Stone
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Although the investors own the Balucci restaurants (I have no idea who owns what in Devi), I think Suvir would wince a bit at the statement that Devi is part of the Balucci family.
I had the pleasure of eating at Devi last week. I'll have a review up soon.
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My mom's recipe for chopped liver is on this thread. She uses calves liver, not chicken liver. Which could explain why I like hers, and pretty much no one else's.
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(Carolyn Tillie @ Sep 23 2004, 12:09 PM)
I don't get it -- if you are sitting at a two-top, the salt is going to be on the left of the pepper to one of you, right?
Thus thought meself.
Me three.
Unless you're in a quantum field. Is this restaurant in a black hole?
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Accidents happen.
Move along.
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The criticisms of CIA East seem to mirror those of CIA West. I had two meals in Napa, and thought both were excellent. The flaws, mostly in service, were silly and unimportant. Easily covered up by scent of scotch.
That said, my niece wants to eat at CIA. I'll flip a coin betwixt French and Italian.
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I thought this was a very well written piece and an excellent review of the restaurant. It captures the scattershot opinions I have heard from people -- everything from excellent, to great food but overpriced, to mediocre, to disappointing. He also hits the service issues right on the head. And I have to admit that his opening paragraph on the sad state of the Meat Packing District was a perfect description of the sad state of the Meat Packing District.
Although I don't see how this place gets one star. It's shooting for a 2-3, and I could see calling it a two-star restaurant that doesn't quite make it.
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But smoking is still cool.
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Must learn to cook more organ meats, just because I can, if for no other reason.
Although repulsive in its own right, tongue is technically not an organ meat.
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i have had tongue quite a few time and always thought of only cow. maybe this should be under too stupid to ask BUT is the differenece between lamb tongue and cow tongue as distict as between beef and lamb ?
The lambs tongue I've had at Babbo are small, subtly musky slices of meat. Picture a lambs tongue, brown, about an inch long, that has been sliced horizontally. The cow's tongue i've had, always as deli meat, was paper-thin sliced and tasted somewhere between corned beef and salami. Very different.
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I think if you put the whole piece(s) of meat on the table, (lamb OR beef) neither will be as cheerfully received as if one were to slice the meat out of sight, and plate it with a little sauce. But maybe your dining companions are more adventurous than mine..........
Yeah, I want to avoid a large tongue on the table, which is why I like Mario's sliced little lambs tongues. And the basic boiling preparation doesn't excite me.
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Interesting idea. Tell me more, tell me more.
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I want to make a tongue dish. I like Mario's little lamb's tongues with vinagrette, and I think lambs tongue will be better received than a dish made with a large cow's tongue. But I'm open to suggestions.
The dish with be paired with braised beef cheeks, if that helps.
(Yes.)
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Can someone describe the restraunts at CIA? French v. Italian?
The prices seem surprisingly reasonable.
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I went to 'Wich Craft the other day. It suffers from the same ultimate failing as Subway, but for $5 more. I had the roast turkey with avacado sandwich. An excellent ciabatta; ample, creamy avacado; tasty, crisp bacon, restrained use of aoili, all wrapped around the thinnest whisper of roast turkey. For $9.
I guess someone could argue that, turkey aside, the sandwich would still be worth $9. They would be wrong. Subway's failing at $5 is that it offers soft, doughy bread, stingy fixin's, and the thinnest hints of meat. 'Wich Craft offers excellent bread, top-notch fixins, but still the thinnest hints of meat, for $9. I can't comment on whether the turkey was moist or well-cooked, because there wasn't enough meat to judge.
A turkey sandwich is ultimately about the turkey. It's not an afterthought. It's the raison d'eating.
My friend had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was quite good. The PB (crunchy style) had excellent flavor and the jelly (not sure what type), was not too sweet. They added an third slice of excellent white bread (great body, great crust) so that neither the PB nor the J overloads the senses. I think this was $5, and worth it.
(By the bye, there are about a dozen Craft threads that should probably be merged for the sake of consistency.)
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Zuni is one of my favorite places in SF, but as Painted said, many people think it doesn't live up to its reputation. And they're not necessarily wrong. But for oysters, it's the place to go. I don't think they have stools at the bar, but you can be served in the bar area.
Is the Chinese "D&G" mentioned above actualy the "R&G Lounge" at Clay/Kearny? If so, perhaps the best Chinese in the city. Pass on the tendy Betelnut/Elizas. Not very good.
Has anyone mentioned Danko? They serve the full menu at the bar and if you're willing to spend the time and money, it's the best bar meal in the city. Fifth Floor also serves at the bar, but I don't think its bar atmosphere is as nice.
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These restaurants may or may not withstand the test of time.
I may or may not disagree.
(Does Bruni have an editor, or is he the last word on his reviews?)
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But tapas implies Spanish mostly whereas people may want half-portions of other types of cuisines ...
I was being somewhat facetious. But my point is that if a restaurant can trendi-fy a type of food, they can convince people to pay full price (or almost full price) for half-portions. It's all in the PR.
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Would you opt for a restaurant with half-sized portions if it was offered?
They're called Tapas restaurants and people flock to them.
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A friend of mine once worked in Hong Kong doing marketing for a large American dairy/foods company. One afternoon she sat in a three-hour meeting of people analysing the dismal sales of their cheese products. After listening to all this sturm and drang, she raised her hand, "Isn't the problem that the Chinese don't like cheese?"
She also mentioned that Chinese think Westerners smell badly because of all the dairy they consume.
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I was in the area this afternoon, so I stopped in to Devi, still a work in progress. I spoke briefly with Hemant who told me that they hope to open for dinner on 9/27. The menu was still a work in progress, and I graciously volunteered my time and taste buds if necessary.
The space, on 18th, just East of 5th, is cozy but not small. I didn't get a great look at it but one item I did notice was a beautiful white marble balcony on the upper loft level. Hemant said that the marble was imported from India. I hope they're able to place some lighting behind the marble because one of the outstanding qualities of Indian marble is its translucence. (Most other marble is opaque, or so I'm told.)
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I'm not sure why you don't like Haru, other than perhaps the atmosphere. I've always found their sushi to be terrific. I did overhear one person say, "I used to love Haru, but then I found out it was owned by the white guys that own Ollie and Carmines."
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50 large eggs
10 gallons salted water, room temperature.
Add eggs to water, turn on heat.
When water comes to boil, turn off heat and cover. Let sit 15 mintues.
Plunge eggs into ice bath. Peel.
Eat withing 1 hour.
Don't vomit.
Sometimes called the Cool Hand Luke Egg Salad
Devi
in New York: Dining
Posted
Last week I had the pleasure of dining at Devi, the new creation of Chefs Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur. The restaurant had not yet officially opened, and so I served as a guinea pig for the kitchen and staff. A happier pig I could not have been.
Devi is located on a quiet block of 18th Street, just East of 5th Avenue. The room is a comfortable size, allowing an intimate setting without any overcrowding. The ceilings are high and the walls are draped with thin peach-colored fabric. “Windows” cut into the fabric expose absolutely beautiful displays of authentic Indian artifacts. Large wood facades that seem to have been transported from the windows of an old home in India and marble carvings give authentic charm without being at all kitchy or distracting. The front door is framed, from the inside, with a spectacular carved wooden columns. The upper balcony is fronted with beautiful carved marble.
Many of the dishes on the menu will be familiar to fans of Amma and Diwan. We started with three appetizers: Bel Phuri, Crab Kulcha and Manchurian Cauliflower.
The bel phuri is as Roz described it. Excellent. The crab kulcha was also a pleasant surprise. I’ve often had onion and/or garlic kulcha in the past, which was a large nan, stuffed full of onion/garlic. No different here. But the nan was wonderfully soft, fluffy and moist and not the least bit oily. There was an ample amount of crab inside and it was served with a wonderful yogurt sauces. The manchurian cauliflower is also excellent, I almost asked for another order. Large cauliflower flowers are lighted breaded (in what appeared to be pakora breading), fried an sparely covered in a fiery red sauce. The sauce removes crispness from the breading, but the overall effect is for tender flowers with a crunchy stem.
For the main course, I ordered Phool Makhane Kee Sabzi (popped lotus seeds with chenna (indian ricotta), peas, fenugreek leaves, currants and cashews). This is possibly the most unique Indian dish I’ve had. If you’ve had lotus root, you’ll recall that it is often served sliced horizontally, and it has little holes circling the disc. Those holes hold the seeds, and I for one have never heard hide nor hair of them. Suvir has taken them and “popped them like popcorn.” He then mixed them with peas and put them in a wonderfully fresh curry. The combination is unique and compelling. At first I found the texture of the lotus seeds odd, and almost off-putting. My friend said that she simply didn’t like it. They are somewhat like popcorn, and if you imagine popcorn in a sauce, you’ll know what the seeds were like. Simultaneously crunchy and chewy, fresh and stale. But the sauce forces you to keep eating and the texture of the seeds quickly wins you over. The sauce was exceptional in my opinion, due to the underlying sourness from the chenna. This left a subtle sweet tang that greatly complimented the peas. Overall a terrific dish, but I expect many will not be able to get over the texture of the lotus seeds.
My friend ordered the salmon dish. It was a tower of fish and flavor that was expertly crafted, but slightly overwhelming. The main item were two large pieces of fresh salmon, cooked perfectly – moist and bright pink. On the bottom, mashed potatoes flavored with mustard seeds. In the middle, a dark malabar chutney (similar to Suvir’s tomato chutney, but with more spice). On top, the wonderful fried okra. (I wondered where these would appear.) Each piece of the dish is excellent, and they don’t class at all. However, they are each significant and may overwhelm some tongues.
I was disappointed that they didn’t have meats on the menu, but that night was the seafood/veggie night. I’ll have to go back as a paying guest.
When I have time I'll be more articulate and put up the pics.