Top 10 2006/2007 Restaurant Openings

[docsconz]

What about Degustation and Tia Pol?

[Nathan]

yeah, I was wondering about Degustation...

Tia Pol opened in July or August of 04 and therefore isn't eligible.

[rich]

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.

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Country would be eligible (as far as I know) since it has a totally different chef who put together the menu and didn't follow the Zakarian mold (as I understand it). I haven't been there so I can't comment.

I would include all the DM places since they all have different chefs who go their separate ways. I didn't include The Modern because both times I was there, I was underwhelmed. (I haven't eaten at the bar yet.)

[docsconz]

I think Gilt can be considered as well even though Paul Liebrandt is no longer there.

[Nathan]

I think Zakarian had a heavy say in the menu at Country...it's not just Psaltis' show.

you're not going to get rid of Del Posto under that logic either...Mark Ladner created the menu (Batali and Bastianich approved it).

I'm also not sure what other JG restaurant Perry Street is a clone of (JoJo is actually probably the closest)

well, my inclusion of Thor seems to have been disallowed...so that would go for Gilt as well....but I'd certainly agree otherwise.

Edited February 2, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[rich]

you're not going to get rid of Del Posto under that logic either...Mark Ladner created the menu (Batali and Bastianich approved it).

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I don't have to get rid of Del Posto, the eating public (and Batali) has done so already.

Edited February 2, 2007 by rich (log)

[Eatmywords]

Robuchon (obvious)

Ramsay (obvious)

Morimoto (name, size, scene)

Del Posto (unfortunately anything Batali must be noted)

Budakan (huge, sussessful, scene)

Ssam (innovative, delicious)

Barca 18 (opening/closing, lesson BRG is not impregnable)

Gilt (expensive molecular does not fare well in midtown, good lesson)

Fatty Crab (see Ssam)

Fallai (opened 3 or 4? places in 2 yrs, everything well executed, different)

[docsconz]

Robuchon (obvious)

Ramsay (obvious)

Morimoto (name, size, scene)

Del Posto (unfortunately anything Batali must be noted)

Budakan (huge, sussessful, scene)

Ssam (innovative, delicious)

Barca 18 (opening/closing, lesson BRG is not impregnable)

Gilt (expensive molecular does not fare well in midtown, good lesson)

Fatty Crab (see Ssam)

Fallai (opened 3 or 4? places in 2 yrs, everything well executed, different)

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Iacopo Fallai is a chef who certainly seems to fly below the eG radar.

[Nathan]

yeah, I remember Bruni giving a superlative review to Falai but I don't no anyone who's gone there.

I've been to the LES Cafe Falai and it was a bargain...

I walked past the new NoLIta one last night and its a bit more spacious and in a much more accessible location.

[Sneakeater]

I've been to Falai. I remember thinking that portions seemed too small.

I really have to give it another try. I'm sure it's better than my first impression was.

Edited February 2, 2007 by Sneakeater (log)

[Sneakeater]

Iacopo Fallai is a chef who certainly seems to fly below the eG radar.

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Maybe Eatmywords wants to put it in the "Underappreciated" thread.

[oakapple]

I don't have to get rid of Del Posto, the eating public (and Batali) has done so already.

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Actually, per a recent article in the Post, crowds at Del Posto have picked up. The restaurant has even dropped its special Sunday evening menu, because it no longer needs lower prices to fill the dining room.

Barca 18 (opening/closing, lesson BRG is not impregnable)

Gilt (expensive molecular does not fare well in midtown, good lesson)

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Had this thread been launched at the "right" time, Gilt and Barca 18 would both have been on the list. No question about it. But I don't think failed restaurants should be in a top 10 list. (Gilt is still open, but not with the chef that got it all that buzz in the first place.)

[Sneakeater]

I think the problem is that whoever split off this thread from the one where it originated entitled it "Top 10" restaurant openings, whereas robyn's initial post asks for the 10 "most important."

Certainly, a failed opening can be important. Barca 18, for example, is important primarily because it failed.

Edited February 2, 2007 by Sneakeater (log)

[Sneakeater]

Maybe there should be a separate thread for "10 Most Important Closings."

[oakapple]

I think the problem is that whoever split off this thread from the one where it originated entitled it "Top 10" restaurant openings, whereas robyn's initial post asks for the 10 "most important."

Certainly, a failed opening can be important.  Barca 18, for example, is important primarily because it failed.

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If I were going to include failures, I think Gilt was more important. Liebrandt's failure will probably make investors even more skittish about supporting a high-end avant-garde restaurant in New York. As many others have noted, Wylie Dufresne is the only chef that has succeeded here with that type of restaurant, but he did so in maybe the only neighborhood that could have supported it. What happened at Gilt could be a firewall that prevents more experiments of that kind in near future—just as its success would probably have encouraged others to tread more boldly.

Barca 18, as far as I can tell, was more of a garden-variety failure that just happened to have a couple of famous names attached to it.

Edited February 2, 2007 by oakapple (log)

[rich]

I don't have to get rid of Del Posto, the eating public (and Batali) has done so already.

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Actually, per a recent article in the Post, crowds at Del Posto have picked up. The restaurant has even dropped its special Sunday evening menu, because it no longer needs lower prices to fill the dining room.

[

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They had to pick up - the numbers had nowhere else to go...

Dropping the Sunday specials could prove problematic. They may have gained clients because of it. Without the incentive, it's back to the Olive Garden.

[Sneakeater]

I recently ate at Del Posto very late on a Saturday. I was going to a movie (unescorted), and figured I'd make arrangements to stop by afterward, at 11, for the now-restored bolito misto. (If you can call ingesting mass quantities of boiled meat and sausage, after an antepasto and a pasta and before a dessert, "stopping by.")

It was PACKED. I mean PACKED.

(OK, maybe not Babbo-style I-can't-breath packed. But the more expansive room and less oppressive music at Del Posto militate against that.)

Edited February 2, 2007 by Sneakeater (log)

[docsconz]

I think the problem is that whoever split off this thread from the one where it originated entitled it "Top 10" restaurant openings, whereas robyn's initial post asks for the 10 "most important."

Certainly, a failed opening can be important.  Barca 18, for example, is important primarily because it failed.

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If I were going to include failures, I think Gilt was more important. Liebrandt's failure will probably make investors even more skittish about supporting a high-end avant-garde restaurant in New York. As many others have noted, Wylie Dufresne is the only chef that has succeeded here with that type of restaurant, but he did so in maybe the only neighborhood that could have supported it. What happened at Gilt could be a firewall that prevents more experiments of that kind in near future—just as its success would probably have encouraged others to tread more boldly.

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Maybe, but I believe that Paul Liebrandt is working on another restaurant project in NYC as we speak. I am sure that he has learned a few things from his Gilt experience and elsewhere. It will also be interesting to see how Tailor fits when it opens.

[oakapple]

I recently ate at Del Posto very late on a Saturday.  ... It was PACKED.  I mean PACKED.

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Using OpenTable availability as a barometer, Del Posto has become a tough ticket. Whether one likes it is a whole other story, but Del Posto is a hit.

[weinoo]

I recently ate at Del Posto very late on a Saturday.  ... It was PACKED.  I mean PACKED.

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Using OpenTable availability as a barometer, Del Posto has become a tough ticket. Whether one likes it is a whole other story, but Del Posto is a hit.

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Yes, and even though it was so hyped by the MB connection, I have to believe some of the crowd is there because of Lidia B.

FWIW, Barca 18 wasn't BRG's first closing.

[weinoo]

I've been to Falai.  I remember thinking that portions seemed too small.

I really have to give it another try.  I'm sure it's better than my first impression was.

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I don't remember if the portions were that small...but the freshly baked bread during service as well as most of the food was delicious. This guy is a seriously good chef.