weinoo

While I understand the rest of your observations (although I found our fried oysters to be rather bland), I didn't find the cocktails (Martinis included) to be any smaller than at any serious cocktail place. Both my wife and I like Martinis where you can actually taste the vermouth; that's what makes it a "cocktail" in our opinion. The original Bartender's Manual listed a Martini as 50/50 gin and vermouth. Dale Degroff's Craft of the Cocktail has multiple Martini recipes, and The Savoy Cocktail Book has a recipe for a Dry Martini as 2:1 and an extra dry Martini as 8:1. I imagine that at Firefly simply asking for your Martini in the proportions that you like will get you the result you want. There really is no single Martini recipe.

I'm looking forward to dinner and booze here next week.

Eleven Mad = $195 (lunch or dinner) Per Se = $295 Alinea = $210 - $265 Brooklyn Fare = $225

M & I was totally gutted and it looks like it has closed. That's why we ended up at Net Cost.

Heading to New York City? Why not check out Brighton Beach - you're closer to Odessa than you think... Brighton Beach

One of the great things about NYC is that, on any given day, you can sort of pretend that you live somewhere else. With upwards of 150 different nationalities sharing our 5 boroughs, a trip somewhere distant may be as quick as a subway ride away. Take Russia. A few weekends ago, we gathered up the clan and headed out to Brighton Beach, which sits way out at the ass end of Brooklyn, right smack in between Coney Island and Manhattan Beach. Brighton Beach is home to a large population of Russian speakers, many of whom come from Odessa (giving Brighton its nickname, Little Odessa), and the main drag, Brighton Beach Avenue, looks and feels like its right out of central casting (well, other than the el train, I suppose). Do yourself a favor and start out with a stroll along the boardwalk. On this sunny Saturday we were lucky enough to witness a chorale group of over 20 people singing Jewish New Year songs while facing the sea; Rosh Hashanah was only a day or two away. At the venerable Volna and Tatiana Restaurants, with their big, round tables on the boardwalk, groups of middle-aged men (at one table) and women (at another) were merrily downing shots of vodka at 2 in the afternoon. If you think that bottle of cold water you’re grabbing out of the cooler is water, take a second look – Tatiana’s cooler is full of cold, half-bottles of Stoli, which won’t quench your thirst as much as water, but might make you decide to take your shirt off – as a number of men at that table we were watching had done – and lemme tell you, the shirtless, suspenders over bulging gut look is all the rage in Little Odessa these days... After our walk, it was time for a late lunch/early dinner and we headed over to Café Glechik, which bills itself as a Ukranian Fusion Kitchen in New York. Whatever; it’s Ukranian at its core, and a glechik is “a clay jar, jug or crock with something delicious inside.” Our first glechik came loaded with a huge order of “Siberian” pelmeni, filled with veal, beef, pork and who knows what else, all funk and juice inside… Vareniki always make a nice accompaniment to pelmeni, especially this order of farmer cheese stuffed ones, served with sour cream for dipping, just in case your cholesterol hasn’t ascended into the stratosphere yet… And who can go to a Ukranian restaurant and not order stuffed cabbage? Not me. As one of the ladies at our table commented, probably the best stuffed cabbage she’d ever tasted; this stuffed cabbage was far from the often too-sweet versions that showed up when I was a kid… Making quick work of those appetizers wasn’t really a problem for our group - I mean, Significant Eater and SMcPickles can put that stuff away. So it was on to our main courses. Kebab doesn’t quite describe what you’re served when you order from that section of the menu. Our lamb ribs “kebab” was actually a platter weighted down with luscious and salty grilled lamb ribs, buckwheat kasha better than my grandma ever made, cabbage slaw and plenty of onions… The “Glechik” stew knocked it out of the park. A big hunk of beef shoulder, braised into fork tenderness, served in its juices with a dozen or more fried potato vareniki, all of it strewn with handfuls of fresh dill. Wow… And all of this food, along with 3 glasses of beer and a compote (which tastes more like Hawaiian punch than you can imagine) for the driver, came to under $80. There might be some Russian oligarchs floating around Brighton Beach, who probably spend a lot of money on fancy women, fancy minks, fancy diamonds, fancy cars…and lousy basketball teams – meaning the restaurants had better be a good value. No trip to Brighton is complete without some shopping. Food shopping, in our case. Even though this is where your lack of language skills might show up, have no fear. Everyone’s friendly at Net Cost supermarket (though they might not look it – you know, like my grandfather from Minsk, they’ve got those Soviet genes) and I managed to buy breads, pickles, olives, cheese, sausages and even a tea specifically for my uterus, without a problem. The range of products at Net Cost is fairly amazing; just wandering the aisles is a mini-vacation in itself. So listen up…the next time you’re thinking about flying Aeroflot to Moscow, do as they say in Brooklyn and fuggetaboutit. Brighton Beach is so much closer.

Newest, not-to-be-missed cocktails are now being serving at Pouring Ribbons. The principals are experts in the field, and the drinks are mighty fine.

By the way, I've really been enjoying the dim sum at Nom Wah Tea Parlor, an old, old stalwart that has been reinvigorated by the nephew of one of the original owners. Super fresh, well made, and served all day.

But Steve, we were actually pissed off when he went to Chinatown Brasserie, no?

I had lunch at Stachowski Market and Deli last week and damn, it was good. I had a bratwurst (the only thing that would've made it better, in my opinion, would be less onions on top or at least asking if I wanted onions) with a side of pastrami. Wow! The pastrami was delicious.

Thanks, Neil. I will say hello next time we're in. Trust me, Mintwood is far from the only bar that does the things I've mentioned with ice, olives, fingers, etc. My wife and I enjoy dining at a restaurant's bar because we enjoy the "action." We also enjoy bars in general . The tomato soup we had was the one with the tomato tartare as a component - awesome. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

I'd love to give you a little feedback. We've dined at Mintwood 5 or 6 times since opening; once in the dining room and the rest at the bar. I like most of the food we eat. Last week, there was a tomato soup special app that was great. I think the burger needs a different roll. I find the service at the bar to be borderline comical, from the people behind the bar to the runners to the bussers. I don't agree with taking ice out of the bin with the glass it is going to be served in (and sometimes from the same bin that has bottles kept in it), nor do I agree with pouring olive brine out of the bin that the olives are in and which has had olives taken out of it by bartender fingers. That's a start.

Reminds me of a place on Ludlow that sold "go-cups" filled with slushie margaritas - no longer in existence, sadly. My last meal at Lupa (within the past month or two after one too many at Pegu) was as delicious as my many meals over the years.

Hey RW - did you ever get off of Minetta Lane :lol: ?

Coincidentally enough, my wife and I, along with another friend, were at Minetta Tavern this past Saturday night. Strangely enough, the bartender recognized me from another McNally restaurant we are known to frequent, so that was nice. We didn't have the Green Mary, but my wife's Aviation was perfectly made; the bar in this place is just a classic. And that burger - while the price tag seems crazy, those fries alone run $10 on the menu, and they're the equivalent of the fries at most McNally places - that is, very good, imo. I don't know about missing bacon on this burger, which is made from the trimmings from their aged, prime beef - and it's great. Perfectly cooked, good bun, and the funkiness that comes from dry aged beef. Couldn't ask for more from a burger. Here are Bourdain and Ozersky at Minetta Tavern contemplating that burger...

I don't know why you'd want them to be Momofuku, at least not for Momo's ramen. That aside, I think this place does a fine job with their offerings; we were just here this past Wednesday night, and enjoyed it a lot. We only tried the buns on our first visit, and they're definitely NOT Momo, but both of our soups were just right. Service is always friendly. $2 a piece for oshinko and kimchee is less than 1/2 what I pay in NYC, and that's fine with me too. I also don't understand what kind of ambience the above poster is looking for in a noodle joint?

Who doesn't like corn on the cob? What about off the cob? Here it is, with shrimp and grits...

Maybe you should leave your sons to check out the "scenery" at the W, and go enjoy an anniversary dinner for the two of you? In that case, Gramercy Tavern.

A few more visits keep confirming that Chef Bowien is putting out some amazing food and is not averse to tweaking the menu, depending on availability of various proteins and produce. Lunch is a civilized time to try MCFNY, and last week Significant Eater and I did just that. A few standouts included this fiery catfish dish, Catfish A La Sichuan... It was so bloody hot, that we figured a cold dish would hit the spot. We weren't wrong when we went with the Chilled Buckwheat Noodles... I'd been wanting to try the Savory Egg Custard for a while, and was happy it was available... Easily my favorite restaurant opening so far this year.

I love a place that gets more activity on a food board after it has closed.

I don't think Marks "shot down" Craft - that's where the wedding is, so why go there two nights in a row? Mesa Grill has seen better days - 10 years ago. Now, if Bobby was to reopen Bolo...

What he said. And - if they love Hill Country, then you should definitely think about Blue Smoke - your wife might not shoot you there. It's certainly far enough in advance (I don't think they take ressies till 4 weeks out) but how about Lupa? Great pastas, chicken and meat on the menu too, and the latest report from a friend who dined there this past weekend was that it was (still) great. Union Square Cafe is still around and still good.

Now how did he fuck this up? We passed the Meatball Shop (the original one) last night and it was packed. It has spawned 2 other locations, with a 3rd in the works, as well as a cookbook. What's so hard about making decent meatballs and selling them for a decent price?

Are you going to be making any liqueurs with the 'cots (depending on their availability, of course)?

I agree...when we passed Cashion's on our way home from Mintwood, we commented that the bar was actually quite crowded.