Merkato 55

[weinoo]

I eat at Fatty Crab a lot.  but it's not in the MPD and, more importantly, doesn't have an MPD clientele.  It has locals and regulars.  which creates a requirement for consistency from a restaurant.

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Or, perhaps the consistency of the restaurant creates a clientele of locals and regulars. Which may also be the reason that Fatty Crab is still extant - locals and regulars.

[Daniel]

Run of the mill NYC Food?  I thought it was a place to grease up your hair, throw on too much cologne and head through the tunnel to Manhattan...

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Have YOU eaten there, Daniel?

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I have not and will not eat there.. I think its pretty clear how I feel about the restaurant.. I dont need to drop 2 bills on some shitty drinks and some African Tuna Tartare to know this place sucks..

I went to Riingo when it opened.. I paid my dues..

[Nathan]

I eat at Fatty Crab a lot.  but it's not in the MPD and, more importantly, doesn't have an MPD clientele.  It has locals and regulars.  which creates a requirement for consistency from a restaurant.

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Or, perhaps the consistency of the restaurant creates a clientele of locals and regulars. Which may also be the reason that Fatty Crab is still extant - locals and regulars.

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or maybe it's that the tourist/b&t hordes aren't interested in an unassuming, no decor, tiny, cramped, no reservation restaurant with a "weird" menu a couple blocks away.

but I do agree that restaurant consistency and local/regular clientele forms a sort of feedback loop.

[Nathan]

Run of the mill NYC Food?  I thought it was a place to grease up your hair, throw on too much cologne and head through the tunnel to Manhattan...

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Have YOU eaten there, Daniel?

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I have not and will not eat there.. I think its pretty clear how I feel about the restaurant.. I dont need to drop 2 bills on some shitty drinks and some African Tuna Tartare to know this place sucks..

I went to Riingo when it opened.. I paid my dues..

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you know, even though the menu looks interesting and the room is pretty, I have no intention of eating at Bagatelle either. but if I heard reliable reports that it was surprisingly good...I would.

[Sneakeater]

As I've said elsewhere, Merkato 55 is this strange example of a restaurant that just screams out "it's gonna suck" but somehow doesn't. (Whether it stays good is anybody's guess -- as we all know, Spice Market declined pretty precipitously pretty quickly.)

But I'll tell you what. There are plenty of places I decline to try, because I don't think they look very good. But it'd be NUTS for me to criticize them without having tried them. Save your money, sure. But it's just ridiculous to put down places that you haven't been to in print in a public forum. What kind of credibility does that have?

Edited April 30, 2008 by Sneakeater (log)

[Daniel]

I dont think I criticized the food at all till the last comment.. I did say however that I dont like Marcus's cooking in the restaurants I have gone to, or his TV show., I said its shady that he didnt show up to the opening of his restaurant...

But I dont believe there is anything I said that indicates I had gone to the restaurant or tried any of his food.. I was pretty clear about my problems with the place.. But did not once say the restaurant is bad, or that the food is bad..

[Nathan]

I dont think I criticized the food at all till the last comment.. I did say however that I dont like Marcus's cooking in the restaurants I have gone to, or his TV show., I said its shady that he didnt show up to the opening of his restaurant...

But I dont believe there is anything I said that indicates I had gone to the restaurant or tried any of his food..  I was pretty clear about my problems with the place.. But did not once say the restaurant is bad, or that the food is bad..

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um, yeah you did. you said you know that "it sucks"

[Sneakeater]

Does anybody think Eater would've roughed this place up so much if it weren't in the MPD?

[Nathan]

obviously that's a major factor.

[oakapple]

Does anybody think Eater would've roughed this place up so much if it weren't in the MPD?

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I think they're just calling the shots as they see them. It's not the location, it's Marcus's phoned-in menu.

[Nathan]

the location is a major factor in the place having a phoned-in menu.

[oakapple]

the location is a major factor in the place having a phoned-in menu.

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There are consulting chefs phoning in menus all over town.

[Sneakeater]

I don't get the "phoned-in menu" stuff.

They have a credible chef de cuisine. The two times I ate there, it tasted like real food. I had problems with the concept, but the general level of the execution actually overcame them for me.

[weinoo]

Does anybody think Eater would've roughed this place up so much if it weren't in the MPD?

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I don't know about eater, or about roughing up the place so much, but after my first dining experience here, I would never go back - just not good enough, food or service wise, to be worth it.

[oakapple]

Does anybody think Eater would've roughed this place up so much if it weren't in the MPD?

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I don't know about eater, or about roughing up the place so much, but after my first dining experience here, I would never go back - just not good enough, food or service wise, to be worth it.

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The fact is, Eater just loves roughing people up. They've roughed up plenty of non-MPD restaurants, and there are plenty of MPD restaurants they've left alone. Merkato 55 is a train wreck, and they're reporting the story. I don't think it's any more complicated than that.

[Fat Guy]

Marcus Samuelsson is no longer involved in Merkato 55. There is a new menu in place now, designed by Angelo Sosa. I was there the other night and tried a lot of stuff. I'll start a new topic to reflect the new culinary direction of the establishment.

(Edited to add: Merkato 55 2.0 topic here)