Sommelier's Profile
Parm
Total scam operation! We ordered one of the only very few wine options for under $100: a Sangiovese blend at $55 for a litre. A 750 ml bottle was brought to the table. I asked why it wasn't a litre, as we had ordered and the list offered. "We got rid of the other bottles" was her reply. Tasted it, and it was crap. Waiter brought over tastes of the Cabernet Sauvignon & Pinot Noir available by the glass... and all were thin, tannic, acidic and overpriced.
Parm is another example of a couple of hucksters separating the rubes from their cash.
Fake butter at restaurants
I had a similar situation and went back to speak with the Chef. He defended his use of a butter substitute by claiming it was "a good product". I told him that I didn't come here for a "product": I came here for food.
Weird/Bad Food Related Dates
Back when I was cooking professionally, I asked a young lady to join me and a few friends at my apartment for dinner. So... I made fresh noodles to toss with the sauteed cucumber slices with capers & dill. Seafood mousse steamed inside rolls of Bibb lettuce leaves, herbed Beurre Blanc. Made fresh melon sorbet. Nice wines.... . My friend's wife says to my date "You've harly touvhed your food. Aren't you enjoying dinner?" "Not really", she says. "I would be happy with a sandwich."
Artisinal - recommended?
I've enjoyed the fondue there, as well as the terrific selection of wines by the glass.
Do you like it when your server recognizes you?
"Which is your favorite restaurant?"
"The one where they know my name."
attributed to Alexis Lichine
L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon -Counter or Table?
The counter! Let the rubes have the tables.
Katz's--A Disaster
"There's _no_ other reason to go there"
Oh, come on! The not only serve the best corned beef in New York... they are the last deli in the City to make it the old fashioned, original way: 2 weeks of brining, NOT the 2 day injection method used by Carnegie, Stage & the lesser delis.
I do love Katz's pastrami, but I also love to go there for a great corned beef.
As for the "mix of over- and under-done pickles", as the grandson of a deli owner, I can tell you that they are half-sours and Kosher dills, all served when they are just right... not over- and under-done pickles. Really: judging Katz's by pickles that you don't understand, by their not making their own lemonade and by the bread in the sandwiches? Some people really should stick with Shop-Rite for their meals.
zeppoles at San Gennaro Feast
Even worse, IMHO: the fried calamari. There's so much flour in the oil that it's being fried in roux, the oil is burnt from that flour and everything tastes scorched, and they're in such a rush that the squid is either overcooked & tough or undercooked and grainy from the flour.
In Italy you are never served such crap at street festivals.
Worst excuse for Chili
I just tried to eat an order of "Chili" from Atomic Wings in Park Slope, after being told that it was pretty good. Beside the fact that they did not include the sides that were supposed to come along with our order, the Chili was inedible to any Chili fan.
Chili is not made with Boston Baked Beans... but this was. Yeah... I'm resigned to the fact that New York isn't Texas, so people will put beans in their Chili (as bad as putting Pastrami on white bread with a smear of mayonaise, actually)... so pinto beans are OK. This had Pintos, Navy beans, and Boston Baked Beans, with the molasses flavor all through them.
Chili is not made with carrots and celery... but this was. Chili is not a vegetable stew. Chilis, meat, spices... ans tomatoes if you must, and beans, if you're dead set in it. What next? Peas? Asparagus tips?
Chili is not meant to taste sweet from molasses... but this did. Chili is a savory dish, not a sweet one.
Chili should have enough meat in it that you can actually see some in your spoon... but this didn't.
Atomic Wings gets my vote for worst excuse for Chili in New York. Any others to share in the shame?
please help: french, affordable, romantic, authentic
One of the plusses for Capsouto Freres is that the seating is spacious: the people at the next table won't be able to listen in on whatever sweet nothings you're whispering into that special person's ear.
please help: french, affordable, romantic, authentic
Capsuoto Freres.Make sure you order dessert souffés!
First visit to Katz's
Ben's.... not THAT is some tasteless food and rude service! Give me Katz's any day.
Wo Hop -- worst meal of my life
I've been eating regularly in Chinatown for about 35 years, and yes, Wo Hop has become an armpit. I stopped going there years ago,, even when out-of-town visitors asked about it. Sad to say, but I believe that the overall level of dining in Chinatown has fallen. So many places are just plain bad that it's almost a relief to get a mediocre meal served without rudeness. Last Sunday at HSF I sat, waiting for a glass of water, or tea, or the TsingToa beer I ordered when I was seated... for ten minutes. The carts came by, and I waited... and waited. Finally, one of the floor managers came over and said that the tables are for people who are here to eat, not just to sit and order nothing. So, I reminded him that I asked him to have a waiter bring me a TsingToa... where was it? Did he see it on my table? Where is a glass of cold water for a man on a hot day? Where is my tea, if this is, indeed, a tea meal? "Bring me what I asked for, and give me a moment to have a sip of my drink, and then I'll order. I will not be rushed, especially in a restaurant that's not even half full." Bah! Who needs that kind of rudeness?
Reka's - White Plains
Actually, I didn't. I subtracted the amount plus the tax on it, added the tip for the rest of the meal, signed and left... my receipt in my wallet. I was not charged for it in the end.
I have to order Virgil's - not happy about it - any suggestions?
Virgil's does not use liquid smoke. This comes to me from several friends who are managers with Virgil's, past & present, and with the parent company. Sorry if you don't like it, but their pork, beef & lamb are at least as good as I've had in a bunch of cities, south of New York, "famous" for their barbecue.
Try a chicken fried steak with cream gravy, along with mashed potatoes and stewed okra. No smoke there.
Reka's - White Plains
Reka is a most cordial hostess?
We were about halfway through our meal when Reka came over, introduced herself and sat down at our table (uninvited!). She asked how we liked our wine. She told the waitress to bring another bottle, and a glass. The wine was opened, she tasted it, and we all were poured. "Thank you very much" I said. She drank her glass, got up and left.
Long story short: the bottle that she ordered was on our check. I asked her about and she said that we drank it, so we had to pay for it.
Never, ever again will we go there!
Best Wings in Brooklyn
Bonnie's on Fifth Ave. Yowsuh! They have spoiled me to the point where I just don't eat them anywhere else. I like spicy... so at Bonny's I order them Medium and add some of the many different bottled sauces they have on hand to add not just burn, but flavor.
I'm Not Going To Renew Gourmet or Food & Wine
HollyDolly: Great post! If you ever have the chance to meet Ruth Reichle in person, you'll understand why the magazine has gone, sadly, in that direction.
I'm Not Going To Renew Gourmet or Food & Wine
Alas, Gourmet. I subscribed for over 20 years. I remember when it was one of America's finest magazines, and actually was written for gourmets, not arriviste snobs who can't tell money from class. You remember, before Ruth Reichle decided to use her power as editor to show all those people who actually got invited to the Prom who was the big, important girl now! I remember reading Gerald Asher's (the finest wine writer writing in the English language) article every month, and wanting to go out, immediately, and buy bottles of the wine he was covering that month; she turned that into "six New Zealand whites to serve with Guacamole!". I cooked countless dishes from their pages, celebrating fresh fruits and vegetables of the season; recipes that called for asparagus in February and apples in March began to appear, along with overpriced hard-to-find (even in New York City!) ingredients. Sadly, Gourmet is now just another lifestyle rag, with wet-dream articles about restaurants you'll probably never eat in, and hotels you can't afford to stay in. Dangling all those expensive things and thinking it's "class" is really the same as leaving the label on the sleeve of a new jacket to show everone that it really IS camelhair. Really! 100% See?
