Bette

[SobaAddict70]

...the single most addictive item on the menu - thin, crunchy, salty French fries tossed with white truffle oil - might as well be served with a pamphlet on liposuction.

Depending on your mood or perspective, the cooking at Bette is either refreshingly straightforward or stunningly unimaginative.

...the lemon vinaigrette that anointed pan-roasted salmon carried the kind of mustardy charge that salmon has received a gazillion times before, and the basil and capers that hugged seared tuna weren't unfamiliar bedfellows.

Bette (Frank Bruni)

Related discussion regarding Mr. Bruni's style of reviewing and the star system can be found here.

Soba

[claire797]

Any more opinions on Bette? I'm trying to pick two, and only TWO restaurants to visit while in NYC. Bette is on the list, but I need more info...

[Pan]

I'm not familiar with Bette, but what criteria are you using to pick out those two restaurants?

[claire797]

I'm not familiar with Bette, but what criteria are you using to pick out those two restaurants?

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Hi Pan,

Bette is Amy Sacco's newish restaurant. I like her for some reason and want to go there, but only if the food is good quality. I can find something I like in just about any cuisine, so our main criteria is that the place uses fresh ingredients and the restaurant is comfortable and fun. And being that we are tourists from Texas, I'd like it the place to be different than something we'd find here in Austin. We're also going to see The Upright Citizens Brigade which is in or near Chelsea, so I'm focusing on Chelsea and lower (we're staying WAY downtown). Bette just seems like a new and interesting place. It's just interesting that not a lot of real gourmets have heard of it........I'm wondering why.

[Sneakeater]

Because it's more a "scene" place than a real serious restaurant. (Although people I know who ate there were surprised at how good it was.)

[claire797]

Because it's more a "scene" place than a real serious restaurant.  (Although people I know who ate there were surprised at how good it was.)

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I have to admit, I kind of like scenes. People watching is high on my list of hobbies. But based on the types of places I frequent in my town, scenes and good food aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. In fact, I can think of 5 scenes that are also considered top restaurants in town.

That said, I have been to other cities where scene places served really sub-par food and do not want to be in that situation again. Based on the reviews and where our show is, Bette seems like a good choice. Hopefully, it will be the best of both worlds......if I even go. Too many restaurants, not enough time .

[Nathan]

Because it's more a "scene" place than a real serious restaurant.  (Although people I know who ate there were surprised at how good it was.)

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I have to admit, I kind of like scenes. People watching is high on my list of hobbies. But based on the types of places I frequent in my town, scenes and good food aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. In fact, I can think of 5 scenes that are also considered top restaurants in town.

That said, I have been to other cities where scene places served really sub-par food and do not want to be in that situation again. Based on the reviews and where our show is, Bette seems like a good choice. Hopefully, it will be the best of both worlds......if I even go. Too many restaurants, not enough time .

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its decent..as in better than expected.

with that said, its also a year old..which means that it's no longer as hip as it was....for a true scene you're probably better off at Del Posto or Morimoto.

[Sneakeater]

You're right: I should have said my friends were surprised how "decent" it was. I didn't mean to imply they thought it was actually good.

As for a current scene, I'd say go with Morimoto over Del Posto. It's hard to see how much of a scene there would be at a restaurant that, as far as you can tell from the posts here, is usually empty.

[claire797]

with that said, its also a year old..which means that it's no longer as hip as it was....for a true scene you're probably better off at Del Posto or Morimoto.

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Ah! Thanks! Two more I've never heard of. Just when I think I have a nice, small pool of restaurants from which to choose, someone throws in a few more. Thank You, Nathan.

(I'm obsessing over this trip instead of something else, so you've provided me with more to focus on )

I'd say go with Morimoto over Del Posto.

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Okay, will do.

BTW. The other place I've heard over and over again is Da Silvano. It sounds fun, but we have a show at 9:30. I'm afraid we'd get to Da Silvano for a 7:00 dinner and have to wait an hour or two for a table. Usually that would be fine, but not when there's a show.

So it would be nice to go somewhere where we could make a reservation. The other option would be to catch the 7:30 show and eat dinner at 10:00. Sorry to ramble...

[M.X.Hassett]

BTW.  The other place I've heard over and over again is Da Silvano.  It sounds fun, but we have a show at 9:30.  I'm afraid we'd get to Da Silvano for a 7:00 dinner and have to wait an hour or two for a table.  Usually that would be fine, but not when there's a show. 

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The Da Silvano thread I have never been so I can't comment on it.

[claire797]

BTW.  The other place I've heard over and over again is Da Silvano.  It sounds fun, but we have a show at 9:30.  I'm afraid we'd get to Da Silvano for a 7:00 dinner and have to wait an hour or two for a table.  Usually that would be fine, but not when there's a show. 

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The Da Silvano thread I have never been so I can't comment on it.

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I scanned the thread. Overally, positive reviews. Wonder what their reservation policy is? Sounds like on a Friday night, there's be a two hour wait.

In the past 10 minutes I also looked up both Del Posto and Morimoto and Del Posto sounds great. I'm just afraid we'd never get in at 7:00 on a Friday night. I wonder if one of Mario's older places like Lupa or Po would honor a 7:00 reservation and hold to it (give or take 30 minutes). Neither place is in the area, but I am 100% sure we'd have a good meal.

[Sneakeater]

You'll get in to Del Posto. Read to the end of the thread. That place is EMPTY.

I love Lupa. Po is fine, but if you want the Mario Experience, remember that Mario sold out his interest in it years ago.

[Sneakeater]

Let me amend that to: Po is fine, but in my opinion, if you're eating only two dinners in Manhattan, spending one of them at Po would be NUTS.

Edited February 28, 2006 by Sneakeater (log)

[claire797]

Let me amend that to:  Po is fine, but in my opinion, if you're eating only two dinners in Manhattan, spending one of them at Po would be NUTS.

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The menu didn't look that appealing anyway. Lupa still sounds great. And there's still Morimoto...

It's hard choosing new places from thousands of miles away. I should just stick to some place I know.

[Luckylies]

Make a reservation at da silvano. there is alot of people watching to do there, it a bit pricy. I like bar pitti next door better, for the food (it used to be owned by a team, that split into the pitti/silvano camps)

bette schmette. I was not moved by the scene or, really, the food. next.

[claire797]

Make a reservation at da silvano. there is alot of people watching to do there, it a bit pricy. I like bar pitti next door better, for the food (it used to be owned by a team, that split into the pitti/silvano camps)

bette schmette. I was not moved by the scene or, really, the food. next. 

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Glad to hear they take reservations. I'll give it a shot.

[Nathan]

Batali has not been associated with Po for years.

BTW.  The other place I've heard over and over again is Da Silvano.  It sounds fun, but we have a show at 9:30.  I'm afraid we'd get to Da Silvano for a 7:00 dinner and have to wait an hour or two for a table.  Usually that would be fine, but not when there's a show. 

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The Da Silvano thread I have never been so I can't comment on it.

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I scanned the thread. Overally, positive reviews. Wonder what their reservation policy is? Sounds like on a Friday night, there's be a two hour wait.

In the past 10 minutes I also looked up both Del Posto and Morimoto and Del Posto sounds great. I'm just afraid we'd never get in at 7:00 on a Friday night. I wonder if one of Mario's older places like Lupa or Po would honor a 7:00 reservation and hold to it (give or take 30 minutes). Neither place is in the area, but I am 100% sure we'd have a good meal.

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[claire797]

Well, thanks to everyone's suggestions and pointers, I'm done.

We chose Da Silvano for Friday, and Suvir's place Devi for Saturday night.

I feel pretty good about the choices, but I'm still sad to have only been able to pick 2.

[M.X.Hassett]

Lets try to keep this conversation on Bette. Comments on other restauraunts can be made on their respective threads unless the are relevant to the discussion of Bette.

Thanks

[claire797]

Lets try to keep this conversation on Bette. Comments on other restauraunts can be made on their respective threads unless the are relevant to the discussion of Bette.

Thanks

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Back to Bette,

I'm still interested in hearing reviews from people who have a very balanced attitude toward scene/food. If anyone has any more info, post away!

[Nathan]

Lets try to keep this conversation on Bette. Comments on other restauraunts can be made on their respective threads unless the are relevant to the discussion of Bette.

Thanks

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Back to Bette,

I'm still interested in hearing reviews from people who have a very balanced attitude toward scene/food. If anyone has any more info, post away!

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as has been said above...the menu is uninteresting...but most of it is competently, even well, executed.

as for the scene: as a general rule of thumb...if you're an out of towner and you've heard of a place...(except for the obvious like Per Se)...its no longer really that hip. de rerum naturae.

the shelf life for a NY restaurant or bar being truly "hip" is no more than 6 months. then the A-listers stop going (especially on weekends).

I don't think this is true just of NY. when I lived in Miami I can remember the travel channel doing a special on Ricky Martin's "hot" place on Ocean Drive. of course, there were 3 problems: a. no place on Ocean Drive is ever "hot"; b. Ricky Martin's Casa Salsa was empty from almost day 1; and c., amusingly, it had gone out of busines before the travel channel special aired!

[claire797]

as has been said above...the menu is uninteresting...but most of it is competently, even well, executed.

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Uninteresting to some, but not to me. I thought it sounded good. I'm more interested in the "competently and well executed" part. That's just me, and I realize I am not half the gourmet as most people here.

as for the scene: as a general rule of thumb...if you're an out of towner and you've heard of a place...(except for the obvious like Per Se)...its no longer really that hip. 

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Yes, that makes sense. It's not that way in Austin, though. The "scenes" have stayed scenes for years. If you asked me for a hot restaurant, it would probably be one that had been around for a few years. People here seem to shy away from restaurants that are extremely new.

[Nathan]

as has been said above...the menu is uninteresting...but most of it is competently, even well, executed.

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Uninteresting to some, but not to me. I thought it sounded good. I'm more interested in the "competently and well executed" part. That's just me, and I realize I am not half the gourmet as most people here.

as for the scene: as a general rule of thumb...if you're an out of towner and you've heard of a place...(except for the obvious like Per Se)...its no longer really that hip. 

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Yes, that makes sense. It's not that way in Austin, though. The "scenes" have stayed scenes for years. If you asked me for a hot restaurant, it would probably be one that had been around for a few years. People here seem to shy away from restaurants that are extremely new.

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ok...let me suggest Balthazar instead: Bette has a menu nearly identical to at least 150 restaurants in Manhattan (not an exaggeration)....Balthazar has a very similar menu at a higher level of execution....and, as an exception to my above point, still is a bit of a scene after all these years. It is probably the only restaurant in the city that truly mixes locals, tourists, B&T and adds a soupcon of celebrities.