The New Time Warner Center

[Pan]

Did the Rainbow Room have a view?

Yes, an excellent one, but they also had a bad attitude the one time I was there.

[Fat Guy]

I think history will demonstrate -- extremely soon -- that the concern about New Yorkers' unwillingness to schlep for supper is unfounded and a red herring. It's true that location is critically important to a restaurant's success -- even a destination restaurant (not all destinations are equally convenient or desirable). But we're not worried about location per se (sorry): this is already a great location, smack dab in the middle of a gigantic city and in the middle of a complex of buildings that are in and of themselves a small city. The more important question will be whether these restaurants, with their huge startup costs and inflated promises of greatness, can deliver experiences that New Yorkers will want to pay for repeatedly. I think, if the economy stays strong, that's not going to be a problem because the standard by which meals are deemed worthwhile will settle at a certain point. If we see any sort of contraction, though, I could easily see these places getting decapitated.

[robert40]

http://www.naparegister.com/templates/inde...FC-3019DA0E2781

How Come I didnt think of this?

Link above.

[chefg]

Who believe's that Per Se will be the N.Y. Times next four star restaurant?

And also who expects it to be four stars right out the gate like Jean George?

Get your vote's in.

If anyone can do it.... the man can do it. How does "the changing of the guard" at the Times effect these restaurants' success?

[robert40]

More good reading below.

http://www.time.com/time/insidebiz/article...86219-1,00.html

[bloviatrix]

There's another article in today's Times about the Time Warner Center. Tomorrow is opening day.

This accompanying graphic lays the whole design out.

[bloviatrix]

USA Today has an article about the new restaurants opening at Time Warner.

[ellenesk]

Attended the opening of the Time Warner Center last evening. Had the opportunity to explore and taste at Masa, Rare and Per Se.

Masa is austere and lovely, in addition to the dining room, there is a bar area with seating. The sushi was everything ever written. Tuna tartare pureed to the point of a mousse served with black truffles. The worlds best surf and turf. Hamachi tartare was simple and the fish as fresh and pure as you would expect based on the reputation of this establishement

Rare is a spectacle. Bordello red, with gilded chandeliers and a spectacular view of the park. It is stunning. Chicken fritters with lemon grass were perfectly fried, lobster summer rolls in a daikon wrapper, tunna tartare with a confetti of vegetables, and rare, almost raw hamachi, and steak on toast, all perfectly cooked and seasoned.

Per Se had a line out side worthy of Area on a saturday night in 1985. It was worth the wait. The dining room is lovely, tiered overlooking columbus circle with a fire place in the middle. In some respects it reminded me of Windows on the world(may it rest in piece). It is muted colors with attractive wood accents. It is an intimate feeling room that is light and airy. Even in an environment of 4,000 people, they did their best to create an warm enviornment. Guests were greeted with a popcorn machine with of freshly popped pop corn with white truffle oil. The rest of the food was served right from the kitchen, where you can see every penny of the 12Mil spent.

Offerings included: Foie on Brioche, onion confit on some type of cracker, Fresh butter slathered on bread with sea salt, and a Confit of tuna practically melted onto Fugasse. Caviar on baguette, an unbelievable homemade sausage of lambs tongue and cheek, and the worlds best blt. A fondue of tete de moin and ementhaller with assorted fruits(poached pear, apple, figs and apricots)

Dessert, mini ice cream sandwiches with vanilla and strawberry, chocolate brownie type of cake and ubelievable macaroons. Milk chocolate and passion fruit truffles.

If last nights "peek" was any indication, New Yorkers will have an unbelievable dining opportunity available to them with the opening of these restaurants.

[adegiulio]

Man, my mouth is watering...I can't wait till March 7th...

[Felonius]

Thanks for the report! I am so damn excited to have these new additions to my neighborhood, especially given the limited amount of interesting restaurants on the UWS.

Of course the only problem now is that they will all likely be booked solid for the next two years.

[bloviatrix]

That all sounds wonderful.

I was wondering where the picture on the front page of today's Times was taken. Sounds as if it was at Rare.

[ellenesk]

Yes, it was rare

[LJC]

It was a zoo last night; I couldn't bare the crowds trying to get into Per Se. Sushi at Masa was really impressive but I think I need to dine there before I can pass judgment. Rare was a bit gaudy for my taste and I was surprised that they served the lobster and diakon rolls. It seems that they pass that item at every JG event I have ever been to. Not that it isn't very good, I just thought that they might do something new. Whole Foods has a great set up in a huge space and the tastes I had were very good. They also have a Jamba Juice in the Whole Foods, which is new to NYC and I believe the first of six locations to come.

[Mulcahy]

Ellensk hits it right on the nose with her descriptions. Except that they were also serving the salmon tartare with craime fraiche coronets at Per Se, as well as cauliflower soup, and peanut butter truffles. The coronets are unbelievably delicious. I thought the food at Masa and Per Se was phenomenal. I did not eat anything at Rare. Masa was also offering two types of sake, one of which was unfiltered and tasted vaguely of lemony champagne, if that makes any sense.

[Fat Guy]

Did you all spot one another and exchange the secret eGullet handshake?

[jeff29992001]

There was an opening day party there last night for celebs and "vips" with the chefs that will be cooking there handing out generous free samples; ordinary schmoes like you and me weren't invited. Instead today, the place was just "opened" with not much fanfare.

The place, featuring lots of glass and marble feels spacious and elegant, but also very ordinary and mall-like. The pluses are that there are toilets on each floor. the minuses are that there's no place to rest your feet in the entire damn place, and the front doors are a bit heavy to open--not very friendly to the disabled, or if you are carrying lots of bags.

Nearly all the shops at the new mall are upscale, and name brand, consisting mostly of men's business clothing, and fashion, jewelry, and cosmetics. There's also a large gleaming wiliams-sonoma, a borden's bookstore, and a two story j.crew. The starbucks is located across the street, and the godiva is on the ground floor.. As for food, there are only 6 upscale restaurants, two bars, a dean and deluca mini cafe, and the whole foods market food court. None of the places are yet open except for the stone rose (afterwork yuppie type bar) and whole foods. There's also no affordable lunch place (under $10) except for whole foods. The most expensive restaurant may be Masa, at $400+ a person where you can get a kaiseki meal omakase from Masa Takayama (his other restaurant, Ginza Sushiko in beverly hills, is cheaper at $300/person dinner). Per Se with its blue doors is opening in a few weeks. the cheapest upscale option might be Bouchon Bakery (also thomas kelly).

The whole foods market at columbus circle looks like a normal whole foods market with about the same amount of shelf space, and fresh and expensive produce as the one at 24th st. the only difference was they integrated a mini flower shop, a whole body drug store, a wine store, and expanded the shellfish dept a little. They also expanded the food court, and it now takes up about 30% of the entire store. the food court has several sections featuring (thick dough) pizza by the pound (~$6.49+/lb), house baked goods, salads ($6.99/lb), deli, cold cuts, cheese, christopher norman chocolates, black hound pastries, cheese, coffee and tea. There's also a Genji Sushi Express with about 9 ppl working behind the counter. The toilets are located inside the wine shop. the elevator is located between the wine shop, and the whole body drug section. the minuses are the long, snaking lines to the 30+ cash registers.

Besides somebody outside handing out coupons for $10 off a $30+ purchase, there were some free food samples on opening day, mainly hann's organic chicken sausages, bell and evan's organic chicken, olive oil, and some slivers of shellfish boiled up for sampling. the sausage ppl were notable because they were busy cooking up hundreds of dollars worth of sausages for the hungry crowds (normal price $5.49/4 piece package, but there was a buy one get one free sale.)

[ellenesk]

Forgot about the salmon cones, and missed the cauliflower soup and peanut butter truffles. Will have to make up for it when I eat there.

I agree about the sake. There is so much bad sake in this world you forget how good it really can be.

[alacarte]

The more I read about this, I find that I have the same reaction over and over again: a brief flash of excitement at some of the new and creative offerings, and then a thud of disappointment when I remember that this is just a big ol' shopping mall. Yecch.

But how I would have loved to while away my lunchtimes here when I still worked in midtown and lived on the upper west side!

I think it's going to take a very powerful draw to lure me to the Time Warner center now that I'm strictly a downtown girl.

[Mulcahy]

No secret handshake, but I did resist the urge to ask everyone I met in the Per Se kitchen whether or not they were e-gulleteers.

[bloviatrix]

The more I read about this, I find that I have the same reaction over and over again: a brief flash of excitement at some of the new and creative offerings, and then a thud of disappointment when I remember that this is just a big ol' shopping mall. Yecch.

It's not a mall. It's a vertical retail shopping experience.

[herbacidal]

The more I read about this, I find that I have the same reaction over and over again: a brief flash of excitement at some of the new and creative offerings, and then a thud of disappointment when I remember that this is just a big ol' shopping mall. Yecch.

Well, maybe it can be a really cool mall. I've enjoyed Ocean One in Hong Kong for instance, although I don't know whether I'd enjoy it if I was around more regularly.

I wonder if there's cool malls elsewhere?

Course, I'm just a downtown boy, too.

[Pan]

There are malls all over the Kuala Lumpur area, and I had one of my best meals ever at a Chinese restaurant in a mall in Petaling Jaya (one of the suburbs of KL).

[alacarte]

Awright. I caved. I was uptown at a dentist appt (look Ma, no cavities! ) and couldn't resist stopping in to check out the Columbus Circle Mall. Here's my report:

The Williams Sonoma store is just beautiful. Two stories. Sweeping high ceilings. Ridiculously friendly and knowledgeable staff (will they still be so nice a year from now? I sure hope so). I spent some bucks$$ on impulse food items that I've seen advertised in WS catalogs but never had the opp to check out up close. This store has EVERYTHING, and boy was the joint jumping.

The Whole Foods market in the basement -- also enormous, also beautiful, also friendly. Also packed with eager shoppers (where do all these people live?) They have some interesting takeout food items. In addition to the usual sushi bar & cold bar items, they have hot-bar stations labeled "Latin Bar," "Asian Bar," "Indian Bar," with the appropriate ethnic foods ready for scooping into plastic takeout containers. Really interesting concept, I'd love to see it replicated elsewhere. As a bonus, I ran into JosephB and Donna, so I even had friends to eat my takeout sushi with! (how was the opera, Joe?)

That said, the rest of the joint was surprisingly dead. Lots of folks walking the aisles and window-shopping, but few people seemed to be actually buying in Hugo Boss and Sisley. (Sephora was the only exception, crazy lines in that store). I've never seen so many salespeople lounging about, smiling like crazy but with little to do. Maybe there's more shopping action on the weekends, or will be once the restaurants open.

[bloviatrix]

I caved too. I walked over on monday.

Although the Whole Foods is being marketed as the "largest supermarket in Manhattan," I was disappointed. There's a lot of wasted space. And the aisles, where they have all the packaged goods are as narrow as the Food Emporium near me - 2 carts wide. Plus, their product mix didn't strike me as much different from any other store of this kind (such as the now defunct Healthy Pleasures on the UWS).

That said, they had a sale on Scharffenberger cocoa (5.99) so I bought two. Plus, they carry the Liberte brand of yogurt. And they carry Dancing Deer baked goods, which just received kosher certification, so I bought some shortbread

cookies.

The best part of the store, to me, was the check-out line. There are lots of cashiers, a people pointing to where to go. It's very efficient.

The new William Sonoma is nice, as alacarte stated. And I was unimpressed with the cookbook section at Borders.

But that's just me.

[picaman]

Plus, their product mix didn't strike me as much different from any other store of this kind (such as the now defunct Healthy Pleasures on the UWS).

I stopped in Columbus Circle Whole Foods this past Sunday afternoon to pick up some King Arthur flour. After a 10 minute wait to go down the escalator to the store (!) I found that their selection of this particular line of product was far narrower than that of the Chelsea store. The prices were definitely higher for this item as well. I got the sense of that being true in general, though it's somewhat supposition on my part.

That said, the rest of the joint was surprisingly dead. Lots of folks walking the aisles and window-shopping, but few people seemed to be actually buying in Hugo Boss and Sisley.

What she said Lots of shoppers, no one really buying. Even at Whole Foods, there were lots of wanderers (my group among them!) and a short checkout line.

Jamie