10 Best New Restaurants of 2007

[Nathan]

of course the charm (it's very charming) and the price figure in!

if they charged three times as much I'd be more critical. but they don't.

I'm sure that everyone here who loves Degustation would be a lot more critical if it charged $125....but it doesn't.

[Jesikka]

edit:  here was my meal:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=107961#3

I'd suggest going back and ordering something other than salads.

←

We ordered almost the entire menu, so the salad excuse isn't going to work. It's some of the worst foie I've had in NY.

[Nathan]

I'll say it again, the quintessial EV "neighborhood restaurants" are places like:

Flea Market, Casimir, 26 Seats, Paul's, Belcourt, Veselka etc.

[Nathan]

edit:  here was my meal:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=107961#3

I'd suggest going back and ordering something other than salads.

←

We ordered almost the entire menu, so the salad excuse isn't going to work. It's some of the worst foie I've had in NY.

←

the foie was great. guess you had an offnight.

edit: who exactly in the EV is doing anything like those gingered scallops? its not a dish they would do at Ssam Bar but it's at that level of creativity. who else?

they're sure not serving that at Casimir or Veselka.

I don't recall Veselka having better foie either.

Edited December 28, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[Jesikka]

edit:  here was my meal:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=107961#3

I'd suggest going back and ordering something other than salads.

←

We ordered almost the entire menu, so the salad excuse isn't going to work. It's some of the worst foie I've had in NY.

←

the foie was great. guess you had an offnight.

edit: who exactly in the EV is doing anything like those gingered scallops? its not a dish they would do at Ssam Bar but it's at that level of creativity. who else?

they're sure not serving that at Casimir or Veselka.

I don't recall Veselka having better foie either.

←

What about at Degustation, Le Miu, Knife + Fork, EU (none of which I like but all of which are equally or more proficient and are just as much EV restaurants), Ssam Bar, NoodleBar and about 30 other restaurants I haven't named. Unless I am in some sort of world where I can't spend more than $35 for dinner, I have no reason to eat at Graffiti.

[Nathan]

edit:  here was my meal:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=107961#3

I'd suggest going back and ordering something other than salads.

←

We ordered almost the entire menu, so the salad excuse isn't going to work. It's some of the worst foie I've had in NY.

←

the foie was great. guess you had an offnight.

edit: who exactly in the EV is doing anything like those gingered scallops? its not a dish they would do at Ssam Bar but it's at that level of creativity. who else?

they're sure not serving that at Casimir or Veselka.

I don't recall Veselka having better foie either.

←

What about at Degustation, Le Miu, Knife + Fork, EU (none of which I like but all of which are equally or more proficient and are just as much EV restaurants), Ssam Bar, NoodleBar and about 30 other restaurants I haven't named. Unless I am in some sort of world where I can't spend more than $35 for dinner, I have no reason to eat at Graffiti.

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1. some of us can't spend a $100-300 on dinner 7 nights a week. (probably most of us). so getting back to the real world....

2. I said Ssam Bar. EU is most definitely not doing anything like that. Hearth is at that level of proficiency but not creativity. there are hundreds of restaurants in the EV. a restaurant doing things that only a couple of those hundreds can do is not, in any imaginable way, a "neighborhood restaurant".

3. but then Ssam Bar is not a neighborhood restaurant. neither is Hearth (not in the EV. in some neighborhoods it would be). neither is Degustation. nor le Miu. nor is Graffiti. just because you eat in restaurants like that nightly doesn't make them neighborhood restaurants. cause most EV'ers most certainly do not.

[Jesikka]

edit:  here was my meal:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=107961#3

I'd suggest going back and ordering something other than salads.

←

We ordered almost the entire menu, so the salad excuse isn't going to work. It's some of the worst foie I've had in NY.

←

the foie was great. guess you had an offnight.

edit: who exactly in the EV is doing anything like those gingered scallops? its not a dish they would do at Ssam Bar but it's at that level of creativity. who else?

they're sure not serving that at Casimir or Veselka.

I don't recall Veselka having better foie either.

←

What about at Degustation, Le Miu, Knife + Fork, EU (none of which I like but all of which are equally or more proficient and are just as much EV restaurants), Ssam Bar, NoodleBar and about 30 other restaurants I haven't named. Unless I am in some sort of world where I can't spend more than $35 for dinner, I have no reason to eat at Graffiti.

←

1. some of us can't spend a $100-300 on dinner 7 nights a week. (probably most of us). so getting back to the real world....

2. I said Ssam Bar. EU is most definitely not doing anything like that. Hearth is at that level of proficiency but not creativity. there are hundreds of restaurants in the EV. a restaurant doing things that only a couple of those hundreds can do is not, in any imaginable way, a "neighborhood restaurant".

3. but then Ssam Bar is not a neighborhood restaurant. neither is Hearth (not in the EV. in some neighborhoods it would be). neither is Degustation. nor le Miu. nor is Graffiti. just because you eat in restaurants like that nightly doesn't make them neighborhood restaurants. cause most EV'ers most certainly do not.

←

None of those places cost $100-300.

[Nathan]

after wine, tax and tip, Hearth and Degustation are definitely around the $100 point.

Ssam Bar can be.

and the point holds, those aren't "neighborhood restaurants" by EV standards.

[raji]

the "Impressive Transformations" list is for.

Yeah bur isn't that what the Kitchen Counter at Beacon is?

[Fat Guy]

Maybe, but Beacon is still there, unchanged. The Kitchen Counter is a restaurant within a restaurant -- an entirely new concept. I think the best analogy is Minibar in Washington, DC. Minibar isn't a transformation of Cafe Atlantico, because you still have Cafe Atlantico. They just built this separate six-seat counter and run it in a different way from the rest of the restaurant. That to me counts as a new opening as much or more than it counts as a transformation. Of course the Times doesn't even acknowledge the existence of Kitchen Counter, so the question of which list it should have been on is secondary.

[oakapple]

Of course the Times doesn't even acknowledge the existence of Kitchen Counter, so the question of which list it should have been on is secondary.

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FG, if you hadn't been comped, would you know of its existence? Perhaps you received a press release (was there one?), but I suspect you receive a lot of press releases, and you probably don't believe everything you read. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being comped. I receive those offers sometimes too (nowhere near as often as you), and I happily accept them. But your interest in the place doesn't seem to have arisen until after you were comped.

Rather than a "print-media conspiracy of silence," perhaps Waldy simply hasn't done a good job of letting them know about it.

[Fat Guy]

FG, if you hadn't been comped, would you know of its existence?

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I knew of its existence long before I attended the press preview tasting. Beacon is represented by a serious PR firm, Diaz-Schloss (both Frank Diaz and Karen Schloss are occasional eG Forums participants, by the way), that has direct lines to every significant (or in my case insignificant) food journalist in the region. Prior to the preview invitiation, I'd been contacted about it at last three times. Dozens of journalists attended the Kitchen Counter preview tastings, including Gael Greene and Bret Thorn -- it would be poor form for me to out others I know were there, but Gael Greene and Bret Thorn both blogged about it in very positive terms so I'm comfortable naming them.

The interesting thing is that even though Gael Greene was very enthusiastic about Kitchen Counter, there was never a mention in New York Magazine. That can only mean somebody at the editorial level nixed it. Over at the New York Times, there's simply no way that, given how heavily Kitchen Counter was promoted, it didn't at least come to Florence Fabricant's attention. I'm sure she received press releases, emails, phone calls and preview invitations. Given some of the utterly unremarkable crap that gets mentioned in "Off the Menu," it's pretty remarkable that there wasn't a word about Kitchen Counter.

[chefboy24]

3. On the one hand, Bruni writes a gigantic article that essentially translates to: "The innovative, inexpensive, interesting newcomers are the best restaurants of 2007." Then, he does a top 10 list that largely ignores that conclusion. And I get the impression he hasn't even dined at all the relevant places, otherwise he'd at least have mentioned them in the big piece.

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Have you been to 15 east and soto? Just went to Soto last night again, for the 5th time, still my favorite sushi spot in this country.

Both of these spots are CLEARLY done under a strict budget. Soto is super minimal and a very tiny room and on 6th avenue next to nothing!

15 east is all marco moreira and his wife, the definition of Mom & Pop, also a very very tiny room and a rennovation on a budget of the old toqueville.

And I would argue they are the best sushi in town, along with kuruma and yasuda.

Anthos? Being that I used to work for Donatella and Michael.... let me tell you, they crunch numbers and are down to the penny. Cheapy cheapy. I thought it was a lovely dining room, but somehow it got slammed for being ugly by the mainstream press? Who cares? Not me, and neither did Michelin, Michael's food is awesome.

Ssam Bar? Cheap.

Resto? Done by Christian, ex service manager at Otto? Cheap cheap.

Haven't been to Allen & Delancy but I'm guessing by the neighborhood and the decor from photos that it was cheap.

Pamlpona? Looks pretty cheap to me.

So yes, I would say that Bruni is absolutely correct - the best restaurants in 2007 were not multimillion dollar dining rooms with huge Architecture firms doing the design and millions of dollars to burn- they are honest, labor of loves from very talented chefs.

Edited December 29, 2007 by chefboy24 (log)

[chefboy24]

I'll say it again, the quintessial EV "neighborhood restaurants" are places like:

Flea Market, Casimir, 26 Seats, Paul's, Belcourt, Veselka etc.

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i'd agree with that, i don't live in the ev, would never, and would never dine at any of those restaurants.

[chefboy24]

Who cares about the Bruni, Platt, Eater, or otherwise.

How bout an official EGULLET most memorable food & wine moments of 2007. Ladies and gentlemen, this is not a top 10 or top 100 as magazines and the papers like to do, this is simply *your* favorite foodie stuffs of '07 that you would recommend to the rest of us? (not neccesarily new, but certainly peaking and/or fabulous in '07)

Here's my list:

the sushi at soto

an omakase at 15 east

lunch at perry street

lunch at jean georges

the gourmand menu at emp for dinner

the memorable dishes of ssam bar

jamon iberico!

the desserts at varietal (i don't care, i liked them!)

the desserts at p*ong

tasting at wd*50(they've still got it!)

brunch at wallse

the coffees at la colombe

3 star michelin lunch at le callandre in padua, veneto (best meal of my life)

late nights at spotted pig

macroons, macaroons, macaroons!

chambers street wines getting in some amazing stuff with age

05 burgundies

PDT, Death & Co, Flatiron Lounge, and Pegu Club!

thats all i can think of for now.

yours?

Edited December 29, 2007 by chefboy24 (log)

[oakapple]

Adam Platt's year-end round-up is out today. I usually find Bruni more reliable, but this time it's Platt who came up with the better list. Here's his top ten:

Insieme

Anthos

Soto

Park Avenue Winter

BLT Market

Hill Country

Resto

15 East

Allen & Delancey

Market Table

There's a really long piece called "Where to Eat 2008". It's a strong, wide-ranging round-up—again, better than Bruni's. For instance, he seems to be aware of the positive changes at Gordon Ramsay and Le Cirque, both of which Bruni has ignored.

But despite having a wider rating scale—five stars, as opposed to four—Platt's highest rating awarded this year was two stars, again confirming that 2007 was a rather dull year. But Platt seldom seems to really love anything. I cannot recall the last time Platt awarded three stars. And unlike Bruni, Platt seldom posts re-reviews.