anthonybishopric

I'll be visiting NY for a week overlapping 09-10 and I'm assembling a list of places for a series of good meals. I've abused the eaterny 38 list and perused some of the forums for suggestions. A few criteria: * Avoiding the celeb chef scene, sort of. I'd prefer to do something with name recognition on another trip (thinking of Colicchio's places, etc). * Most of the time I'll either be eating with one other person or just myself. The other person will either be my mom or one of my friends who posts on egullet a significant amount. * I am going without a set budget, so price is no object, at least not until I'm back home and reviewing the damage. * I am already planning on hitting Corton for one particularly upscale meal. My map so far I'm sure I will get a lot of feedback on this from Bryan, but I thought I'd throw this out there and get suggestions. Thanks!

Finally getting a chance to follow up on this meal with Bryan a few weeks back; I'd been to EMP once before, but this meal was really quite exceptional. Again, along with most others on the thread, I am confused by why this place hasn't received even a single Michelin star. Looking at that pork again makes me want another plate of it. Same for the foie dish.

Dude, this is the sickness. Visually, the "slightly burnt" veal is so cool. I want that french toast. And what, are we on day 3 ONLY? Cripes.

I just did a pretty hectic food week in New York and didn't really gain any weight because I ran every morning. I think, like weinoo suggested, just doing the math really works in the big picture.

Zibetto's in midtown and the espresso was pretty killer. It's a very small store, and very businessy, and there aren't any seats. I wouldn't go if you want to sit down and chat for an hour with somebody (in which case you might fight it advisable to head up to Sabarsky). Hope that helps!

White tuna salad? Not whitefish salad? ← That was the only white(fish) salad they had. Was that not it?

I get that, but it's not like I got a Bud Lite. At least, it was my impression that if I was getting beer, it'd be nice beer. But yeah, no offense taken.

No, I was in the fine dining room and did three entrees, and three cheeses at $8 each, plus an espresso. After tip it came out to around $81. For the sheer amount of food, I'd say this was a great deal, especially after being totally jaded by previous meal costs. Thanks! So, there are two reasons for the beer, mostly having to do with just being in the mood for an IPA, and a little less based on not wanting to be wastey faced on the way home. You can call me a girl and it wouldn't be news.

The Weekend of March 15-16 and Summary Diving into the final tour of NY, I basically decided to throw myself headfirst into the city's cultural food core: John's Pizza, Katz's Deli, and Russ & Daughter's I mentioned yesterday that I took this pizza back to Gimme! Coffee to share, and I'm glad I did for several reasons. One, I got to drink more delicious coffee, two I got to chill with Jenni, James and company, and three, it left me some stomach room to head over to Katz's / Russ afterwards. Pepperoni Pizza Mocha Choka I have not had the luxury of good pizza in my life so far, aside from one local pizza place with an entirely different style near my family's house in Miami. I already touched on what made the pizza tasty, I'll only add that I thought the cheese levels were really good too. The Mocha Choka (or was it Choka Mocha?) was nice and creamy like the first latte, but the mocha was really nice because of the way it was sweetened. Rather than adding sugar or chocolate syrup, the drink was made with cocoa and a shot of whipped cream. That added a very slight sweetness while reinforcing the drink's milk chocolate personality. I said goodbye to everyone and headed over to Katz's and Russ. Russ's had about a dozen people inside, and everyone was actively being served. I did try the recommended white tuna salad, and it was very nice. I admit, at the time, something less rich seemed more appealing, so I went ahead and bought a small portion of the beet, apple and Halibut salad. Katz's was NUTS, as I'm sure you could have predicted. I grabbed a pastrami and rye and got out of there. I suppose it was important to get a feel for the NY experience of totally getting pushed around and yelled at instead of being waited on hand and foot. Overall, it was kind of fun. I went home with my Houston St. goodies. Beet, Apple, Halibut Salad Pastrami on Rye Like I said, the salad was nice and light, which was a good way to move into the sandwich, a big meaty ordeal that I relished every bite of. I like how the sandwich makers at Katz's give you a little sample of the meat before you get the whole sandwich and pickles. My sandwich guy had just grabbed a hunk of the meat from the oven, so I got to taste the hot, sweet and meaty amazingness. With a good supply of mustard, I was very satisfied. That night I went out to another restaurant my aunt like's in the neighborhood called Shabu Shabu where the waiter brings you a pot that you can cook your own beef stew in. Not especially picture-worthy, but a nice meal nonetheless. If you go (I think it was on 70th and Madison), try the plum wine, it wasn't that bad. In the morning, we actually had time to go to Café Sabarsky, which was nice because it was among one of many cafés that I missed this trip. Breakfast was Viennese, with a few slices of ham, breads, butter, jam, and coffee, which was exceptionally nice. And finally, on the way back to the apartment, we swung into Maison Du Chocolat and I picked up a chocolate praline egg (an actual egg filled with chocolate). Then I got in a taxi and headed for JFK. This whole trip has been wonderful, and it's been a pleasure to report back to you guys about it. I've learned a whole bunch, although I can't possibly claim to be at any sort of level of expertise. I do have to point out my highlights of the trip. My best meal was definitely JG. Most of the restaurants I went to competed on very different platforms than JG but were still good (Katz's, Momofuku, Tailor, etc...) but it terms of absolute sheer tastiness, JG dominated. I basically want to go back to every restaurant I've been to, but I'd say If I had to have one more day in New York to revisit the places I've been, I'd hit Gramercy Tavern for lunch and Lupa for dinner. I loved the environments there, as well as the food. Lupa is also very date-worthy, and maybe we'd head to PDT afterwards... le sigh... Of course, there are like 12976419274 restaurants I didn't get to go to, in addition to places I said I was going on this trip. Death & Co. missed me, as well as some coffee places I learned about last minute, like Grumpy's in Brooklyn. A future trip to New York would see more varied coffee establishments, and better researched ones too, as well as more bars. I could plan my next week (or month) of food touring in New York right now. I guess I would have to plan my hospital care for the immediately following week and sell of my personal belongings too, but it would be possible. In general, I've been totally charmed by being / trying to be a foodie. Moving to San Francisco at the end of May is looking like a wonderful opportunity for me, not just professionally, but as a chance to really saturate myself in an environment based on an art form that is a testament to culture and the most human of satisfaction. My trip to New York has been a wonderful introduction to everything food, and i do mean when I say, an introduction.

So, I ended up going to John's. I'll tell you, two of the things I really liked about John's was that the crust was well charred and that the crust thickness was really nice. Granted, I'm not used to high quality pizza, being primarily exposed to Papa John's etc... but I thought it was certainly tasty. Honestly, I'm missing dozens of restaurants, which makes me extraordinarily sad. I think I'm going to spend the plane ride back writing up what I would do differently, other places I would go, etc... Di Fara was on my I-hope-I-have-time-to list.

Noted and corrected! Yeah, about that whole college food thing. Well, one good thing is I've got a job right now that can hopefully support a more varied diet in the greater Durham area as opposed to strictly being on campus. That said, I'm so so so sad to be leaving New York on Sunday. Hopefully I'll be back to do a second round of this "vicarious culinary tourism." Haha, now that I think about that, all the same elements are definitely there. If you put raisins or dried cherries in your pb&js, then it totally makes sense. I mean, I would say that the foie wasn't really peanutty in the general sense, but the textures were definitely there (a buttery piece of toast was under the foie, hence the sandwich). Kind of makes me want to make a really exotic pb&j...

I just found a recipe for bbq beef for sandwiches that calls for 1.5 cups of Ketchup, which I find offensive in a big way. I'm with Foodie52 on the Sriracha as a spicy replacement. As a flavoring ingredient for "the bigger picture," does anybody have any suggestions for this particular dish? BBQ Beef Recipe here

Friday, March 14 (Pi Day) Jean Georges. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Bouche Amuse, left-to-right: soup with radish slice, salt and poached egg, parmesan and tangerine, eaten in order mid, right, left Butternut Squash Soup Foie Gras, Sour Cherries, White Port Gelee Smoked Squab à L'Orange, Asian Pear, Candied Tamarind Cheese: From front to back: Saint Pierre, a Wisconsonian take on Parmesan, and a super barnyardy cheese. Pumpkin Cake, Cranberry Paper, Lemon Sorbet Assorted Chocolates, Marshmallows, and Macaroons This was the best meal, bar none, that I have eaten. Jean Georges trampled the competition, after all the food since I've gotten to the city, nothing has been even remotely as delicious as this. If you aren't a fan of exclamation marks or capitalization, I'd stop reading right around now. The bouche amuse, which JG treats like a mini-meal, rather than a snack, is probably one of my favorite things in life. I had been to JG once before and the idea was the same: something kind of smooth and salty in texture, something light and slightly bitter, then something rich, warm and soothing. UNREAL. The egg burst in the first spoon, matching up with the salt, a wonderful egginess. Followed closely by the parmesan, as though it had been left out of a mini omelette if the first spoon, but adjoined by the attached tangerine, a bitter hit of citrus. Then the soup came, and washed away the acidity in a moment I can only describe as "happiness." Among my favorite vegetables in the world is the butternut squash. To have butternut squash soup is a treat in any setting, but at Jean Georges, it was elevated to a religious experience. What you can't see in the picture are little chunks of squash cubes on the bottom of the bowl, which were then covered by the waiter who poured on scoop upon scoop of the orange mix. I WANT THIS EVERY DAY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. The soup itself was warm, cheesy, squashy and thick with flavors, but the squash hunks at the bottom reinforced squash over everything else. Truly, there can be no tribute to squash to equal this in the world. Unlike the foie I've had at other places that make the material into a light, whipped fatty composition, JG has mastered the art of taking the extreme creaminess of the substance and made it true heavyweight player in a dish. The texture in this foie was ridiculously good, and combined with the gelee and sour cherries, was a wonderful sweet/sour combination. I was daydreaming when the waiter brought in a dish and took it to the serving table in the middle of the room. He walked right past me with it, since my table was close to the entry way. I could smell my squab from 6 feet away! When it was brought back to me, the aroma was so unbelievably amazing. There was every manner of deliciousness playing around in this dish: the meaty bird, the spicy and super sweet tamarind, the orange juice / oolong tea combo that added herbal citrus and asian pear to play the sweet balance. I was seriously delirious once I had finished this. The cheese dish was delicious and fun. My waiter brought out the cheese cart and I selected the three cheeses from a choice of roughly 15 varieties. The Saint Pierre was very creamy, and very thick, but not gooey like the third was. The parmesan variation was tougher to eat on its own, especially because the slice was fairly large, but it was tasty nonetheless. It definitely had an American personality to something traditionally very Italian, which was interesting. Like I mentioned before, the third was gooey and super barnyardy. I was at the ranch for the rest of the meal pretty much, even after dessert (just try drinking from a glass of water where your nose is sharing air with your mouth after that kind of cheese). To my horror, they then brought me the dessert menu. Well, what was I going to do? IGNORE dessert at JG? Absolutely not. I got the winter dessert selection and an espresso. You may recognize the same pirate ship theme from Tailor again here, except instead of beet sheets, these red sails are cranberry flavored. With pumpkin, this was nice, although all the most amazing heights of the meal really couldn't be reached again (the bar was THIS high [points up]). The sorbet was very delicate, and very truly lemony, not lemonadey, if that makes sense. Almost catatonic, they brought over the chocolates, marshmallows and macaroons. I was basically going to pass out right there on the table with all these very dignified people watching me eat my way into decimation. I tried as politely as I could to sample the desserts and pay the bill before I slipped into a comatose state. Memory is a little dim here, but my favorite of these little treats was the saffron & cinnamon marshmallow on the upper right. I got out of there before my waiter had a chance to call for an ambulance, and walked around a bit to recover. I still have so much to say about Jean Georges, but it's hard to think of it all. If you're more curious about this trip, I'd be happy to answer. In general though, I'll leave it at THAT WAS OUT OF CONTROL. You may recall a scene from Kill Bill where Uma Thurman is sitting in the back of the truck, instructing herself to move her big toe. That was me for the next few hours at Starbucks across the street, taking advantage of the wireless and just relaxing a bit. But after I got myself together, I managed to grab a ride on the subway and headed down to Gimme! Coffee for the latte I had forgone the day before. Latte The barista, Jenni Bryant, makes an incredibly tasty latte. I had seen shapes drawn into the foam of coffee after-the-fact with stirrers or spoons, but she did the art entirely while pouring the milk. One important aspect of the latte, I was told, was that foam and milk in a drink should not be distinct entities, but rather it should be creamy the whole way down, without a milk boundary. Jenni is awesome, as well as everybody at Gimme! Coffee. James, another guy who works there agreed to split a John's Pizza with me the next day, which was useful since you can't buy by the slice, and it gave me an excuse to get more delicious espresso. That night I had zero appetite for food. My aunt took me to a little Italian restaurant "La Finestra" around the corner from where she lives for a quick bite to eat. Aunt Suzanne with her Shrimp Risotto My Veggies Suzanne has been really nice letting me stay in her apartment this week. I've been sleeping in her living room on the couch and using the gym upstairs to displace some of the food consumption. Best Pi day ever. Tomorrow: John's Pizza, Gimme! Coffee (#3), Russ & Daughters, Katz Delicatessen, Shabu Shabu

Yes yes, patience children. Just got back from today's activities, I'm writing right now.

Two questions: A star anise petal? You mean from a flower, or just a section of the star itself? Also, can anyone point me to somewhere where I can find a good definition of IPA? ← Sorry, just a star, like you'd expect. I wouldn't have known what it was if it was just some section of the star. IPA article

hahaha Kuidaore you were real close. Those Osakans are a funny bunch. They basically produce 90% of the country's comedians. I had the same problem with the Google Maps and the 55th Street location.... apparently, good thing you avoided the one on Cooper Square, I guess it's gone downhill. The 55th street menkuitei has always been a lot beter. There's also a Menchankotei right there that you could have gone to - So you ate at Sushiya - not a bad place, at least it's Japanese sushi chefs... but you do know that Totto was just another 2 blocks westward..... ← The bane of my existence has been not knowing my way around the city. A lot of the planning that went into the schedules for everything took into account "well the subway will be really convenient" but little other logistics. Totto will have to be another trip...

Thursday, March 13 More than anything else, today's highlight was getting to PDT, and hanging out with folks there. I already mentioned that I got a chance to meet Tien Ho in a previous post, and I thought it was absolutely great to get what I would consider a very authoritative opinion on where to eat in the city. I'll get to the drinks later. But, let's start with lunch. I did the Prix Fixe at Tabla. Cauliflower Soup, Yogurt, Toasted Coriander, Pepper Sweet Spiced Oxtail, Tapioca Pearls, Peanuts, Leek Naan I want to point out that this naan not only looked great when it came out, but it is probably the fluffiest, most enjoyable naan I've had, period. That might be an unfair comparison with other naans simply because it's meant to be a flatbread, but my inner anglo saxon jived with this contemporary, western adaptation. Lemon Curd, Toasted Meringue, Rosemary Shortbread Bryan knows first hand that I love thick veggie soups, and this was no exception. I liked how the yogurt was a nice cool contrast to the peppery mix. Unlike say, butternut squash bisque, the cauliflower here was not the single dominating taste, but rather just a major player, which I thought was interesting. The oxtail came up next, and I thought first that it looked great. Clear tapioca pearls under rich, very saucy meat and sprigs has a color combination that I think is really classy. Overall, this was really tasty, but I definitely had hard time finding the "Indian" in it until I took a bite with the dozen-or-so peanut slices. Other than that, it basically came down to being a nice, modern use of oxtail, but not really of the genre. There was also so much of it all - tapioca is really filling, and the meat goes without saying, and I had a hard time cleaning everything up. Dessert was really nice, but the same thing happened here. I loved the sugary mix under the lemon curd, and the light, fluffy meringue, but the rosemary shortbread, which I assume was meant to hit the dish with Indian-ness, really didn't. It ended up being more like batter-y goodness, but nothing really herby about it. I'd say overall, if you want to get a large amount of food at lunch, Tabla would be a good choice for what you're paying for, and I would definitely come back here for a slightly more pretentious business lunch (Tabla is next door to EMP, I got the same Credit Suisse jitters) Then dinner happened. This was probably the biggest error I've made in the trip so far, and I regret not having done more precautionary work before making this choice. I got to midtown in search of Menkuitei (which is not where it is. Google Maps was totally wrong). I wasn't able to find it, obviously, so I ditched it an started looking for other food. Somebody had recommended "something-ya" in a previous post, and I saw a place called Sushiya, and headed in. (looking back, it was Soba Ya, not Sushiya) Sashimi Crazy, Crunchy, Something Something Insane, Hot, Spicy Spider Roll Red Bean Ice Cream To be fair, it wasn't that bad. Being completely, totally spoiled at this point, my goal of noodles looked pretty grim when I asked the waitress which version of the ramen to get. I will admit that the tofugu on the insane roll had a nice crunchy texture, and the ice cream was pretty nice, I liked the little chunks of bean. Other than that, it was a lukewarm meal. Kind of upset, I hustled over to the 6 line to get down to PDT. Things got really good from there. I had two drinks (Apparently, 2 is my limit nowadays) I started off with Falling Leaves, which is a dry Riesling with brandy, honey, and bitters. it was served in a smallish glass with I thought the combination of sweet wine and sweet liquor was really cool. There was one star anise petal in the glass to reinforce the kind sweet bitterness of the drink. The second drink I got was Captain Lawrence's IPA, which was a little more bitter than I'm used to for IPAs in general. But for half a pint, it worked splendidly. I think overall, the environment was really fun. I got to talking with a nice couple to my right who recommended some more restaurants to try out on Saturday, and who carried on a nice conversation overall. Between that, the speakeasy environs, chatting with the couple and Tien, and really tasty drinks, I had a great time. I really want to go back and talk a little more with the bartender, who seemed really knowledgeable, but was busy training a new mixer when I got there. Well, the less-than-haute experience at Sushiya would be supremely made up for at Jean Georges on Friday. (note from the future: it definitely was. Holy Moly)

I want to stock up on tasty morsels that I can bring back to nc, or at least eat on the plane, or perhaps equally likely, in the airport (Sunday: mixed wintery weather). This may be good for doing just that. I really don't want to have to buy a slice of Sbarro.

Katz's sounds much more appealing than bbq which, while different than nc's stuff, is still going to be angled in almost the same direction. And anyway, we can bbq it when we get back. Tien came up to the bar and sat next to me. I thought he looked familiar, and I had reason to think that because while I was at the stand up bar waiting for a seat at Ssam, I saw him managing plates leaving the kitchen. Not remembering this immediately though, he started getting drinks off the menu, which led me to believe that he must be with the in-crowd. He overheard me talking about the food tour with a very wasted couple to my right and asked where I had been, etc... All in all, he seemed like a really cool guy, and I kind of buy his non-bbq rec since he's from Texas and his transition to NY food kind of reflects our own south-north deal. I agree with him, but New York is not part of New England. ← Man, I made this exact mistake just a few days before I left too. How embarrassing to make it again. Don't credit Tien with that, I was seriously paraphrasing. Will do!

That sounds especially tasty. I could go for some pastrami, caviar and smoked fish, plus that whole donut shop thing has to happen. I mean, seriously. Incredibly, incredibly full. So, that's a really good point. When I was at PDT tonight I actually met Tien Ho of Ssäm Bar, who basically said "why tf are you going to bbq in new england? go get pizza instead" and directed me towards John's Pizza on Bleecker. I can actually score some pretty tasty bbq at some local venues back home if I really want, so I'm going to focus on non-southern style cooking while I'm here.

I think you've hit the nail on the head with that assessment. Bourbon peaches sounds hot. Ugh, I was going to not do Setagaya, especially after reading the thread about how it's pooped out, but it's so close to PDT and Death & Co, it made everything so eeeeassyy. I really shouldn't be slacking off like this though. I'll start off with Menkuitei and move south and see how I feel. Thanks for the help!

Great reports so far; I'm wondering if the slices of "savory seared beef" were actually guanciale (cured pig jowl), which is what is classically used in this dish. ← I think you must be right. I couldn't tell off the bat when I had it, so I made a guess. In any case, it was quite wonderful.

Wednesday, March 12 Purging my bank account continued today with wonderful visits to Eleven Madison Park and Lupa. From all the sweet stuff at Tailor I was hoping dishes would stay away from sweet bases. Well, they didn't at EMP, as I got the new tasting menu, which was released on Tuesday, with the wine pairings. It was scrumptious, but like, dessert part XIII. Panna Cotta, Scallops, Eel Wine Pairing: Miyasaka, Nanango, Yamahai, Junmai Daiginjo, Masumi Prefecture, Japan Halibut, Black Trumpet Mushroom, Champagne Foam Wine Pairing: Oliver Morin, Chitry, Burgundy, France 2006 I actually forgot to take this photo. Needless to say, I was annoyed after I realized. A rough description of the appearance: a wide soup bowl with white halibut in the center with a scoop of dark mushroom puree on top, and champagne foam floating around. On the bottom of the dish was an herby cream with bits of hidden crunchy cauliflower, which were really fun to find. Seared Foie Gras, Rhubarb, Cookies, Honey, Lemon Wine Pairing: Château Tirecul la Gravière, Clos du Chateau, Monbazillac, France 2003 Pheasant, Coxcomb, Risotto Wine Pairing: Nuits-Saint-Georges, Burgundy, France 2004 Four Cheeses w/ Various Jellies Wine Pairing: Jacques Laverriere, Clos Chatart, Grand Cru, Banyuls, France 1998 I was smart and got a list of the cheeses. From front to back: 1. Adelle, Sheep & Cow, Pasteurized, Scion, Oregon 2. Queijo de Nisa, Sheep, Raw, Nisa, Portugal 3. Pecorino Ginepro, Sheep, Raw, Lazio, Italy 4. Persille de Beaujolais, Cow, Pasteurized, Rhone, France To begin, I'll mention that I don't know very much about wine, and that these were all a real treat to have. That said, it was easy to tell that these were very good pairings. For the first dish, the balance was perfect, without any one flavor dominating. The Nanago by itself was deliciously silky and cool, and was a great combination with the slightly sweet panna cotta. The halibut was a fun dish to eat through. The literally covered the entire perimeter of the halibut, so you couldn't see anything on the bottom of the dish. That's why it was so fun to find little creamy hunks of cauliflower every so often. The fish and mushroom combination still maintained the restraint of the first dish, but it definitely felt like an acceleration towards main course. Number three, the foie gras, was the weakest dish for me. The foie itself was very nicely seared, the inside just firm enough to get on the fork and melt in-mouth, but between the cookies, rhubarb, honey, and my burned out sweet tooth from Tailor, I wasn't prepared for another sweet dish like this before the main course. When the waiter asked what I thought, I suggested maybe moving the foie dish back one place or removing the third strand of rhubarb (it was too much anyway, given the ratio of foie/other stuff I was looking for). If I had eaten this 24 hours before, this most likely wouldn't have been an issue. The Tirecul la Grav¡ère was basically a dessert wine, but I have to admit it was absolutely delicious, had a super rich fruitiness and a beautiful golden color. The pheasant was really great. Salty and tender, the bird was expertly cooked evenly all the way through, and a very, very thin seared layer on top. I'm not sure whether this was done sous vide, although I'm leaning on yes. The coxcomb wings were visually fun and added a great softness. The pairing was also quite wonderful; the Nuits-Saint-Georges had a smokey, woody smell, and filled my palate with smoke, matching the bird especially well. The cheese course was a nice round up to everything, along with coffee. My favorites were probably numbers 2 and 4, their jellies being riesling and port respectively. I really enjoyed the service at EMP, I thought the waiters were very engaging and helped me learn a lot about the food I was eating. Simultaneously, I was a little intimidated by all the Credit Suisse suits in the place, as I had come slightly underdressed, or at least felt that way. Later that evening, I paid a visit to Gimme! Coffee in Nolita. Attracted by the mythical Clover, I had to pay them a visit. When I arrived, I was the only one in the store, but had a great time talking to the guys that worked there. I got some really cool recommendations for places I could get good coffee in the last few days of the trip too. Clover The way this thing makes the coffee is just ridiculous. On the top of the machine there's a circular surface on which you pour your ground coffee. Pressing the go button, after configuring exactly how much coffee you want, at what temperature to brew, and for how long, causes the circular surface to begin to drop, and hot water starts pouring from the above faucet. After it finishes brewing, the platform rises with the now exhausted coffee grounds on the flat surface, and leaves the barista the task of sweeping it with a wipe handle like the kind people use to wash their car windows at gas stations. The coffee is dispatched into a cup placed at the front of the machine. The process can take a variable amount of time, depending on what you configure, but my coffee (12oz, Kenyan) brewed for 30 seconds. The way it came out, the coffee was nice and full, notes of tomatoes and only slightly acidic; basically matching the principle of espresso not to be bitter and unpleasant. Gimme! specializes in espresso, so the drip machine is there for its purpose, but it's not the highlight of the store. I'm probably going back there on Thursday, so I'll report on lattes, espresso, etc... then. Finally, the evening heavyweight was Lupa, Italian dining at its finest. On the way out from EMP, my waiter was considerate enough to make a recommendation for my Prima dish, which I followed. Meats: Coppa Cotta, Testa Bucatini a L'Amatriciana Hanger Steak, Swiss Shard, Polenta, Salsa Verde Panna Cotta, Tangerine, Peppercorns The meats were very good and contrasted with each other well. The Coppa was hammy, salty and had nice fatty sections. I'd compare it to a softer and slightly sweeter Serrano. On the flip side, the Testa was fleshy and sweet from cloves added. My bucatini was very, very tasty. The hollow noodles and nice al dente chew were really nice with the Amatriciana sauce. Also thrown in there were some slices of savory seared beef. It was such a classic dish that was done exceptionally well. The hanger steak beat the bucatini though. The meat was unreal, ultra tender and juicy, and really great in union with the shard and salsa verde. Just setting my knife onto the steak the first time, there wasn't any pressure against it being cut. Again, a super rustic dish that hit home with me. The panna cotta finished off the day, and totally unlike the panna cotta that started the day, this one had oomph. The tangerine, which had been drawn through some kind of liquor, made the sweet custard curl up into a bitter finish. The peppercorns crashed through the custard in little bursts. My overall impression of Lupa is kind of similar to Casa Mono. I wish I had brought like, 8 people, so that we could have shared everything. Nothing on the menu looked bad, by any means. I'm really tempted to hit up Otto, but I don't know if I have time. I have one free spot left for lunch: Saturday afternoon. Where should I go? I've considered these places -Union Square Cafe -RUB BBQ -Shake Shack -Tiá Pol -Otto I'm really leaning on RUB, but I'm not sure exactly. If you guys have any input, please help! I've already gotten help from several people, and these places all came up, but if I'm missing anything crucial here, then this is the opportunity to fix that. Tomorrow: Tabla, Gimme! Coffee (again, for espresso this time), Setagaya, PDT edited for spelling, silly mistakes

I think what impressed me the most is that the food has been both so good and so interesting. For starters, Tailor nuked Maze in both presentation, style and taste, and has been better than almost every place I've been so far (except probably EMP. I was there this afternoon, but even they had "left leaning" [the waiter actually said that] dishes like a halibut with champagne foam). The big challenges to modern cooking are probably coming tonight and on Friday; Lupa & Jean-Georges. Nevertheless, I am thoroughly, thoroughly awed by how good new gastronomy can be.

I agree, Gramercy is a great place for a casual business lunch, and the environment is really nice. I just went on Sunday for the first time and it was great.