Babbo Ristorante NYC - Too Successful for your own good

I have been to many transporting Northern Italian "pasta" based restaurants. I have been to most of Mario Batali's restaurants and have found them to be world class. From Del Posto to Casa Mono and The Spotted Pig Mario finds great chefs, has high standards, and does a great job. The problem with Babbo is that is WAY TOO popular for your own good as a diner. The place is so busy and so crowded that, while it is an exciting mob scene experience, they simply cannot provide the world class food and service that the menu, chef, ingredients, staff, and venue is capable of.



I hate to say this as a diner but I know it to be true: Mario needs to literally double the prices here to get "crowd control" and quality control. I know this because I had one of the best meals of my life at the B&B Ristorante in the Venetian in Las Vegas eating the same menu items I had a Babbo. The B&B is a virtual knockoff of Babbo also owned by Mario and Bastianich. The room, menu, and everything is almost identical - but it is not over crowded - and guess what? The prices for each identical dish are almost double what they are at Babbo - which is a general reversal of what I find most NYC celebrity chef restaurant price comparisons with the Las Vegas spinoffs.



I believe Mario and Bastianich are intentionally pricing low and overstuffing the place with diners as a homage to their first really successful restaurant - it is almost a public service to them to allow as many people as possible to enjoy the place. I can easily see why many people think this is an incredible value and unbelievable menu - it is just not what it could and should be.

Ingredients are King at Eleven Madson Park

This is not the first time Eleven Madison Park has been reviewed on this blog; we ate there about a year ago and were very favorably impressed. But Eleven Madison Park is, in some ways, almost a completely different restaurant than it was a year ago. They've revamped their menu, not only in terms of the dishes offered, but also in terms of the concept. Now, rather than a list of dishes accompanied by descriptions, EMP's menu consists of a grid. Each space is occupied by a single word, such as "coffee" or "chicken" or "anise." You select either four or six items. The idea here is that the preparations of each dish will change frequently (made malleable by seasonal ingredients and chefly inspiration) or may be tailored to diner preferences. An interesting concept in principle, but it suffered in execution on the day we ate there.

After explaining how the menu "worked," our server did not then follow up with any dish descriptions. Rather, it was on us to ask. There were probably over 25 different dishes on the menu, and it felt awkward to ask about more than 3 or 4. Plus, once a dish was described to you, it felt sort of churlish not to order it (or was hard to process and remember all the details); almost as if you thought it didn't sound good. So, ordering was kind of a gamble. Some of the throws of the dice payed off, others didn't.

We chose the 4 course option, as it was lunch and we didn't want to spend the whole rest of the groaning we'd eaten too much.

As was the case the last time we ate at EMP, we got a lot more than four courses. There were several amuse bouche dishes, as well as palate cleansers between courses - among them were some of the best bites out of the whole meal.

The first amuse was a silky chicken veloute served in a coffee cup and accompanied by brioche toasts drizzled with truffle butter and chives. This dish blew me away because it was simple yet incredibly elevated. Plus, it tasted fabulous - hands down probably the best thing we had.

The second amuse was also quite special, a light lemon and Sturgeon sabayon with chive oil and small bits of sturgeon fish, all served in an egg shell. I'm not into really fishy things, so this dish immediately made me nervous, but I needn't have worried. The seafood flavors were subtle and well balanced by the lemon and chive oil.

For the first course, two of us chose the cold foie gras preparation, a mousse served with pineapple, pickled onions, and brioche toasts. On the side was a foie gras creme brulee (which struck me as quite original). The pineapple was an especially inspired sweet accompaniment.

The other two of us chose the prawns. These were served cold, poached and presented in a briny broth (also cold) alongside a green apple granita. As with other times I've had prawn combined with sweet elements (I'm thinking here of a prawn prepared sous vide with vanilla bean), it just didn't quite work for me. The prawns and broth seemed overly fishy and didn't, in my view, pair well with the cold apple granita. My husband, however, really enjoyed this dish.

For the next course, three of us chose the butter-poached lobster served with roasted chestnuts and a butternut squash puree. The lobster was rich and cooked just right; the pairing with the butternut puree was very wintry and satisfying. I could have done with fewer chestnuts.

My husband's second course was crab. This turned out to be King Crab served over a housemade egg tagliatelle pasta and a lemony butter sauce. It was very, very good and incredibly rich. Other main courses included a beef fillet with bernaise sauce topped with seared foie gras, chives, and sweet caramelized onion. This was (as you might guess) rich and decadent. I had the pork loin, which was served alongside a crispy/fatty pork belly with parsnip puree, horseradish and pear.

The desserts were the weakest link in the meal - poorly described (even by their single descriptor) and the least well-executed. Two of us had the dish described only as "chocolate." Oddly, there was very little chocolate present in the dessert. It might better have been labeled "squash" - there were butternut squash ice creams, caramelized winter squashes, and so on. Very little chocolate was present, and what was there didn't pair well with the squash. I had the "lemon" dessert, which was pretty good. There was a little lemon cake topped with lemon curd, candied lemon, and lemon foam.

All in all, I like the idea/concept EMP is trying with their menu, but found the execution spotty.

Del Posto Decadence

Christmas in New York - and I can think of no better way to celebrate than a sumptuous meal at Del Posto, Mario Batali's classy northern Italian joint in Chelsea.

Recently given a glowing review by the New York Times, Del Posto offers excellent service, a luxurious ambiance (think lots of flickering candlelight and red velvet), and perfectly prepared food (especially pastas and meat).

In fact, the only slightly off note of the entire evening was the amuse bouche. Typically a single perfect bite, the Del Posto amuse was instead a platter of small bites meant to represent the Feast of the Seven Fishes (so, perhaps this was a holiday thing). Some of the bites were quite amazing - a smoked scallop stood out in particular. Otherwise this just didn't seem like the right kind of thing to serve at such a fancy restaurant.

However, some Prosecco helped it all go down.

There are several tasting menu options at Del Posto; we chose the five course meal, in which you select your own starter and main course and then pick two pastas to share for the whole table. Dessert follows. It was more than enough food.

Among the starters chosen were a thinly sliced prosciutto, a salad of roasted autumn vegetables with black truffle dressing, and a spicy, fried calamari with capers and a mustard sauce. The prosciutto was, well, prosciutto. The autumn veggies were hearty (this salad was huge) and definitely elevated by the creamy truffle dressing, but the real standout was the calamari. The batter itself was spicy, while still remaining ethereally light and crispy. Total awesomeness.

The two pastas we chose to share were both completely amazing. We started with the Caramelle di Gorgonzola Dolce with Black Truffle Butter, basically beautiful little bow-tie pastas stuffed with Gorgonzola and drizzled with a rich butter sauce lazed with black truffle. Each person was served perhaps three of these; they were so decadent that three almost seemed like too many.

The second pasta was a homemade green garganelli tubular pasta with a ragu Bolognaise that many Italian grandmothers would probably commit murder for. Ugh. It was fabulous.

For the mains, two of our number decided to share the Grilled Veal Chop. It was served with some yummy sounding sides, but the meat was the thing here. God lord, the chop was HUGE. I got a bite or two (had to wrestle them away, though), and the flesh was cooked to perfection and seasoned all the way through. If you eat here and you like veal, you should definitely order this dish.

I had the duck breast with Apician spices (cooked just so, and with an impressively crispy skin minus all the usual fat), and my mom went for the wood-grilled lobster served in the half-shell with a basil sauce. The basil and lobster was a weird, but wonderful, combination.

Dinner was enjoyed with a Gresy Barberesco, G. Belzano wine.

Dessert at Del Posto was a mixed affair. Everything was good, but really only a few of the desserts were true standouts.

A pineapple crostada with gelato was refreshing, a butterscotch semifredo rich, and a chocolate tasting of 4 solid chocolates was more interesting on the menu than on the plate. But, the Chocolate Tortino was goooood - layers of chocolate sponge cake and ricotta, all coated in a chocolate shell and served with Olive Oil gelato, it was delicious.

The price tag on this meal was high, but overall, I think it's worth the price. We'll try Babbo next, as it's supposed to have equally great food but slightly lower prices.

Bon Appetit!

Restaurant Review: Peasant

Restaurant Name: Peasant
Restaurant Location: 194 Elizabeth Street, NYC

Peasant is a big, welcoming, inoffensive place. The atmosphere is very rustic and laid-back. It's warm (due to the big wood-burning pizza oven in the back), which is great as winter grabs us all in a stranglehold, and the staff and servers make you feel at home. The food is good, but not intimidating. It's exactly the sort of spot I'd recommend to out-of-towners who want a meal that will be easy, relaxed, and please everyone. That being said, while everything was well-prepared, the food didn't stand out as exceptional.

We dined with a party of four, including vegetarians (who had no problem finding choices on the menu). I started with the burrata served with drizzled olive oil and roasted tomatoes. The burrata was creamy and nice with the olive oil, but a little too close to mozzarella for my own tastes (what I love about burrata is the creamy, gooey center, and this was a bit lacking). For an entree, I opted for one of their house-made pizzas with hot chilies and sausage. It was good, and the chilies did take it to the next level flavor-wise. The crust was super-thin, charred, and crispy. Nothing to complain about, but not the stuff of fevered dreams, either.

As it's impossible for him to dine somewhere that offers roast suckling pig and not order it, my husband had the porchetta arosto. It was fine, if maybe a little dry. If you want awesome roast suckling pig, get thee to Maialino.

I know we had dessert, and that it tasted nice, but I can't remember what it was (And I can remember intricate details of specific dishes I had over ten years ago, so that tells you something right there).

So. Peasant is pleasant. Take your relatives there when they come to visit. Or go there with a big group who usually can't agree on food; the place is lovely and has something for everyone.

Bon Appetit!

Restaurant Review: Mercat

Restaurant Name: Mercat
Restaurant Location: 45 Bond Street, NYC

As someone who always wants to eat widely across a menu but can't pack in too much chow before getting full, I am in love with the 'small plates' concept. I am even more in love with the Spanish version of small plates: tapas. I've reviewed a number of New York City tapas restaurants on this blog (see reviews of Boqueria, Casa Mono, and Tia Pol). Today I add one more to that tally.

Mercat specializes in Catalan cuisine. Centered around Barcelona, the Catalan region focuses on it's local abundance of great seafood, cured meats, and cheeses. All of these are featured on the menu at Mercat, and they have fabulous wines, too.

My favorite tapas dish, hands down, is patatas bravas (fried potatoes kissed with spicy pimenton and garlic, often in the form of an aioli). I always order them and I judge a tapas restaurant by the awesomeness (or lack of awesomeness) of their patatas bravas. On this score, Mercat passed with flying colors. The potatoes were light and crispy and the sauce was creamy and spicy. While my fellow diners weren't looking, I slid the dish over to my side of the table and ate them all.

Other offerings at Mercat were equally sublime. The piquillo peppers stuffed with short rib and served with caramelized beans were oh-so-good, as were the mushrooms with fried egg and salsa verde (though not quite as fabulous as a similar dish we had in Madrid this Fall...but close).

My biggest gripe with Mercat, however, would be it's lack of consistency. While some dishes were standouts and very memorable, others were just...blah--not bad, not great, and not very flavorful.

For instance, the grilled hanger steak with cipollini onions and crispy sweet potatoes should have hummed with meaty, salty, onion-y goodness, but it was under-seasoned. The short noodles with sepia and ink (pushed by our server) was downright too fishy and generally ick. Other dishes, like the Cod with artichokes and Romanesco, were well-enough prepared but forgotten soon after we finished eating them.

We asked our server for a wine recommendation and he selected a very full-bodied, blended red that we couldn't stop drinking. It was goooood. I drank too much of it to remember what it was called.

Service was attentive and friendly and the restaurant dark and cozy, lit with lots of candles. It was very convivial and we had a wonderful time eating there. Go with friends, get lots of wine, and accept that some dishes will blow your mind and others will...not.

Bon Appetit!

Maialino: Dishing on The Whole Hog

Restaurant Name: Maialino
Restaurant Location: 2 Lexington Avenue, New York

Located in a quiet and idyllic spot just off Gramercy Park (actually off the lobby of the Gramercy Park Hotel), Maialino is Danny Meyer's latest gift to New York City. For this outing, Meyer has chosen to focus his Italian restaurant around that most humble-yet-glorious of beasts: the pig.

For regular readers of this blog, it will come as little surprise that I'm yet again extolling the virtues of a meat-centric, pork-heavy eatery. Vegetarian I am not, and Maialino would indeed be a tough sell for a vegetarian. There is very little on the menu to serve the herbivorous among us (even the side vegetables have bacon, guanciale, and the like in them).

Like many of Meyer's restaurants, Maialino offers diners two approaches to their meal. If you've made a reservation (about 2 weeks in advance), you can eat in the dining room. If you want to walk in and take your chances, then there is a bar area in the front with smaller, more casual tables. The service seems equally friendly-yet-distracted in both parts of the restaurant, and the menus are also roughly the same...BUT with slightly different specials.

There's the rub. The special dish at Maialino is the whole roasted suckling pig (serves 3-4). You can order this any day of the week in the dining room, but only on occasion in the bar. So, if you want to ensure you can have the pig, you gotta make a reservation. It's well worth doing this once. The suckling pig is truly awesome.

The meat is roasted to a melty, tender sigh-inducing perfection. Every bite of meat remains moist while the skin (oh, the skin!!) is crispy and toothsome and so very flavorful. It is, quite literally, the most perfect pig skin I have ever eaten.

The whole roasted pig is, as you'd expect, a gigantic portion. Our waiter claimed that 2 people could wrestle it down, but we gorged ourselves and still had about half of the meat left over. This actually turned out to be a good problem to have. Maialino's pig makes for great sandwiches later in the week. Though, a tip to the wise, the skin does not reheat very well - so be sure to gobble as much of that down at the restaurant as possible.

Oh, and the pig comes with roasted rosemary potatoes...you know, just to make it look a bit less like you are ordered and are eating nothing but a whole pig.

The other offerings at Maialino are also excellent. The first time we ate there we dined in the bar and shared a bunch of delicious pastas, cheeses, cured meats, and wine.

The super-awesome Malfati pasta came with a ragu of (you guessed it) suckling pig and fresh arugula. It was gone before I even realized I'd eaten it, though we found the Carbonara pasta to be overwhelmingly peppery. They've got an impressive selection of cheeses and house-cured meats to munch on. If you feel compelled to eat a vegetable here, I recommend the Kale with Chickpeas and Pancetta.

We were so full by the time dessert rolled around that nothing really sound good, so we let our waiter chose the bread pudding for us. It came out looking a little unglamorous, but DAMN, it was good. It was a classic brioche pudding plated via a ring mold. Inside was a warm, melted reservoir of chocolate. Yes, please.

Overall, Maialino was a big win in my books. If you go, though, please be sure to save me some roast suckling pig.

Bon Appetit!

Prime Meats, Cholesterol, and You

Restaurant Name: Prime Meats
Restaurant Location: 457 Court Street, Brooklyn

Getting past the starting gate at Prime Meats can be a pain. They don't take reservations and the wait is usually long, even if you show up early. But once you're in....it is *so* worth it.

The atmosphere is sort of rustic-meets-classy, with lots of dark wood and an old-school tavern feel. But the place somehow still appears bright and white-tablecloth-y, too.



The menu revolves around meat, much of which is cured or in sausage form, though there's a standout burger and a massive steak. Bottom line: you want to show up here hungry and carnivorous.

We were surprised, though, to find a lot of temptation beckoning from the first page of the menu - starters and salads. With more than six salads to choose from, we debated awhile before deciding to share the evening's special - a frisee salad tossed with smoked, thick-cut bacon and topped with a poached duck egg and a bacon vinaigrette. Honestly, it was obscene how good this salad was. Silky egg yolk, salty and greasy bacon, sharp and slightly bitter frisee. We ate it all with great relish, let me tell you.

The other starter we shared was the Roasted Beef Bone Marrow served with gremolata, radishes, roasted garlic, and toast. I've had a lot of bone marrow in my day. You might even call me a connoisseur. This one was the most awesomely fabulous I've had--by far. The lemon zest in the gremolata just woke all the other flavors up, its tartness playing off the rich marrow. And the roasted garlic - what a super idea! Smeared on the bread underneath the quivering marrow, it add depth and complexity.

At this point I was pretty much thinking that dinner could not possible get better, that perhaps we should just ask for the check and leave before things went downhill (I know, what a pessimist, right?). Well, I was both right and wrong.

I had ordered the burger. It came out all juicy and sloppy and dripping with cheese, served along a house-made dill pickle and plenty of fries. It was pink all the way through, toothsome, and all around one of the best burgers I have ever had anywhere.

My husband had ordered the Sukrut Garnie - a platter of pork belly, bratwurst, calf tongue, and knackworst. It was served with mustard, some potatoes, and sauerkraut. This was a bit hit and miss. Some of the sausages were a little dry. The calf's tongue (predictably, I suppose) was not very good. Overall, this dish was a little bit of a letdown. From what we've heard from friends (and what we witnessed other diners having), it looked like the Weisswurst might have been a better bet.

Did we have dessert? I honestly can't even remember. I think I must have been dazed from all the fat and cholesterol (and possibly still a little drunk off that glorious burger).

In sum: totally awesome.

BARK: Delicious Dogs in Brooklyn

Restaurant Name: Bark

Restaurant Location: 474 Bergen Street, Park Slope, Brooklyn

Picture this: a hot dog joint committed to local, sustainable ingredients of the highest quality all done up in reclaimed woods with a retro diner-esque feel. And they have absurdly good milkshakes. Welcome to Bark.

Homemade pickles, heritage pork and free range chicken from Upstate NY and ice cream from Il Laboritorio de Gelato are just some of the great ingredients that elevate these hot dogs, burgers, and milkshakes well above the ordinary and make them (almost) worth paying $5-6 bucks apiece for.

After an early Spring Saturday in the park, Bark is just the way to round out the afternoon.

Bon Appetit!

Blue Ribbon, Brooklyn: Order Smart, Leave Happy

Restaurant Name: Blue Ribbon Brasserie

Restaurant Location: 280 5th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn

My husband and I have lived in Park Slope for about two years now but have been leery of eating at Blue Ribbon. We've heard rave reviews and total pans. We've heard it's expensive but worth every penny and so outrageously overpriced and overrated as to be utterly avoided. Finally, (after deciding we'd spent enough money at Al di La for a little while), we went to investigate Blue Ribbon for ourselves.

Boy, am I glad we did. Here's what we learned: order smart and you will leave Blue Ribbon very happy.

The menu here is big, and rambling, and suffers a little bit from multiple personality disorder. Recently, though, I read a write-up on the owners in Saveur Magazine. Apparently, they trained at Le Cordon Blue and decided to open their own spot that brought excellence to all their favorite comfort foods. Hence the very eclectic menu...and the excellence that comes close to justifying the high prices.

One thing we noticed about the menu at Blue Ribbon is that *everything* is expensive. From the fried chicken all the way up to the lobster, you can plan on paying in the ballpark of $30 bucks for an entree. So, why not get the most luxurious foods? I mean, even if the fried chicken totally rocks the house (which I hear it does), you might feel cheated paying $26 bucks for it. But an awesome steamed lobster seems like a fairly good deal at $30 bucks. Ditto for a paella that is big enough to feed two and full of luscious seafood.

The other thing we learned was that if you arrive early, they have a Happy Hour special on fresh oysters - another way to incorporate more luxury for less money.

We started with the aforementioned oysters as well as a rich, creamy, glistening plate of roasted marrow bones that was To. Die. For. This was followed up by the classic, perfectly cooked lobster with drawn butter and a baked potato and the Basque Paella with shrimp, mussels, chicken, and various other yummy seafoods (which purports to serve one but is more than enough for two). Stuffed by this excess of riches, we finished with a single scoop of mango sorbet - the promise of summer in a little bowl.

With a carafe of wine and the tip, our bill came out to about $120, the same as if we'd eaten at Al di La, but with a greater emphasis on rich, special occasion foods. We walked (okay, teetered) out onto 5th Avenue full and happy.

Bon Appetit!

Bar Jamon: Wine, Tapas, and Dark Corners

Restaurant Name: Bar Jamon

Restaurant Location: 125 E. 17th Street, NYC

Bar Jamon is the teeny tiny sister location to Mario Batali's Casa Mono, with whom it shares a corner (and a kitchen) near Union Square. Atmospheric, with its dark wood and low lighting, this bar provides the perfect spot for drinks and excellent tapas. The place is truly miniscule and can fill up fast, but patient hovering usually pays off.

Bar Jamon is a great place to do nothing but drink wine (served by the bottle or in cuartos, which amount to about a glass and a half), but they also have a pretty extensive menu of gorgeous, creative tapas, too (the menu does not overlap with that at Casa Mono).

Over the course of a couple of visits, here's what I've tried (all of which I'd happily recommend):

The Coach Farm Piquillo consists of a glistening piquillo pepper stuffed with herbed Coach Farm goat cheese and served on a bed of raddichio and citrus fruits. It's much larger than I'd expected (more than enough for two to share), and the bed of tangy fruits and lettuces provides a delicious counterpoint to the plump, rich cheese-stuffed pepper reclining atop it.

The Pulpo with Spiced Garbanzos was also much bigger than anticipated and consisted of perfectly grilled meaty sections of octopus served on a mound of crisp, spicy garbanzo beans. I'm not usually a big fan of octopus, I guess partly because it's often poorly prepared, but this was excellent. My only complaint would be that the garbanzos were a bit dull; they didn't bring much to the overall preparation. They might have been better fried (as so many things are).

The thinly sliced Chorizo with Pickled Peppers was a smaller portion - about five or six wafer-like rounds of chorizo with a tangle of peppers piled atop. Very edible, but nothing out of the ordinary here.

Finally, the Jamon Serrano was a generous portion of really lovely, tender cured serrano ham served with chewy Italian bread. This by itself would be a great accompaniment to a cuarto of wine.

And, speaking of wine, I've sampled three different cuartos at Bar Jamon:
the Oro de Castillo, a bright and tany Verdejo; the Agro de Bazan, a full, lush Albarino; and the Olivares, a very drinkable Garnacha with a good finish. Most of the cuartos range from $9 to $19, and at the lower end of that scale, the Garnacha was an especially good deal.

Bon Appetit!

A New Favorite Bar in Carroll Gardens: The JakeWalk

Restaurant Name: The JakeWalk

Restaurant Location: 282 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Last weekend, my husband and I were in need of a fun place to eat before heading to the movies at Cobble Hill Cinema. Happily, we stumbled onto a place that has now become my new favorite bar: the JakeWalk.

All dark wood and dim lighting, the JakeWalk has the feel of an old-school bar without the sour booze smell and lack of food options. A small space with a wrap-around bar and two rows of charmingly rickety tables, the JakeWalk offers up creative cocktails, great wine, and solid tap beers. It also has an enticing menu - one whole side of which is devoted just to cheeses and charcuterie (heaven!). We selected from among nearly 30 cheeses and a diverse selection of sausages. The food was delivered on a wooden cutting board; each cheese happily paired with a bit of fruit preserves. Favorites included the Seal Bay Triple Cream cow's milk and the hot, addictive chorizo coins.

They also have a number of entrees on offer, all comforting and hearty. We tried the Chicken Pot Pie (satisfying, creamy, and salty but not mind-blowing) and next time will not pass up the baked Mac & Cheese with pepperjack and a side of Duck Rillette (had we not already gorged ourselves on charcuterie, we would have definitely tried the rillette or the country pate). For cheese lovers, there is also a fondue entree of emmenthaler and aged cheddar served with bread and an array of meats. In fact, I'm starting to salivate just writing this review...might be time to plan another trip to the JakeWalk.

In sum: great wine, awesome cheese and charcuterie list, homey entrees, good service, and no wait for a table.

Bon Appetit!

Occasional Dinners in Park Slope: Now For Something Different

Restaurant Name: Cafe du Charme

Restaurant Location: 668 President Street

This tiny little Euro-cafe on quiet President Street in Park Slope serves up coffee, pastries, and conversation during the day. But at night, just once per a week, the owner pulls all the little tables together and covers them with linens and candlelight. He turns to the stove and prepares a home-cooked meal for 6 or 7 lucky people who all come together in the communal space and share an evening with strangers.

We live just up the block from Cafe du Charme and pop in pretty regularly during daytime operating hours. When we heard the owner, Christian, was starting up his occasional dinners, we decided to check it out.

The atmosphere and space are great for this purpose. The cafe is truly tiny and so it works well as a private dining space. We felt that we had been invited into a friend's home. In addition to us, there were five other diners, all of them strangers. Of course, there are pros and cons, to communal dining with people you've not met before. But the interest provided by meeting new people usually outweighs potential awkwardness. The conversation was interesting and lively and punctuated throughout with plates of steaming, hearty food.

The cuisine offered up for dinner was strongly Swiss-German in its orientation. We started with lovely warm bowls of soup (puree of celery root with apples and cinnamon) - filling but not heavy. The main course was a roast of beef slowly braised in red wine until tender and silky. It was served with stewed red cabbage and rich, buttery mashed potatoes. Dessert was a milk chocolate mousse with strawberries. At one point during dinner, the owner commented that he does not view himself as a chef. And, indeed, rather than fussed-over, carefully arranged offerings, the food was more in the style of an accomplished home cook - hearty, generous, and satisfying.

So, if you are interested in something a bit out of the ordinary - grab a bottle of wine and go have dinner in a cafe occasionally transformed into a welcoming kitchen for a few intrepid strangers.

Bon Appetit!

Sakagura: Japanese Tapas Heaven

Restaurant Name: Sakagura

Restaurant Location: 211 E. 43rd Street, NYC

Last week my husband and I had one of the best meals we've enjoyed in some time. The food was sublime, the service impeccable and gracious, the atmosphere tranquil and romantic.

So, where is this lost paradise, this culinary katmandu, you ask? Answer: in the basement of an apartment building in the lonely canyons beyond Grand Central Station.

Seriously? Seriously.

Sakagura is indeed tucked away in an unlikely venue, but when you make the final turn around the staircase, you enter another world. It's like finding a secret doorway to a magical land.

Sakagua is basically a Japanese tapas & sake house. Don't go here expecting sushi, because they don't serve it. Instead, you will find an extensive, authentic menu of Japanese small plates, all of which can be happily enjoyed with a selection from their incredible sake menu, or with a lovely cold beer.

We tried a good handful of dishes, though I wish we'd had time to try even more (we had to rush off to the ballet). Favorites included:

Hirame Ponzu, or Thinly Sliced Fluke Sashimi Topped with Grated Dikon Radish Dressed with a Citrus Vinaigrette. The sashimi was so, so, so good. I could have eaten plate after plate of this fresh, delightful dish.

For hot dishes, we loved the house special Buta Kakune, or Tender Pork Belly simmered in a sweet, salty, savory addictive sauce. This is one of the best pork belly dishes I've ever had. The entire portion of meat was incredibly tender and the sauce coated and clung to the whole fatty, glistening mess in a way that begged you to just pick up the delicate little bowl and pour it straight into your mouth.

The Gyu Miso Nikomi, or Shredded Beef Back Ribs Stewed in Miso Topped with Grated Dikon Radish were also a big hit at our table. The meat, again, was really tender and the sauce, while savory, had some indefinable element of sweetness that was completely seductive.

Other delightful bites included:
Ijura Oroshi, or Grated Daikon Radish Topped with Fresh Salmon Roe. The radish was like a pillow, or a cloud perhaps, on top of which glistening orange roe were perched. A little soy sauce added just the right amount of flavor to this subtle, silky dish.

The steak grilled on a hot stone was more fun than it was outstanding, but the beef was of extremely high quality and the novelty of cooking it on the hot stone gave the meal a playful element.

Desserts at Sakagura are also excellent - we shared the Black Sesame Creme Brulee, which was creamy and not too sweet. Very, very good.

Best of all, the service at Sakagura is top-notch. I was extremely impressed with their attentiveness, timing, and generally friendly attitude. It made me realize how often service at many NYC restaurants is lacking, or lackluster.

In sum, we honestly can't wait for an opportunity to go back.

Bon Appetit!

A Hit and a Miss in Park Slope, Brooklyn

In the last week, my husband and I have tried two restaurants new to us on Park Slope's 5th Avenue. One, Lobo, was a huge miss (in every respect) and the other, Brooklyn Fish Camp, a delight. Here's the skinny on both:

MISS: Lobo, 188 5th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn.
In search of a place to watch the playoffs and eat a little dinner, my husband and I popped into Lobo last weekend. This Tex-Mex restaurant, however, had awful and indifferent service, unpalatable food, and a lonely atmosphere. We sat at the bar where we were essentially ignored by the bartender. After we'd managed to attract his attention (we were two of only four people seated here, by the way) and order drinks, we perused the rather conventional menu. My husband settled on pork tacos and I went for the cheese and bean chalupa. The food was crated out in record time (a sure sign that very little was prepared to order) on huge, boat-like plates that would have individually served an entire football team. If the food had been good, this might have been nice (leftovers!); however, it was so bland, insipid, and uninspired that I left 80% of it behind. The worst part: the processed cheese they used on the chalupa (pretty much everything tasted like it came out of a can). We will most definitely not be returning here and would advise others to seek out better Mexican food down the street at El Jalapeno or up on 7th Avenue.




HIT: Brooklyn Fish Camp, 162 5th Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Fish Camp is pretty well known, yet we only got around to giving it a try recently. And I'm so happy that we did! The place itself is quite small and has a charming atmosphere. Past the bar, you'll find a handful of tables, each with a view of the open kitchen where all the seafood magic takes places. Fish Camp features whole roasted fish, lobster (in the shell or as lobster rolls), a smattering of more elegant fish preparations, and a series of sandwiches. I went for the pan-seared cod sandwich, which was served on a fabulous and fresh roll with a lemony-garlicky aioli and arugula. It was SO GOOD. The sandwich came with shoestring frites that were incredibly addictive. My husband had the shrimp tacos, which I think he might have regretted ordering. They tasted good, but the fish seems to be the source of the best dishes here.

Char No. 4: Meat, Smoke, Whiskey, Good

Restaurant Name: Char No. 4
Restaurant Location: 196 Smith Street, Brooklyn, NY


(photo credit: Robyn Lee)

Sid and I have been eying Char No. 4 up like a leg of lamb for some time now. And, finally, last night, we took a bite. Did it live up to our drool-inducing expectations? Hell yes.

First, this is no place for vegetarians. I believe I saw some sort of vegetarian pasta on the menu...but let's face it: however upscale this spot might be, it's a bbq joint and in bbq cooking, veggies are a garnish. Plus, the meat here is awesome - perfectly cooked, perfectly smoked, and super-tender.

For starters, we had the Smoked and Fried Pork Nuggets with Char No. 4 Hot Sauce and the House Cured Lamb Pastrami with Coriander Aoili and Rye Toasts. Both were great. The nuggets were super-crisp on the outside and soft, soft, soft inside (the interior was smoked, minced pork meat) While delicious, I think I might have preferred meat that had not been minced. The sauce was HOT and though it was advertised as a "house" sauce, it tasted suspiciously like Sirracha to me.

The pastrami (pictured above) was delicate, sweet, salty, and generally fabulous. It was mounded atop a mustardy aoili and topped with pickled onions and tiny micro-cilantro (which I'd never had...and LOVED). I'm not certain I've seen Sid eat anything quite so happily in all my life.

For dinner, we tried the House Smoked Spare Ribs with Jalapeno-Bacon Cornbread and Baked Beans and the Smoked Pork and Maple Sausage with Brussels Sprouts and Bacon. Again, both were great. The ribs were very meaty and very juicy. The outsides were crusty with spices (though the sauce they were served with was perhaps a bit on the vinegary side). The cornbread was the most awesome thing EVER. I could have consumed an entire plate and still wanted more. It was fluffy, tender, flecked with fresh jalapeno, studded with crisp bacon, and served with honey butter. Good lord.

The beans were the big disappointment of the evening. Cloying, thick, and almost crunchy (undercooked?)--they generally sucked.

The housemade pork sausage was delicious - very juicy, creamy with pork fat, and slightly sweet from the maple. It was served on a bed of tiny Brussels sprouts that had been sauted with crisp bacon nuggets and (I think) some hazelnuts. Very rich.

Though Char No. 4 is billed as a Whiskey house (and they have a truly impressive array of Whiskey cocktails, etc.), they also have a small but solid wine and beer list. Overall, great food and drinks, friendly, helpful service and a fun atmosphere. Plus, there's that cornbread....mmmmmmm.

Bon Appetit!

Top Food Experiences of the Decade

In no particular order the following is a list of the Great sources of entertaining company and awesome food enjoyed over the decade just completed.

Chefs Steve and Miranda: Meals at home and on vacations with family and friends have in many ways been the best of all. Over this decade I like to think I have learned to plan, select, prepare, and serve many truly outstanding meals. Sharing that joy and gift with my daughter Miranda has added a depth and breadth to our relationship that is inestimable and truly treasured. Today we Skype several times a week about cooking, and food.

Thomas Keller: Per Se in NY and Bouchon Bistro in Yountville and Las Vegas have been enjoyed with Family as really top experiences. Meeting Thomas Keller, touring his kitchen with him, and the sublime meal at Per Se is a real life experience for me. Also the Thomas Keller French Laundry, Bouchon, and Ad Hoc cookbooks have been life changing in the evoluion of my cooking techniques.

Jason Wilson: Chef Jason Wilson and his restaurant Crush have provided some of the best and perhaps the most memorable (my daughter Miranda's wedding dinner in our garden, meals of my life. Jason has a skill in the kitchen, especially with sous vide cooking, that really speaks to my palate.

Hostellerie Jérôme - Bruno Cirino: This restaurant in La Turbie France has provided many awesome meals with family and friends. It is definitely the location of my foodie daughter Miranda's food epiphany. My love of France, French food, French Service, and the amuse bouche has really been influenced by Bruno Cirino and his wonderful restaurant.

Restaurant Le Clos de la Violette Aix-en-Provence - France : A wonderful long lunch here with Cindy, Miranda, and hosted by our good friends Beth Presslar and Raleigh Roarch is one of my fondest food memories. A 3 hour drive from opposite directions for both of us - getting hopelessly lost for an hour within a block of the restaurant and then and sublime meal. thank you Beth and Raleigh

Les Deux Freres Restaurant Roquebrune - France Many lunch's on the Patio overlooking Monte Carlo and Cap Martin with family and friends like Bill, Shirley, and Melania Page are truly memorable. In many seasons, states of health, weather, I can actually remember them all with great fondness. I believe that a trip there with Melania started her on her route to being an expat in Europe.

La Favorita Restaurant Apricale Italy - Zabaglone! Shirley drinking everyones Grappa! - What a fun little village restaurant high in the hills, on a little road that follows an ancient abandoned Roman aqueduct. Again, many a fine meal with friends and family.


Carla Giomi wine and food guide, San Gimignano Italy - My first great food trip and travel bonding experience with my daughter Amy was an Epiculinary Trip to Italy in November 2001 with Carla as our guide. Cindy and I subsequently went back and revisited most of the spots with Carla in 2002. Part of the tour with Amy was a tour and lunch at Fattoria die Barbi that I will never forget. This estate has a wonderful private restuarant and makes at least 5 different wines including the Brunello. Being right after 9/11 we were the ONLY people on the tour. Amy was having some stomach travel problems so she just has plain pasta and water. I on the other had got to do the special Epicurious Tour lunch and wine tasting which included a whole, large carafe of each of their wines - they were good and they were extremely proud of them so I didn't want to just take a sip of each one.... glad Carla was driving.

Eleven Madison Park - New York - Daniel Humm. This Fall Cindy, Sid, Miranda, and I had what Cindy considers her best restaurant meal ever at this NY Times 4 star restaurant. See the blog. this is the highest end of Danny Meyers string of great restaurants - another we have had many a great meal in is Gramercy Tavern

Holly Smith - Cafe Juanita north of Seattle. Holly, James Beard award winner, is a great chef with a fabulous northern Italian fine dining establishment. When I choose a really important meal to me personally - such as my retirement dinner or birthday - Cafe Juanita always wins. The Rabbit is to die for. In 2009 6 of the best owner/chefs in the area did a six event dinner series at each others restaurants. Each Chef did a different course at each event - we attended all with family and friends. At the end of the event I chose the best course of the 6 courses out of each dinner. the result was Cafe Juanita was best on 5 out of the 6 courses even when cooking in someone else's kitchen. Wow!

Perilla Falls Short

Restaurant Name: Perilla
Restaurant Location: 9 Jones Street, NYC

Having heard very positive reviews about Greenwich Village's Perilla Restaurant, I'd been keen to try it for some time. My high hopes for this attractive little neighborhood spot, however, have been thoroughly dashed. Sadly, Perilla fell far short of my expectations.

First, in order to secure a reservation for 5 people, I had to hold the reservation with a credit card. If I didn't confirm a day ahead, I was informed that I'd be charged whether I showed up or not. I held up my end of the bargain and all five of us arrived, blown in out of the cold, right on time. The hostess then announced that our table wasn't ready; it would *just be a few moments* while the previous group at the table finished up their desserts. Nearly 40 minutes later, we were finally seated. After about 30 minutes of the wait, they'd sent a free appetizer up to the bar for us to snack on, and I'd felt some sympathy for them. After all, sometimes diners simply won't leave a table.

Then we embarked on our own meal...with incredibly slow service. I began to realize that the long wait for our table probably had nothing to do with the people who'd been dining before us. The wait between each and every step of the meal was glacial.

So, was the food worth the wait? Unfortunately not. Don't get me wrong, the food was...fine. But not much else. Some dishes were better than others (at least the $40 appetizer portion of egg ravioli with shaved white truffles was up to snuff). Many dishes were off, though.

For instance, the Red Kuri Squash Agnolotti with chanterelles, grilled halloumi & brown butter-hazelnut sauce (which sound delicious) was bland and looked truly appalling on the plate. Served in a huge dish, the pasta was swimming in a brownish sauce. The agnolotti were not actually filled with squash, but with boring old ricotta. The squash was cut up and tossed in with the sauce (as were the mushrooms and a dice of the halloumi). It looked like a grey, chunky stew, not an elegant pasta dish. Though it tasted better than it looked, it was hardly worth the $22 price tag, or the long wait.

Another dish, Fluke Sashimi served with a radish-fennel garnish, was fresh and clean-tasting on its own, but totally overwhelmed by the too-assertive passion-fruit sauce that smothered it. In general, we were all fairly disappointed with the level of interest presented by the food. As I said, everything was just fine - but totally lacking in spark.

Our server also fell down on the job, failing to tell us about the dessert special (a souffle that had to be ordered in advance). In addition to generally slow service, when we were ready to pay the bill, she completely vanished. We finally spotted her at the bar, flirting with another server. Eventually, she noticed that all five of us were staring at her.

With the great reviews of this place, I guess I just expected better: better food, better service. Oh well, you can't win em all!

Hit and Miss at Get Fresh

Restaurant Name: Get Fresh Table & Market
Restaurant Location: 370 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY



This relative newcomer in Park Slope is a place of highs and lows, so much so that after dining there last week, we left befuddled and unable to clearly answer a basic question: had we enjoyed the meal?

The Pros:
Get Fresh is a welcoming, if spare, space on the southern end of Park Slope's 5th Avenue. The servers are friendly and attentive and the menu purports to offer local, organic, sustainable fare (see below, though). Plus, it's one of the few BYOB restaurants around, which really helps cut down on the dinner bill.

Some of the dishes we tried were really outstanding. Our starter, for instance, of Rabbit-Pork sausage served atop a bed of creamy truffled potato puree, was divine. We literally wiped the plate clean with our fingers. But, oddly, rather than being housemade (as one might expect from a place championing great local food), the sausage was from D'Artagnan (this was disappointing, somehow. Though, at least now I know where I can order the sausage for myself...). Another winner was a side dish we ordered, Mexican Beans and Rice. Usually a throwaway, this dish was full of flavor and texture.

Our dessert, a chocolate "cake" (really more like two incredibly tender brownies held together with a thick serving of ganache) was also a plate-licker. Weirdly, though, this wasn't made in the restaurant either, but at a local bakery.

The Cons
Some of the dishes were downright awful. I ordered the Hawaiian prawns with sweet potato puree expecting plump prawns set atop a bed of flavorful puree. Instead the pawns were coated with the puree, creating a mushy dish with a horrifying mouth-feel. It was barely edible when it could have been great. Plus, Hawaiian prawns at a place bragging about local food? Really?

My husband's entree (the smoked pork belly with tamales and mole) was fine - good, not great.

So, in sum, Get Fresh had some real highs and real lows and very little in between. Coupled with so much of their food being prepared off-site, we just felt that the whole experience was very unrestaurant-y and were uncertain if we'd return or not.

The Vanderbilt

Restaurant Name: The Vanderbilt
Restaurant Location: 570 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn



The Vanderbilt is a relatively new restaurant on the Brooklyn dining scene. It's a beautiful space, though one that is divided up and used somewhat oddly. There is a bar in the front with a long row of elevated banquet seating across from it. In this part of the restaurant you can only order drinks and appetizers (no small plates), which seems odd since it probably seats nearly 30 people. Next down the length of the restaurant is a kitchen bar where you can sit and watch the action while ordering off the full menu (this is where we sat). The back of the restaurant appears quite small and provides table seating for the lucky few who are able to get there early enough or are willing to wait long enough for a table.

The food is all small plates served tapas-style (to share) and most of it was quite good.

To start, we tried the brussels sprouts with sirachia, lime, and honey, which were sweet and crisp-tender but could have been a little spicier. We also had the homemade jerky, which was incredibly flavorful (clearly made from high-quality beef). We also tried the duck rillets with quince, which were classically prepared and tasted just as they should (nothing amazing or special here, though), and the smoked Jagerwurst with German potato salad, which was a universal favorite - very juicy, tender, and full of flavor.

Other dishes we sampled included the crispy pork belly with lentils (a generous portion with tender layers and a crisp skin), the grilled Merguez sausage (spicy, but I found it a little dry), the steamed Bouchot mussels with coconut, basil, chili (really plump and flavorful mussels, awesome Thai accent), and the grilled Spanish octopus with cranberry beans (great flavor, but slightly overcooked and chewy)

As the evening wore on and the tasty drinks flowed, we ordered even MORE, including grilled pork loin with parisian gnocchi (very passable, but nothing special) and a dessert of spiced donuts with pistachio ice cream. Unfortunately, the donuts were a real miss, dry and unappetizing.

Overall, with tip, drinks and more food than we probably needed, the meal came to around $135 per couple. This isn't outrageous for New York, but seemed a little steep for the overall quality of the food. My final assessment: very good but not mind-blowing. I'd return and probably order a little more wisely. If you go, don't miss out on the Jagerwurst, the mussels, the jerky, and anything with polenta (the chef gave us a taste of some polenta he was working on to see if we liked it -- it was *incredible*). This is also a nice place to just grab drinks; they have a creative bar menu with some real winners (favorites: black cherry rickey and the Pimms cup).

Bon Appetit!

Tapas: the perfect food

Restaurant Name: Tia Pol
Location: 205 10th Avenue (Chelsea), New York City

There has always been a warm little corner of my heart reserved for tapas. What could be more perfect than a few bites each of an endless parade of dishes? New flavors, spices, textures, and surprises come in rapid succession, all washed down with plenty of good wine. Plus, for some reason, tapas restaurants are always more *fun* -- louder, warmer, more boisterous.

New York boasts many wonderful tapas joints (try Casa Mono for elevated gourmet tapas and Boqueria for more affordable, traditional, but no less tasty, tapas). Last night we tried a new place (well, new to us) called Tia Pol.

Tucked away in Chelsea, Tia Pol is a bit of a hike from the subway (especially on such a cruelly cold night for early November). But, if you arrive breathless and chilly, you'll tilt back out into the night a few hours later, warmed through and with a full, happy belly.

Being a lover of all things potato, I have to begin by saying that Tia Pol serves the very best patatas bravas I've ever had. The ones at Casa Mono are so exotic they hardly warrant the name (though are fabulously delicious) and the ones at Boqueria are cut too small and have too little sauce. Tia Pol gets the traditional fried, spicy potato with paprika aioli just right. The pieces of potato were big enough to have a crispy exterior and soft fluffy interior but still be happily bite-sized. The creamy, spicy aioli was just abundant enough to make you press the bits of potato into the corners of the dish for more but not drown the poor spuds.

Other standouts included a bruschetta with fried rock shrimp and pimenton with a tiny dab of lemon cream (salty, slightly spicy, creamy and crispy all at once) and a spicy roast pork sandwich. We also really enjoyed a cold salad of baby greens with fried artichoke hearts and leaves, white asparagus, and creamy lemon vinaigrette. The only miss here were the asparagus (out of season and thus apparently out of a jar....boo) and the fact that the artichokes would have achieved perfection had they been hot (I believe all things fried should be served hot). We finished the evening off with a plate of smoking hot seared & blistered green peppers tossed with sea salt -- SO addictive!

The wine list was baffling to us -- I don't consider myself an afficionado of Spanish wines, but I do know a bit and I didn't recognize even a single thing on the list. Such mystification, though, is just a door opening to new and wonderful experiences. All the wines we tried were lovely (lots of super-dry minerally whites).

Tia Pol is a very crowded (very tiny) restaurant. They do take reservations, but we hadn't made one. We arrived early, around 6:30pm and waited a little over a half an hour for a seat at the bar. The hostess had told us it would be a 30 minute wait, so she gave us a small plate of fried garbanzos for free as compensation (I was impressed, since the wait had only been a few minutes longer than promised, hardly something we even noticed). Those who arrived after 7pm waited over an hour to be seated. So, if you can plan ahead for it, make a reservation -- we certainly will the next time we return...which I hope will be very soon!

Bon Appetit