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The GP detox diet
biscuitball
((somebody sent me this email))
APOCALYPSE: Per Se Considering A La Carte Bar Menu
Tuesday, March 17, 2009, by Amanda
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Columbus Circle: According to various sources at the restaurant, Per Se is in the planning stages of launching an a la carte menu in its salon and bar area. A reservationist tells us the menu is in trials but has yet to get the final go-ahead. PR confirms a decision has yet to be made; however, Chef Johnathan Benno's wife, Liz Benno, is already pimping the menu in a Facebook status update. Once the menu's confirmed, we hear it should be available to the public in the next few weeks.
We probably don't have to tell you this is huge—21 Club Losing the Tie, Chanterelle Dropping the a la Carte Menu—huge, a seismic shift for the restaurant.
On the one hand, it means both fans of Per Se and the uninitiated don't need to commit to a full nine-course meal, the accompanying price tag, or the two month advance notice usually required for getting a resy to get a taste of Sir Thomas Keller. But this major departure for the restaurant could change the vibe substantially while proving every restaurant—even New York's most four-starriest—must adapt with the economy in the crapper.
More on the menu when the restaurant and PR confirm it's been green-lighted and/or the eastern seaboard cleaves away into the Atlantic Ocean once and for all.
cage cooks
neo-pinot
Union Square Hospitality Group is offering $2 to City Harvest for every bowl of chicken noodle soup they sell in March.....Gramercy, Union S Cafe, The Modern, 11 Mad, Tabla, Blue Smoke.......I for one would like a blind tasting of all 6......you can see the details here (move to each restaurant and thier rendition pops up) I think I would like USq or Gramercy but The Modern might win....
For those of you following (with bated breath I am sure!) our juice cleanse.. Here are the instructions we received from our "guru" today on what to do next.
I have made the almond milk before (great to use in a smoothie), as well as some of the salad dressings, good stuff.
Changes at Chanterelle
Starting tomorrow, TriBeCa favorite Chanterelle will offer a new à la carte menu alongside its traditional tasting menu.
it was short but hands down my meal of the year goes to todays lunch at Rouge Tomate, we did only app and main ..... menu descript below
App:
Heirloom Chicory and Fuji Apple Salad
Manchego, Marcona Almond and Quince Vinagrette
(it also had lots of other beautiful greens etc....stunning yum, light on the cheese everything in harmony and balance, textured)
Main:
Barley and Foraged Mushroom
Black Winter Truffle, Parmesan, Madeira
(it was ultra low or no butter but serious demi glas madeira sauce, super rich but not too much due to no butter, it was a risotto lux, deep dark and earthy)
$$
15 + 36 = 51 so not un-costly but worth it, nice wine list too.....
we are on day 1, drink 1 of a 5 day juice cleanse. First juice, "the daily green".
Ugh. Wish us luck!
From NY Mag. A restaurant actually opening, not closing:
over its seven-decade existence, Minetta Tavern has attracted post-bout fighters, Beat writers, and not a few curious tourists. As of next week, though, it’ll be a culinary destination, when Keith McNally and his chef-partners Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr reopen it as a meticulously restored 85-seat bistro, vintage murals and photo gallery intact. On the compact menu: a trio of tartares, côte de boeuf for two, and a Grand Marnier soufflé, plus classic and original cocktails showcasing brown spirits (113 Macdougal St., at Minetta Ln.; 212-475-3850).
Sechuan button / Acmella oleracea
who says america is out of ideas?
Tried to get into Corton the 27th at 6pm (on the 17th) and it was booked, its hot in this down time, I used Open Table, I just tried again for 3/5 and no go, they gave an option check a month out and it came back, no table's anytime in the next 30 days......rumor is they are being sold out by some Tribeca hotel.....I have friends whom will help one day, I am in no rush as I feel spring/summer are the best time to eat anywhere in NYC due to veggie heaven....
This place I think is gonna rock in the tough time too...not open yet....
Aldea
31 West 17th Street
George Mendes, whose resume includes Bouley and Wallse, will have a menu with a Portuguese accent, with dishes like sardines and Madeira raisins, and pork chop with clams and kale. He has enlisted Stephanie Goto, who worked on Morimoto and Corton, to design sleek, intimate spaces for the narrow room with a mezzanine. -- Florence Fabricant
-The New York Times
I think I previously posted his web site
http://www.georgemendesnyc.com/
Breakfast
Toasted sprouted bread w/ Tuscan olive oil nouvo (spicy) and Sicilian sea salt, w/ spread mix of peanut butter/honey/banana
YUM!! salty, spicy, sweet, and crunchy
Down and Dirty last nite at Dirt Candy with b./jim/linda
Delish overall and very healthy, some dish's better than others, we ate everything on menu (and 1/2 of the desserts), rich food (butter), lovely space, great $28 wine to gulp.....
While I rarely go back to any restaurant in a year I think I will be here in the summer for peak veggie season...
I wish her well and voted for her on TONY (and voted for you Linda)
http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/static_content/surveys/?surveyid=1934
Gotham Bar and Grill: $25 lunch menu will be the only menu for lunch from 3rd week in March till the end of the year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the restaurant. The a la carte menu is going away for lunch (!!!), and the $25 menu will be the only lunch menu.
(WOW!!!)
IN a climate where almost every restaurant in town is offering deals and concessions once unimaginable - bring your own wine to Alto, leave the tie home for '21' - one place is offering the ultimate bargain this Friday night:
Free meals.
Eighty one, chef/owner Ed Brown's pricey modern-American place in the Excelsior Hotel on West 81st Street, is launching a two-course menu option six nights a week that's cheaper than some of the regular entrees alone.
And to get the ball rolling, it's giving 150 customers a chance - for one night only - to sample the new, "eco(nomy)-friendly" menu on the house. (See box.)
"We're changing with the times," Brown acknowledged. "We need to do much more business. I've got to have more people in the restaurant and make it more accessible."
The bargain deal goes into effect on Friday and will be available indefinitely after that every night but Saturday. It offers a choice of any two courses chosen from among appetizers, mains and dessert on a special menu for $30.81 per head, not including tax and tip. A third course can be had for just $8.10. This, in a place where entrees alone run from $28 to $38.
There are four choices in each category. Among them: pumpkin risotto with toasted pumpkin seeds to start; seared tuna with black beluga lentils for an entrée; and bourbon vanilla ice cream float with ginger snaps for dessert.
Friday happens to mark eighty one's first anniversary. It has not been an easy first year for the plush, red velvet-accented restaurant which, for my money, serves the Upper West Side's best food ever.
It opened with a menu even more expensive than it is now. Rave reviews - including my own - were mixed with write-ups that found it either pretentious or, contrarily, not sufficiently cutting-edge (for some, beautifully composed dishes made from marvelous raw materials and merely tasting wonderful will never be enough).
The blessing of a Michelin star last fall was blunted by the financial meltdown. And since day one, eighty one's entire façade has been buried under a low-slung sidewalk bridge that hides the entrance and negates a welcoming glow from behind mullioned windows.
If you think that's no big deal, recall that Simon Oren, owner of popular spots including Nice Matin nearby, sold his lease at Charolais in TriBeCa last year when a scaffold showed no sign of being taken down - "I think no one knew we even opened," Oren said. "If you open with a scaffold, it's a huge handicap, and the low-hung ones that kill visibility are the worst."
Like many newer restaurants, eighty one has been busy on Fridays and Saturdays, but slower on other nights. To remedy that, Brown recently augmented the dinner menu with a mid-priced entree category called "Simply," featuring such favorites as whole daurade ($26) and hanger steak ($27), each served with a choice of a side dish.
But how can a restaurant that spends as much on ingredients as eighty one does make money on a $30.81, two-course dinner menu?
"Two ways," Brown said. "We're not using filet mignon or foie gras.
"And we're hoping that if you come as a party of four, at least one or more of you will order off the regular menu."
So, does that mean the waiter won't mind if we split up our orders between the standard menu and the cheap one?
"Be clear," Brown chuckled. "If you come to eighty one, the answer to almost anything is 'yes.' This is a time for extreme hospitality."
scuozzo@nypost.com
How to eat for free
This Friday only, the first 150 customers whose seats are reserved by e-mail for eighty one's eco(nomy)-menu will be served the two-course, $30.81 option for free. (Diners must pay for all drinks, tax and tip.) The complimentary offer does not apply to the regular menu.
There are two seatings, at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and a four-person maximum per table.
Those vying for the complimentary menu must contact the restaurant by e-mail only at free@81nyc.com.
EIGHTY ONE
45 W. 81st St.
212-873-8181