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After dinner here last night, I guess I know why no one goes here any more. Starting with the cocktails, both of which should have been stirred drinks (Martini, Boulevardier variant) but instead were shaken. And what's with the ice - serving me a cocktail on the rocks does not mean serving said cocktail in a glass filled with ice chips. You know what that means? Yep - an insipid cocktail. The food was nondescript. I won't say it was bad, but man, it was boring. And of course the new "small plates" concept means you'll still spend a ton. I sure hope they hold the new seafood shack opening next-door to a higher standard.

Momofuku-ish place opening "soon..." I like to give a place 5 years...

Dinner at Estadio last night at the bar, and I think the kitchen is firing on all cylinders. Good pintxos (we had 2 each), wild mushroom croquetas were perfectly fried, jamon serrano/melon salad was fine. For "mains," we had the hangar steak as well as what was the highlight of the meal to me - the perfectly prepared soft shell crab... Along with a 3 cheese platter, a reasonable food bill of around $75. Of course, by the time we were done drinking, with T & T, closer to $100pp. The nightmare that Estadio was to get into when it opened is long gone; of course, with 15 other choices nearby (some even worth dining at) and a few more a bit further away, that's not too surprising.

And a few visits to the cafe... Teach Your Children Well

Looking at the date of the last post here (by moi), I was wondering if anyone has been here since the menu revamp? This is printed on the menu:

Alder is in my regular rotation, at least monthly, sometimes more often. Over the course of the past year, I've probably dined here 20 times, including in the actual restaurant, as opposed to the bar. Food is consistently good to excellent, service is always friendly, the cocktails are excellent, and Wylie is often in the kitchen, especially on nights when wd-50 is closed (as has been announced, wd-50 will close for good in November). It's one of my favorite moderately priced restaurants (yeah, sadly this is the new moderate).

The fries, as they are at all McNally restaurants, are particularly good. Especially with mustard.

Keith Don't Go is the name of a song on Nils Lofgren's 2nd album, Cry Tough. It has absolutely nothing to do with the new Keith McNally restaurant Cherche Midi, which is in the same spot as the old Keith McNally restaurant, Pulino's, which closed six months or so ago - I just thought it sounded like a good title for this post. In any event, in a mere six months, Keith has transformed what was once Pulino's, an Italian pizzeria slash trattoria into Cherche Midi, a French, well, bistro slash brasserie, I guess. In early visits, I liked Pulino's food; there was some cool stuff on that menu - I particularly remember a dish with smoked sable, a guilty pleasure of mine. What I didn't like about Pulino's was the corner; to be exact, the southwest corner of Bowery and Houston Streets, in my mind one of the most heinous corners in Manhattan on which to put a restaurant. As someone on a website I frequent, and where I started an argument about this particular corner noted, "there is no joy going to the corner of Bowery and Houston." Additionally, the place had windows that were thrown open to that corner; why exactly, I'll never know...my memory fails, but there may have even been cafe tables outside, which is great if you like eating at a bus stop. Fast forward to now, and even though you can't change the corner, the windows are gone and once inside you'll barely know where you are; if your imagination works well, maybe you'll think you're on the right bank - although that might be pushing it. Suffice to say - it's a hell of a lot nicer inside now, though if you're sensitive to noise, it's as noisy as many of the McNally places, especially as the evening progresses. Significant Eater and I had stopped in about two weeks ago for an after dinner drink and last night I made my way back, specifically to try the burger, which has been raved about in various articles, in blogs, etc. So when I arrived early last night, I took a seat at the practically empty bar, and checked out the drink menu. The head bartender just happens to be the bartender I've known for years from another McNally joint, Schiller's Liquor Bar, and he rightly steered me towards a Julia's Blush, a riff on a Jasmine (a drink I first had made for me by Kenta Goto at Pegu Club). It's Campari heavy, with gin, lemon juice and agave taming the bitter - and it's delicious and perfect for a hot night. It's also $15, as are all the cocktails, which in this day and age in NYC is not crazy, but once the price creeps up to $17, all bets are off. I enjoyed it as I decided what to have for my appetizer; thankfully, the menu is simple compared to the new style of menu. You know the ones - with starters, small plates, middle sized plates, larger plates, in-between plates, pre-desserts, desserts, and on and on, until you end splitting like 7 things and paying twice as much as you used to. Here, it's appetizers, entrees and sides - what a concept! I decided on something cold for my appetizer, an heirloom tomato gazpacho with pickled shrimp... And it was quite good. Thick and rich, not too smooth, with the pickled shrimp adding a nice, well, pickled note. For my entree, the burger. A LaFreida burger (is there a freakin' burger that isn't LaFreida's?), it's allegedly made from dry-aged trimmings from the dry-aged prime rib, which is also on the menu, along with some short-rib, which isn't. It's topped with roasted mushrooms, bacon marmalade and aged gruyere, and I'm guessing the buns are made somewhere in the McNally world - like at Balthazar bakery. It comes with fries, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle slices, and it looks like this... It's good. It was cooked to perfection. It's really good, as a matter of fact, the dry-aged beef adding that cheesy funkiness I happen to like. If I have one complaint, it's that the bun may be a little too big for the burger, but it was toasted and held together beautifully, and you can't ask for much more than that. And the fries - still some of my favorite fries in the city. From Balthazar, to Minetta, to Schiller's - the fries are fine. And just to pretend I might be in France - I dip 'em in mustard - try it, you might be surprised. The tariff for the burger and fries - $21. Not bad, when you consider that a side of fries is $9 on this menu. Same price as the Spotted Pig's and cheaper than Minetta Tavern's Black Label entry. It'll be interesting to me to see if Cherche Midi has a long run. As I mentioned above, I felt that one of the main reasons for Pulino's closure was specifically the location. But now the Bowery is home to a dozen or more restaurants, all on a stretch that was unimaginable a decade ago. The crowd is different than Schiller's was, back when it was the lower east side's hottest spot and they could squeeze 8 models into a booth made for 4. So it remains to be seen whether the crowds will continue to come (and it was crowded by the time I left last night), with all those other choices nearby. Me - I'm heading back with Significant Eater soon. The menu has lots to explore, and it's the kind of food we really like to eat. My guess? On our next visit, she's gonna want that burger too. Cherche Midi 282 Bowery, NYC

It's quite expensive to ship, as I've sent stuff to friends who have moved afar. It's even expensive when you live practically around the corner, but it's only expensive walking in to shop!

I've not been for a full meal yet, but sitting at the bar before a Carnegie Hall concert last week, two friends and I tired a total of 6 dishes - and there wasn't a miss in the bunch. Along with a great room and professional service, can't wait to return for a proper sit-down dinner.

Yep - that's what a bunch of us think.

To me, the only reason to go here is for the cocktails. Eben Freeman runs the cocktail program here and at other restaurants in this group, and his cocktails are often stunners.

Bar Primi is Andrew Carmellini and friends' new "hot spot" (per eater, it's a hot spot, but how it can be a hot spot before it even opened I'll never know) on Bowery. Bowery is the place to open new restaurants, evidently. Walk-ins - they'll take ressies for 6 - how refreshing! Anyway, snark aside, a friend and I walked in the other night and grabbed 2 seats at the bar. Nicely made Negronis and Martinis were had. 2 apps - baked clams (4 for $12!) were just okay, but the stuffed meatballs were delicious. 2 pastas - it's a pasta place after all - were great. AC has always been good at pasta. Should be a major shitshow. Or, as eater likes to call it, a hot spot.

Other than the prices, which evidently are high for those wines (from people who know much more about wine than I do, the list seems pricey), the wines went well with what I was eating. Trust me, I was more aggravated about the $17 Plymouth Martini, when my wife's Aviation was only $14. You would have loved it when I was recently at Del Posto for dinner at the bar. My friend asked for a wine to go with his (insanely delicious, btw) oxtail ragu, and without hesitation was poured a $36 glass. Both places, of course, pour you a taste before filling your glass. This is NYC - caveat emptor. Or stay away.

First visit last week. All I can say is that I wish there was a place like this in Manhattan. Oh yeah, we have Casa Mono, and Donostia, and a few others where sherries are offered by the glass. Nothing compares to this, though. Spanish bombs, indeed.

Serious Eats takes a look at the pastrami making process at Katz's...

I guess you could call it hallowed ground, that space at 239 West Broadway, where some 30 years ago Drew Nieporent, along with a youthful (weren't we all?) David Bouley, opened Montrachet, their ode to fine French cuisine and, of course, fine wine. At the time, I was living in the San Francisco Bay area, toiling away in Silicon Valley, barbecuing and grilling in my backyard, and heading to Jeremiah Tower's Stars and Berkeley's gourmet ghetto whenever I got the chance. Montrachet had a fine run, followed in the same space by Corton, with its esteemed chef Paul Liebrandt. When PL left (after 5 years) to open The Elm in Williamsburg last summer, Nieporent was cagey about what would happen next with this space that has been a destination for 30 years. Fast forward to May, 2014 and now we know; happily, Significant Eater and I got a taste of it this past weekend. Along with co-conspirators John Winterman (late of Daniel) and Chef Markus Glocker (late of Gordon Ramsey at The London), Drew and the rest of his team appear to have another winner on their hands. My wet Plymouth Martini was well made and served in a beautiful (though unchilled) glass - I hope the $17 tariff will cover breakage, and Sig Eater's Aviation was just right. Menus are offered in 2, 3 or 4 courses... And surprise, surprise...this kitchen can actually figure out how to parse your order, unlike (too) many places that open these days, where the dishes come out of the kitchen when they're ready, not you. You want 3 savory courses? No problem. One of you wants to order 3 courses and one wants 4? They can do that - I know because that's what we did; they handled it well, but then again these guys are pros. Sig Eater's first course was the English pea soup... Simple, right? And just about perfect; the creamy texture of the soup makes those crispy, organ-y sweetbreads even better. Tiny pea tendrils and a salsify crumble add bite and crunch. Lobster and asparagus make a fine combo, no? Indeed, here they do, with the chunks of delicate lobster accompanied by stuffed zucchini blossoms and an expertly fried quail egg. The kitchen was kind enough (and once again, pro enough) to split my second savory onto two plates, so we didn't have to battle each other for that last spoonful of the insanely rich Parmesan risotto. Beware - if you order and eat a whole portion of this, your appetite will wane, even with the nettles, ramps and sunchokes doing their best to help ward off the gout. Sig Eater decided to have beef for her main course... The tender strip was fine, but the braised cheek really brought the beef. Served with a cauliflower puree, baumkuchen (go ahead, look it up), and Romanesco, this ought to satisfy one's cow craving for a while. And my main? Rabbit, "Flavors of Bouillabaisse," of course. I had already heard about how good the rabbit was, but I still was knocked out by the tenderness of the bunny. And the fabulous saffron ravioli didn't hurt either. Take a look at the little ribs served along with the chunks of rabbit... Just a fabulous dish. Dessert, or rather cheese, beckoned, and we shared our order of Époisses, because eating a whole order would have been, well, decadent. And then, since the kitchen was out of the Key Lime pie, we were comped the Black Forest, which satisfied Sig Eater's chocolate craving (for the night, at least). I ordered the poached stone fruits, which was fine to counter my guilt for eating like a pig, though you'd really have to convince me to order lemon thyme ice cream if any other flavors are available. And what to drink with all this food? Well, I'm a wine neophyte, but the by the glass list seems to go along with a broad swath of the menu... A pet peeve? Sure. When I asked which wine might go nicely with the lobster, I was poured the most expensive glass of white, and then again with my rabbit. And when Sig Eater asked the same question about her beef, you got it - the most expensive red got poured. And then the 2nd most expensive red for a second glass. So be aware - our wine bill was $111, and the 2 cocktails added another $31. It's not a complaint, just a pet peeve - and a caveat emptor - because I could've just as easily ordered a glass by name. I did that with the risotto course, and enjoyed my choice of the New York Riesling with the rich rice. As I've mentioned in some previous blog posts, Sig Eater and I are celebrating some big-deal birthdays this year, and we're treating ourselves well. But even if it wasn't a big birthday year, we'll happily return to Bátard. For a one-week old restaurant, and a first visit, the food and service were fine indeed. Bátard 239 West Broadway, NYC (212) 219-2777

The draws here for me are the salumi and cheeses in that section (other than DiPalo's, they're one of the few places that really knows how to slice and wrap stuff), the butcher department, some often very hard-to-find produce, and some true bargains in various canned/packaged goods. But - you can get ripped off too.

Iconic place. We like to sit at the bar at lunch, for the daily specials. Or in the Tavern Room - walk-ins only.

I walked by Saturday and the main had already been fixed, and the street was paved over. This part of Houston has been under construction for ever, and I have a feeling the water main didn't just break, but might have been compromised by, shall we say, a backhoe? RE: The size of the sandwich - it's big, but it's not bigger than Stachowski's. I happened to have a Stachowski's sandwich last week, and I just wish they would slice their pastrami a little thinner. I also think Stachowski's pastrami is a bit milder on the pepper. In either case, 1 sandwich feeds two, and bring some Tums.

But other "db" locations are totally different restaurants.

I think you probably kibitz with your friends. Good answer.

Pass on dessert?! That's one of the main reasons to go to Otto. Glad you didn't...pass on dessert, that is.

You mean like plenty of people transported by snakeheads still live?

Recently had a birthday/anniversary dinner here. As above, the sauces are really exceptional. As is the overall experience.