Category: travel

where my mouth has taken me…

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: 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, […]

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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, […]

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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: 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 […]

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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 […]

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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: 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: second coming of godot…

“Kesté” kesté, New York, New York So I must be like – what – the six gazillionth blogger to check in on the subject of kesté pizzeria’s highly-debated crust? Too thin? Too thick?  Crispy? Soggy? Does it have the right amount of elasticity? Too much char?  Not enough char? Honestly, I have no idea what […]

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review: second coming of godot…

“Kesté” kesté, New York, New York So I must be like – what – the six gazillionth blogger to check in on the subject of kesté pizzeria’s highly-debated crust? Too thin? Too thick?  Crispy? Soggy? Does it have the right amount of elasticity? Too much char?  Not enough char? Honestly, I have no idea what […]

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