Category: restaurant review

review: pro forma…

Potato Crisp Sandwiches Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road London, U.K. I’m sure I didn’t wake up at 3 a.m. to secure a restaurant reservation only to subject myself to three plus hours of boredom at a levy of 120£. That was my fear. Thankfully, I was spared that fate. But to claim that my […]

Continue

review: pro forma…

Potato Crisp Sandwiches Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road London, U.K. I’m sure I didn’t wake up at 3 a.m. to secure a restaurant reservation only to subject myself to three plus hours of boredom at a levy of 120£. That was my fear. Thankfully, I was spared that fate. But to claim that my […]

Continue

best of 2008, the restaurant edition…

Milk Chocolate Tree Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road Boy, people sure do love lists. Since publishing the “best dishes of 2008,” I’ve received numerous emails inquiring about my best restaurant meals of 2008. As I said in that post, this year I have been blessed with many very good meals. But a few float to […]

Continue

best of 2008, the restaurant edition…

Milk Chocolate Tree Gordon Ramsay Royal Hospital Road Boy, people sure do love lists. Since publishing the “best dishes of 2008,” I’ve received numerous emails inquiring about my best restaurant meals of 2008. As I said in that post, this year I have been blessed with many very good meals. But a few float to […]

Continue

review: nose to tail…

Roast Bone Marrow St. John Restaurant, London, U.K. Do you know how long I’ve been looking forward to eating at St. John? Perhaps more than any other restaurant I had planned to visit on my recent trip to Europe, this is the one I had most desired for and thought about. That should tell you […]

Continue

review: nose to tail…

Roast Bone Marrow St. John Restaurant, London, U.K. Do you know how long I’ve been looking forward to eating at St. John? Perhaps more than any other restaurant I had planned to visit on my recent trip to Europe, this is the one I had most desired for and thought about. That should tell you […]

Continue

best dishes of 2008…

Softball-Size White Truffle l’Ambroisie, Paris, France Gastronomic self one-upsmanship was not my intention when 2008 began. But it happened quite unexpectedly. For the past three years, I’ve recapped the top 25 dishes in a year-end review (click here for 2005, here for 2006, and here for 2007). Annually, I announce with certainty that my lucky […]

Continue

best dishes of 2008…

Softball-Size White Truffle l’Ambroisie, Paris, France Gastronomic self one-upsmanship was not my intention when 2008 began. But it happened quite unexpectedly. For the past three years, I’ve recapped the top 25 dishes in a year-end review (click here for 2005, here for 2006, and here for 2007). Annually, I announce with certainty that my lucky […]

Continue

review: salt marsh umami…

Scallops with Seaweed Butter Steve Plotnicki was premature in posting his Best Meals of 2008 list, on which I am listed with Le Bernardin beneath my name. I told him as much when he sent me the questionnaire, knowing full well that my best meal just might be had whilst on my mid-December trip to […]

Continue

review: salt marsh umami…

Scallops with Seaweed Butter Steve Plotnicki was premature in posting his Best Meals of 2008 list, on which I am listed with Le Bernardin beneath my name. I told him as much when he sent me the questionnaire, knowing full well that my best meal just might be had whilst on my mid-December trip to […]

Continue

travel: crossing back over the puddle…

Lyon on Christmas Night I’ve been playing hooky. Jumping the Puddle, I recently struck out on my ugliest streak of gluttony to date. In fourteen days I pocketed 30 Michelin stars, cleared well over a hundred plates of food, consumed enough cheese to keep half of France employed, and sampled so many macarons that the […]

Continue

travel: crossing back over the puddle…

Lyon on Christmas Night I’ve been playing hooky. Jumping the Puddle, I recently struck out on my ugliest streak of gluttony to date. In fourteen days I pocketed 30 Michelin stars, cleared well over a hundred plates of food, consumed enough cheese to keep half of France employed, and sampled so many macarons that the […]

Continue

review: stuck between mouse ears and thrill rides…

Porcini Mushroom Pappardelle Primo, Orlando, Florida What’s in Orlando? I’m stuck – car-less – at a conference on the (in)famous International Drive – the ark of chain restaurants: two of each kind. Where. To. Eat? Managing to escape for a couple of meals on my own, I took refuge at the Grand Lakes Resort. It’s […]

Continue

review: stuck between mouse ears and thrill rides…

Porcini Mushroom Pappardelle Primo, Orlando, Florida What’s in Orlando? I’m stuck – car-less – at a conference on the (in)famous International Drive – the ark of chain restaurants: two of each kind. Where. To. Eat? Managing to escape for a couple of meals on my own, I took refuge at the Grand Lakes Resort. It’s […]

Continue

review: you say pastilla…

Zahav Philadelphia, Pennsylvania “Ziseh kind, there is no such thing as Israeli food,” retorted my Jersey ma, a born-and-raised-on-the-LES-right-around-the-corner-from Russ and Daughters Jew. I wouldn’t dare argue the anthropology of Israeli food with her. I suppose she is right: Israeli food, by and large, is a hodge-podge of borrowed cuisines. Michael Solomonov, former chef of […]

Continue

review: you say pastilla…

Zahav Philadelphia, Pennsylvania “Ziseh kind, there is no such thing as Israeli food,” retorted my Jersey ma, a born-and-raised-on-the-LES-right-around-the-corner-from Russ and Daughters Jew. I wouldn’t dare argue the anthropology of Israeli food with her. I suppose she is right: Israeli food, by and large, is a hodge-podge of borrowed cuisines. Michael Solomonov, former chef of […]

Continue

review: a stretch of turf…

Tinto Philadelphia, Pennsylvania If you listened carefully, through the din and drone emanating from the corner of 20th and Sansom Streets in Philadelphia on a Saturday night in July, you would have heard a rather tired yawn. That was me. It is strange how consensus can sometimes run counter-intuitively to one’s gut. After an informal […]

Continue

review: a stretch of turf…

Tinto Philadelphia, Pennsylvania If you listened carefully, through the din and drone emanating from the corner of 20th and Sansom Streets in Philadelphia on a Saturday night in July, you would have heard a rather tired yawn. That was me. It is strange how consensus can sometimes run counter-intuitively to one’s gut. After an informal […]

Continue

review: subtle innovation…

Amada Philadelphia, Pennsylvania You know you’re going to have a good time at a restaurant when you’re greeted by a half-ton bronze pig. At the whiff of good food, my name becomes Achilles and a fine selection of cheeses, especially, goes straight for my heels. That’s how Jose Garces got me in a gluttonous bind […]

Continue

review: subtle innovation…

Amada Philadelphia, Pennsylvania You know you’re going to have a good time at a restaurant when you’re greeted by a half-ton bronze pig. At the whiff of good food, my name becomes Achilles and a fine selection of cheeses, especially, goes straight for my heels. That’s how Jose Garces got me in a gluttonous bind […]

Continue