Riingo

[NY News Team]

This fall, celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson and his partner behind Aquavit will expand their culinary territory by opening up Riingo, a Japanese restaurant in The Alex Hotel. While the restaurant will not officially open until October, it has been the buzz of the culinary world since early March. Besides Samuelsson, the 110 seat restaurant will feature an all star cast with executive chef, Johan Svensson, who has Town, Bond Street, and Nobu London on his resume, and Sushi Chef, Shigenori Tenaka, formerly of Jewel Bako. Diners can expect both traditional and non-traditional sushi rolls such as porcini roll with truffled aioli as well as a full sashimi selection on the menu and a 75 bottle wine list. Riingo will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner to the hotel guests, a mezzanine room with moveable screens for semi-private dining and those really loaded can have private parties in the penthhouse suite with wrap around patios. ---by Y. Yang

Riingo

The Alex Hotel

205 East 45 street

Telephone: TBA

Source: Press Release from Baltz and Company

[bpearis]

Is Tenaka the most-recent Jewel Bako chef?(ie the one after Kazuo Yoshida left for Brasserie 360.) Anyone know?

[Bond Girl]

I think so. I know that Marcus has also tried to recruit some of the Nobu crew.

[herbacidal]

Is Tenaka the most-recent Jewel Bako chef?(ie the one after Kazuo Yoshida left for Brasserie 360.) Anyone know?

seems that he is. anyone know who has replaced him at jewel bako?

[thomasein]

Hello,

I will be in town around Feb. 14 visiting my girlfriend. Trying to think of a restaurant I have thought of going to Riingo. I guess I am curious about the following:

- The food concept sounds intriguing but does anyone know if the food matches up? Despite the reputation of the people involved I am concerned that they may not have all of the bugs ironed out.

- What is the decor like? While descriptions of it sound like it is unique, can a romantic evening be had there?

Thanks so much for any advice.

thomas

[tommy]

good question.

has it opened yet? and are they booked solid? i'd like to know as well.

[thomasein]

good question.

has it opened yet? and are they booked solid? i'd like to know as well.

Yes, it opened about 2 weeks ago or so. and no it is not booked solid.

[Pan]

Have you been there for a meal?

[thomasein]

Have you been there for a meal?

um, no. that is why i started this thread.

what I have heard about the food has been decidedly mixed, but that is perhaps to be expected in the first week or so.

as well, while the decor sounds interesting it also seems none too romantic - that is, appropriate for valentine's day.

thomas

[Pan]

Have you been there for a meal?

um, no. that is why i started this thread.

Whoops! That's what I get for not scrolling up to see the rest of the thread before posting a reply.

[Daniel]

Went to Riingo last night and had an enjoyable meal. The place had been opened for 16 days so i would say any judgement would be premature. The space itself is suprisingly small. However i think the make good use of the space. Most impressive part of the space is its huge cielings and pretty wood work.

The staff was very eager, knowledgable and helpfull. In fact i think it worked out to be a one to one ratio between customers and staff. We started out with drinks. I had a sake margarita and she had a cucumber sake drink which she enjoyed and i disliked. I also thought the margarita was too tart, so we switched to sake and beer. The menu is divided into several different parts, and its pretty similar to the one that is on menu pages.

Before you order you are given a bamboo bread holder that has a few pieces of sour dough bread, and some flattened rice sheets with either wasabi or red pepper in it that adds a little bite. There is also a chick pea, edamame, olive oil dip that accompanies it. (Very good). She had the miso soup with oysters and clams in it. It was a simple light broth that was really good. I ordered the tuna ceasar salad with sea urchin dressing. It was very interesting and the sea urchin provided the fishy taste that the anchovy normaly does. The only problem was it was a little underdressed. (Glad i tried it wouldnt get it again)

We then ordered the kobe carpaccio with eel and mushrooms, as well as seared mackeral with nori wrapped fois gras and seared water melon. The carpaccio was nothing special. The nori wrapped fois gras was deep fried. The seared mackeral and water mellon was to be eaten together. And was refreshing after eating the piece of fois gras. All in all it was pretty good ,but was more inventive then satisfying. It was served on a wave shaped plate that had a little cut out square on the far left that held one of the pieces of mackeral and watermelon.

We then had a sushi omakase which they screwed up. We were supposed to get a sashimi omakase each, but once the sushi chef came out to present and explain all the pieces, i felt bad sending it back so we ate it anyway. There was toro, and sardine, tuna eel rolls, squid, horse mackeral, fried sardine spine, sable.. All very good, but nothing spectacular.

By the end of dinner we didnt feel like getting dessert.

All in all i would say that the restaurant has promise. (Glad i went, am not going back for awhile)I would suggest to anyone going to get more of the cooked food, liked to try the braised ribs, i would suggest the mackeral with melon. I wanted to try the whole snapper for two. Which seems to be presented like the fish at morimotos. Where the meat is taken off the bones and then the bones are deep fried twice so you can eat them

[Jinmyo]

Thanks, Daniel. I have been wondering about Riingo.

[nicolekaplan]

i called to make a res for lunch, 2 people and my 5 month son. he is an excellent diner and has already been to many of the best places. they did not want to give me a res and suggested i dine at the bar. not very enlightened

[Pan]

Nicole, it sounds a little funny to say that a 5-month-old is an excellent diner, though I figure you mean he's normally quiet in restaurants, not that he is up to eating anything any restaurant serves.

It's interesting to me that other high-end restaurants have let you get reservations with him. Do you have any inkling that they may know you or be giving you some leeway as a fellow industry person? Unlike some other eGulleteers, I have absolutely nothing against there being children or babies in any restaurant, but I also can't blame any restaurant that would rather not risk having lunch or dinner service interrupted by a baby crying. I have to assume your restaurant is more "enlightened," which is interesting because what I liked so much about my visit to 11 Madison Park was how quiet and civilized - and adult, in the best sense - it was. No loud music, no dark mood lighting, and no crying babies. It was very relaxing and pleasant.

[nicolekaplan]

the great debate continues

Edited February 9, 2004 by nicolekaplan (log)

[mikeyrad]

I don't mind children or babies in restaurants as long as they are well behaved, and if not, their parents IMMEDIATELY remove them from the premises. Unfortunately, I've had too many dining experiences ruined by misbehaved children or crying babies where the parents did absolutely nothing, or even worse, caused a scene by loudly scolding their children in the restaurant. In these cases, I blame the parents who should know better, not the children who are simply being age appropriate. I also have to admit that even more dining experiences have been tarnished by misbehaved adults than by misbehaved children.

IMHO, there are some restaurants that are "PG-13" rated -- no kids permitted. I'm sorry, but if you can afford to go to ADNY, you can also afford a baby sitter. There are also "G" rated "family" restaurants that are simply not appropriate for quiet, fine dining. Only a fool or a redneck would propose marriage at an Applebee's.

[Bux]

... what I liked so much about my visit to 11 Madison Park was how quiet and civilized - and adult, in the best sense - it was. No loud music, no dark mood lighting, and no crying babies. It was very relaxing and pleasant.

At one of my last visits to Eleven Madison Park, there was a table of four twenty-something adults and two babies--little babies in diapers. At least one of the parents made several trips outside. Obviously it wasn't this winter. These were serious parents and I wonder how many of the four of them were actually able to enjoy their dinner--then again that's all relative to their other options. In any event, there was no noise from the table and I was struck by how resolutely urbane and sophisticated the whole thing seemed to me. Eleven Madison Park has always seemed a very urbane and sophisticated setting to me to begin with and it just seemed so civilized for this party to join the rest of the clientele. Let me note that before I encourage everyone to bring their baby to dinner at the best restaurant in town, I assume there was a lot of luck involved here and that the parents may have just caught a particularly small window of opportunity.

[Daniel]

I am surprised in this day of extreme PCness that a restaurant would be capable of not allowing anyone in, includng a child. Wether i agree with it or not. the case for ageism could be argued.

[slkinsey]

Okay, guys... there is at least one other major thread about children in restaurants... so let's keep discussion in this thread about Riingo.

[SobaAddict70]

You might have before you monkfish liver on a long, elegant ski jump of an appetizer plate, served next to a low plait of char ceviche. These two combine into some kind of crazy elegance in the mouth.

Because there is great promise in nori-wrapped foie gras, served next to a neat piece of watermelon topped with a finger of vinegar-washed, salt-cured Boston mackerel, and in the sheer simplicity of a hunk of smoked char sushi or delicate, wildly fresh fluke.

Riingo (Sam Sifton) (from this weekend's DIGEST update. Scroll down for the relevant link.)

Chef Johan Svensson, formerly of Aquavit, Bond Street and Nobu (London), offers an intriguing fusion of Japanese and Swedish influences, wrapped up in a neat New York package.

Soba

[alacarte]

How difficult is it to get a reservation at Riingo? Is it still too new and trendy?

We had dinner last night at Ulrika's, a Swedish restaurant on E. 60th. Nice meal, pleasant experience, great herring sampler app...but it all put me in mind of Aquavit, which of course put me in mind of Riingo.

[bpearis]

Riingo was also reviewed today in the Daily News. And not very favorably, either.

[Pan]

Yeah, a mixed and mostly negative review which was given a very negative headline by the headline editor. Good pickup, bpearis. Does anyone know how the Daily News decides what, when, and how often to review restaurants?

[rhubarbz]

[Does anyone know how the Daily News decides what, when, and how often to review restaurants?]

My understanding is, it's based on the same criteria as the other newspapers: they balance hot, new locations with old (or places that have new chefs); neighborhoods; price points; etc. They review a lot of places in Brooklyn because apparently that's where a lot of the readership is.

When i went to Riingo, there was a 45-minute wait (despite a reservation) and the front area was pretty insane. Cocktails were so-so. But the staff was terrifically nice and accomodating. Food was mixed - some dishes were knockouts, others missed entirely. But it was right after they opened, so i'd definitely check it out again ... but not for a few months.

[Pan]

The Daily News prints restaurant reviews irregularly, though. Or at least that's my impression.