Top 10 2006/2007 Restaurant Openings

[robyn]

...For that matter, I don't think it can be questioned that there are more important restaurants opening per year now then there were ten, let alone twenty, years ago.

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Just curious - what do you think are the 5-10 most important restaurant openings in the last year or so? Robyn

[rich]

...For that matter, I don't think it can be questioned that there are more important restaurants opening per year now then there were ten, let alone twenty, years ago.

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Just curious - what do you think are the 5-10 most important restaurant openings in the last year or so? Robyn

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Here is my list with a few "or sos" dating back about three years.

1. Colonel Sanders (Manhattan Branch)

2. WD-50

3. Blue Hill at Stone Barns

4. Colonel Sanders (Brooklyn Branch)

5. Landmarc

6. Devi

7. Per Se

8. Colonel Sanders (Queens Branch)

9. Cru

10. Colonel Sanders (Staten Island Branch)

[Nathan]

"Just curious - what do you think are the 5-10 most important restaurant openings in the last year or so? Robyn"

In NY? we'll keep it to two years.

(3 years would get us into the Time Warner openings -- but that was one really big year! Per Se, Masa, Asiate, Cafe Gray and a number of others....that was some year)

1. Robuchon

2. Perry Street

3. Gordon Ramsay

4. Momofuku Ssam Bar

5. The Modern/Bar Room at the Modern

5. Del Posto

6. Bouley Upstairs

7. the revamped EMP (it counts)

8. the revamped Picholine (it counts)

9. Buddakan

10. BLT Fish

11. Fatty Crab

11. Thor (the two years ago version, not the current one)

12. Blaue Gans

13. Spotted Pig

I'm sure I'm missing some.

Edited February 1, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[johnder]

admin note: New Thread Created, originally a breakout discussion from Gordon Ramsay

[Nathan]

I made at least one major omission:

Country (a restaurant similar to GR in a lot of ways)

[Sneakeater]

I'd have to add Little Owl.

[oakapple]

I'll just comment on Nathan's list, and add some of my own. I agree that a two-year window is more appropriate. Even so, there's a risk that one will be dazzled by a restaurant that makes a brief splash, but in the long run isn't really that important.

1. Robuchon. I haven't been, but by all accounts a worthy choice.

2. Country (a restaurant similar to GR in a lot of ways). I don't quite get the similarity to GR, but I agree it belongs on the list.

3. The Modern/Bar Room at the Modern. Totally agree.

4. Del Posto. Two Michelin stars, three from Bruni, four from Bob Lape in Crain's.

5. Perry Street. I have mixed feelings about the place, but on the whole I agree.

6. Gordon Ramsay. I liked my visit there, although the jury is still out.

7. A Voce. Andrew Carmellini does Italian.

8. Momofuku Ssam Bar. Arguably too soon to judge, but based on current buzz, I have to agree.

9. Buddakan. I might be inclined to replace this one with Chinatown Brasserie.

10. Blaue Gans. One of the best bargains in town, and a terrific advertisement for Austrian food.

Honorable mention: Mai House.

These are the ones on Nathan's list that I dropped:

Fatty Crab. Tough to drop, but if the request is for 10, I had to make room for A Voce.

Bouley Upstairs. A good restaurant, but its importance is overstated.

the revamped EMP. Sorry...that's not an opening.

the revamped Picholine. Sorry...that's not an opening.

BLT Fish. Surely the prime example of how early promise can falter. With the BLT franchise now spread paper-thin, how often does Laurent Tourondel even take a look at this place? Lost its Michelin star, and many people say it has lost its lustre.

Thor. Chef Gutenbruner's rather swift departure says it all.

Spotted Pig. Opened three years ago, not two.

Edited February 2, 2007 by oakapple (log)

[docsconz]

Though controversial and not as a whole in the league of some of the restaurants mentioned above, Varietal will be remembered more than many of the others as the place where Jordan Kahn got his first starring role.

[Sneakeater]

9.  Buddakan. I might be inclined to replace this one with Chinatown Brasserie.

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Chef Ophaso's rather swift departure says it all.

[Nathan]

I forgot about A Voce. (and I ate there two weeks ago!)...it deserves to be on there.

I'd also add Room4Dessert.

[docsconz]

Nary a steakhouse mentioned.

[oakapple]

I forgot about A Voce. (and I ate there two weeks ago!)...it deserves to be on there.

I'd also add Room4Dessert.

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I agree with Room4Dessert and would also add Urena. If we're sticking with a top-10, they replace Momofuku Ssam Bar and Buddakan.

I considered adding Varietal, but I think it's way too soon to judge. I mean, you could see a scenario where it becomes a big hit, fails rather quickly, or anything in between.

Edited February 2, 2007 by oakapple (log)

[oakapple]

Nary a steakhouse mentioned.

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In the last few years, there've been more new steakhouses than any other single genre of big-ticket restaurant.

The most prominent trend is what I've called the "chick-friendly steakhouse," or the steakhouse that conspicuously breaks the classic mold, with dark wood paneling and waiters right out of central casting. The ground-breaker in this genre was BLT Steak, which opened more than two years ago, and therefore is outside of our self-imposed two-year window.

[Sneakeater]

Bouley Upstairs. A good restaurant, but its importance is overstated.

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I don't want to get into a stupid "yes it is" "no it isn't" type exchange, but I'm curious what you mean by this. I think Bouley Upstairs's importance is hard to overstate. To me, it's probably the most underappreciated place in New York (well, one of them, anyway). I think the reason it doesn't have a bigger place in general culinary discourse here is that its no-reservations policy makes it hard to reliably get into. (By which I mean the policy combined with the place's popularity: it's much harder to get into Bouley Upstairs than the nearby Landmarc, for example.)

[BryanZ]

I made at least one major omission:

Country (a restaurant similar to GR in a lot of ways)

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I consider this to be a relatively accurate statement, but I found GR much more impressive than Country. But perhaps that is better discussed on the Bruni thread.

[oakapple]

Bouley Upstairs. A good restaurant, but its importance is overstated.

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I don't want to get into a stupid "yes it is" "no it isn't" type exchange, but I'm curious what you mean by this. I think Bouley Upstairs's importance is hard to overstate. To me, it's probably the most underappreciated place in New York (well, one of them, anyway). I think the reason it doesn't have a bigger place in general culinary discourse here is that its no-reservations policy makes it hard to reliably get into. (By which I mean the policy combined with the place's popularity: it's much harder to get into Bouley Upstairs than the nearby Landmarc, for example.)

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My "importance is overstated" comment was not meant to suggest that Bouley Upstairs is unimportant. But if we're limiting it to 10, I can't honestly put it above the ones already listed. Part of my reasoning is that if you want David Bouley, he's already available (albeit at a higher price point) across the street at the main restaurant.

[Sneakeater]

See, to me what's so important about Bouley Upstairs is that you get David Bouley food for an almost ridiculously low price. Sure, it isn't as luxe as the food at the main place. But it's still recognizably Bouley, and for that reason, at least to a fan like me, fairly magical.

It took me months after my first meal at Bouley Upstairs to stop thinking, everytime I ate in an upper-midprice place, that it isn't worth it because for the same money I could be eating at Bouley Upstairs instead.

[docsconz]

I find it interesting that Buddakan has been mentioned and Morimoto not.

[rich]

Interesting about the list is most of the restaurants are clones of others or places opened as second, third or fourth places by the same chef (in Del Posto's case, I think it's the 38th).

What if the list was confined to "original" restaurants?

However since the above list includes all - can't believe no one has put Blue Hill at Stone Barns on the list. Doesn't it meet the two-year limit (just barely)? If it does I think it's the most important opening of all.

Edited February 2, 2007 by rich (log)

[Sneakeater]

I find it interesting that Buddakan has been mentioned and Morimoto not.

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I think the general consensus -- and I'm talking consensus, not my own personal knowledge; I've only eaten in Morimoto and not Buddakan -- is that Buddakan is significantly better than Morimoto.

In fact, I kind of thought the reason Nathan included Buddakan on his list is because it shows that one of those club/restaurant barns can actually be good as a restaurant.

[Nathan]

I feel like Blue Hill at Stone Barns is older...if I'm wrong, then it should be included.

I picked Buddakan over Morimoto because Buddakan is apparently a significantly better restaurant, and is widely acknowledged as such. I believe that the new pseudo Asian multiplexes (Morimoto, Buddakan, Nobu 57, Buddha Bar, Japonais) deserved one representative. Nobu 57 may be the best one of the lot but with a Nobu already present I decided to go with the next best.

I thought about Urena but couldn't fit it in. And I would definitely pick Momofuku Ssaam Bar over it.

I see Rich's point on multiple restaurants but I don't see how that's a dealbreaker. Some of Batali's restaurants he really has nothing to do with in terms of the kitchen -- Esca (perhaps the most underrated restaurant in NY), Casa Mono; while Del Posto is an unique restaurant..despite the preexistence of Babbo (unlike Nobu 57 its not Babbo on Tenth Ave). As for Perry Street, it is manifestly quite different from JG's other restaurants and deserves to be considered de novo.

Edited February 2, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[Sneakeater]

FWIW, I'd pick Momofuku Ssam over Urena, too.

And I'm a big fan of Urena.

[oakapple]

Interesting about the list is most of the restaurants are clones of others or places opened as second, third or fourth places by the same chef (in Del Posto's case, I think it's the 38th).

If a restaurant is the chef's first in New York, I don't particularly care that he may have done the same thing, or a similar thing, elsewhere. If our time frame was three years, we would surely be including Per Se and Masa on our list, wouldn't we?

If a restaurant is a very close clone, I would not list it (e.g., Nobu 57). But I think that both Perry Street and Del Posto are sufficiently distinct from Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mario Batali's other restaurant properties.

However since the above list includes all - can't believe no one has put Blue Hill at Stone Barns on the list. Doesn't it meet the two-year limit (just barely)? If it does I think it's the most important opening of all.

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It is more than two years old and is not a NYC restaurant. Edited February 2, 2007 by oakapple (log)

[rich]

Interesting about the list is most of the restaurants are clones of others or places opened as second, third or fourth places by the same chef (in Del Posto's case, I think it's the 38th).

If a restaurant is the chef's first in New York, I don't particularly care that he may have done the same thing, or a similar thing, elsewhere. If our time frame was three years, we would surely be including Per Se and Masa on our list, wouldn't we?

If a restaurant is a very close clone, I would not list it (e.g., Nobu 57). But I think that both Perry Street and Del Posto are sufficiently distinct from Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mario Batali's other restaurant properties.

However since the above list includes all - can't believe no one has put Blue Hill at Stone Barns on the list. Doesn't it meet the two-year limit (just barely)? If it does I think it's the most important opening of all.

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It is more than two years old and is not a NYC restaurant.

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I wasn't saying you shouldn't include them, I was asking for list if you didn't.

BHSB opened in June 2004, but it's so good, it transcends the seven months and since it opened I've admitted Tarrytown as NYC's sixth borough. Bloomberg said it was fine.

Okay my list if you don't include the clones (and yes they are clones no matter how you slice and dice). Same cook = same results with a little more/less foofoo powder.

1. Room4Dessert

2. Little Owl

3. CB (dim sum only)

Edited February 2, 2007 by rich (log)

[oakapple]

Okay my list if you don't include the clones (and yes they are clones no matter how you slice and dice). Same cook  = same results with a little more/less foofoo powder.

1. Room4Dessert

2. Little Owl

3. CB (dim sum only)

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Even if we accept your criteria (which I don't), what is Country a clone of? Zakarian has another restaurant, it's true, but Country isn't a clone of Town.