Simon

As someone who recently moved back from New Haven and made the rounds one last time, I can confirm the best places now are Zuppardi's (for the clam pizza) and Zeneli.  Modern has held the line the best of the big three.  My last plain tomato pie at Sally's was shockingly poor.

Piggybacking off of this thread: I haven't really eaten out in the area since before the pandemic.  I'd love to hear more people's recent favorites and sense of the lay of the land!

As someone who's lived in New Haven the last two years, I'm afraid to report that the pandemic has not been great for the pizza scene.  Sally's was my clear favorite pre-pandemic -- as DPop aptly evokes -- but my last two plain tomato pies from Sally's were vastly inferior to their usual standards.  I wonder if quality has gone downhill because they're doing delivery now.  I have not been to Pepe's recently but also have not heard great things.  My last pizza at Modern was soupy, almost like a Neopolitan, but the slippage wasn't quite as bad as at Sally's.

My other pre-pandemic favorite was the clam pie -- the absolute best -- at Zuppardi's, though I haven't returned since.

Does anyone have any more recent reports from Portland that they could share?

Frank has a sweet tooth.  I've never had Pupatella, but the most distinctive element of Frank's pizza is the sweetness of the tomato sauce.  I've learned to stick to his white pies.

What is the current lay of the land re: MD crab houses?

I'm being taken here for dinner soon.  What should I order?

12 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Curious: Did you spread the Burrata around, or did you use it as a focal point, and fork it (or dip the crust)? I think it would be good as a dip for the cornicione <--- yes, he just used that term.

Did you notice a difference in the crust? Good? Bad? Neither?

Say hi next time!

Spread!  And I loved the new crust, though mine wasn't nearly as blistered as yours in the pictures.

16 hours ago, DonRocks said:

The second pizza was a daily special: Burrata di Bufala, Squash Blossoms, Tomato Purée, Cherry Tomatoes, and Parsley ($16.45). Served with a half-orb of Burrata in the middle of the pizza, this was a self-service spread-around - necessary to prevent the pizza from becoming soggy (as it was today for lunch). If you're familiar with 2 Amys' pizza, and can picture how the crust was different on this evening, then you know exactly how this pizza was - the tomato purée was sweet and terrific, the Burrata making it milky and homey, and this was a fine foil for the Pozzuoli.

This was wonderful last night, too, so delicious yet lighter than you could ever imagine a pizza with burrata could be.  The cool burrata added not only richness but also a delightful textural and temperature contrast.  I loved the thinner interior, and the delicate layer of tomato puree was just right.  A brilliant invention.

On 1/8/2019 at 8:23 AM, Deac said:

Well, we changed course and are now doing a Monday lunch at Pierre Gagnaire. Can't wait.

Jealous.  Please report back!

On 10/7/2018 at 4:19 PM, DonRocks said:

I had dinner here with Warren Rojas not long after it opened - the table consensus (there were three of us) was that the pork belly by-the-pound was the clear winner. That's also something you could grab to-go and eat at home.

+1.  Order the pork belly and atsara to go, steam some rice at home, pair it all with an off-dry German riesling, and you've got yourself a great meal.

40 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

This is certainly a theoretical problem with the expansion of Sfoglina - it doesn't take a lot of training to cook good pasta; it takes a *lot* of training and experience to consistently execute good sauces (the saucier is an *extremely* important component in a traditional restaurant brigade).

Yes, this is a completely valid point, but I'd also say that I've observed these issues with the sauces from the earliest, pre-expansion days of Sfoglina.  Finesse in the sauces has never been there, even as the pastas themselves have often been excellent.

15 minutes ago, Marty L. said:

Any other recent experiences? Is one location better (foodwise) than the other now?  Any dishes that are must-orders or musts-to-avoid?

I've only been to Van Ness.  The tortellini was the best of the pastas I've had recently.  In general, I've found that the sauces / proteins are not treated with anywhere near the care and refinement you'd expect at Fiola or Fiola Mare: the lobster in the squid ink linguine was tough and overcooked, the lamb ragu over salty.  

Given what I expect the margins are on these pastas, I can see why they converted Casa Luca to another Sfoglina...

I like to hit the John Dory Oyster Bar at the Ace Hotel before catching the train back.

1 hour ago, natsguy said:

We don't have the landlord's side of the story here, but it's fairly clear to read between the lines:

This place opened in 1981, before passage of the ADA.  I haven't been in probably 15 years, but I recall it being a small awkward space at best.  If you tried to open it today, you couldn't.  It would be cost prohibitive, and probably logistically impossible, to install two complete ADA-compliant restrooms in this space.   That would take up about 100 of their 600 total square feet.  

So the main restroom access has presumably always been to the non-accessible restroom down the stairs, and people who couldn't access that were directed to a public restroom in the attached office building.  This worked fine when CF Folks was only open for lunch because the building was open, even though customers have been "self identifying" which restroom they need since the place opened (either that, or they've been telling disabled patrons that they don't have a restroom they can use, which is worse). 

Now CF Folks wants to open for dinner, when the office building is closed to the public.  So the landlord says, quite reasonably in my opinion, we can't just have random people walking around a closed office building after hours.  So they proposed to instead have the on-duty security guards accompany people that need to use the accessible restroom.  This actually sounds like the landlord trying to come up with a solution to an intractable problem, not a landlord trying to come up with a pretext to give these guys the boot.  

I would ask the owners of CF Folks:  given your space and facility constraints, what alternative did you propose for disabled restroom access for your restaurant that complies with the ADA and that would not involve patrons having to "self identify" if they need to use the disabled restroom?  

I believe both of the referenced restrooms are in the attached office building.  And, fwiw, I (non-disabled) have always been directed to take the elevator up to the presumably accessible restroom.

17 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Tonight, I watched SE7 EP7, "Luxury Lounge," and it was the low point in the series for me - this series has declined in quality over its final few seasons, but this was the absolute worst.

It's of Christopher Moltisanti decking Lauren Bacall in order to steal her gift basket. Really.

Yeah, the first half of Season 6 (not 7) is rough going, but the second half is truly great.  You'll be rewarded if you stick with it.**

**YMMV on the finale, though.

12 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Seriously, I am so done with trusting sommeliers - if anyone knows even a moderate amount about wine, never, ever assume the sommelier knows more than you do. Are you talking about the Champagne Georges Laval? (or the Rioja Lavalle?) And the Taittinger Comtes? If so, you have my sympathies - once you get into a pissing contest with the sommelier in a French restaurant, the evening is over.

This is just one data point, but I do have to stick up for the sommelier at Gagnaire, c. 2006.  I was dining solo and looking for a half bottle to go with the seafood-heavy lunch menu, and the sommelier recommended a white St.-Joseph, which was the absolute cheapest wine on the list.  And it made sense: a relatively simple, fruity wine to go with really complex food.  

Gagnaire  also had the best overall service I've encountered at a 3-star.  My wine sitting in the ice bucket was getting too cold, so I mentioned to a waiter that I'd like to leave it out.  A few minutes later, another server came by to top up my glass and returned the bottle to the bucket.  Just as I was reaching to take the bottle back out, the first waiter practically leapt across the dining room to do it for me.  And it wasn't this dramatic or overly fussy gesture--just an expert reading of the room that gave me confidence that I was in good hands for the entire service.

2 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

 What's the best Italian (Marea is already booked)?

I really like I Sodi and Via Carota in the West Village, but they're more strictly regional and less fancied than Marea, Ai Fiori, and the like.  More along those lines, maybe Del Posto?

Andy,

Thanks again for your wonderful contributions on this thread.  Based on the places you've visited in this country, what would you say are the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the kind of fine dining restaurants you seek out and review in the United States?  And where would you place the U.S. on the scale of Michelin standards (from Europe at one end, to some of the newer Asian guides at the other, as you suggested in a previous answer)?  

On 10/3/2018 at 1:14 PM, DonRocks said:

Scott, ask Andy.

I'm not Andy but happy to give some recommendations based on my last trip to Paris.

Re: 3-stars: they're all so different, so it's difficult to make a recommendation without knowing your tastes.  But if you're open to modernist/experimental/molecular cuisine, the lunch menu at Pierre Gagnaire is a steal (at 90 euros now, I think).  You'll get less luxe ingredients than ordering ALC, but my lunch there was still perhaps the most exciting meal of my life -- a four-hour-plus thrill ride in the hands of a creative genius.  On the more classical end of the spectrum, L'Astrance was underwhelming, and L'Ambroisie was the most perfect meal I've had but probably out of your stated price range.  I loved Ledoyen under Le Squer, but he's at Le Cinq now, and Alleno is in (I haven't been to either new iteration).  There's a bargain online lunch offer at Guy Savoy, too, but I've never been, and never figured out exactly how it worked -- perhaps you could call and ask.  

Another great lunch bargain is the lunch menu at Nomicos (65 euros, including wine and coffee), where you'll find excellent, Robuchon-esque food.  I found the cooking more correct than exciting, but at that price, I had absolutely no complaints.  

A major trend is Japanese chefs taking charge of Parisian kitchens, cooking French cuisine (NOT fusion) but bringing a technical perfectionism and attention to detail that are otherwise fading qualities.  I had a wonderful dinner at L'Alliance (a one-star) -- elegant, refined, contemporary cooking in a stylish (and intimate) dining room.  Tasting menus at 95 and 120 euros.

As for more casual eating: Chez L'Ami Jean is a perennial modern bistro recommendation, but for good reason.  Great soba at Abri Soba, if you need a break from French food.  Jacques Genin for spectacular desserts (his cheesecake was a revelation).  Laurent Dubois was my favorite cheese shop (wonderful Comte, among other things), but it's very much a retail shop, and not set up for tourist grazing (though the people there were helpful--though having a modicum of French helped, I think).  Georges Larnicol for macarons.

Hope this helps.  You'll find so many more recommendations than you'll have time for.

Andy, thank you for so much for doing this chat!  Two questions for you:

1) Aside from obvious destination cities like Paris, Tokyo, Kyoto, and the like, what cities or regions would you say have the best cluster (say 3-4, or more) of fine dining restaurants?

2) And perhaps a related question: what cities or regions do you think have the best ingredient-driven restaurants?  Here, I'm counting both explicitly ingredient-driven places, like Hedone in London, and also places like L'Ambroisie, which source the best ingredients as a matter of course, and excluding molecular gastronomic restaurants.

Thank you again!

I wrote this in a PM to Don back in 2016, not sure why I didn't just post it here, which I will do now: 

Just to clarify, this was in the main dining room, not the special menu for Roberto's 8.  I dropped in on a Monday night, thinking I'd get some pasta -- and saw Roberto on the line and asked him to cook for me, since the restaurant was pretty empty.  (They did move me to the kitchen bar that's usually used for Roberto's 8 but was empty that night.)

Michelin in the States =/= Michelin in Europe.  It's a relative scale, and even Michelin has acknowledged that.  

I've been to many of the New York 3-stars -- Le Bernardin, Per Se, EMP, Jean Georges (at the time) -- and none of them even begin to approach the likes of Gagnaire or L'Ambroisie, both of which were transcendent for me: Gagnaire for sheer thrills, and L'Ambroisie for its sheer perfection.  

For that matter, many of the 2-stars in New York I've been to, like Aquavit, Aska, Daniel, Ko, Marea, The Modern, would barely merit 1-star on the European scale, if that.  

I think, at least in regards to New York, two major constraints on quality seem to be the need to turn tables and the prix-fixe/tasting menu model.  In France, you get the table the entire night, and the best food is often on the wildly expensive ALC menus (something I've never really seen in NY.).  

On December 2, 2016 at 1:32 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

Nakazawa trained 11 years under Jiro.  I wonder how many years (or months) will DC's chefs have under Nakazawa?

Nakazawa reportedly doesn't cut his own fish, so I wonder how much these chefs will have learned from essentially a figurehead?  

Anyway, while I haven't been, at these prices and based on Tom's report, I can't imagine Nakazawa in DC even beginning to rival Sushi Taro's omakase counter at this price point.

[Okie, dokie - for this to make the laugh committee laugh, or even not break the computer, I had to clip the video. I do appreciate the enthusiasm and the sentiment. DR]