review: apotheosis interruptus…

Cannoli Sundae Pulino’s, New York Say you arrive into New York late, and the taxi stand has a tail that coils halfway to New Jersey. There is no way you’re going to get into Manhattan before 11 p.m., when most restaurant kitchens close. And suppose that you haven’t had dinner yet. Where do you go […]

Continue

review: apotheosis interruptus…

Cannoli Sundae Pulino’s, New York Say you arrive into New York late, and the taxi stand has a tail that coils halfway to New Jersey. There is no way you’re going to get into Manhattan before 11 p.m., when most restaurant kitchens close. And suppose that you haven’t had dinner yet. Where do you go […]

Continue

review: word of mouth…

Xi Yan Wanchai, Hong Kong Some restaurants exist solely by word of mouth.  They are underground, known only among the dining cognescenti. In Hong Kong, they’re referred to as “private kitchens,” though they are neither private nor a kitchen. They are restaurants, understated. They are usually small, reservation-only.  And they’re usually hard to get into. […]

Continue

review: word of mouth…

Xi Yan Wanchai, Hong Kong Some restaurants exist solely by word of mouth.  They are underground, known only among the dining cognescenti. In Hong Kong, they’re referred to as “private kitchens,” though they are neither private nor a kitchen. They are restaurants, understated. They are usually small, reservation-only.  And they’re usually hard to get into. […]

Continue

review: remembrance of things past…

Spaghetti Nero Cafe Boulud, New York It doesn’t happen often.  In fact, it happens so rarely that you sometimes can’t recall the last time it happened. But once in a few hundred meals or so, a dining experience knocks you off your duff and leaves you breathless. I can tell you the last time this […]

Continue

review: remembrance of things past…

Spaghetti Nero Cafe Boulud, New York It doesn’t happen often.  In fact, it happens so rarely that you sometimes can’t recall the last time it happened. But once in a few hundred meals or so, a dining experience knocks you off your duff and leaves you breathless. I can tell you the last time this […]

Continue

review: dream team…

Garden Pea Eleven Madison Park, New York If ever there was a dream team to get behind, it’s Eleven Madison Park, right here, right now. This Danny Meyer gem is currently led by a triumvirate of unusually young savants blazing a hot trail. At the pass: Daniel Humm, Executive Chef In the cellar: John Ragan, […]

Continue

review: dream team…

Garden Pea Eleven Madison Park, New York If ever there was a dream team to get behind, it’s Eleven Madison Park, right here, right now. This Danny Meyer gem is currently led by a triumvirate of unusually young savants blazing a hot trail. At the pass: Daniel Humm, Executive Chef In the cellar: John Ragan, […]

Continue

review: it kills me…

La Grenouille, New York I can imagine Holden Caulfield eating at la Grenouille as an adult, his gawkishly tall frame folded into the tiny back corner banquette – back near the kitchen door. His internal soundtrack would register a complaint about being seated back there, back where no one cares. If he weren’t so yellow, […]

Continue

review: it kills me…

La Grenouille, New York I can imagine Holden Caulfield eating at la Grenouille as an adult, his gawkishly tall frame folded into the tiny back corner banquette – back near the kitchen door. His internal soundtrack would register a complaint about being seated back there, back where no one cares. If he weren’t so yellow, […]

Continue

review: umlaut…

Seäsonal Restaurant and Weinbar, New York My parents just emailed a couple of days ago from Wien to tell me that they saw Manon at the Staatsoper.  My eyes turned green. You know, the last time I was at the Staatsoper, I had to endure a tortured, post-modern rendition of Elektra in nose-bleed SRO. A […]

Continue

review: umlaut…

Seäsonal Restaurant and Weinbar, New York My parents just emailed a couple of days ago from Wien to tell me that they saw Manon at the Staatsoper.  My eyes turned green. You know, the last time I was at the Staatsoper, I had to endure a tortured, post-modern rendition of Elektra in nose-bleed SRO. A […]

Continue

review: it takes a village…

Looking up at the counter seating aldea, New York Recently, on the one-year anniversary of aldea’s opening, the chef and owner, George Mendes, tweeted, “Never thought 1 year ago that rice would be our signature dish.” Mendes’s “Arroz de Pato” – a paella stained with pimenton and saffron and enriched with duck stock – is […]

Continue

review: it takes a village…

Looking up at the counter seating aldea, New York Recently, on the one-year anniversary of aldea’s opening, the chef and owner, George Mendes, tweeted, “Never thought 1 year ago that rice would be our signature dish.” Mendes’s “Arroz de Pato” – a paella stained with pimenton and saffron and enriched with duck stock – is […]

Continue

review: high thread count…

Jean Georges, New York There are few places in the world I’d rather be than at Jean Georges. And I’m not saying that just because I’m treated well there. (And really, who isn’t?) I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when I arrived for lunch with six dear friends.  We were there to […]

Continue

review: high thread count…

Jean Georges, New York There are few places in the world I’d rather be than at Jean Georges. And I’m not saying that just because I’m treated well there. (And really, who isn’t?) I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when I arrived for lunch with six dear friends.  We were there to […]

Continue

review: work in progress…

Grapefruit Cream Pie momofuku ssäm bar, New York “Approach everything as if it’s a work in progress,” two of my friends advised. Both regulars in David Chang’s momoverse*, they were trying to explain why the food at Chang’s restaurants can be uneven. Where do I get publicists like that? As my friends pointed out, the […]

Continue

review: work in progress…

Grapefruit Cream Pie momofuku ssäm bar, New York “Approach everything as if it’s a work in progress,” two of my friends advised. Both regulars in David Chang’s momoverse*, they were trying to explain why the food at Chang’s restaurants can be uneven. Where do I get publicists like that? As my friends pointed out, the […]

Continue

review: black label…

Black Label Burger Minetta Tavern, New York, New York I was missing the point, my friends chided, to be popping my Minetta Tavern cherry at brunch and not dinner. Well, I didn’t feel like popping my Minetta Tavern cherry in a madhouse, or at 5 p.m. or at 11:30 p.m., when we normal people are […]

Continue

review: black label…

Black Label Burger Minetta Tavern, New York, New York I was missing the point, my friends chided, to be popping my Minetta Tavern cherry at brunch and not dinner. Well, I didn’t feel like popping my Minetta Tavern cherry in a madhouse, or at 5 p.m. or at 11:30 p.m., when we normal people are […]

Continue