sickchangeup

Just FYI, there are a number of meals happening for the 2009 Wine & Food Festival. Right now they are in pre-sale mode, but tickets go on sale to the public Monday. Work your connections if you have them, I know Amex Platinum has a pre-sale code you can use, not sure of others. Amongst the highlights: Dinner with Alain Ducasse at the Beard House ($400) http://www.nycwineandfoodfestival.com/2009...ts.php?event=57 Tom Colicchio & April Bloomfield at Craftsteak ($375) http://www.nycwineandfoodfestival.com/2009...ts.php?event=36 Oktoberfest with Gabriel Kruether ($250) http://www.nycwineandfoodfestival.com/2009...nts.php?event=8 A Day at Stonebarns & Lunch ($200) http://www.nycwineandfoodfestival.com/2009...ts.php?event=44 and of course tons of other stuff.

Anyone been? I'm going to be in Korea in a few weeks, and was thinking of booking dinner here for one meal.

Ah, $75 for 10 - even better. Thanks for the input.

Can anyone give me a sense for what constitutes a full meal here? Is the $50 tasting menu a light supper? How about the $100?

So assuming ones command of the Korean language is say.... a complete zero on a scale of 1 to 100. What are our odds of accomplishing something like picking out some fresh crab & abalone out of a tank and getting it cooked/served at either fish market?

1) No clue. To this day I'm not even sure why the scallops have a supplement. I'm guessing it's cause halibut is a pricey fish? The portion was a nice one. 2) I did not, compared to the disappointing meal it was of minor consequence, I shouldn't even have mentioned it. I recall an instance in the past where I was undercharged at JG and pointed it out to the house, mistakes happen. Although we were charged $54 somewhere in there (I ordered 4 dishes), and there was no -$14 at the end, we did not go through the bill in any detail, it was a long bill and they may have made the correction elsewhere. I take the blame here, the disappointing meal was by far the bigger issue. 3) UE - our server offered a replacement, even went and fetched a menu. I declined. I was already going to be getting a "4th", making my wife wait one extra course with no food. I did not want to make her wait 2 courses for me. He then went over to the captain and communicated the issue. This part was handled decently IMO, even if the captain didn't make any sort of acknowledgment himself. 4) Glad to hear the report on the papaya mustard dish. I really did love the shrimp, enough that I may even order it again :-) That one I'll feel safe to chalk up to personal taste then.

I'm curious what some of the more regular JG lunchers think of the newer late spring/early summer sets of dishes on the menu. So far we've tried: Warm White Asparagus, Herb Vinaigrette & Lemon Breadcrumbs Gulf Shrimp with Smoked Bacon, Papaya Mustard & Avocado Slowly Cooked Salmon, Buttery Ramp Ravioli & Rhubarb Compote Slowly Cooked Maine Halibut, Chili-Garlic Emulsion, Cucumber & Lime ($8 Supplement) The White Asparagus is literally the first dish I have ever returned at a fine dining restaurant, I eat pretty much anything, but two bites in I just couldn't eat it. The asparagus was waaaaaay overcooked, the knife came down and the long fibers just relented and squished out under the knife, sending whatever water was in them squishing out onto the plate. The breadcrumbs tasted of broken butter and the vinaigrette was seethingly strong. Curiously, I was still charged for it (we always order more than the standard 2 lunch dishes) despite returning it two bites in. The Gulf Shrimp with bacon was delicious, but the papaya side was once again completely inedible as it tasted like vomit. I love papaya, grew up in a country where it's a very common fruit and have eaten it all my life. I never understood the people that think it's tastes "vomity", but I can't say that after today. The addition of mustard was just weird, but hard to blame that on the mustard. Both the fish dishes were decent. The salmon was offered to us medium-rare, but arrived rare (not a problem). The portion of fish and ravioli were very generous, so no complaints there, it was just the pairing that didn't seem particularly inspired - or particularly "Jean George-y" for that matter. The halibut was paired with delicious mashed potatoes, which were in turned topped with cucumber noodles/laces. Mashed potatoes aren't something that I think exactly need the addition of cucumbers, I just separated the two. The chili-garlic emulsion continued my trend of getting no heat out of super spicy looking items, it came in the form of a red/orange foam that covered the fish entirely, yet barely had any taste. The two highlights were the ever solid tuna ribbons and the (IMO) very underrated Goat Cheese Gnocchi with Caramelized Baby Artichokes and Parsley. The latter is, I believe a relatively new dish (winter?) and has a wonderful balance of textures, saltiness/brinyness and paired very well with an inexpensive glass of NZ Cabernet Sauvignon. In the end, our style of going after the new stuff hasn't paid off so far this season, but I'm curious what others think.

I've held off a bit on replying cause I wanted to think it through. As a somewhat on and off life long New Yorker, with 7 years of schooling between HS in Center City and College in West Philly, this seemed like an interesting question. Back in the day, the consensus would have gone something like this: 1) Amoroso's bread. I'm not sure if this was urban legend or not, but the theory was that every little salt/pepper/ketchup stand carried these rolls, and that this is what made Philly Philly. Whatever the bread was, it's was good and we don't have it as good on the streets here in NY. 2) Monk's. The Monk's back bar selection was stuff of legends in the late 90's, as was the Monk's burger (caramelized leeks & blue cheese) and fries. The average keg description was something like "illegal in the US, but we snuck it in" or "first time ever on American soil", great great stuff. After only a couple years this place became too crowded to go at any point other than off-hours (luckily I graduated around this time). Haven't been more than once or twice in the past 8-9 years probably, no clue what it's like now, probably more trendy but I doubt it's not still very good. 3) Cheesesteaks. Obvious, but true. Definitely not Pat's/Gino's, but almost anywhere else. 4) "Roast Pork Italian", preferably from Tony Luke's (Oregon Ave.), made with brocolli rabe (not spinach). This to me was Philly's true underground "cheesesteak". 5) Tastycakes. Much more available here now, but Philly's original treat. Butterscotch crimpets. To that I would now add: 1) Italian Market. To me there's nothing like hitting up 9th St. on a Saturday morning. The older and richer I've gotten, the more I've gravitated towards Di Bruno brothers on trips there, but the beauty is that the food at almost any price point is great. 2) Reading Terminal Market. There's a whole thread on this place.

I've had my eye on Cru for a while, thanks for the positive report. I've resisted going specifically cause a) lack of good reports b) their online menu still lists fresh black truffles some three months after the season is over, and likely hasn't changed in twice that long. I like to at least get a sense for how a restaurants menu evolves as the seasons change before I commit. I do like their "hundreds under $100" wine menu, takes the edge off the potentially snooty air of a "wine restaurant".

Not sure if this is the best place to post this, but when looking for a Ko resy this AM, I stumbled upon a link to this: http://www.momofuku.com/office/cookbook.asp Should be a good one :-)

FYI: Per Se for three on a Saturday should be no problem. Jean Georges across the street might be harder to get if it's very soon (at least before 2:15 or so), but offers FAR more value (best deal in town) for Saturday lunch if you don't need to literally go 110% over the top to impress.

I'm not sure how clear it was to the restaurant that the gentleman had difficulty walking. If it was clear, then they could have called a car service for them. If it wasn't clear, I don't think that the suggestion of walking a half a block to 6th Ave was in any way wrong. ← I'm with daisy, the Corton person is likely doing the "out of town" crowd a favor (present case clearly excepted) by pointing them down the block for a cab. If they are right about their info (sounds like they were), then they are saving their guests some 15 minutes (potentially way more) of waiting around and some $15 off private car fare - good service as it were. Then again, it doesn't sound like the communication was handled particularly gracefully here, the "come back if I'm wrong" part is a little rough around the edges. I've only ever been offered car service once, at Per Se our captain volunteered the option on a nasty day, when he picked up on our worry about finding a cab. Although I've never once thought to ask, I would definitely expect the 4 star places to oblige without hesitation if I did.

So wait, there are two more clubs? Can you tell me how they compare to Sterling? Are there food ordering options from the seats that you know of?

I believe anyone can pre-arrange for an extended menu (at an extended price!). The key is pre-arranged, you have to let them know you are interested in something like that when you make your reservation so they have time to prepare. The one time I arranged a special menu at Per Se ahead of time, someone called me back after I made the reservation (a reservation being step 1), and we talked through what I was looking for and agreed on a price (I believe extended menu's start at $450 and go from there). Same for the French Laundry meal.

Definitely true. Bruni chimes in today: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/dining/2..._r=1&ref=dining Looks like we ordered well, he loves the burger and the fries (and bacon mayo), only compliments the fried fish sandwich from Catch of the Day and casts aside most of the rest. He left out the Queens Italian Sub Shop though, which seems a shame. He also specifically noted he was bypassing the pricey seat sections which would get him into the two restaurants and the club section. In the end he concludes what everyone already knows, that the Mets food options are much better than the Yankees.

You can see my report on TFL's extended menu that I did last month in the California thread. I expect that if you enjoyed the 9 courses at TFL, that you will very much enjoy the extended menu at Per Se.

Made my way to Citi field for the first time today. Fairly certain that the overlap between foodie and sports fan isn't that great, but at least for the first time ever - there's good food to be had for those that fit the mold. This report will be somewhat limited in some sense, but hopefully useful in others. Today being a national holiday AND this being a "Value" game (i.e. 1 of 10 of the cheapest games to attend), the stadium was as close to full capacity as it's gonna get I'm guessing (97.9%, 41,103 fans in attendance). 30+ minutes before game time the Shake Shack line looked like it was a 60+ minute wait, waaaay worse that I've ever seen it at Madison Park. Box Frittes (the french fry place) was packed, and although Catch of the Day (Pasternak's Fish place) had a line, it was far less absurd a wait than the rest (maybe 10-15 minutes). Sushi is available in the Global Market food court along the Right Field side, where the Italian Hero place is as well, with relatively short lines. And had we not purchased seats in the "Delta Sky360 Club" that kind of would have been the end of it, cause I wasn't about to battle it out for the Danny Meyer places, and well.. no one needs a report on eating a ballpark dog and cracker jacks. Thankfully, and despite the stupid name, this "club" is awesome - at least 2 bars (private to club seat holders), multiple dining options and tons of comfortable and non-hectic places to eat (apart from your seat). First surprise was the menu at our seats: This blew me away. It would take you longer than a baseball game to visit all these places, while option B involves buying a (comfy leather) seat mere rows from the field and having it all brought to you for what is really not exorbitant prices. We went with a New York Dog, Single Shackburger & Fries (Ballpark Mayo and BACON Mayo). What's that last thing you ask? BACON Mayo. Very very good. The Burger arrived warm, and was right on. The hot dog had a delicious fresh warm chewy bun and sauerkraut. Really good. And the fries, while a little thicker than I prefer, were also really well done and arrived warm. Very impressive overall. The other Delta Club options (where you grabbed the food yourself) looked great as well, although I didn't sample them. Here are some of the menus for the food options in the club itself: Now for the last surprise: In the back, only accessible to Club Seat ticket holders, is a full blown Danny Meyer restaurant (the manager came from USQ Cafe I believe) called "Sterling". Although they have an Open Table system up and running for their own use, its not on opentable.com for reservations yet - they have a number which they gave me if you want to call to reserve a spot. When we went to our seats close to game time, the place was pretty much full. When we went back around the 5th inning, the place was empty. Here's their food menu: They also have a relatively extensive wine menu, including options for a $300 bottle of Dom or a $250 bottle of Cab-Sav from Napa. Pretty neat. Unfortunately I have zero information on the actual publicized restaurant that exists out in left field, the place run by the Myriad Group. Hopefully someone else checks that out and reports back.

I was looking through the old ADNY threads looking for photos, and came across this photo: From this post by Ellen Shapiro. She describes it as Atlantic bass with clams. This is almost exactly what my halibut dish (referenced above and still on the menu) looked like, except that chef used the razor clam shell to hold the minced clam atop the halibut. Otherwise this looks almost identical to what I ate, thought that was interesting.

For those that are interested in wine, for the first time ever I asked our captain to just go ahead and pick my beverages for me. I guess it was a moment of clarity, they always pick what I eat, so why not what I drink? In response he didn't ask me any questions, just nodded in recognition and got the ball rolling. Here's what I had: - Rudi Pichler, Grüner Veltliner, Federspiel, Wachau 2007 - Channing Daughters, "Meditazione," Long Island 2006 - Hanahato, Junmai Kijoshu, Aged 8 years, "Gorgeous Bird," Hiroshima - Kracher, "Cuvée Beerenauslese," Burgenland 2006 - Lucien Crochet, "Le Chêne," Sancerre 2006 - Jean Noël Gagnard, "Morgeot," 1er Cru, Chassagne-Montrachet 2006 - Shelter, Cabernet Sauvignon, "Headwater Vineyard," Napa Valley 2005 - Vinsanto of some sort (perhaps: Pierazzuoli, Vinsanto del Chianti Montalbano, Riserva, "Millarium," Tuscany 2003) Most of these are available on the "by the glass" section of the Per Se wine menu (available online), so in theory you can set your own pairing if you know what you're gonna be eating. I was charged $225, although that also included a glass of red (price not known) that my wife drank. I was told that generally the price of the standard wine pairing hovers around the price of the menu, although mine wound up considerably cheaper. In terms of pairings, we started with a chickpea veloute then oysters & pearls which were both paired with the Gruner Veltliner. Then we had a couple of sashimi canapes with the Channing Daughters blend. Then the aged sake was paired with a couple more canapes, before we moved to the Beerenauslese for the regular 2nd course of foie. The Sancerre (my least favorite) carried me through the first fish course (mackarel), while the Red from Burgundy paired with both the langoustines (2nd fish) and the duck (1st meat). The Cabernet was paired with the final Calottes courses, with the Vinsanto making it's appearance after the intermezzo for the dessert section. In all it was a nice mix - the Meditazione & the aged Sake certainly qualify as interesting or experimental takes, while the Sancere and the Cabernet qualify as quite straightforward. Throw in a few lesser known varietals (Chassagne-Montrachet, Austrian Gruner Veltlner), some variance in sweetness (Beerenauslese & Vinsanto) and this non-wine drinker came away quite pleased with the results. I'll also take away that their wine by the glass section has a large variety of wines to explore, and that I can probably do some of the selecting myself next time. The other nice thing tonight was the addition of a freshly baked and still warm parker house roll to the mix. It just popped up in between courses, apparently something they flirted with for a while in the past and have (at least for now) brought back. Was better than the craftsteak version, although we only got one each, not three :-)

I'd read Bryans breakdown above, he did an excellent job comparing the two. And while I wouldn't hesitate (myself) to answer a resounding YES to your question above, I would add that if I could definitely only spend the $28 and nothing more, then I would almost have to pick EMP since 2 courses at JG would leave me hungry, whereas at EMP it does not.

After a few lunch visits where I ordered off the regular menu, I finally went with the gourmand lunch tasting menu and felt like I was eating at an entirely different restaurant. I talked a little with the manager and he confirmed that the lunch tasting menu is really done in the spirit of dinner, while the regular lunch menu is generally more rustic. My own translation of this is complexity, lunch ingredients are presented whole, maybe 3 or 4 separate whole, yet well paired items/ingredients to a plate, whereas the tasting menu combined different items and tastes into an overall more complex dish and flavor profile. Menu: Chilled Green Garlic soup with crayfish bavarois (amuse) Hawaiian Blue Prawn Roulade with Avocado, Lime and Greek Yogurt Foie Gras Terrine with Rhubarb, Celery and Pickled Ramps, Indonesian Pepper Brioche Atlantic Turbot Slow Cooked with Spring Peas, Lemon Thyme and Terre Bormane Olive Oil Suckling Pig (I requested that the Milk Fed Veal be substituted for anything else) Morels, Morel Panna Cotta and Fava Beans Citrus Variations Orange Mousse with Fennel, Candied Olives and Grapefruit Sorbet Tasting of all house Macarons (comped? no idea? Might be regular, just trying to be "ethical" here) So to recap: a crayfish (I think NOLA) bavarois (Bavarian), then Hawaiian (Hawaii) Prawns rolled in avocado like a sushi roll (I thought japan) with Greek (Greek) Yogurt and edible leaves/flowers (I thought CA), then Indonesian Pepper (Indonesia) Brioche & Torchon (France) with Strawberry Salt and Muscat gelee (Italy?), then Thai (Thailand) curry - it was like a global "tour de force" and we were only 3 courses in. Infinitely more complex than the lunch menu. Of course introducing and mixing all these flavors carries a risk. The flavor profile of the roulade was foreign to me, although I believe that it was to have tasted exactly as it did. The foie torchon was so strong tasting that only the brilliant pepper brioche stood a chance, the rhubarb et. al were pretty much unable to hang. I loved the turbot dish, the Thai flavors were really in harmony with the snap peas and the raw (guessing due to sous-vide) texture of the cooked fish. The morels were as tasty as any I've had this season, and dessert was really interesting, with tons of flavors to explore - crazy stuff like candied fennel bulb, candied olives, candied kumquats, blood oranges, grapefruits and fennel dust. In the end its a shame that this tasting menu is likely to sit around for a few months before changing, I'd love to continue to eat this way during lunch. But if like me, you've eaten lunch but not the tasting menu, worth noting that there's a whole different ballgame out there.

oakapple linked to this in the Per Se thread, but eater is speculating on the odds of who gets a fourth star from Bruni before he departs: here They list Ko at 298-1, which seems insane to me: a) Ssam Bar got three stars from Bruni b) Ssam Bar got ranked 31st in the world recently c) Ko is better and more "high end" than SSam Bar Are any of these three points debatable? What about the 3 points above makes Ko a 298-1 dog to get a 4th star? If there was ever a critic, and a time period, where sitting at a bar can be essentially ignored if the food on the plate is at a 4 star level, I would think this is the critic and this is the time no? Plus we know the Bruni has quite the fondness for the Chang. That's not to say that Del Posto and Aureole (under Chris Lee and in it's new establishment) aren't better bets, but I'll put some action at 298-1 against Ko any day of the week. Am I wrong?

Fresh Mozzarella, mushroom, prosciutto di parma, truffle spread, extra virgin olive oil

Well, 6 weeks later ( maybe 10+k pizzas later?), and Keste was phenomenal yesterday for lunch. We started with the Battilocchio Del Giorno, which today comprised of a paste like mixture of robiola cheese and green olives, smeared over a rectangular piece of dough with perhaps a couple of pieces of pepper or halved cherry tomatoes here and there. The difference in the taste, temperature and consistency of the dough was immediately remarkable - the dough was nothing less than delicious in fact. It definitely tasted saltier, and the char was a little stronger as I had hoped after our last visit, about as close to smoky, light and pillowy a dough as I have tasted. The topping was almost an afterthought as I ate it. For mains I had the Pizza Del Re (probably so called cause it's the priciest they sell), which was honestly a revelation. My wife had the funghi, which while still better than our previous visit, didn't stand a chance against the Del Re, as she eagerly accepted my offer to swap a slice. Funnily enough, an older couple sat next to us towards the end of our meal, and both husband and wife waved off menus and went Del Re. And while it was absolutely some of the best pizza I've had, by the end of my third slice I was thankful I had switched out a slice cause it was so rich that I had reached a point of marginal return very quickly. So while I'd recommend ordering it, and we will for certain order it next time, I am equally as certain that we'll try a different 2nd pizza that is less rich to go with it. Anyways, to my taste, this past visit put Keste as far and away the best pizza I've had in the city. Even the pizza we took home (we only each got through 3 slices, the starter really isn't necessary unless you want take homes) was delicious eaten room temperature for dinner that night. The pizzaiolo was in the kitchen, here's hoping I didn't just catch the peak of variance (definite possibility), and that it's getting better and better.

It's Italian, and has ambitions, which automatically guarantees a three from the Bruni. They would really have to be horrible to get a 2, but a 4 star would also seem near impossible if that's not their aspirations from the start.