jeunefilleparis

Katie the Greatie,,, Meal was outrageous!Herb wrote me about Studio kitchen,, I ll be there in a heartbeat LLLLLL

yeah, the crazy pastry chef at Fleur de Sel sent out a dessert with rasberries and caramel mouse, along with a light as air banana mousse, an apple crepe with devonshire creme and then , thinking that we werent already in sugar shock, sent out a melting chocolate tart with vanilla icecream I then went home and passed out. But right now I am eating butterscotch pudding from ELMO and its very very good. :)))) i am a very happy girl, YVONNE, my darling you rock Lauren

Oh where to begin. We were given a great seat in the back corner so we could hvae more privacy ( I should note first, that my date and I know the chef, so we were in for a treat) They gave us a lovely pink champagne,name escapes me. The menu was incredilbe, if it wasnt for the waiters help, I would have been stumped. I decided on a artichoke and goat cheese ravioli with caviar on top in a beet coulis, and a Long Island roasted duck with baby bok choy and plum chutney. I cant recall the exact sauce, but I will ask my friend when I see him. The amuse bouche wasnt exactly an amuse bouche size,, it was a regular size appetizer. Parmasian mache ( is that spelled right) layered with oyster puree and arugal on top. I can not even descrive the flavors of this, it was just so savory and delicous, the oyster puree just melted, melted. the ravioli was also incredible. rich goat cheese flavors, complimented by the small dollop of caviar and the beet coulis was just excellent. the duck was succulent and rich and went wonderfully with the plum chutney,,, we also ordered a bottle of Pinot Noir, dont know what year, sorry, i never pay attention to the wine and i will start to..... My date's lamb was incredible too, after dinner, i was waiting for dessert, but no,, the chef had preparred a special sauteed foie gras for us, prepared with rose water and a fruit coulis, now I generally do not like foie gras, the ones in the past tasted too, well, livery, but this was just perfect, it just melted, melted on my tongue, i couldnt believei t could taste so well Ok i ve got to do some work, dessert post will follow soon i hope this wakes up your taste buds for now lauren

Hi all, I am going to Fleur de Sel tonight in celebration of my birthday and was hoping I could get some recommendations. thanks lauren

when I moved to NY five years ago, Gotham was one of my first NY dining experiences, It was Xmas time and Gotham looked as beautiful as ever with the decorations. I remember hearing about the "vertical" presntation. Since that meal, i ve been about 5 times, a couple for the $20 prix fixe lunch and for dinner. My last meal there was about a year and a half ago and I regret though the meal was fabulous,but, I only remember having a really incredible warm lobster salad, the rest of the meal escapes me. Gotham still remains one of my favorite restaurants in the city. The style of food, presenation and service has always been outstanding Lauren

hudson cafeteria, is amazingly overrated, I ate there right when it opened, when the whole comfort craze was hitting NY. the dining room was creepy, way to dark and the long wooden tables felt too midevil. the food itself was edible but nothing to write home about. their thing was their mac and cheese,,, and that too wasnt great, ( BUBBYS mac and cheese is where I go!!)

I can understand not being able to eat 3 courses at typical american food restaurants, but at the places we are speaking about, the apetizers are not generally very large, and mains are a decent size and dessert is dessert, of course when you have an amuse bouche and les petits fours, that adds too it, but isnt that part of the fun? L

Paul Liebrandt is a culinary wizard. When he was chef at Papillion, he created the most extroadinary food. I ll never forget the wasabi sorbet served on a block of ice. The entire meal was so unique and delicous. I really didnt find Papillion to be trendy at all, in fact when I went last Saturday in April, it wasnt even filled to capacity which made me sad. I sent scores of people there. My friend's college graduation dinner was there and her Southern parents didnt know what to make of it the meal, but they definately enjoyed it. I only wish I could have participated in the blindfolded dinner! I had the opportunity to speak with him on several occasions. Though he may have come off as arrogant in articles, he was actually quite shy and reserved. I hope that he joins another kitchen soon.

Well the issue isn't our criteria, it's the Times criteria. But whatever criteria anybody uses, isn't the issue finding which restaurants are better? Do we really disagree as to what better is? Anyway the best restaurants get four stars. Isn't that simple? On Wilfrid's list, those are the best restaurants in NYC (not saying he's listed them all and I haven't been to Atelier.) But do any of these restaurants belong and why, and if not, why so? Aquavit Babbo Chanterelle Craft Eleven Madison Park Gotham Bar & Grill Gramercy Tavern Kurama Sushi La Cote Basque Montrachet Nobu Patria Picholine Tabla Veritas Union Pacific I had dinner at Patria about a year and a half ago. THough I found most of the meal enjoyable, I found the prices way too high. I ate at Passion a year ago for my birthday and found the food there to be of a higher quality with more reasonable prices. Also, I found the setting there a bit stuffy at Patria. I ll give them one thing,,,, they have these cheese rolls that are deadly. They are rich and delicious and sit like rocks in the stomache. also, the Patria Colada is amazing.... I had a better meal at CHicama, that was absolutely delicous. My friend and I tried a variety of seviche, inclduing a watermelon infused fish, ( dont recall which one exactly) My main course was a tuna with a yuca potato mash and greens,it was all icredible. the desssert, tres leches and mini donuts in different sauces, chocolate and dulce du leche, were great!

I drink plenty and I dont smoke!!!! Most of myfriends are non smokers too, and I assure you, we ve paid our dues at many the local watering holes

I m not sure if i should post this hear or start a new topic, so let me know, but, as for Le Bernadin being 4 star, I would have to disagree., I went there last summer and had the worst NY meal of my life. I spent a small fortune and was very unhappy when I left. The service itself was atrocious, I know that I am young, but I like great food. My friend and I were appropriately dressed, but of course when we entered, we were about 30yrs younger than most of the diners. It took forever for the waiter to take our orders. My appetizer were raw scallops that were supposed to be drizzled with extra virgin olive oil,,, insteadi t was drowning in it, there was no flavor at all. My next course, shrimp dumpings were so terrible that I sent them back. and then my lobster dish, which was an additional $20, was flavorless. the only good part was dessert My friend and I, thoroughly disappointed and annoyed since it was not a cheap dinner, spoke to the manager, who actually had the nerve to say that we were wrong about service. He gave us a free dessert which in to way made up for the poor quality of food and service, I was more upset that an establishment like Le Bernadin, a NY seafood legend, disappointed me so terribly. Its safe to say that I will never go back, nor will I recommend it to anyone else

RON, this is a fun topic let's see, one of my very first meals after moving to NY was to Gotham Bar and Grill, I have been there a handful of times and have always had the most delicous, creative meals. Estario Milos ( thank god for roomates parents with good taste) always the freshest fish, beautiful decor, wonderful star and great wine:) Wallse in the west village is one of my favorite "hidden" places, everyone loves Danube, I have yet to go, but the Austrian at Wallse is fabulous, i love the minimalistic setting and the food was great, i was there 2 years ago and still have fond memories of my quark dumplings with sour cream sorbet for dessert Tabla: have gone twice now, just posted recently about it, creative indian, beautiful setting, as I ve metioned, Danny Meyer is my hero:) Aquavit: been there twice now too. last visit was extraodinary and we had fun with the Aquavit tasting menu, love the waterfall and skylights, the artic circle dessert is to die for..... I m not sure what its rated but the food has always been excellent at Balthazar, my favorite s being the goast cheese tart with the carmalized onions, oh my god, i m so hooked on that,i wont try anything else, the sauteed skate there is incredible and the carmelized banana ricotta tart is up there on my list of to die for desserts I ate at Nougatine when i visited NY for college and although I remember it being great, I dont remember enough of it,,,,same goes for Jo Jo s, I was there as a teenager,,,,,, ok all this food talk is making me hungry,,, again Lauren

I would honestly love Bloomberg to ban cigarette smoking on public city streets too. All to often I get stuck walking behind a F$$##!!!! smoker and speed walk around them. Or worse, I ll see a mother strolling her child while she puffs away, its not 1950 anymore. IF smokers want to poison themselves, let them do it in the privacy of their own home, so their clothing, and furniture can stink and not mine! DOWN WITH SMOKING, grrrr L

the question is, who can translate swedish for me so I can try and make my own artic circle?

QUOTE (jeunefilleparis @ Feb 25 2003, 03:38 PM) My dry cleaning bill will be cut in half and when i m drunk, i wont bum smokes from my smoking friends:))))))))) Lauren is happpppy happppy happpy irish cream < Is NY banning cigs in just restaurants, or bars too? >>> Yes, I am a horrible hypocrit when I am drunk. but that will be solved now,,,,,,,,

I remember when I was living in Paris, eating some of the greatest food- my table would be on main course and some A---hole would be blowing smoke in my face as he drank his cup of coffee with dessert. I am totally thrilled that we will be smoke free. I do think its unfair that Bloomberg is taxing cigarettes for his own personal reasons, why not tax liquor more, etc....... I will not, however miss the smoke before after or during my meals! and i can have a martini at a bar without a cigarette too!

what is a c cap?

I ate at Craft Bar last spring. I went intending to try a dessert I had been drooling over for weeks. As i sat and ate dessert, i think it may have been the gingerbread dessert with creme fraiche, I decided to order the fried oysters bc they sounded wonderful, and they were. As I was finishing up my jasmine tea the table next to me got their dessert, it was a panna cotta, but I can not remember what kind,, something exotic, so., yes, I ordered that too. Craft was serving lavender icecream all summer and I missed it! Hopefully it will be back soon. I have yet to try the main dining room. I was a bit hesitant, because of the way one ordered, I had dinner at Ducasse's Spoon, in Paris, and though the meal was excellent, I think that I prefer to have my meal composed for me, instead of choosing, but after that past review, I think I ll somehow be able to try it! lauren

just found out that my parents are taking me to Blue Smoke in March, I will have finally conquered the Meyer kingdom. I cant wait!!!

i ate there last year with a group of friends, steak rare, it was a fun experience, but I had better steak at the strip house. I had a wonderful time at PL, but the steak just wasnt that memorable. I like the little pink rare plastic cow.......

how much for the meal???

when did getting cancer become chic?

My dry cleaning bill will be cut in half and when i m drunk, i wont bum smokes from my smoking friends:))))))))) Lauren is happpppy happppy happpy

My first meal at Aquavit was during rest. week of 2002. I think it was one of my most memorable meals in nyc. The dining room was very elegant, especially with the waterfall and skylights. I had a very simple ap. Goat cheese and arugala and a red beet coulis. I love the dishware there, simple and elegant, works well with the setting. I had a roasted salmon with a veggie I dont recall., but the best part was the dessert, the artic circle, oh my god. I ve eaten a lot of desserts in my day, and that was up in the top ten,, DOes anyone know how go to make that? is there a recipe lurking around? i would kill for it:) Anyways, thats all from me L

I live 2 blocks from Blue Hill and have enjoyed dessert at the bar. The space is lovely and so is the atmosphere. I will definately check it out now that I ve heard more about the food Lauren