guanabana

Even better/worse: Beal could be named to one of the All-NBA rosters this season, which would make him eligible for a supermax extension. (Wall's supermax takes effect next season)

Politico: "How the UK lost the Brexit battle" 

As of April 2019, MUME has moved to a tasting menu only format; the second seating has an added option of a slightly longer menu (2880NT or 3680NT). Previously it was a la carte with a min spend of 1500NT per person, which wasn't that difficult to reach (apps around 500NT, mains 900NT).

A few limited-time things:

- Tonight is Chef Sono's last night at Kyo Ya. *sadface*

- 5-7 April, Cedric Grolet will be at Dominique Ansel (original Soho store). "Dominique Ansel invites Cédric Grolet to New York" More details from their IG. 

- Paul Liebrandt (of Corton fame) is the latest chef-in-residence at Chefs Club NYC. His most recent gig was a similar popup/residency at Racines wine bar.

Eater Guide to Taipei

A bit sloppy (hey, it's Eater) but they did dig up Wenzhou St Daikon Buns/Cakes, which was a few blocks from where I was staying last year. Still, 20% of that essential list are not really restaurants and I think you are unlikely to feel like you've eaten "outrageously well" on the train bento boxes.

NYT: Mario Batali Exits His Restaurants

Nitpicky: Carman wrote that Cora had the 2nd highest winning percentage on Iron Chef America but the link to Wikipedia does not support that. She is a very strong #2 alphabetically, though.

Also, Tock collects tax on service charges properly ;)

2 hours ago, KeithA said:

Unfortunately, except all of the above and many other mediocre food options close by, I haven't found anything really good that is actually walking distance from Penn Station (meaning not requiring a special trip).

Also, I can't vouch for it because I've never been but there was supposed to be a really good doughnut shop within a block or so. Google it and it may come up. Something about originally being a car wash or similar business. Not sure if it is still open.  Cinnamon Snail in the Pennsy Food Hall also has doughnuts. 

I think that outpost of Underwest Donuts closed a while ago - it was on the left before you entered Penn Station from 7th Ave. The original shop may still be open, up near the Intrepid. The donuts at the booth were just ok (not a connoisseur) - I'm more of a Doughnut Plant person.

Some or none of these may fit your definition of walking distance: Keens (oh, SteveR already mentioned), Wolfgang's (NYTimes location), Ushiwakamaru (solid mid-tier sushi, Harbs bakery around the corner), Nomad or Nomad Bar; up by Bryant Park, Gabriel Kreuther (plus its chocolate/pastry shop next door), Sushi Ginza Onodera (lunch is almost reasonably priced).

Have not been, but recommended by friends: Noda (Ginza Iwa alum), Odo (former Kajitsu chef, now with meat!)

If it's very late/early there's always Koreatown.

I was more curious if there were other considerations for the schedule, beyond chefs' availability, like how far in advance people would pay.

That season pass package carries a 33% premium ($200 per person per dinner); it might be sold out or they didn't hold back seats for it.

That space must have some odd table configurations: max party size is 6, but for, say, Dec 5, there's no available for a party of 2, but you can book 5 or 6 in the dining room and 3 (and only 3) at the bar. I thought Resy had some feature to manage seat pools.

Odd cost breakdown too:

$116.39 per person

$23.28 service charge <- wouldn't this be taxable? (vs calling it a gratuity)

$10.33 (8.875% tax on 116.39 only)

Because of rounding, I think if you book a party size other than 1 or 2, you save a penny!

Interesting monthly dinner series at the Freehand hotel:

The Neighborhood

although I'm not sure there's any order that I would find worth it to prepay up to 9 months in advance...

17 hours ago, funkyfood said:

i can't seem to click on open times.  what am i doing wrong?

Oops, I just noticed that they had loaded the times - I didn't actually try to book! Maybe they will be unlocked later..

ETA: I missed the exact time, but it might have been around Wed noon? I checked around 12:20pm (not 100% sure) and all the new slots had been booked.

On 2/4/2019 at 2:19 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

So when do they start taking reservations for the next reservable day?  Midnight or some other time?

It looks like 12am Wednesday for the entire 4th week out (Mon-Sun) if that makes any sense. They just opened 3/4 - 3/10.

On 1/4/2019 at 1:55 AM, DonRocks said:

110% is a pat response athletes give reporters.

Might not be so disingenuous, in the PED Era...

PSA: Bad Saint extended their holiday prix-fixe menu an extra week so a la carte does not resume until after this weekend. They've also accepted some reservations during this time so walk-in spots could be very limited (the night I went, it wasn't too bad - 8 seats per turn were held back). On the plus side, lines may be much shorter - some people in line bailed upon learning of the $85 min spend. It's higher than last year's $70 menu, but is it that out of line with an avg check? As a singlet, I'm ordering 3-4 dishes, and as a pair 6-7. 

The menu I had (don't know if it changes at all):

4 Dec 2018 WaPo/Tim Carman review: Momo Yakitori serves spot-on Japanese skewers with a side of kitty-cat kitsch.

NYPD has closed its investigations against Mario Batali.

[possibly a dupe?] Grubstreet recently had an update on the Batali & Bastianich group. (still not divested)

The NYC location only accepted reservations for 2 at the counter when it opened, but maybe they've softened that now. If you were to walk in or arrive on a dining room booking and there were open seats at the counter (more likely in DC?), would they really turn you away? (in the USA; I could totally see this happening in Japan)

On 10/29/2018 at 8:02 AM, Ericandblueboy said:

To redeem, you have to make a reservation.  You’ll see the redemption rate for each restaurant before you make the reservation.

If you don't see anything you like, can you get your points back? In my reading of the instructions, the process seems to be: convert points into a voucher with expiration date, then use that voucher to search/book (I don't see how to find the list of participating restaurants, without first getting a voucher). What also isn't clear to me: if a restaurant participates, is it guaranteed that it will accept all denominations and/or keep the same exchange rate? (i.e. if a place accepts 2000 points for $20, will it also accept 5000/10000/20000 points and still at $50/$100/$200?). OT also sells gift cards for some restaurants, but that list may not match the set of rewards restaurants - I don't see any Isabella gift cards available.

3 hours ago, Pool Boy said:

I do not even understand why they made the change from how they used to do this. It used to be, you have this many points, you redeem them for $x. They send you a check you throw in with your tab at ANY OT.com restaurant and they accept it and process it just like the check it is.

This new way is all smoke and mirrors it seems.

Zero actual knowledge but It wouldn't surprise me if the old system wasn't so great for restaurants - I could totally see OT not reimbursing the full value and consolidating checks in monthly/quarterly cycles.

23 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

Seems like almost all the restaurants are redeeming 2,000 points for only $10 in DC/MD/VA.  I did notice that the surviving Isabella joints are still redeeming at $20 per 2,000 points.

Noob question: is there a way to check the available restaurants and their redemption rates before committing points?

Depending on your schedule and the show length, you could try booking a late dinner (Vernick, FriSatSun late seatings are around 10:30pm) and pre-game closer to the theatre.

If BYOB is a priority, Russet is very close. I thought it was pleasant enough; Steve R visited more recently and wrote about it somewhere here, maybe in the Help Needed section. Res Ipsa is BYOB too, but it might be a bit far and too much of a time suck for pre-show (if you do the tasting) and what do you do with the leftovers?

Vedge: you'd likely need a booking or go there early for bar seating

Abe Fisher: Jewish-American riffs, might get too heavy for pre-show

Double Knot: would not be my first choice, but it's very popular and more knowledgeable people seem to like it; need to book downstairs main room, or do happy hour upstairs or at Sampan next door

The Safran+Turney group (Barbuzzo, Jamonera, Little Nonna, etc) is not bad for a less "event-" more neighborhood-type meal. 

Possibly dicier options:

I've never been but am curious about Volver inside Kimmel Center - it might be less ambitious now that Garces isn't his own boss.

Oloroso: single visit was somewhat disappointing; too many dishes felt the same and the paella was odd (finished in oven so the crusty part was on top); chef also owns Townsend and A Mano and looks like a cross between Patton Oswalt and Jeremy Renner

Spice Finch: Jen Carroll's newish place inside the same hotel as the Prime Rib; my one meal there was uneven and had a bit of the sameness problem but it hadn't been open very long; desserts were meh, maybe get the kataifi and skip the rest

The same organizers are doing an event on Nov 9 at Center Stage: Pop Up Night Market. Admission is included with show ticket, or can be purchased separately for $8-10.

Gabrielle Hamilton and Ashley Merriman Dreamed of Writing the Second Chapter in the #MeToo Story; Instead, they got scorched, by Maggie Bullock 14 Oct 2018 Grubstreet/New York magazine

Crafty PR, but I'm still left with more questions than answers and the sense that there's some amount of eliding.

Is that a global setting on Opentable? It would explain why so many restaurants don't (can't) align the start of online and phone booking.

On Resy it's either configurable or locked to a different default; I know Dabney in DC starts both online and phone booking at noon.

Do they release the number of candidates each year? It's difficult to say whether 24 passes is abnormal in a given year without knowing how many applicants there were. Previous high was 16* but since 2002 (not including 2018) the average per year is just over 9. [ETA: Interweb says pass rate is 3-8%]

Why have they not identified the accused MS by name? They seem to have removed his/her name off the website, so it's not really a secret anymore, correct? (I believe that the deceased remain on the membership list.) [Oops google tells me that wine-searcher also did the same thing here]

Maybe not so irresponsible speculation:

* or was it?

Is the restriction $100++ and under per person? Or can it be higher b/c the kids would not be full participants? They might not have to order the full menu at Del Posto or you could try lunch: 3 courses $60, 4/$70 (Geez, these lunch prix fixe prices have really gone up, I remember when Jean Georges was 2/$29). 

I liked Le Coucou but the tab adds up very quickly (or it's a difficult place to dine solo without over-ordering) . Mimi's original chef left shortly after the NYT review, but it's still around so they're probably doing something right. For French you could also look into Benoit in Midtown or shiny new toy Frenchette in TriBeCa (can be loud AF so get an early booking for dining room or try new lunch service)

Other options I like, geographically: (assuming ~$100 limit)

Midtown: Torishin, Gabriel Kreuther bar area (their chocolate shop next door is worth checking out;  it should have more desserts now that summer is over), Modern bar, Sakagura, Hakkasan (dim sum prix fixe lunch is right at the edge of reasonable; ALC/dinner is very pricey), Sushi Ginza Onodera lunch ($100-150), Agern inside Grand Central (Great Northern Food Hall adjacent is an interesting stop for breakfast/lunch too), Kajitsu

Flatiron/USQ: Gramercy Tavern lunch or something else in the Danny Meyer universe (USQ Cafe, Maialino, etc), Nomad/Nomad Bar, 15 East (counter, great sobe too)

East Village/LES: Contra, Dirt Candy (sentimental favorite, fun but not high-end), Pig & Khao (not fancy either), Secchu Yokota (tempura + some Western dishes, I prefer second seating 8:30pm), Chikalicious (dessert bar, for pre- or post-meal), Kanoyama, Kyo Ya (tricky; now bookings only for $150 kaiseki, short ALC menu for walk-ins) [walks-in?], not a fan of the Momofuku spots overall but would give Ko bar a try.

-> Not fancy: I really like Ho Foods for Taiwanese beef noodles; tiny single-dish place with a few apps (they recently added minced pork over rice/lu rou fan)

TriBeCa: Paul Liebrandt's ongoing gig at Racines wine bar might be worth a look, Jungsik's regular menu is over budget but they do have a dessert tasting at the bar for $60 or so, which I consider fair (OTOH the bar's leg room is too shallow - I am of avg height and it's side saddle or manspread), Sushi Azabu