...more recent posts
a friend saz...."Afterwards went to (spurious Flash alert) Chez Es-Saada on First Street. The new executive chef is Paul Liebrandt, (ex- Atlas and Papillon). In brief: tasty anchovy-and-merguez app, but overpriced quail & lamb couscous ($25) and dry duck tagine, unadventurous wine list, spotty service -- disappointing overall from the dining POV tho' the basement was pretty full of lounging drinkers. What's the minimum time someone has to spend onsite to qualify as executive chef?"
any suggestions for eating out in the fort lauderdale/palm beach area? am going to visit the parents for a long weekend...
yahoo to the Kebab Cafe 25-12 Steinway Street Astoria...Liz and Wylie took us there last night and it is a find, BYOB, major food fest, chefs a blast....car service to from brooklyn cost almost as much as dinner....2*
a good (unusual) not excellente (the usuall) meal at felidia last night, i am going to say it was an off night for me and the restaurante.....1*
In Saveur Magazine Jan/Feb issue is a 4pg spread on Tommaso's in Brooklyn doing an annual Italian (Venice) Carnival dinner(s) which I never knew they did.....went last night for a full old Nebbiolo cellar raid (1952, 1955, 1974, 1985) and the place was jumping, food best I have ever had....I will be coming every year!!
quick eating notes on australia trip:
- when you get fish and chips, the main fish is "flake" - it's shark. get it. it's fantastic.
- "butterfish" is steak-y, like swordfish, but much milder, and actually does taste like butter. get it. it's fantastic.
- get thai food anywhere. thailand ain't too far away. it's fantastic.
- so's the vietnamese although the thai's better.
- guess how the $4 red table wine is. you got it. no one seems to ever really need to spend $15+ since the cheap wine's so frickin good.
- the beef's grass-fed. it's fantastic.
- on the down note, i had some grilled kangaroo which was liver-ish and unspectacular. why bother. stick with the fish.
I am on a Xynomavro kick, its my new favorite word.....finally made it to Milos last night for a fish orgy, we had some star power so we got the #1 table in the house, a free round cured fish and a plate of fresh urchin's, everone gets this clean flavorful soup to start.....we had crab, sardines wraped in graper leaves grilled, sepia, salad, beans, and some fish, the wines were replaced with samples so no wine bill, but i still paid $133 head with a health no wine tip...desset was awesome yougert with fruit and an amaro...at these prices (and i am not saying its not worth it) the crowd looked wealthy and older than us
i am starting the Xynomavro is a cousin of Nebbiolo club and i have a few members already, the most influencial wine critic told me one day at lunch that traditional made Nebbiolo and Grenache goes well with seafood, well the sardines and a 97 Xyno ROCKED!!
take two at Otto was delish, i let go of my negativity and dove in full on, all the veggie and fish starters were fantastic, the fried fish (fry of the day) was a dream, we asked for the pizza's crispy and they said "we do them one way, Mario's way" maybe its not the first time they have heard this from customers, but they came out crisper and we liked them better (they were still cold before the 2nd bite), whom whudda thought of a sunny side up egg on pizza would be good, it was.....and for dessert its just gelato but the specials were amazing, olive oil and salt gelato with blood orange slice's:>) and ricotta gelato with stewed figs and candied walnuts!!! YUM
Bao had some very tasty dishes and some just ok also, but over all it was yummy, great french wine on the list, but its too much a load scene for an old fart like me.....
Bao 1*
the lobster zone
ill bet the lobster doesnt think its funny
the backlash
what peta says to do if the bastards put one in your neighborhood (note cute pic of drew b)
more wd50 press
Asking around for some new restaurants I came up with these two.....
Merge in the back of the old Indigo space (Indigo was great!!, as a matter of fact Indigo and Luma get on the all time fav list), and
Bao @ 111 Ave C, its Vietnamese and two reports are very high, it nearly kills me tat there is no "Grand Cru" Viet food in NYC....
Cajun in Queens
lunch at 66 was out of site, braised beef chow fun was absolutly amazing, massive dumpling list inc fantastic fried shrimp wonton's, sesame noodles were incredable.....food prices are not too expensive (9 shared dishes was slighty exsesive @ $65 each, so if you had a normale meal it could be like $50), but massive wine consumption can run the bill up, the 2001 Dr Thanish Spatlese at $87 is the wine for the spicy food and its one of the worlds great wines but due to it being lighter in alcohol one bottle per person is easy....
Otto take one is NG on the pizza: doughy, poshed to unpurrfection (lardo one is nice), cold before you bite the 2nd slice......some of the app's rock, but overall our table will not return often...will try one more time soon
another fantastic GSIMidtown meal.....followed by late nite snacks at Town (not my scene but, the best frogs legs I have ever eaten in NYC, other app's were also very good, place was pretty full-up too)
New Orleans food is as good as thier music.....
#1 Uglesich's with thier shrimp and grits, crawfish balls, fried green tomatoe's, grilled catfish, bacon wrapped shimp served with sweet potatoe, firecracker shrimp, fried oysters,
we did 10 app's and no main's as the owner agreed that was the best way to taste...
#2 Frankie & Johnny's (see below)
#3 Mother's: Po-Boys, Etouffee's
Went to Peristyle which had some good dishes and a super chicken dish and Herbsaint which also had some super dishes (gnocchi app, short rib app) but the other dishes were just ok but we tried only a small part of the menu.....
Want to try next time: Irene's Cuisine (rumored to have soft shell crabs served over crawfish linguine:>), Jacques-Imo (place looks cool, next to maple Leaf Bar and I hear the food is better than ever), Pascal's Manale (local's fav), Dooky Chase (Creole super star some say), and oh so many more.....
5 Meals / 21 Hours / New Orleans
*3:00pm Felix Oyster Bar: 24 Oysters and Beer.
*5:30pm Frankie & Johnny's: 2lb Boiled Crawfish, Boiled Shrimp Plate, Crawfish Pie!!, Aligator Soup, Crawfish Po-Boy, Oyster Po-Boy.
*1:00am Camellia Grill: CheeseBurger, Chocolate-Cherry Freeze, "Yankee Sandwich" (a gravy-groovey version of a Philly Cheese Steak)
8:00am Mother's: Crawfish Estoffe Omelete w/ Grits
11:30am Louisiana Pizza Kitchen: Crawfish Pizza
* Jim-Louis(iana) special guest!!