Category: michelin

review: damn the torpedoes…

Abalone Aqua, San Francisco This review is moot.  You’ll see why in a second. To the best of my ability, a timeline: 1991: Aqua opened at 252 California Street in San Francisco with George Morrone as the executive chef. 1993: Michael Mina took the reins in the kitchen as executive chef.  He also assumed ownership […]

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review: damn the torpedoes…

Abalone Aqua, San Francisco This review is moot.  You’ll see why in a second. To the best of my ability, a timeline: 1991: Aqua opened at 252 California Street in San Francisco with George Morrone as the executive chef. 1993: Michael Mina took the reins in the kitchen as executive chef.  He also assumed ownership […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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, […]

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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, […]

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review: lovely…

Grilled Bamboo Kyoya, New York My friend Sneakeater is spot on in describing kyoya as “lovely.” The servers are adorable. The space is soothing. The ceramic serviceware is beautiful.  And the food, which is very good, leaves you feeling charmed and peaceful. Tucked away below street level in a townhouse in the East Village, kyoya […]

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review: lovely…

Grilled Bamboo Kyoya, New York My friend Sneakeater is spot on in describing kyoya as “lovely.” The servers are adorable. The space is soothing. The ceramic serviceware is beautiful.  And the food, which is very good, leaves you feeling charmed and peaceful. Tucked away below street level in a townhouse in the East Village, kyoya […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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review: thoroughly modern meyer…

Fresh Morel Mushroom and Fava Bean Salad The Modern, New York, New York I have to tell you about one of the best meals I had last year. It was at The Modern in New York. I’ve eaten twice in the The Modern Bar Room, the restaurant’s sprawling European airport lounge-like attachment (2007, 2008).  It […]

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review: thoroughly modern meyer…

Fresh Morel Mushroom and Fava Bean Salad The Modern, New York, New York I have to tell you about one of the best meals I had last year. It was at The Modern in New York. I’ve eaten twice in the The Modern Bar Room, the restaurant’s sprawling European airport lounge-like attachment (2007, 2008).  It […]

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review: for the view…

Chocolate Souffle miX, Las Vegas It was mostly for the view that Cowboy and I ascended sixty-four floors of THEhotel at Mandalay Bay after gorging ourselves silly at Aburiya Raku. It was my last night in Sin City and I wanted a cheap thrill. At the top of THEhotel is miX, Michelin mogul Alain Ducasse’s […]

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review: for the view…

Chocolate Souffle miX, Las Vegas It was mostly for the view that Cowboy and I ascended sixty-four floors of THEhotel at Mandalay Bay after gorging ourselves silly at Aburiya Raku. It was my last night in Sin City and I wanted a cheap thrill. At the top of THEhotel is miX, Michelin mogul Alain Ducasse’s […]

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review: wild goose chase…

Preserved Eggs Yung Kee, Hong Kong Roasted geese, bronze and juicy, hang in the big picture windows at Yung Kee. They’re the restaurant’s calling card. And by some accounts, they’re the only reason to visit this aging institution on Wellington Street in Central, Hong Kong. It’s certainly not for their hospitality, from what I could […]

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review: wild goose chase…

Preserved Eggs Yung Kee, Hong Kong Roasted geese, bronze and juicy, hang in the big picture windows at Yung Kee. They’re the restaurant’s calling card. And by some accounts, they’re the only reason to visit this aging institution on Wellington Street in Central, Hong Kong. It’s certainly not for their hospitality, from what I could […]

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review: in vino…

Veritas New York, New York Houston was supposed join us. It was, after all, her birthday dinner. But by the time Ms. Toidy Toid & Toid, Mr. RBI, and I were seated at Veritas, late on a rainy Friday (now, nearly a year ago), she was still circling the skies high above LaGuardia. Pity, it […]

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review: in vino…

Veritas New York, New York Houston was supposed join us. It was, after all, her birthday dinner. But by the time Ms. Toidy Toid & Toid, Mr. RBI, and I were seated at Veritas, late on a rainy Friday (now, nearly a year ago), she was still circling the skies high above LaGuardia. Pity, it […]

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