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From Art of Eating Issue #62
Kaiseki Ryori
(Classic Japanese haute cuisine)
12th Century Buddhist temple life gave rise to the Japanese tea ceremony. Out of that grew the ritualized eating known as kaiseki, and kaiseki evolved into Japan's haute cuisine. The fixed order of the courses in kaiseki is based loosely on cooking techniques: appetizers (zensai), clear broth (suimono), raw fish (sashimi), grilled food (yakimono), steamed food (mushimonto), simmered food (nimono), fried food (agemono), vinegared food (sunomono), and cooked vegetables or salad (aemono). Many courses consist of a selection of little dishes in which seasonality and artful presentation are paramount - fun is important. The kaiseki style of cooking heavily influenced France's nouvelle cuisine chefs in the 1970's, and more recently gave rise to the wave of experimental cooking championed by Ferran Adria.....
Top Restaurants 2002
NYCity
#1 Kai
#2 Jewel Bako
#3 Lupa
#4 Jean Georges
#5 Grand Sichuan Int'l Midtown
#6 Felidia
#7 Union Pacific
#8 Honmura An
El Mundo
#1 Da Guido (Piedmonte, Italy)
#2 Taubenkobel (Burgenland, Austria)
#3 Zur Rose (Sud Tyrol, Italy)
#4 L'Astrance (Paris)
#5 Temple Club (Siagon)
#6 Altwienerhof (Vienna)
#7 Locanda Dell Arco (Piedmonte, Italy)
#8 Les Tonnelles (Loire, France)
#9 Indochine (Siagon)
#10 Walter Bauer (Vienna)
Special Merit/No Particular Order
The Minnow, Veritas, Sistina,
Fresh, Holy Basil, Al Di La
Manducati's, Willi's Wine Bar (Paris)
Tomasso's, Gramercy Tavern, Picholine
Locanda Vini Olii, Al Ponte (Verona, Italy)
L'osteria del Vignaiolo (Piedmonte, Italy)
L'Oste Scuro (Verona, Italy)
Il Gattopardo, Jaglhof (Styria, Austria)
Weininger (Vienna), Loibnerhof (Wachau, Austria)
Zur Blauen Gans (Burgenland, Austria)
Lumiere (West Newton, MA)
Dish
165 Allen Street (btw Rivington & Stanton)
212 253 8840
The brand new Dish was dished in daily candy recently so we took a look. Great building. Nice casual open interior. Not very full for a Friday night at 8:00, but they are new.
I had a full review, but I don't think it's really warranted at this point. They have some problems in the kitchen that will hopefully get worked out. We had a pork chop that was not just underdone, but actually not done at all (well, ok, it was a little charred on the outside, but completely raw on the inside.) And worse, we had a grilled cheese sandwhich that was burnt (like black!) on the outside, and not even melted on the inside. Hopefully they'll get it together on this sort of thing.
The menu is nice. Very cheap. You get a "big dish" (like the pork chop, or 1/2 a chicken, or monkfish, or meatloaf) plus 2 sides of your choice for $12. Sandwiches are $5.50. The sides are mostly cold. Think Mama's, but in a nice room with service and a little more ambition on the main. I had a nice farro salad with basil tomato and pine nuts. Lots of other salads and vegetables (all cold) plus things like mac & cheese (mostly cold,) corn pudding, honey jalapeno cornbread, potato parsnip puree. Interesting stuff, but everything seemed a little tired.
I had a catfish burger as my main, and that was the best thing we ate. It was nice, but nothing special.
The modest wine list seemed a little better than I would have expected. I eyed the 99 JJ Prum riesling kabinett, but went right to the red and enjoyed the 99 palazzo della torre allegrini instead. A nice bottle I am always happy to see on a list.
They are struggling, and I'm rooting for them. Open for lunch which is when I'll try them again. Not sure they're really ready for the prime time yet.
on my annual dinner in the Boston area we picked Lumiere in West Newton...very nice stylie place, food was Provencal and very good....need to find a great place for next year, so far Radius is the best meal for me in Boston but better must exist!!
Dinner at Annisa last night (Barrow Street just East of 7th Avenue). Along with Wallsé, this restaurant has restored my faith in the concept of dining outside of your own kitchen—and I’m always excited to go to Lupa. Annisa is smart and unpretentious with glorious food. I looked around the dining room and wondered how WD-50 could acquire a clientele like this: real people. The partner/manager showed me her new Table Top software that tracks reservations and customer details, there were diners who had been there 70 times. This is what you want, less of the obscene scene; more people, less press.
With just a few weeks left in 2002 I have after a 3rd stunning meal at Jewel Bako, decided to give it my #1. Each year we dine at three spots on the last few days of December. This years picks are a return to Fresh, Kai for the first time, and a long awaited meal at Honmura An (I have wanted to go for years but have sadly never made it, my food guru gives it one of the top 5 overall restaurants in NY over the last 20 years).
Top Restaurants 2002
NYCity
#1 Jewel Bako
#2 Lupa
#3 Jean Georges
#4 Grand Sichuan Int'l Midtown
#5 Felidia
#6 Union Pacific
El Mundo
#1 Da Guido (Piedmonte, Italy)
#2 Taubenkobel (Burgenland, Austria)
#3 Zur Rose (Sud Tyrol, Italy)
#4 L'Astrance (Paris)
#5 Temple Club (Siagon)
#6 Altwienerhof (Vienna)
#7 Locanda Dell Arco (Piedmonte, Italy)
#8 Les Tonnelles (Loire, France)
#9 Indochine (Siagon)
#10 Walter Bauer (Vienna)
Special Merit/No Particular Order
The Minnow, Veritas, Sistina,
Fresh, Holy Basil, Al Di La
Manducati's, Willi's Wine Bar (Paris)
Tomasso's, Gramercy Tavern, Picholine
Locanda Vini Olii, Al Ponte (Verona, Italy)
L'osteria del Vignaiolo (Piedmonte, Italy)
L'Oste Scuro (Verona, Italy)
Il Gattopardo, Jaglhof (Styria, Austria)
Weininger (Vienna), Loibnerhof (Wachau, Austria)
Zur Blauen Gans (Burgenland, Austria)
another great meal at Jewel Bako!! will go back in the spring, once a season is great, the summer trip had my favorite one fish (a mountain bass textured like silk), the fall meal overall was more interesting but not better than tonight, love this place.....last night at Aix was better than the first
modern drunkard magazine
anyone have a good bread pudding recipe? jeanne?
Range Rover
A double helping of Wylie in today's Post. He and the new stove are featured (with photo) in a piece on favorite kitchen equipment, while the gossip column includes a tidbit about WD 50 opening "at the end of January."
Top Restaurants 2002 (NYC unless noted)
NYCity
#1 Lupa
#2 Jean Georges
#3 Jewel Bako
#4 Grand Sichuan Int'l Midtown
#5 Felidia
#6 Union Pacific
El Mundo
#1 Da Guido (Piedmonte, Italy)
#2 Taubenkobel (Burgenland, Austria)
#3 Zur Rose (Sud Tyrol, Italy)
#4 L'Astrance (Paris)
#5 Temple Club (Siagon)
#6 Altwienerhof (Vienna)
#7 Locanda Dell Arco (Piedmonte, Italy)
#8 Les Tonnelles (Loire, France)
#9 Indochine (Siagon)
#10 Walter Bauer (Vienna)
Special Merit/No Particular Order
The Minnow, Veritas, Sistina,
Fresh, Holy Basil, Al Di La
Manducati's, Willi's Wine Bar (Paris)
Tomasso's, Gramercy Tavern, Picholine
Locanda Vini Olii, Al Ponte (Verona, Italy)
L'osteria del Vignaiolo (Piedmonte, Italy)
L'Oste Scuro (Verona, Italy)
Il Gattopardo, Jaglhof (Styria, Austria)
Weininger (Vienna), Loibnerhof (Wachau, Austria)
Zur Blauen Gans (Burgenland, Austria)
Loibnerhof rocked as did Jaglhof in Styria but the last two nites were off the charts....Taubenkobel in Burgenland was one of the greatest wine/food/hotel experiences in my life and our finale at Altwienerhof in Vienna were the cellar was pristine was liquid heaven (the food was ok, the service slow, the clients seemed of the older and stuffier, but the wine made up for it, I have yet to experience such a purrfect set of wines)...
We are in the Wachau, we had some fine meals on the tour but the best is Bauer in Vienna (both wine and food), was excellent wine, service, food....Kornat is fresh fish, Steirereck is resting on past but fine wine and ok food, Wieninger Heurigen is not to be missed (fun room, some dishes super, nice wines at great prices)....we are off to Knoll family Loibnerhof.....
Souen Rocks, love that place...loaded up on tofu, brown rice, etc to help the upcoming "pig on pig wraped in pig with a side of fat tour"
bizz dinner at Picholine was fun but expensive, wines were very good but we had to npay to play, the apps and middle truffle couses and cheese outshined mains, but we were happy (very)....
lunch at Aquagrill had more just ok parts than great parts but I have never loved this popular place.....dinner at Chimichurri Grill was great, the owner is nuts, very fun to hang with, the staeks purrfecto, best empenadas in town....
the market these last weeks has had the grape people, they come every fall, we had 5 different grapes, one of the best market treats (oh and our little kitty likes the Delaware variety, pulp only).....