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my wife and i are coming up for a quick weekend from the DC area.

a little background. i am a professional cook at a nice restaurant in washington, dc. and i love food. my wife also loves dining out. we havent done much fine dining out in nyc, since we havent been there in awhile.

looking for some suggestions from you guys/gals.

looking for one nice meal out ($200/person max) one cheaper meal out (like lupa or prune) and one place we just cant miss (bagels or pizza or the momofuku dumpling place, my wife is a sucker for dumplings).

some places i had in mind were ouest, grammercy tavern, wd-50, lupa, etc.)

thanks in advance.

jonathan

How far in advance are you planning to reserve a table? For the nice meal out, I'd consider Gramercy Tavern, Veritas, Craft, David Burke & Donatella, or one of the BLT's. For the cheaper meal out, Etas Unis or DB Bistro might work. What area of the city will you be staying in, and how far out of that area are you willing to travel for dinner?
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Not my personal experience, but a good friend did not enjoy wd-50 the other week...she mentioned that things were a little too wacky to be truly enjoyed, like some sort of hotdog-shaped foie gras concoction that oozed beet juice when cut into.  Don't know if others have experience to the contrary here...

It seems that your friend did not understand what wd-50 is all about. The chef is known for his whimsy with food. On the menu he offers Foie Gras with candied olives, some might find it odd, and it might be, but it certainly more creative than what most chefs are doing.
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looking for one nice meal out ($200/person max) one cheaper meal out (like lupa or prune) and one place we just cant miss (bagels or pizza or the momofuku dumpling place, my wife is a sucker for dumplings).

You can visit China Town in NYC.

There is a place called "Wonton House" on Mott street if you think wonton is also in the dumpling category.

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my wife and i are coming up for a quick weekend from the DC area.

a little background. i am a professional cook at a nice restaurant in washington, dc. and i love food. my wife also loves dining out. we havent done much fine dining out in nyc, since we havent been there in awhile.

looking for some suggestions from you guys/gals.

looking for one nice meal out ($200/person max) one cheaper meal out (like lupa or prune) and one place we just cant miss (bagels or pizza or the momofuku dumpling place, my wife is a sucker for dumplings).

some places i had in mind were ouest, grammercy tavern, wd-50, lupa, etc.)

thanks in advance.

jonathan

In addition to Babbo (and Lupa), I'd throw in a vote for Gotham Bar and Grill on the higher end, and Union Square Cafe (and Etas Unis) on the relatively cheaper end. We also found Anissa to be delightful.

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looking for one nice meal out ($200/person max) one cheaper meal out (like lupa or prune) and one place we just cant miss (bagels or pizza or the momofuku dumpling place, my wife is a sucker for dumplings).

jonathan

Prune for brunch. There will be a wait, though.

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I had a lunch at V Steakhouse and ended up with big disappointment.

The service was not friendly, slow, marginally satisfied. (The place was not busy at that time)

One of my company ordered the Kobe beef steak but it was so stiff even though she asked well-done.

Side dishes were OK.

It was not really worth to pay my money and spend my time there.

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Jean-Jorges is great - you can also get into either the bar or the Nougataine room if you want a more casual experience at the flagship restaurant. You could also head to the "mall" across the street for drinks in Per Se's lounge either before or after the meal...

Of the "big" 4 stars in NYC, I would take J-G after Per Se, but before most of the others (haven't been to Masa yet).

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deciding not to go with a full scale blowout....

we are deciding between wd-50, blue hill, gramercy tavern, jojo and cafe gray. anyone been to any of those?

I'd go to either Blue Hill or Gramercy. I had a decent (but nothing more) meal at Cafe Gray a few weeks ago, and have never been a huge fan of WD-50. I do know people who love it, but I haven't enjoyed the few times I have been.
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Blue Hill is good, but most of their offerings would likely be better at Palena or Corduroy. I was slightly disappointed.

I had a great meal at WD-50 last summer, including the beet juice-oozing foie gras mentioned above. A small fraction of the dishes may flop or fail to satisfy, but most of Chef Dufresne's creations are superb and one-of-a-kind. The desserts are great as well.

Gramercy Tavern is definitely the safe pick. Nothing spectacular but consistent excellence all around.

This may veer towards the full scale blowout end, but my favorite place in the city is Cafe Boulud. Their tasting menu was one of the best meals I've ever had, and we sat two tables away from Bill Cosby. You can definitely get out of there with a great meal and spend around $150/pp, though.

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WD-50

My wife and I decided that we would brave the New York City Subway for the first time ever, and caught it at 51st St. and took it to Spring St. we hoped to walk around Chinatown and Little Italy before dinner. The precipitation started right on schedule, but instead of being snow, it was needle like sleet. This curtailed our planned exploration, so we headed for the restaurant. We arrived right before they opened, but thankfully they opened the door and allowed us to come in and shake off the cold.

We were seated in what appeared to both of us to be the best seat in the restaurant, a corner booth that looked over the dinning room, and towards the kitchen, with the fireplace instead of another table to our right – so much for a bias against Open Table reservations.

We started with a glass of Cava Rose, and ordered the tasting menu with the wine pairing. I wish I had taken notes, but I will do my best remembering all 11 courses.

The first course was called Squid Pearls, and it was a pearl tapioca with squid ink, and blood orange juice and rind. The flavors of this dish were spectacular, but I was not crazy about the texture which was a bit mealy. If I had not tried Donna’s Faux Caviar, I might have been a bit more open to it.

The next course was the above mentioned Foie Gras. When Allik’s friend mentioned that it looked like a hotdog, I imagined a long tube-like piece of foie gras. It was nothing like that. If I had to describe how it looked, it looked like someone had cut a thick slice of liverwurst. When you sliced into the silken liver, a fruity-earthy red juice flowed from the center. This also had a candied dried olives, and green pea powder. The dish sounds, and looks rather strange, but it all worked together, and I would return to the restaurant just to have this again.

They followed this with a coconut and carrot egg. I understand this is one of the dishes that they are famous for. It comes out looking like a sunny-side up egg, the white is a firm savory coconut gel, and the yolk is a made from a rich carrot juice. The “yolk” portion was incredibly interesting, as it had a film holding the liquid inside, and when you punctured it, the orange liquid spread across the plate just like a perfectly cooked yolk would. This was one of the most fun dishes of the menu, but what it had in whimsy and kitsch it lacked in flavor (it was not bad, just not as good as everything else we had).

The next course was a Shrimp Cannelloni. The chef had made the skins out of shrimp, and stuffed them with more shrimp, pickled bean sprouts, and other wonderful ingredients. It also had two sauces, one was a chorizo and the other Thai basil. This was a very nice dish. I particularly liked the skin made from shrimp.

This was followed by what my wife had anticipated would be her least favorite dish, Pickled Beef Tongue. This came with a fried mayonnaise, and a tomato molasses. My wife looked very disapprovingly at this dish, having bad childhood memories of tongue sandwiches. I told her to put the idea that the meat is tongue and think of it as a really good version of Buddings Beef. My wife has an affinity for this processed meat mixed with cream cheese and scallion, and then stuffed into pita and baked. So I knew that it would help take her mind off of the fact that she was about to try tongue. Try it she did, and loved every minute of it. The fried mayonnaise is interesting, and matched well with the beef, and the molasses added another depth of flavor to a dish that I already thought was quite good.

The next two dishes were not hits in my book, but I understand what they were trying to do. The first of these was a smoked dashi soup with yogurt and lemon noodles. This comes out in a bowl, with a small squeeze bottle filled with white liquid. You squeeze the liquid into the broth and it forms noodles. This was quite fun, but the smoke in the soup was too overpowering, and too raw. I like the flavor of smoke, but this was a bit too much and tasted like I was standing right above the fire.

The second “miss” was a Langoustine with banana mustard and fried celery root. The flavors of this dish were magnificent, but the texture of the langoustine was not. I believe that this was cooked saus vide, and produced a rather mushy texture. The mustard was insane. I don’t think I ever thought of mixing banana and mustard together, but now I have to play with this combination. I did not leave a drop of the condiment behind. The celery root was almost like a large French fry and was tasty, and went well with the mustard.

The final savory dish was a smoked duck breast. This was the way I like smoke, it was complimentary to the flavor of the meat, not over powering to it. I wish that I could remember more about this dish, but as I did not take notes, and had about 8 glasses of wine at this point, my memory fails me.

The first dessert was the restaurant’s take on Ants on a Log. It was a celery sorbet, dried peanut butter, and stewed raisins. I could not imagine a less appealing sounding dish. I do not like celery as its own ingredient, and in my minds eye, no other ingredients could save this for me. Thankfully we taste more with our tongue than our imagination. The sorbet was refreshing, and the peanut butter added another level of flavor to this dish. This dish was so good that we were both left speechless.

Another strange dish arrived for our second dessert, it was a Manchego Cheesecake with pineapple foam and quince. Now, who in the hell thinks of making a cheese cake out of Manchego? And why didn’t anyone do this before? The cheesecake was savory, the foam was tart and quince pleasantly sweet. These components all came together to form a wonderful dessert.

The final dessert was a butternut squash sorbet with pumpkin seed cake and a chocolate mole “soil”. This was another fine dessert, and while I was full, I made sure to not leave a crumb behind.

The wines were all nicely matched and included a Cava Rose, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, California Pinot Noir, Chilean Melbec, a wine from the Cognac region that had been aged in the brandy barrels, and several other dessert wines including one from Cyprus that was similar to a Madeira.

My overall impression of the restaurant was nothing buy positive. The staff was very attentive, and quite gracious. The food was exceptional, the few “misses” can be expected when a chef is trying to be so creative, and can be accepted when they are part of a larger tasting menu. The décor was far more, dare I say, hip than I am used to. I am not into hip, but there was still a restraint to it that did not take it to the level of being trite.

Bouley

The blizzard was in full effect when we awoke on Sunday morning. So I decided that it would be wise to contact Bouley before heading from our midtown hotel to lower Manhatten. I was assured that they were open and would love to have us for lunch. We made our way to the subway, and took it to the Brooklyn Bridge station. We had to fight our way through the snow to get the five blocks to Bouley. When we came through the outer door we were met by the lovely scent of apples, as this vestibule was filled with crates of them. It helped set the stage for a wonderful lunch.

Like at WD-50 we received a comfortable corner booth. And drink orders were taken. We decided to start with a glass of 1996 Laurent Perrier Champagne. This helped take an edge off the cold. We were soon delivered two rolls, one was an apple roll that was spectacular. The other was a roll that reminds me of what my grandmother used to make.

When it came time to order, we both decided to go with the long tasting menu. For lunch this is a four coarse meal. We ordered the opposite items for each course, so we did not the same thing. For the first course I the Sashimi Quality Tuna with Shaved Fennel Dressed in Herb Oils and a Spicy Marinade. This let me know that this was going to be a very different meal from the one at WD-50. WD-50 was the work of an avent guarde chef, try to find new ways to use ingredients. Bouley is a restaurant that seems to strive for perfection in method, and flavors. Now back to the food. The tuna was flavorful and the marinate worked perfectly with the fish. The rich meat became delightfully savory, and was further enhanced by the fennel/leek combination that it rested upon. One of the best parts of this dish was the two black and two white gelatin cubes. These tiny cubes (about a quarter of the size of a key on a keyboard) packed a hell of a wallop. The black ones were made from soy sauce, and I believe the white were from rice wine vinegar. They provided an immense flavor to any bite that had them.

My wife started with the Phyllo Crusted Florida Shrimp, Cape Cod Baby Squid, Scuba Dived Sea Scallop, and Sweet Maryland Crabmeat in an Ocean Herbal sauce. She would only allow me two small tastes of this, one including a small bit of shrimp, the other the scallop. Both were spectacular. The herb sauce was very complex and was a delight to taste.

My next dish was a king salmon with orange and blood orange sauce. I tend to like my salmon cooked medium rare, and I thought that this was going to be a little too done for me, but even cooked all the way through, it was still moist and flavorful. The orange sauces matched this fish perfectly.

My wife had the halibut with Jerusalem artichoke and sweet potato purees. The exterior of the fish remained wonderfully crispy while the center was moist and flavorful. The purees were a great match with the sweetness of the sweet potato, and the earthiness of the Jerusalem artichoke.

My final savory dish was a Long Island Duckling with Caramelized Onion Soubise, Pruneaux D’Agen Pennsylvania Wild Ramps. Oh this was a wonderful dish. The skin was crispy, the meat was succulent. This was prepared exactly as duck should be cooked. The wine poached pear that accompanied the duck had a wonderful flavor, and was beautifully cut and displayed on the plate.

My wife had pork loin with sauerkraut (I don’t have the exact description). It included several pieces of loin cut into large cubes, slowly cooked with a pork based sauce. The sauerkraut was included as part of a wonderful tart. This dish also had an apple puree to accompany the other elements.

Before our dessert arrived, they delivered us a wonderful mango sorbet to refresh our palettes.

My wife’s dessert was a Hot Valrhona Chocolate Soufflé with Maple, Chocolate, and Vanilla Ice Creams. This was not the pedestrian molten chocolate cake, no this was a real soufflé. It brimmed over with chocolate flavor and the harmonious ice creams were perfectly complimentary. I had an apple soufflé with apple ice milk and vanilla ice cream. This was a great way to finish off a meal. This really helped to warm my body and soul in preparation to venture back into the blizzard. The final refreshing course was a curry mousse that was an astonishingly innovative palette cleanser.

The staff was the pinnacle of professionalism. And to add to this feeling when we returned home yesterday there was a message from the front of the house manager thanking us for braving the blizzard, honoring our reservations, and respecting their dress code (they generally require a coat, and we were the only people appropriately dressed).

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I had a lunch at V Steakhouse and ended up with big disappointment.

The service was not friendly, slow, marginally satisfied. (The place was not busy at that time)

One of my company ordered the Kobe beef steak but it was so stiff even though she asked well-done.

Side dishes were OK.

It was not really worth to pay my money and spend my time there.

We dined there once only because of the need to grab something quickly before flying back to DC. The decor is bizarre. I think we called it 'harlequin bordello' -- as in copious amounts of red velvet, gilt, smoked mirrors and diamond-shaped lattice work everywhere. Very cheap-looking, particularly when filled with the jeans/flipflops/t-shirt clientele. Granted, this was for lunch but it wasn't quite what we thought a JGV restaurant would be, particularly for the prices they charge. Excellent burger - juicy with a very flavorful toasted sesame bun. Service so-so. Won't be back. Edited by Camille-Beau
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$24 Chinese tea, $27 spaghetti and $29 valet parking. A rack of veal runs $240?!  Yeah, this is exactly what the city, or any city, needs.  Absolutely ridiculous!

It's certainly an expensive restaurant, but the $240 rack of veal is meant to serve 6 people. Most of their entrees are priced from $27 to $30.

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A little help, anybody?

Next Monday I may be in NYC (and may stay overnight) to visit a cousin who'll be recovering from surgery. The hospital is at 30th St and 1st Ave.

I'm hoping to pick up something fun and tasty for her, to give her a break from hospital chow, but my knowledge of good eats in the city is limited to:

1) a place called Rice to Riches (a friend brought back rice pudding once)

2) Patisserie Claude (way south in Manhattan, I think)

3) Steven Jenkins place - is it called Artisinal, maybe? - no idea where it is.

I'm thinking something along the lines of good bread and cheese and fresh fruit - picnic fare for the hospital room. Is this completely wacky?

If you have any ideas please toss them my way. Thanks.

clueless in New York,

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We just returned from a very nice trip to New York that, looking back, was mostly about food.

Saturday lunch was at the MOMA cafe....assorted meats and cheese washed down by a nice pint of Brooklyn brown

Saturday dinner was at a place called Cuban in the village - I foolishly ordered a seafood stew, while the rest of my dining companions stuck with meat and fared better for it - the stew was a little bland

Sunday breakfast was at Good Enough to Eat, an upper West Side spot popular enough to make lots of people stand in line in the blisteringly cold temps (luckily, we got there just in time to snap the last open table). They have thick cut bacon that is to die for and some of the best chocolate chip pancakes I have ever tasted (made w/ Belgian chocolate of some sort).

Sunday afternoon featured two quick trips in succession to Pomme Frites and the Dumpling Man. Both were very good. Perhaps reflecting our differing origins, I preferred the fries while my wife preferred the dumplings. Fries came with lots of sauces....we chose 6 including rosemary garlic mayo (delicious), wasabi mayo, curry ketchup.

We had a late meal at Babbo Sunday night. To be honest I approached this with some trepidation as I have a natural distrust of celebrity chefs, especially one stretched as (seemingly) thin as Mario Batali. However my fears were completely misplaced as we had an excellent meal from start to finish. The restaurant itself is quite the scene with lots of people and loud alternative music playing (I liked it but could imagine it grating on others). Service was very good and the food was divine. I started with warm Lamb Tongue on a bed of mushrooms and topped w/ a poached egg.....as I commented to the waiter afterwards, everything else could have sucked and the meal would still have been worthwhile. This was followed with a shared portion of the goose liver ravioli in a balsamic and brown butter sauce.....very rich and very good. For my main I had sweetbreads - I had never had them before but really enjoyed them - they were served in a very sweet onion sauce. We also enjoyed a few great bottles of wine.

Monday meant a pilgrimage to Murrays where I picked up some Stinking Bishop, Epoisses, Strathdon Blue, Livarot, Pecornio Ginepro, and Under Milk Mood and generally acted like I had died and gone to heaven! After that a quick trip to the Chelsea Market so some bit and pieces incl some nice take-out sushi and we were on the road back to DC

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3) Steven Jenkins place - is it called Artisinal, maybe? - no idea where it is.

Jenkins's place is Fairway which is Upper West Side and further up in Harlem. You're thinking of Artisanal which is Terrance Brennan and Max McCalman's. You'll be walking distance to their restaurant and retail joint on 32nd Street between Park and Madison. You'll be able to get plenty from them. Call ahead and ask for ideas.

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We're heading up to NY again next weekend and I'm looking for a place to get good upscale Italian, either at the bar or a table, maybe somewhere we can get good small plates. I hear good things about Lupa, 'inoteca, and Peasant. Any suggestions for something of this ilk?

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We're heading up to NY again next weekend and I'm looking for a place to get good upscale Italian, either at the bar or a table, maybe somewhere we can get good small plates. I hear good things about Lupa, 'inoteca, and Peasant. Any suggestions for something of this ilk?

i just got back from a weekend in nyc, and Lupa is a great place. such a cool spot. great feel. the charcuterie, pastas and mini caraffes of wines were awesome. the mains were good (saltimboca) to not good(sweetbreads). but we didnt try them all.

if you go, get reservations. it was super busy even at 2.30 on a sunday.

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here are details of my whole nyc trip....

just want to report back in on my trip to nyc. thank you all for your reccommendations.....

saturday (cold as a mofo)-walked around the city for awhile, then while heading back to our hotel, realized we were close to Daniel's Bagels. stopped in for a snack, and the bagels did not disappoint. delicious, chewy but tender.

after resting back at the hotel we went to blue hill for a late dinner. the place was very charming. the food had some highs (the mushroom salad, the parsnip soup amuse bouche, the slow poached egg) and some lows (the lamb and pork entrees, the roasted pineapple dessert). but all in all a delightful meal. for drinks we went to the pegu club, where the drinks did not disappoint. and after champagne, a bottle of wine, chartreuse, a negroni and a gin, gin, mule, it was time for sleep.

sunday-wife and i woke up and got bagels at murrays in the billage and brought them to my sister-in-laws. ate bagels and then walked around the village. headed to lupa for a late lunch. excellent charcuterie plate and pastas. felt the wine values were top notch. the restaurant has a feel that is even better than the glowing reviews people gave me. the only downers were the sweetbread main course and the meyer lemon gelato. next time i go back it will be all charcuterie and pastas (the bavette with caci and pepe and the special pork raviolis, MMMMMMMMMMMMMM).

after some more walking, headed to the upstairs of the spotted pig for people watching and some beers. Great spot. just a great spot. and even at 4 o'clock, it was starting to fill up. by 5, it was packed.

afterwards, we took PANS advice and instead of momofuku, we headed to chinatown for the best named restaurant in NYC, New Yeah Shanghai Deluxe. After dropping decent chunks of money at blue hill and lupa, my wife and i were floored at our $23 dollar check and the gluttonous feast that we had. My wife loves little dumplings and packaged things, so that is why i took her out for dumplings. and we filled up on juicy pork buns, spicy wontons, wonton soup and the honey glazed pork shoulder. great meal, great value. great recommendation

monday-more bagels at Daniels, then off to the LES for my annual pilgrimage to Katz's. still doesnt disappoint, even as my mind and stomach builds it up every year. Pastrami on rye. the only way to go. that and a dr. browns black cherry soda.

my wife ate part of my sandwich, so neither one of us were too stuffed. so we walked around the east village, enjoying the last moments of our first weekend away since our honeymoon. and anticipating our final meal in nyc for awhile. and that was 6th streets Little India. Amazing, delicous food for just an amazing bargain. An appetizer of meat filled samosas, naan bread, a stewed beef entree (that comes with mounds of rice and lentil soup) for like $12. TRhe restaurant i, believe, was called Sonali.

Anyways, in a ity that often gets a bad rap for being expensive. you can definately eat well at the ethnic joints for cheaper than you could in Washington, DC. Also, Lupa, constitutes a real bargain, and is a total gem. Blue Hill, while charming, had a few too many misses for me to return there when given the so many choices of restaurants in NYC.

thanks again.

jonathan

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Update on V Steakhouse -- apparently it closed in December. No loss unfortunately. It's unclear at this point what restaurant will replace it - or the adjoining space originally slated as a Charlie Trotter restaurant (he dropped out) in the Time Warner Center.

Edited by Camille-Beau
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For the best Rueben in DC go to Union Station, hop on board the Amtrak and go to NYC.  Then subway down to Katz's.  After Katz's, walk down to Orchard and Rvington to wash it down with a glass of Paolo Bea Santa Chiara at 'inoteca.

This is the same advice I would give -- but I will definitely locate and check out Deli City since I've not been there. My brother is a musician and often plays at a spot on the lower east side, conveniently located a few blocks from Katz's. It's like a bonanaza, I get to go to NYC, hear my brother play *and* eat at Katz's. There's often an intense negotiation at the table over how much food to order, but there's almost always a pastrami sandwich and a reuben. Of course, if my father comes along, we also have to get a regular corned beef sandwich because he considers reubens to be frou-frou. Come to think of it, I'll be at Katz's on March 11th. Can't wait.

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Just back from a quick NYC trip...

A couple of places to share, you won't find any "foodie" places on this list--- not with a foodie crowd:

1) La Bonne Soupe (55th between 6th & 7th): reliable French food, amazing Onion Soup, often surrounded by French speakers while eating. Noticed that they have two adorable two tops on a balcony--- was with 4 people so not an option for me this trip.

2) SaraBeths--- ate at the one in the Whitney. Good, reliable and above average for a museum restaurant. No pretentions.

3) Shun Lee Cafe (65th near the Lincoln Center)--- I think it was an off night for this normally great place to catch Dim Sum and Chinese on the West Side. Also the prices have gone WAY up since my last visit... nearly the same prices as the more formal adjacent restaurant.

4) Jerry's in Soho- literally needed a place to grab lunch today, saw the crowd and stopped. I had a GREAT decontstructed Greek salad with the best piece of grilled salmon I have had in a l-o-n-g time.

5) Le Pain Quitidien near Carnegie Hall--- I recall reading on DR.com that they are entering the DC market through Breadline. This is going to be very dangerous for me.... great bread, yummy spreads and really good coffee.

Other treats in my 36 hours in NYC: Greenberg's Bakery on the Upper East Side (the best Hamantaschen I have ever had, including my own) and Vosge's Chocolates in SoHo (am so impressed with this chocolatier, first found her 4 years ago in Chicago, still really good).

Wow, good thing we walked and walked and walked...

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Just back from a wonderful weekend in the Big Apple. My family of six (parents & siblings) went on an impromptu weekend trip without any reservations. Our motto was "cheap but good." NYC did not disappoint us.

Friday Dinner: Joe's Shanghai. Both the pork and crab/pork soup dumplings are just divine. I just love the ceremonial nature of devouring each dumpling...carefully biting a piece of the casing, delicately sipping the broth and waiting for more as you ingest the last bite.

Friday Dessert: Choux Factory. It's a eclair store run by Japanese owners. They have about 10-15 flavored creams that are stuffed into pastry shells. I couldn't tell whether it was a franchise.

Saturday Breakfast: Ham & Salami sandwiches from a Hungarian Deli in Upper East, a block away from our apartment. My mom's choice of breakfast. It was good but her idea of breakfast but definitely not in sync with mine, especially after too much Macallan the night before.

Saturday Lunch: Baluchi's for Indian. The food shouts "safe" Indian. Not enough OMMPH but the crab meat curry was memorable. Their lunch is 50% off their Dinner menu--same menu, same portions. The damage was $90 for six of us. We ordered 3 appetizers, 4 curries, naan, tandoori chix and lassis.

Saturday Dinner: We walked into Babbo with no reservations...as usual. We were lucky and got seats at the bar area after less than 30 minutes of waiting. I have yet to try a place where they have mastered the art of ravioli as Batali. We tried the beef cheek ravioli and their daily special sweet bread ravioli. Both were fantastic. Their lamb tongue salad with arugula and poached egg is not for the faint hearted, but I love the 'lambiness'(?) of the dish.

Sunday Brunch: Dim sum at Cafe Evergreen on 70th and 1st Ave. Extremely clean, good service = higher prices than Chinatown.

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I need a little help, folks. The +1 and I are heading up to NY at the end of April to celebrate an anniversary. I grew up near NY, visit and dine out there frequently and will try just about anything once or twice. He is less adventurous, but has been expanding his tastes since I ask him to try everything I get when we go out.

We're staying around 26th and Madison, but that won't limit us. We're not looking for a Per Se experience pricewise or foodwise (he's not there yet) but something nicer than the average restaurant. Our last trip up, we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Hearth in the East Village. I had thought about Babbo or Esca, which I've always wanted to try, but am looking for other options too.

Parameters: a place with great fish options, not too crazy/loud, nice wine list, and entree prices up to $35, but would go higher for the right place.

Any places to recommend? Any more information needed? I appreciate any help!

Thanks!!

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Thanks everyone! I've sent the menus along. I've wanted to try Aureole after hearing about it from my parents (they live up there) so that would be my first choice. I think if everything looks good, the price requirements can slide. Me, I have no problems paying good money for a great meal. He's still coming around on that since he grew up in a household that never went out for nice meals. <_<

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We spent last weekend (plus a few days) in NYC for a food fix. (Looks like a few other Rockwellians were there, too.) Went to some old reliables and tried a few new places.

A return visit demonstrated to us that Lupa continues to be the outstanding “name brand” value restaurant, with excellent, fairly-priced food and an outstanding wine list. After tantalizing our tastebuds with prosecco and terrific focaccia, we shared a creative and delicious salad of celery root, grapefruit, blood orange, and chives tossed with thinly sliced roast pork. I had a perfect sea bass served over lentils, and Mrs. dcdavidm had her favorite and memorable Pollo alla Diavola. I must comment on an incident that occurred that separates restaurants that truly care about their customers from all the rest: we had ordered a pasta course, but because of an error, our main course came out prematurely ahead of it. When I pointed this out to the runner, within 10 seconds our server was at the table apologizing, and within another 15 seconds, unprompted, the manager also was at the table offering both apologies and several solutions, which we accepted. When we finished, I expected to look at the dessert menu. Instead, two desserts appeared at the table (a wonderful panna cotta with roasted figs, and wine-braised dates with a mascarpone sauce), which our server asked us to accept with the restaurant’s apology over the earlier trip-up. Lupa scored highly that night.

The second night, for the first time we went to Blue Hill, which gets much of its food from farms in the nearby Hudson Valley. We had mixed views about the place. The food was certainly made from high quality ingredients very well prepared. Great bread. Decent wine list. We had a greens and mushroom salad that was refreshing; an exquisite poached cod in a shellfish broth; an intensely flavored roasted veal served over spaetzle; and a roasted pear/passion fruit gratin for dessert. That said, it is not really the “warm, affordable, neighborhood restaurant” that it bills itself as. The prices were on the high side. The tables were practically on top of one another. The noise level was uncomfortably high. Service was not well-timed (the first course arrived within minutes of our cocktail order, for example, precluding a relaxed start to the meal.)

Next, we went to the first time to Daniel Boulud’s db bistro moderne. We have enjoyed his cooking at Daniel and at Café Boulud, and expected we would enjoy the bistro. “Moderne” it is, with a clean, contemporary, tasteful interior. At first, all the hard surfaces made it a bit noisy with a full house, but as the tables thinned, it became quite relaxing. The food and service were Boulud-quality excellent. We had an artichoke soup that was incredibly rich and satisfying; a tomato tart tatin that brought summertime to a March evening; scallops (with risotto) that were “almost” as good as Corduroy’s; and a red snapper with a Riesling sauce that was out of this world. We topped off dessert with a lime parfait that just oozed flavor and was a perfect ending. The bill was almost the same as that of Blue Hill, but we felt we had a better experience. I got good vibes about this restaurant.

Finally, we went back to Babbo. What can I say? Every time we go there we enjoy it more and appreciate what Batali has brought to the city. Babbo has great food; and adventurous wine list; and impeccable, warm, and welcoming service. (We even liked that the house music in the background that night was mostly Dylan and the Doors.) We opted for the pasta tasting menu with wine pairings, and were not disappointed, although I also envied the pork chop that a neighboring diner was tackling. The five pasta offerings were magical blends of tastes and textures. Dessert and assorted nibbles were exquisite. Expensive, but a real treat. We will continue to go back.

Oh, just briefly, while walking around on the rainy Sunday, we stopped in at Otto for a pizza and a glass of wine. It was excellent, and we definitely have to explore more of its menu the next time.

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I had a reservation all lined up for this past Saturday night at L'Impero but had to cancel because my best friend threw an impromptu dinner party at her new house in NJ. In other words, bailing was not an option. But earlier that day, I had a bacon cheeseburger at PJ Clarke's. Definitely lived up to its reputation. The texture and flavor were impeccable.

Is it better than the burgers at Colorado Kitchen and Palena? Probably an apples/oranges comparison. But I don't recall having enjoyed one more. Except maybe at In-N-Out. It was just so satisfying.

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Oh, just briefly, while walking around on the rainy Sunday, we stopped in at Otto for a pizza and a glass of wine. It was excellent, and we definitely have to explore more of its menu the next time.

I am a big fan of the olive oil gelato w/ sea salt that they serve there. Glad you enjoyed Babbo.

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On a quick visit to NYC this weekend I decided to have lunch at Mario Batali's Spanish-oriented place, Casa Mono, at 125 E17th Street, near Irving Place. I have been a big fan of MB for a while, having eaten at Lupa and Esca several times, and using his cookbooks pretty regularly. However, I had never been to this place and decided to give it a try.

Casa Mono is a pretty small place, with a number of tables and several seat along the bar (from which you get a great view of either the kitchen or the espresso maker, depending on which part you sit at).

The menu is very interesting, with a wide variety of unusual meats/preparations/combinations, almost of all of which sounded tempting to me. As I sat at the bar, the waitress who provided me with a complimentary glass of house cava accepted my challenge to let her choose my meal for me, since I really would never have been able to decided on my own. In the end, the three dishes she recommended were all ones that would have been on my top 5 or so choices based solely on the menu descriptions.

My first dish was a duck egg, served sunny side up, with some sort of bacon-like product over roasted fingerling potatoes with black truffles shaved over the top. I don't know how the chef did it, but this was by far the best, tastiest egg I have ever had. The dish was redolent with garlic, sea salt and the earthy truffles, but somehow the whole was far more than the sum of its parts. Really extraordinary.

Dish number two was quail with langostines. The flavors of this dish were also excellent, with the quail done just perfectly so that it was very juicy, but with the bones in it was hard to eat. Also, there were only two langostines, but then there were 10 mussels that I was not expecting and that were the best I can remember eating.

The last dish was wild boar with bitter seville oranges. The flavor the boar was outstanding, and was very well complimented by the oranges. This dish appears to be very popular, too, since I saw the chef prepare several dishes of it during my meal.

The prices are fairly moderate for NYC, with the meal costing me just under $50 (though the wine was complimentary, and the waitress for some reason chose not to charge me for my espresso). I would definitely come again.

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