Damian

That, ladies and gentlemen, is the sound of a balloon deflating. Or is it just a great big raspberry from Steve P.? Have to admit, I was hyped up to try this wacky steak being a newcomer sucker for authentic and unique New York (5 times fast) experiences. Back to Rhode Island...I like that one. Based on Toby and LESider's positive reviews, I'll probably give it a shot anyway if I'm in the nabe. What's the worst that can happen? A disappointing steak? Cry me a river. Not sure I'll make a special trip downtown for it, though, when Lobel's is ever so much closer to home.

Any reason Compass is not on your list, mogsob? Does it fit into your parade of the overpriced and underwhelming? I'd be genuinely interested to hear why as I have been reasonably impressed with them on three visits. Their three course prix-fixe should fill the bill for ajay, it seems to me. Not spectacular, but consistently good food in a very nice room. I think Cafe Luxembourg should easily be in the budget ($40 without drinks or desserts), just don't know why anyone would ever go there for food over Compass when Compass is right next door and serves better fare.

I'll second Suvir on SQC and tout Compass in that neighborhood as well.

Never been to Mendocino Grill, but Milano is a bit of a "see and be seen" place (I once saw Hugh Grant there). Food is pretty good, upscale italian - it is pricey, however. If a fashionable scene is their preference, go for it. Could make a good spot for a girls' night out dinner it seems to me.

Wilfrid, stay at D&D and put the Brie de Meaux on your list

I obviously fell for M. Oliviers marketing hook line and sinker, then. I've walked by it about 100 times but never made it in (the three times i tried it was closed and the guy was counting up receipts on the register). I assumed it was exactly the kind of artisanal specialty shop that one is accustomed to finding and taking advantage of in NY. Little did I know that it was an artisanalish specialtylike chain masquerading as an artisanal specialty shop. My lack of knowledge was the reason for the tentative nature of my recommendation to Marty (i.e. might be worth stopping by if you're in the area). As for shopping in NYC, the reason it is such a hassle is because there are so many people competing for the same limited quantity of goods and services, this phenomenon is hardly limited to food shopping. I find that shopping for almost anything in this city is a time-consuming hassle (as is going to the movies, getting reservations, etc.) . Great availability of products and services, great difficulty in obtaining them - one of the great love/hates about NYC for me.

Marty, D&D must have a line on a great maker of Brie de Meaux, that is the one cheese I will go there to get specially. In fact, even the Washington DC D&D has that same fantastic product. As for your olive oil, there is a shop on Columbus and 70 something that is dedicated to nothing but olive oil, and olive oil products. Not sure of the name or whether they have yours there, but might be worth a look if you happen to be in the nieghborhood.

Dinner at the Tasting Room last night thought I'd add another report to an already well-documented restaurant. We called around noon and were fortunate that they had a cancellation for 6:30. Menu as follows: Razor Clam Escabeche Red Onion, Carrot, Cilantro Smoked Trout Salad Roasted Potatoes, Haricots Verts, Smoked Ham Sauteed Squid Pomegranate & Cashews Poached Blue Shrimp Preserved Lemo, Daikon, Mint & Mirin Seared Chicken Livers Cippollini Onions, Miso, Blue Cheese Wild Striped Bass Cepe Mushrooms, Grapes, Chestnuts Roasted Monkfish Onion Ragout, Fennel Broth, Tarragon Stewed Oxtail Mole Sauce, Apricots, Watercress & Almonds Open Faced Ravioli with Braised Short Ribs Tomato Confit, Crosnes, Roasted Garlic Sullivan County Squab Cranberry Beans, Tangerine, Salmis Sauce Selection of American Farmhouse Cheeses Seasonal Fruit, Walnut Bread Coconut Panna Cotta Toasted Coconut, Orange Warm Rice Pudding Baby Basmati, Chocolate, Pineapple, Cinnamon Crispy Rice Treat Ice Cream Sandwich Caramel Sauce, Butter Pecan Ice Cream All available as tasting/share sizes except the ravioli and desserts. $8/$16 to $15/$30. The place was tiny as advertised, made for slightly cramped eating, but everyone was friendly and accepted the occasional jostle good naturedly - private conversation an impossibility, but menu consultation from other diners was free! Servers knew the menu very well and were more than competent. Glasses always filled, meal was perfectly paced with appropriate pauses between servings, but not from lack of attention. We decided on six tasting plates and two desserts. We had the trout, chicken livers, shrimp, monkfish, ravioli, and squab. They brought two plates at a time starting with the trout and chicken livers and ending with the short ribs and the squab. We were steered towards a California Grenache - Qupe was the maker, not sure of the vintage, possibly 1999. Appropriate choice, I thought - a lighter red with plenty of flavor, versatility was the thinking. Everything was very good, but highlights were the chicken livers - perfectly seared, soft and livery, very tasty reduction; squab - tender, flavorful, spiky hits of tangerine and the cranberry beans (nice wry holiday twist); short ribs - served between two al dente pasta disks, with a delicious tomato confit, very tender, appropriate fat, interesting white things without much flavor (Crosnes, I'm guessing); crispy rice treat ice cream sandwich - this tasted like crispy waffles with the butter pecan ice cream and the thin caramel sauce reminiscent of maple syrup, can't help but think this was intentional, Heston Blumenthal would have been proud. We skipped the cheese plate having gorged on Fairway cheeses the night before, but I would have liked to have seen what they were serving. All in all, a delicious and very reasonable meal - we will certainly return to this little jewel box.

Well I'm sold on Lupa even if mogsob isn't. I haven't been there yet, and weekend lunch sounds about perfect.

I am a Compass enthusiast of record, MHesse, wholeheartedly agree. Actually, Compass has a pretty snazzy bar area to hang out in, too.

A recent experience there a couple of months ago was not so good. Service was utterly poor - granted it was later in the evening (9:30 -10), but we were completely ignored by servers who were into their own conversations and messing around. I'm all for people enjoying life and having fun at work, but it was as if we didn't exist and had to beg for menus and the check, let alone water or bread refills, etc. Had oysters which were terrible and seemed a bit off after sampling one - no apologies, just taken of the bill. I then had a skate wing special; this was acceptable with a buttery, tangy, citrusy remoulade (if that its the right word), but not really special in any way. Seemed overpriced for what was served. Atmosphere was fun, people were there for drinks and to hang out and to eat - seemed like lots of regulars especially at the bar. Can't recall the wine list, sorry, we had a middling Cote du Rhone by the glass. All in all, I'd probably give it another shot, especially with a group of people interested in drinks first and some food to go with it, maybe. I suspect we caught them on a (very) off night and I didn't hate the place. Hope this helps

I ain't no stinkin' Yanks fan.

I do like the stuffies. For the record, I saw the (Rolling) Stones just once, at the Garden earlier this year (but did go out and buy 4 of their CDs the next day). Besides, Tommy's just pissed that he's older than me. Sheesh, I'm not used to so much attention on these boards and such flattery as well. I was especially gratified that the wine I brought received the Plotnicki seal of approval (at least he was gracious enough to pretend it did anyway, and I'll just stay with the illusion). I have to say though, that I think I got the better end of the deal when that incredible riesling made it our way (even Alan Levine gave up on the evening's beer-only policy for that one). Not to mention the Shiraz from Rosie and the Balvennie from the Johnsons. The sweetish whites really worked with the spiciness of the dishes, particularly the crab and spicy shrimp appetizer, the daal, the potato side dish, and the various chutneys. In my unschooled opinion, it works because the wine's alcohol activates the heat of the spices; but the sweetness is simultaneuosly refreshing to the palate. Sweet and hot seems to make for a good combination in any event - just one more thing I learned from last night. I'm glad Hemant enjoyed himself last night, he certainly put on a show for us with the perfection that was coming out of his tandoors. As for the ballgame, the pleasure was ours - I love to watch the Yankees lose, and I love to go that shrine of a stadium especially with someone willing to endure me explaining the game (Ann thanks you for that one too). Besides, we got the better end of that deal as well when you took us to dinner at the, now sadly destroyed, Nirvana.

Tasting Room comes to mind, mogsob.

A great, great evening out. A thousand thanks to everyone who worked to organize this. Thanks, especially the ever-amazing and ever-generous Suvir who never seemed to stop working all night and yet somehow managed always to be nearby with a quip or a piece of info. Ann and I simply had a wonderful time - excellent food and engaging company. My god, what an enormous feast. A couple of general observations - the fried dishes (okra, cauliflower, lentil cakes, samosa) were extraordinary in that they were crisp but still very light. The meats from the tandoor (chicken, lamb, boar, and venison) were moist and simply delicious. I've never had tandoori meats like that before and what a treat to have the chef show us his tandoors up close. The venison in particular was perfectly cooked - left very rare and flavorful (Ann's leftover chop will make a great dinner for me tonight). The chutneys were outstanding - tomato chutney and the apple chutney (vinegary and sweet) stood out as particular favorites. So full, I could only have a taste of the fiery daal when it came by, but I could have made a meal out of that alone - OK maybe with that tasty minted rice and some okra. Finally, the sweet and tangy "kulfi soup" was a perfectly refreshing finish. Thanks to all who were so generous in sharing various libations, you know you are. Really, really nice to step out of the anonymity for a night and meet the actual people behind the avatars and screen names - there was a real spirit of generosity and welcoming.

Too busy to contribute meaningfully. Just a quick post to say that threads like this are one of the main reasons I am addicted to this site. Thanks to all.

I second gratefulness, but I'm more grateful for seconds. I am really looking forward to this.

Thanks for the recent great posts on the Tating Room, all. Very informative and eloquently descriptive as ever, Cabby- yours, too Magnolia. I especially appreciate the effort at continuity by keeping this on the old thread - well done.

My God, robert40. I had an espresso cup of red pepper soup as an amuse at ILW around that time with the smallest dollop of creme fraiche that was an intense experience of flavorful pleasure. It is permanently burned into my memory. I remember the rest of the meal, too, but that soup was amazing.

Wilfird My only quibble is that you descirbe the existence of culinary codes for self-expression in New York and London, to limit my self to your examples, as a recent phenomenon. Perhaps I don't have the necessary information to judge about the increased pastime of dining out in the past twenty years, but the food people eat is often a code, at least for wealth status, in literature dating at least to Shakespeare and probably beyond. I suppose, however, that your point is that now one can say things much more complex than "I am rich" by describing food or restaurant preferences. One can say, for example, "I am adventurous, but a hometowner" or "I am a purist, but a man of the people" while at the same time unintentionally saying "I am pompous" or "I am closed-minded" or the ilk. I'd have to say that I'm still not sure whether this complexity of codes is new for gastronomy, and would be interested to hear more of the explanation for why it is a new phenomenon. Given your concession that this point is not limited to restaurants, and it isn't surely, the notion of such codes is intriguing to me, and there may not be as many media as I may have thought that are similarly complex, i.e. allow for such variety of expression through a minimum of gesture. Fashion, music, art, literature, academic pursuits come to mind immediately, and I'm sure there are others. Another notion that strikes me is that it is possible through combinations of media to send even more complex messages, and, indeed, the totality of these various messages is in a real way who we are as human beings (at least in society's eyes). A final part of the interplay of codes is misperception and misinterpretation on the part of the observer which can lead to a virtually endless play of messages and missed messages. All of this is not new ground, as you know, and is the source of endless postmodern theses on signs and signifiers and the like...still and all, very interesting stuff (Derrida's "two gap" theory of communication and the like).

Thanks, JD - a great post by any standard, so funny because it rings so truly. Loving caricatures is what you set out to achieve and what you accomplished in spades, very well done. Wilfrid, The choice of where we eat, the clothes we wear, the cars we drive (or don't), the way we write and speak, and virtually all of our preferences and tastes and the way we relate to others in the society constantly reveal things about us, intentionally and simultaneously unintentionally. I'm not sure if there is a unique point to be made here applicable to restaurant or food preferences. Certainly the restaurants we attend, not to mention those we enjoy and favor, say something about us - indeed many different things - to an observer. Even more revealing are the posts and discussions of these issues that we write. As an aside, eGullet does an extraordinary job of allowing people to express these parts of themselves, intentionally and no, in an atmosphere of remarkable toleration and respect.

Ever have a martini (or gibson) with those olives (or pearl onions) marinated in a bit of vermouth that you can buy now? Pretty good in lieu of adding vermouth separately and make for a nice dry martini.

While I don't mind a martini with vermouth in it, mick is correct that tastes run to the very, if not utterly, dry these days for vodka and gin martinis. My best friend is bartender (yeah, I know, but I knew him before he got the job) who swears that he does not even pretend to add vermouth to a martini unless it is specifically requested - only on the very rarest of occasions is one sent back.

I've got a good Gewurtztraminer ready for drinking and am happy to improvise with a bottle of something else or beer as needed.

Not to quibble on Olympia but the slogan is "It's the water" although sex in a canoe is an apt analogy for the stuff as mynamejoe indicates. I believe it is brewed by Pabst. Love that old school Red White and Blue photo above by the way. Similar ilk not yet mentioned are Iron City Light (IC Light), Hamm's, Wiedemann's (special affection for the stuff admitted), Old Style (sorry Cheeseheads/Chicagoans), the Milwaukee's Best Light (inexplicable), Natural Light, Busch, Keystone, National Bohemian (Baltimore anyone?), Meister Brau, Tuborg. So many-so bad. Incidentally, had a can of PBR this weekend after being dragged into the new and even crappier Village Idiot (what happened to the Boys?) by some young NYU types at about 3 a.m. PBR was not so awful, really - at least it was cold and wet. 3 for 5.50 in an (admittedly awful) NYC bar? Can't beat that.