Keithstg

From what I was able to see, the dishes on the a la carte menu are somewhat larger than the tasting menu counterparts - ETA, by somewhat, I mean general app and entree size at similar establishments (JG, Daniel, Citronelle, etc).

I was at Per Se two weeks ago Friday (write-up coming soon), and the lounge was not full until about 8:30pm. If you want to dine early, I don't think you'll have much of a problem. You could also call and get on the wait list for dinner in the dininig room - we did, and were given an early Friday reservation. If anything, I think that the experience has improved there, at least when compared to my first visits.

I am very excited to try the new Lab as soon as possible! I'll wait on the "regular" galileo until (if?) the service is proven, however.

This is excellent advice. Our U-Line is installed under our kitchen counter - I've had to use offsite storage for the past few years for the rest.

I have a U-Line that I am very happy with. Although in the Eurocave price range, you can check out craigslist, etc. or a better appliance store for floor models, which for the 55-60 bottle capacity would fit into your price range.

Best of luck in the new location - wonder when this will happen? I will not look forward to fighting traffic to get all the way out there, though.

The Hartford Whalers - 1/11/1975 - 4/13/1997.

We have used the Jean-Louis room in Central several times and have been pleased.

This isn't recent information, but we stayed at Keswick a year ago, and ate at Fossett's for dinner. The meal was good, but not memorable. We enjoyed Oxo and Fleurie more, both of which are downtown, as well as the restaurant at the Clifton Inn, which is close by.

Thanks. This is a much more productive discussion than one centered on the pricing of one bottle of wine. I agree with most of your points. Personally, I really only patronize restaurants in DC that have lists that I find to be well priced and diverse (save the occassional work dinner at Capital Grille), and generally only take advantage of corkage when bringing a bottle widely unavailable (ex. many SQN wines), or special to me. Otherwise, I buy off the list, sometimes at mark-ups similar to the ones you talk about, but never for "crappy" wine. With the variety of restaurants available in the district, and with restauranteurs like Dean Gold (and what Michael and Mark have going on in Arlington - can't wait to come back to DC and check it out), there really isn't a need to succumb to prices one finds uncomfortable. Over time, typical wine markups will change. But, I would much rather pay a larger markup on an interesting bottle of wine as opposed to some Santa Margarita or Coppola plonk.

Try Seamlessweb. It's fast, not slow, and is available in more "big" cities (and London), like DC. One caveat - it does seem like they are working through takeout taxi for some restaurants at the moment, but that is bound to change. Seamless has made late nights at the office here in NY bearable.

I think prices are "justified" the same way everywhere - because the market supports those prices. Rather than worry about "usurious" pricing, or comment on what constitutes a "reasonable wine markup", I gravitate toward restaurants who provide diverse, well thought out lists at varied price points. Although I sometimes take advantage of corkage policies, mostly I find myself happily buying off the list. In an effort to broaden the discussion away from a lone bottle of macon - there is a restaurant in DC that I enjoy, along with many others on this board. I was surprised to see that they have (had?) a certain cultish california pinot noir on their list - for $275 or something thereabouts. Mailing list customers (myself included) may by this wine for $52. Rather than complain, I'll simply forgo that bottle,enjoy the ones I have at home, and make another selection that appeals to my sense of value from a great wine list.

Yep. The Red Porch is the bar above section 100, in centerfield.

Le Paradou was a place we frequented over the years, usually deciding on a whim to have dinner in the bar and lounge area - sometimes off the bar menu, sometimes not. We always enjoyed speaking with nicholas, the on-again, off-again sommilier. Wonder where Yannick will end up next?

Or Jean-Georges, for that matter. To echo Jake, J-G's flagship is decidedly NOT an asian restaurant. I understand Vong and Spice market to be fusion, in the puck vein, but I'd guess that if you asked J-G what cuisine, if any, he has "mastered", it would be alsatian. Also worth noting that JG spent a large percentage of his career in Asia.

Jake DeSantis.

Glad to hear about the '76 bosconia. Just took delivery of a couple from Chambers Street...

Two meals from a week ago... Gotham Bar and Grill We made it out to Alfred Portale’s institution last Friday for lunch. Unbeknownst to us, they are running a deal right now in celebration of their 25th anniversary where prix fixe lunch and dinner menus are available for $25 and $75 respectively. The menus featured popular dishes over the past 25 years, and seemed like an excellent deal. Unsurprisingly, the restaurant was packed! For starters we had the warm goat cheese salad, and the veal carpaccio with bresola, basil, lemon oil, and parmigano. Both were good, and were reminders of how influential Portale has been, as these dishes (particularly the goat cheese salad) are now everywhere. Mains were broiled cod, and lamb loin. Both were well presented, and cooked beautifully. Desserts for both of us were chocolate cake, which we also enjoyed, but were not wowed by. Combined with a half bottle of rLdH todonia (1999), this was a nice, serene, enjoyable lunch. Jean-Georges As my brother and sister in law were in town last weekend, we went to Jean Georges. I found the experience much different than the other 4 * tables in NYC – first, J-G’s bar (the Nougatine Room) was hopping. Slammed with people, music, the whole nine yards. Had we made reservations in the bar conversation would have been difficult, so caveat emptor when booking on Open Table (Nougatine shows up separately). The main dining room is off of the bar, and takes up the south side of the Trump building on CPW. Although there are doors separating the dining room from the bar, some noise does spill over, but not enough to be of concern. The dining room is sparsely decorated, and relatively long. Much to my dismay, our table passed up the tasting menu in favor of the four course menu. Of the first courses, my favorite was the peekytoe crab dumplings, served with a celeriac – meyer lemon tea jus. The jus was a bit spicier than expected, which gave a good counterpoint to the sweet crabmeat. The only dish among the first courses that didn’t meet expectation was the foie brulee, which my sister in law thought was too sweet…not a reasonable critique in my opinion (it’s crème brulee for heaven’s sake), but whatever. Second course for me was roasted foie with candied apples – for whatever reason the menu indicated that this preparation would be served with concord grapes, but the foie showed up with apples instead. Either way, the sweetness of the apples was a nice counterpoint to the rich foie. I was also able to steal a bite of my wife’s Arctic Char, which was roasted with garlic and jalapeno. Mains were smoked squab l’orange for my wife, and lamb loin for me. The squab wasn’t too heavily smoked, and worked well with the asian pear accompaniment. The lamb loin was cooked perfectly, but lacked excitement, I thought – the black trumpet mushrooms were good, as were the baby leeks, but I came away thinking that I should have gone with a different entrée. There wasn’t anything wrong with it, but in retrospect maybe a fish dish would have been nice, as opposed to lamb immediately following foie. Desserts were served tasting style, based on a few components. Each diner was given the choice of Caramel, Chocolate, or Apple as the main ingredient and was then presented a plate divided with four small portions of dessert, with different preparations of each ingredient. I didn’t really come away with notes on the desserts, other than I preferred the “apple” plate to the others. All in all, J-G was a good experience. The service was somewhat more aloof than, say, Le Bernardin, but the atmosphere itself was less formal. One of the better meals I’ve had up here in the last ten months, and certainly worth the trip up / celebratory dinner.

IMO, yes. Jean-Georges can become Rachel Ray. Conversely, Rachel Ray could not become Jean-Georges, she just doesn't have the chops. I'll write up a meal from Jean-Georges later today, but it goes without saying that before being a one man corporation, JGV was one of the most talented chefs in the United States, and has worked in / ran Michelin starred restaurants on multiple continents.

Babbo gets EXTREMELY crowded, as others have noted. You could try eating in the lounge at Del Posto, which has similarly wonderful pastas, or at the bar at Alto, which is also a great experience (and more quiet). Some other bar and lounge areas to consider:Eleven Madison Park Gramercy Tavern Daniel

Call me crazy, but I think that this is something that perhaps should have been done sooner, economy nonwithstanding. If anyone's familiar with the layout of Per Se, they know that the bar and lounge area was pretty much dead space - used as people waited to be seated, etc., and did not see a ton of traffic from those popping in for a drink or whatever. Heck, had I known about this last Saturday I would have stopped in for a drink and a salmon cornet prior to heading across the circle for dinner!

Apparently they will be open within a month, per a report on NY1 today...some more discussion of this in the NYC thread.

Brian Pothier - welcome back!

Awful news - the original Totonno's location in Coney Island has burned down.Clickity

Congratulations Mark and Kathy!