Category: restaurant review

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: 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 […]

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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 […]

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review: his peachness…

má pêche New York, New York I was supposed to have lunch at Alto. But I gotta tell you, the lunch menu at Alto looked really ho-hum. So I had lunch at má pêche instead. Besides, I wanted to see my friend Aaron, who’s a server there. If we’ve learned nothing else, it’s that David […]

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review: his peachness…

má pêche New York, New York I was supposed to have lunch at Alto. But I gotta tell you, the lunch menu at Alto looked really ho-hum. So I had lunch at má pêche instead. Besides, I wanted to see my friend Aaron, who’s a server there. If we’ve learned nothing else, it’s that David […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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review: blade runner…

CityZen Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C. I have very good instincts about restaurants. They work for me, anyway. I’d say that about 80% my restaurant experiences match my expectations. I tend to walk in with a glass slightly less than half-empty and hope that the restaurant can fill ‘er up.  If it doesn’t, there’s not a […]

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review: blade runner…

CityZen Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C. I have very good instincts about restaurants. They work for me, anyway. I’d say that about 80% my restaurant experiences match my expectations. I tend to walk in with a glass slightly less than half-empty and hope that the restaurant can fill ‘er up.  If it doesn’t, there’s not a […]

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review: pan hellenic…

komi, Washington, D.C. It was the year that April Bloomfield brought the gastro pub to the West Village, Dan Barber opened a restaurant in a stone barn in Pocantico Hills, and Grant Achatz cast a wrinkle in the fabric of modern cuisine with an archaic symbol. Joël Robuchon landed in Las Vegas at The Mansion, […]

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review: pan hellenic…

komi, Washington, D.C. It was the year that April Bloomfield brought the gastro pub to the West Village, Dan Barber opened a restaurant in a stone barn in Pocantico Hills, and Grant Achatz cast a wrinkle in the fabric of modern cuisine with an archaic symbol. Joël Robuchon landed in Las Vegas at The Mansion, […]

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review: a tropical umbrella…

Mango-Anchovy Ravioli Cafe Atlantico, Washington, D.C. I can’t believe that I lived in Washington, D.C. and never once stepped foot in Cafe Atlantico. Jaleo, yes.  But never Cafe Atlantico. Neither did I visit Jose Andres’s Mediterranean “mezze” restaurant, Zaytinya, which opened shortly before I moved away, or minibar, which always seemed (and still seems) like […]

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review: a tropical umbrella…

Mango-Anchovy Ravioli Cafe Atlantico, Washington, D.C. I can’t believe that I lived in Washington, D.C. and never once stepped foot in Cafe Atlantico. Jaleo, yes.  But never Cafe Atlantico. Neither did I visit Jose Andres’s Mediterranean “mezze” restaurant, Zaytinya, which opened shortly before I moved away, or minibar, which always seemed (and still seems) like […]

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review: one fish, two fish, three fish, goldfish…

Goldfish Hank’s Oyster Bar, Washington, D.C. Goldfish. Pepperidge Farm Goldfish is what they give you to snack on while you look over the menu at Hank’s Oyster Bar. I’m assuming they do this at both locations.  I was at the original location near Dupont on a recent Saturday for brunch, drawn by a sudden yen […]

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review: one fish, two fish, three fish, goldfish…

Goldfish Hank’s Oyster Bar, Washington, D.C. Goldfish. Pepperidge Farm Goldfish is what they give you to snack on while you look over the menu at Hank’s Oyster Bar. I’m assuming they do this at both locations.  I was at the original location near Dupont on a recent Saturday for brunch, drawn by a sudden yen […]

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review: happy in the kitchen…

Ahi Tuna Burger Central Michel Richard, Washington, D.C. The temperature was dropping rapidly.  In the hour it took to get from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to lunch, the thermometer trimmed itself of nearly twenty degrees.  Cold rain might turn into snow, they said.  Freezing temperatures were expected by early evening. […]

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review: happy in the kitchen…

Ahi Tuna Burger Central Michel Richard, Washington, D.C. The temperature was dropping rapidly.  In the hour it took to get from the airport to the hotel and from the hotel to lunch, the thermometer trimmed itself of nearly twenty degrees.  Cold rain might turn into snow, they said.  Freezing temperatures were expected by early evening. […]

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review: initialism…

Bay Scallops SPQR, San Francisco An unassuming eatery tucked away in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, S.P.Q.R. is probably best known as the more casual cousin to A16.  Both restaurants are were co-owned by Nate Appleman, who was, for a time, the culinary darling au current of America. But Appleman has quieted down […]

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review: initialism…

Bay Scallops SPQR, San Francisco An unassuming eatery tucked away in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, S.P.Q.R. is probably best known as the more casual cousin to A16.  Both restaurants are were co-owned by Nate Appleman, who was, for a time, the culinary darling au current of America. But Appleman has quieted down […]

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