass, emo, and classic rock. does that make me a bad critic? do you even think twice when you hear that? pls bear with me...i gotta get this moderately weak analogy up to a respetable level. of course, at that point, no one will give a damn about what i'm saying anyway! :confused: and for the record, i like robin's article.

although it's somewhat of a "favorite" of mine, i'd give vong a miss. i hate to only suggest a negative, but i'm sure you'll get lots of positive posts soon. enjoy.

would you believe, "moderately weak"? :wow:

critics are generally not lovers of all things they are, um, criticizing. no one is surprised when a music critic doesn't like a particular band, or an movie critic doesn't like a particular movie. but for some reason we are amazed when a food critic doesn't like certain foods. (considering i'm the self-professed analogy police, i will say right now that this was a slightly weak analogy) at the end of the day, they are just writers, whose opinions, while possibly a bit more informed than the average joe's (not ours of course), are simply opinions.

strangely enough, i thought i took out that bit about "negative experience at daniel", because i had mentioned it elsewhere, and i didn't want a negative comment to taint my feelings about DB. oh well! (i didn't like the server or the overall stuffiness of daniel, though i'm sure many will disagree with that). i had the burger at DB on my last visit. it was very good...and fun.

mmmm, very good. had the tart and risotto that liza spoke about. guest had a fish dish, though i forget what fish it was. brilliant. the place is very casual, especially in the front room. a bit cramped though. our server was very good. however, the guy on the phone who took the reservations, and who was most likely at the host stand when i arrived, needs a little lesson in manners. gruff and rude to some extent. i'd say that's a bit surprising for a boulud restaurant, but i had a negative experience at daniel as well. oh well, the guy can cook at least. :confused: