kurl

Man, I tried at about 1 PM (stupid opening reservation lines on Saturday) and couldnt' get anything earlier than 10 PM for "late June." I guess I'll keep trying and when I finally get something earlier than 9, I'll cancel my later reservation or something. Can't wait for the reviews to start coming in in earnest!

Amanda?

As part of my apparent make-myself-miserable-about-the-sorry-state-of-food-in-St.-Louis mission, I've been planning a visit to NY Noodletown at some point soon after I return to New York over the summer. Are there any recommended ways to minimize the chance of a bad meal? Arrive early? Late? On Tuesdays only? Also, what dishes are essential? The roast baby pig comes up a hell of a lot, as does the salt-baked squid. Anything else? Mushroom noodle soup?

Brilliant post! I predict that further entries in "The Offal Truth" will spur me to branch out a bit -- I've never been all that squeamish about offal (I ordered the beef tendon at Grand Sichuan on my second visit, I get sweetbreads pretty much everywhere they're on the menu, and I've been eating chopped liver (does that count?) and sampling tongue (in its rarely-good cold cut version) since childhood) but I've always internally drew a line between hearts and brains (which I've cowardlily (?) shied away from) and everything else, which I'm generally game for. When you guys find a good brain preparation, I'll probably work up the nerve and try it. Re: Blue Ribbon - I don't know what the history of Blue Ribbon is or anything (i.e. whether it was once Balthazar-level hip and has since tapered off, or whether it was always just a great local spot), but I love it. It doesn't seem to come up here often, but it is a great place to stop at and just grab a little something; as you say, the staff is totally amenable to your table of two splitting a $10 (or so) steak tartare and ordering a couple of cokes, even at the peak of dinner service. Those little somethings are inevitably well-prepared and tasty. Digression- To me, putting up with/encouraging customers who just want a bite or two is one of those nice and welcoming service touches that many restaurants simply don't engage in often enough. I've been looked at with suspicion in several half-empty restaurants because a companion and I just wanted, say, a couple of coffees and a slice of cake, despite the fact that we certainly weren't depriving them of revenue in any way. (Quite the contrary!. I think also of Gennaro's $20-minimum-order policy (though I've never tested it and they might relax it in the rare occasion that they're not full). Digressionish return to the topic at hand- I'm definitely going to stop at Blue Ribbon and try that awesome-looking marrow preparation at some point -- bone marrow is (at least in my opinion) some of the tastiest meat around (I'll have to try and prepare it someday). Does anyone have any tips on other places which have great marrow preparations? A somewhat-overpriced Italian restaurant called Vespa (in my hometown of Great Neck (of all places)), serves a "marrow-heavy" simple osso bucco preparation with risotto that's fiendishly good (and devilishly listed on the menu without a price). P.S. Is there a culinary term that lends itself more readily to punning than "offal?"

Not to get too far off topic, but the only way a restaurant loses $300 in this case is if they could have sold the meal to a patron and instead gave it to a staff member, which would be an opportunity cost.and not a real cost anyway. As long as no patron is going hungry, the staff meal is just an overhead cost like any other and of course you have to strive to minmize overheads (Note: I am not a restaurant accountant or any other kind of accountant). But presumably if you don't serve a steak to the staff you can still sell it the next day...

From the advance-planning department: Perhaps we should lump 2 or 3 Manhattan by-the-slice places together and do them all in one trip. It struck me that, for instance, Joe's in the village is probably worth visiting but not in itself worth a whole trip.

Also the spumoni makes it a great summer place -- good call.

Cool, thanks (and thanks to all of you -- I've had to resist the urge to comment in appreciation after each one of your comments). What's the best way to smuggle stuff? Hide it under a bunch of clothes?

I did kinda mean that, but it's not as if I'm attracted to the illegality of the items -- I'll take good stuff too if I'm allowed to bring it back

While I'd love to go (St. John is the name - isn't it?), I don't think my vegeterian friend () is going to be a fan.

Basically spending the bit of time in between the end of the school year and the start of my summer job visiting a friend who's studying Classical philosophy abroad for the year. Thanks, all, for the tips. I'll be sure to report back with an update.

Hey all- I'm visiting England towards the middle of May for a week; I'll mostly be in the London and Cambridge areas. What should I try to smuggle back? Bear in mind that unless you have a really creative solution, it has to bear lack of refridgeration for 20-or-so hours and that I'm not willing to spend a ridiculous amount of money, though I'll certainly splurge if it's appropriate. Some background: I'm from New York, so I'm primarily looking for things that are either blatantly better in England or drastically cheaper there. I'm also thinking more about like cheese than haggis or something like that. Also, any words on how best to smuggle the stuff back? Any tips will be appreciated.

Is it any good? I've never been. Also, any reports from the Uzbeki place? Seeing as many of my friends are strictly kosher, a trip there may for once be a reasonably foodie-ish dinner with them.

Isn't there some Cambodian place near-ish to BAM? Is that unusual enough?

I hear what you're saying, FG (and it kinda reminds me of the way you used to do that on F-G.com, which I thought was a useful way of doing it), but I worry that when Levine does, say, an ice cream article, he only visits each place once. When stars are at stake, that may not be enough... and I wouldn't want to subject him to 40-or-however-many nights of steakhouse eating he'd have to do for one of those articles. Still, I think you're definitely on the right track with an idea like that.

I also feel like it will be interesting to see how someone who hasn't been in New York for very long treats the sacred cow restaurants -- as few of them as there seem to be right now (Le Bernardin, etc.). Will he have the irreverance (cajones) to take them down a peg if he thinks it's appropriate to do so? (I hope so.) Have other critics been afraid to? (Perhaps) Have they been too zealous in doing so? (Dubiously)

Do the rumors for the $25-and-under seat start now?

He wrote the recent front section (section a?) article about the college of food appreciation or whatever in Italy -- a lot of you probably caught that. What's the policy on posting articles from old issues of the NYT? There's: SECTION: Section 1; Page 1; Column 2; National Desk LENGTH: 924 words HEADLINE: For Las Vegas Locals, Heavy Action Is at the Buffet BYLINE: By FRANK BRUNI DATELINE: LAS VEGAS, Nev., July 11 (1998) SECTION: Section B; Page 1; Column 2; Metropolitan Desk LENGTH: 1594 words HEADLINE: The Brave New World of Kosher; Foods Exert a Growing Appeal That Isn't Just for Jews BYLINE: By FRANK BRUNI DATELINE: SECAUCUS, N.J., Nov. 13 (1996) SECTION: Section A; Page 3; Column 1; Foreign Desk LENGTH: 1116 words HEADLINE: A Nation That Exports Oil, Herring and Peace BYLINE: By FRANK BRUNI DATELINE: OSLO, December 21st (2002) etc. The following is an excerpt from a recent "What's doing in Rome" article:

Given that I haven't eaten there, nor do I know too much about the cuisine there (other than seeing some (vaguely negative?) buzz about it on eGullet), I think the review gave me (and will give many others) a completely mistaken impression of what the restaurant is all about. From the review, Spice Market seems like an "upscale-casual" fusion-type place (like Nobu?) with great food that riffs off of a street food theme -- the comments here make that perception out to be (wildly?) inaccurate, painting it as more of a 1-or-2-star restaurant that with a tame menu that has several misfires -- rarely has a recent NYT review clashed so blatantly with what was being said on this forum (Atelier and Mix also come to mind, perhaps). I'll have to go myself just to settle it, but it's disappointing to me that the NYT can seemingly be so off-target. ... And Hesser does seem to be quite a J-G V fanatic.

Whoa... 3 stars... Another restaurant to add to my list -- wasn't expecting this one to be all that well received. And yeah, extremely well-written review. ... How cutely written!

Might resemble something like the "cholent" I had one Passover when we were staying in an Ahskenaz-certified-kosher-for-pesach (read: no Kitniyot) hotel. If I recall correctly, it had neither beans nor barley... can you guys have potatoes on passover? Anyway, the dish was humorous but unsuccessful.

I understand your concern, bloviatrix, but rest assured that these experiments will be for scientific purposes. By next year's winter break, I hope to have developed the sort of infallible recipe for Jewish comfort food that many others seem to have. (Also, for the record, the frequent often fairly-obscure Jewish references are one of this Ramaz graduate's favorite aspects of eGullet.)

Is the place any good? Competition for Mamouns? The press release makes it sound good

I think your diagnosis (particularly this part) is spot-on. There will be great cholent experiments in May when I get back home from school...

I really enjoyed Oleana when I visited Boston recently -- and it wasn't too expensive (at least by New York standards).