xavier's Profile
With apologies
There's a relatively in expensive Brazilian steakhouse, Via Brasil, on 46th St Btw 5th and 6th Ave.
Best tossed salad lunch bargain near Flatiron?
The best blend of quality and price I've found is Ashby's on Park Ave. Btw 24th and 25th. Good quality saladas and a bonus: the best soups in the neighborhood.
23rd and 11th - Restaurant recommendation
Also Bobmbay Talkie, very good, higher-end Indian on 9th and 22nd.
Lack of nice cafes in NYC
Also the two cafe Angeliues, one on Bleeker East of Broadway, the other on Bleeker between 7th and Grove St.
Fatty Crab is the worst meal I've ever had in New York
My major objection to Fatty Crab is the screamingly loud rock music.
Is momofuku crowded at lunch??
Thinking of doing a business lunch down there, but not if we'll have to wait 45 min for seats at the kitchen counter. Any gague for how bad it is around 12:30??
Shopsins in the Village for Breakfast/Lunch
Then there's the infamous New Yorker profile....
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/020415fa_FACT?020415fa_FACT
Great for a girl I am dating
I'm perhaps too married to be trusted, but I would definitely do the new Via Emilia as a date place. Stylish without being pretentious and very good, modestly priced food. Cash-only.
Cibo or Mark's hotel restaurant...
Never been to the Mark, but Cibo is a very pleasant restaurant...
fresh chicken at Greenmarket?
I buy poultry from Quatro Farms in the Union Square Greenmarket now and then. the flavor is amazing. The best chicken I have EVER had. Natural, organic, raised for flavor rather than efficiency on some industrial dismembering line. Very expensive, though. And be careful on the size. I once served three people off of one bone-in breast.
Elegant, Non-Showy (and Delicious) Chocolate Gift
Jim, I'd try to Vosges in Soho. I go to kees if I want great chocolate for my lovely wife, but Vosges when I need something like a great, unusual easter bunny for my lovely wife.
Now, I once had a guy in Hoboken custom make a Last Supper in chocolate.
Vosges
132 Spring St.
Are you back in NYC???
Annisa - Need dish recommendations, or alternative dining suggestions
Annisa is cool and austere. Love it. But my meals there has been delicate and subtle, not what I would describe as big flavors. As a possible alternative, I would suggest the Tasting Room in Nolita, a high-end, relaxed restaurant where I have had amazing dishes, ranging from awesome chicken, amazing scallops and mushrooms I would kill for. great wine-by-glass selctions as well.
All the Leff Podcasts in one place???
Is there a single place I can get all of Jim's CHOWtour podcasts?? I'm sure I've missed a few and would like to catch up all at once. I'm unable to wait for the DVD release...
Suspicious posts???
I fairly regularly email in shill alerts; the posts get taken down pretty quickly. You wanna see shills, troll the comments at Menupages for a while. Hysterical.
Electric BBQ Smokers?
Wow. Well I'm not replacing my Meco until it breaks, but since I can store outdoors, when I do, I guess it's time for a Cookshack.
Electric BBQ Smokers?
I put about a chunk of wood per hour in my Meco. For $110, its great. I would vastly prefer a Cookshack and even be willing to spend the $400-$500. But I live in the top floor of a condo and would have nowhere to store it. I leave most of my Meco on the roof deck, storing only the bottom part -- with the electrical element, ashes and crud -- in an industrial-strength trash bag.
Electric BBQ Smokers?
For $110 I bought a Meco electric smoker and it's awesome. I'm frequently on the roof of my condo smoking up. Advantages: cheap, trashcan water smoker; has a rheostat so you can control the temperature somewhat; most important, it has a sliding hatch that lets you add wood chunks or check the food without removing the lid.
That hatch and the rheostat were ESSENTIAL to me and I didn't find the combo on any other inexpensive smoker.
I got mine at BBQs Galore, mail order, but they no longer carry it online.
http://www.amazon.com/Meco-Model-Electric-Smoker-Grill/dp/B0000CGESO/sr=1-22/qid=1162215973/ref=sr_1_22/102-6309494-6530507?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007XXNU4/sr=1-1/qid=1162216180/ref=sr_1_1/102-6309494-6530507?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A1T6VNFP0TYFJM&n=&s=merchant&v=glance
WHY is a dishwasher bad for my Calphalon???
I understand that Calphalon anodized aluminum pots should not go in the dishwasher. Since a houseguest unknowingly put one of my in a few years ago, I've seen firsthand how it turns white. What I don't understand is WHY??? the stuff is otherwise pretty indestructible and I use all sorts of harsh abrasives on it, cleaning my roasting pan with comet or barkeeper's friend all the time.
Dire need of great muffins
The finest corn muffin I have ever had anywhere is a Blue Dog Cafe, 25th St. near 6th Ave. Unbelievable. Crunchy top, moist inside, full of flavor. They seem to use a different kind of corn meal. There's a cinnamon muffin there that's great as well, but I haven't tried the rest.
Kitchen Arts and Letters
Kitchen Arts is out of my zone, so I rarely get up there. But it's an amazing place.
Per Se - any special insights?
The service will be amazing; keep your expecations low on teh food.
Momofuku wait time
I'd certainly budget 45-60 min and be grateful if you get in quicker. I once did it in 10 minutes
Dinner B/4 Movie in Union Square
There's also a bistro called Marquet on 12th just west of university. Mexicana Mama, in 12th just west of Broadway and stylish but moderately price pizza/pasta place called, I think, Piaola, across the street.
Real good coffee/breakfasty stuff in Murray Hill or near Madison Square Park that's not City Bakery?
J'adore on 23rd St and 5th Ave is great, mostly takeout croissants, muffins, coffe, but with a few seats. Otherwise I breakfast a L'Express, a 24 hour french cafe/bistro on 20th and Park. Also, at 25th and 6th ave, not far from where you're staying, is Blue Dog cafe, which has the best corn muffin I've ever had.
Tasting Room 2.0 - extremely disappointed review (long)
I've been to the new Tasting Room three times since it reopened. They have, indeed, restored the taste/share element of the menu for most dishes, save for a couple of entrees the last time I was there. The food is still awesome. It is still expensive. I have eaten two of the best things I have ever had in my life at the Tasting Room: once it was amazing seared scallops, the other roasted porcini mushrooms. the flavors were completely unexpected and amazing. I'm still blown away. The service for us was great, but by observing some nearby tables, the service is definitely not quite up to the high standards of the old place. I have faith that they'll get there.
nyc caterer
I have friends that used The Party Box. Ask about their awesome brioche, brioche the size of a birthday cake carefully sliced and reconstructed into a bunch of tiny sandwiches. It's great.
Party Box, The 304 E. 62nd St. ..Manhattan, NYC, Tel:(212) 935-4100
