3 Bells for Amada

[rlibkind]

Now I know LeBan is a lurker here. In tomorrows paper he explains what it takes to get the coveted 4 bells. He mentions Amada again and says it's a contender to get the 4th bell along with 7 other restaurants including both Morimoto and Marigold. He states to get 4 bells "is a far more difficult feat, a combination of unique personality, energy and consistant excellence that sets a regional standard"

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Craig may well lurk here, but tomorrow's article is no proof. He does one like that every year to explain his criteria. Besides, last week's article included a note announcing this week's subject.

[Rich Pawlak]

Now I know LeBan is a lurker here. In tomorrows paper he explains what it takes to get the coveted 4 bells. He mentions Amada again and says it's a contender to get the 4th bell along with 7 other restaurants including both Morimoto and Marigold. He states to get 4 bells "is a far more difficult feat, a combination of unique personality, energy and consistant excellence that sets a regional standard"

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Craig may well lurk here, but tomorrow's article is no proof. He does one like that every year to explain his criteria. Besides, last week's article included a note announcing this week's subject.

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And he writes the articles WEEKS in advance. Sure, he may lurk, but he leaves no clues to that fact in any of his writings.

[KatieLoeb]

Now I know LeBan is a lurker here. In tomorrows paper he explains what it takes to get the coveted 4 bells. He mentions Amada again and says it's a contender to get the 4th bell along with 7 other restaurants including both Morimoto and Marigold. He states to get 4 bells "is a far more difficult feat, a combination of unique personality, energy and consistant excellence that sets a regional standard"

OK Katie, props indeed!

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I've come to the conclusion that although Mr. Laban is explaining his standards in tomorrow's article, the standards still remain somewhat subjective and flexible. It would seem that the four bells that Striped Bass has been awarded (and deservedly so) are based on the fact that they're "white tablecloth" and have a uniformed waitstaff, deep wine cellar, and all of the expensive tabletop accoutrement that one would expect of that sort of "fine dining" experience. In fact every one of the previous four bell restaurants with the anomalous exception of Django have been such. Amada is not a "fine dining" restaurant. By those standards we would never get the fourth bell because the service is too relaxed and casual and we're not in the same category as Le Bec, LaCroix or Striped Bass. And that's just fine and exactly as it's meant to be. An authentic tapas experience doesn't translate to "fine dining". If what it takes is "a combination of unique personality, energy and consistant excellence that sets a regional standard" then perhaps over time we'll achieve that. We've only been open for four months! If Mr. Laban says we're on the cusp of that coveted fourth bell then that is high praise indeed.

[philadining]

As Vadouvan mentioned above, there are some real advantages to being at 3 bells rather than 4, particularly if you're not a "fine dining" restaurant in the most traditional sense. As Katie said, Amada is a different kind of place, it is a bit more casual and fun, and I could imagine that some more reserved customers might not dig sitting on a bench, with loads of little plates flying around, as we did at our porkfest. Don't get me wrong, I loved Amada, and think it's certainly one of the best places in town, but there's a certain connotation that 4-Bells carries, and you could end up with folks expecting something that it's not.

I think that's what happened with Django, there were such heightened expectations that it would be just perfect that many people ended up disappointed. I actually think that 4-Bell rating was an important gesture on a couple of different levels, most importantly as a declaration that BYOBs were offering some of the most exciting and satisfying dining in Philly, but also as an extension of what could qualify for the top rating, that it wasn't only places with white tablecloths and sommeliers and haughty reservationists.

LaBan mentioned a couple of dishes that didn't work for him at Amada, and I happen to like that element of flexibility and subjectivity. In the end, he can't whip out a probe that will register whether the flavors are in balance, or whether there's enough lobster for the price, with the same ease that he can fire up the noise meter. The Inky and Philly Mag each have budgets to send their reviewers to a place multiple times, so I'm confident those writers try to get a broad overview of what a restaurant can do. But in the end, any kind of criticism is subjective, and it comes down to whether you trust the reviewers' judgment, and share their tastes.

I think we're actually quite lucky to have some very good food reviewers in Philly, yet another thing we can smugly brag about to our NY friends...

With three bells from LaBan in the Inquirer, and a very enthusiastic "Best New Restaurant" from Maria Gallagher in Philadelphia Magazine, thumbs up Sono Motoyama even after she supposedly left the Daily News, good reports in the weeklies, raves here and elsewhere on the net, I can't imagine that anyone with any interest at all in Amada is going to be reluctant to go based on press...

I'll be eager to see another restaurant that's not in the expensive fine-dining model earn 4-Bells, and perhaps Amada will indeed do that someday as LaBan revisits his ratings. But that's another topic...

Edited February 12, 2006 by philadining (log)