Entries from January 1, 2008 - January 31, 2008

Tuesday
Jan292008

The Payoff: Ilili

In tomorrow’s Times, Frank Bruni awards one star to Ilili:

In addition to its considerable charms, intermittent disappointments and svelte-letter palindrome of a name, the new restaurant Ilili presents a case study: how do you try to turn a medium-profile cuisine into a big-time event?

The answer isn’t revelatory to anyone who’s been foraging in trendy, splashy New York restaurants in recent years.

You throw foie gras at the problem. Raw tuna, too. You write a menu that permits diners to build a nibble-of-this, nibble-of-that meal from a lengthy succession of small plates. You add pulsing music and lavish décor.

For what it’s worth, this review may have set a record for the earliest posting in the Bruni era: it was on the Times website before 6:00 p.m., about 3–4 hours earlier than usual.

After a three-week losing streak, we decided to throw out all the BruniTrends®, and just went with our gut. As a result, the streak ends: we win $2, while Eater has now lost two in a row.

          Eater        NYJ
Bankroll $64.50   $77.67
Gain/Loss –1.00   +2.00
Total $63.50   $79.67
 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Won–Lost 28–13   29–12
Tuesday
Jan292008

Rolling the Dice: Ilili

Every week, we take our turn with Lady Luck on the BruniBetting odds as posted by Eater. Just for kicks, we track Eater’s bet too, and see who is better at guessing what the unpredictable Bruni will do. We track our sins with an imaginary $1 bet every week.

The Line: Tomorrow, Frank Bruni reviews the new big-box Lebanese restaurant with the palindromic name, Ilili. The Eater oddsmakers have set the action as follows (√√ denotes the Eater bet):

Zero Stars: 3-1
One Star: 2-1
Two Stars: 4-1 √√
Three Stars:
50-1
Four Stars: 25,000-1

The Skinny: We are riding a three-week losing streak, so we aren’t going to trot out any BruniTrends®. Let us simply say that, to us, Ilili felt like a one-star restaurant.

The Bet: We are betting that Frank Bruni will award one star to Ilili.

Monday
Jan282008

First Look: Adour by Alain Ducasse

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Note: Click here for a full review of Adour.

Adour Alain Ducasse at the St. Regis opened this evening. I stopped in for a drink at the bar, where another patron informed me I was the sixth customer.

The electronic menus have received most of the press. You find your wine by navigating a touch screen that displays on the surface of the bar, projected from above. To get to Burgundy reds, for instance, you’d tap “Wines,” then “Red,” then “France,” then “Burgundy,” and then you can scroll down the list. For any given wine, you can retrieve tasting notes, producer history, and so forth.

It sounds good in theory, but the mechanism is finicky. If your touch is off by even a little, the mechanism misbehaves. After a while, I just gave up, and I noticed that others were frustrated too. I don’t think bar patrons—even at a high-class bar like this one—want to learn a new technology just to order a glass of wine. Within six months, I suspect they’ll be back to traditional paper and ink.

Selections by the glass were ample, and I enjoyed a wonderful Southern Rhone blend for $13, along with a cup of Yuzu Sorbet for just $4. If you’re thinking that those don’t sound like Ducasse prices, you’d be right.

There are about a dozen bar snacks, ranging from $9–16. It’s a remarkable selection at a bar that seats only four, and the guys next to me loved everything they tried. One of them was so taken with the Yuzu Sorbet that he asked the manager if the restaurant could supply a quantity for his Super Bowl party. (The manager replied that he was not sure the pastry chef could have quite enough of it made by Sunday.)

In the main restaurant, there are nine appetizers priced from $17–29, ten entrées at $32–49, and six desserts at $14. The cheese course is $22, and the five-course tasting menu is $110. Though clearly not bargain-priced, this is still a good deal less than the predecessor restaurant at the Essex House, where the prix fixe was $150 and the tasting menu $225.

I’m looking forward to dining there in two weeks’ time.

Adour Alain Ducasse (2 E. 55th Street at Fifth Avenue in the St. Regis Hotel, East Midtown)

Monday
Jan282008

The Florida Primary

Tomorrow, Florida holds its presidential primary.

The Republican race is hotly contested, with John McCain and Mitt Romney running neck-and-neck in the polls. Although Romney actually has more delegates up to this point, McCain is the front-runner nationally. If McCain wins in Florida, his momentum going into Super Tuesday, a week from tomorrow, would be all-but insurmountable. If Romney wins, we will still have a race.

Regardless of the outcome, I think tomorrow is the end for Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign. Florida was supposed to be his “firewall”. But having not only lost, but badly lost, in the first six states, he surrendered whatever advantage may have had. He now trails the front-runners, not only in Florida, but everywhere else.

The Democratic contest in Florida is technically uncontested. The national party stripped Florida of its delegates, after the state scheduled its primary a week earlier than the official rules allowed. That strikes me as a short-sighted strategy. The Democrats need Florida. It is one of the few states “red” states that the Democrats have a realistic chance of winning in November. (Some people call it a “purple” state.)

Nevertheless, Hillary Clinton is on the ballot and is expected to win, just as she did in Michigan, the other state penalized by the national Democratic party. In all likelihood, these two states’ delegates will wind up getting seated at the convention. I just can’t see the Democrats freezing out their most passionate supporters in two battleground states.

Whatever happens in Florida, the Democratic race is still wide open. Hillary Clinton has a wide lead in delegates over Barack Obama, and she leads the polls in most of the Super Tuesday states. It will be interesting to see if the endorsement of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, which Obama captured today, will make a difference. Historically, endorsements seldom matter very much, but Kennedy is obviously in a category unto himself.

It’s worth considering the different opportunities and problems the two leading Democrats would have in November.

Almost 100% of voting Americans have heard of Hillary Clinton, and know what they think of her. And a pretty high percentage of them (about 48%) don’t like her, and cannot be persuaded to like her, no matter what she may say or do.

That doesn’t mean the remaining 52% will vote for her. It only means they’re “persuadable”. But when you start with a ceiling of 52%, there isn’t much room for error. I mean, both Al Gore and John Kerry started with a higher ceiling than 52%, but they ended up with less than that. This is because some people who are willing to consider voting for you, end up not voting for you, not because they don’t like you, but because they like the other guy better. Or because they just stay home.

So for Hillary to win in November, she needs to hold onto that last 2.1% that will get her over the hump. And historically, that’s tough to pull off. In electoral college terms, she needs to win every state that John Kerry won, and pull away at least a couple of states from the Republican camp. There are only 3 or 4 states where she has even a chance of that, and it is only a chance.

Obama starts out with a much higher ceiling, because there are very few people who actually say they don’t like him. Even the staunchest Republicans — those who have never voted for a Democrat in their lives, and won’t vote for Obama — at least say that he’s a likable guy.

So that means that most Independents — the people who actually settle a presidential race — will at least consider him. So whereas Hillary starts with a ceiling of something like 52%, Obama starts with a ceiling more like 60–65%. Mind you, he wouldn’t get 60–65%, or anything close to it. As in any election, some percentage of those folks would eventually choose the other guy. But the point is they’re available to be persuaded, and for Hillary they’re not.

The problem for Obama is the thinness of his record. The most that his supporters can say, is that he stands for “change” in some vague way. But what kind of change is it? Most voters don’t know. As his background and his proposals start to get better known, uncomfortable truths could seep out. So whereas Obama has a higher ceiling, he has a lower floor. The bottom could really drop out if there are skeletons lurking in his record.

In contrast, we already know Hillary’s skeletons. After her 20 years in the public eye, it’s doubtful we’ll find out anything worse about her than what is already known. So with Hillary, the worst that happens is that she loses a little worse than Kerry and Gore did, and the best that happens is that she ekes out a narrow victory. With Obama, almost anything is possible.

Sunday
Jan272008

Bobo

bobo_inside.jpg

Note: This is a review of Bobo under chef Jered Stafford-Hill, who was replaced by Patrick Connolly in mid-2008, and then by Cedric Tovar in early 2012.

*

Tenth Street in the West Village is quickly turning into a new Restaurant Row, with p*ong and Bar Blanc, and now Bobo, which opened in September, within steps of each other.

Things didn’t exactly start out well for Bobo. There was a Ducasse-trained chef, Nicolas Cantrel, in the kitchen, but Bobo was panned. The Restaurant Girl said that “Bobo…is a no-no.” Gotham Gal didn’t like it either. Cantrel left in December. It was described as an amicable parting, but something is amiss when the chef leaves after less than two months.

Rick Jakobson and Jared Stafford-Hill were brought in to revamp the kitchen, though as of last Friday the menu still seemed to be basically the same as Cantrel was serving. Despite the early hiccups, we thought we’d give Bobo a try.

bobo_logo.gifIf Bobo can settle down, it could easily become one of the most romantic spots in town. It has the loveliest dining room we have seen in a very long time. The name, derived from bourgeois bohemian is admittedly a bit precious, and so is the concept:

…inspired by European dinner parties, celebrating the shared experience of dining with family and friends in a warm setting. So that, even at 5 o’clock in the morning, your guests haven’t even considered leaving.

But Bobo really grows on you. The food isn’t consistent enough yet, but perhaps it’s getting there.

bobo01a.jpg bobo01b.jpg

I started with a wonderful spaghetti appetizer (above left), and a codfish entrée (above right) was first-rate. My girlfriend found the foie gras terrine satisfactory, but Chicken Grand-Mère—a holdover from the Cantrel era—was slightly overcooked, as indeed other critics had found it.

There are several enjoyable house cocktails: I especially liked Bobo’s Mead (Plymouth gin, Lime, Lavender-infused honey). The staff transferred the bar tab to our table, as all decent restaurants should, but alas, many do not. We were also pleased to see a real choice of decent red wines below $50. Service was just fine, aside from slightly stale bread rolls.

Bobo is a restaurant you want to root for. The early negative press doesn’t seem to have hurt very much, as the space was close to full on a Friday evening. I look forward to visiting again after the new chefs have their own menu in place.

Bobo (181 W. 10th Street at Seventh Avenue South, West Village)

Food: *½
Service: **
Ambiance: **
Overall: *½

Sunday
Jan272008

Momofuku Ssäm Bar

momofuku_card.jpgIs it possible to be more hyped than David Chang? Where should we start? In 2007, he was the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year. Both Bon Appétit and GQ named him Chef of the Year. Frank Bruni awarded two stars to Momofuku Ssäm Bar, then named it Best New Restaurant of 2007, despite the little detail that it opened in 2006.

On eGullet.com, a crowd of adoring admirers has all-but canonized him. They said that Ssäm Bar was at the vanguard of a “New Paradigm” of “haute cheap” restaurant dining. Discussion board regulars criticised me, not because I disliked Momofuku Ssäm Bar (which I don’t) but because I failed to exhibit the required paroxysm of rapture. In truth, on two previous visits I found the food at Ssäm Bar very good indeed, though the ambiance leaves a lot to be desired.

That’s the backdrop to the very generous offer I received last week from eGullet regular Nathan, to join him for a Bo Ssäm, the one remaining item at Momofuku Ssäm Bar that I was really dying to try.

The Bo Ssäm is a 10-pound Berkshire pork butt (the shoulder, actually), braised for seven hours. Ssäm Bar serves two of them a night. A Bo Ssäm pre-order is the only way to get a reservation—6:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. (11:00 on weekends). It requires a big group, which I’m not quite enterprising enough to put together myself, so I was grateful that Nathan did all of the organizing: he’s so fond of the Bo Ssäm that this is the third time he’s ordered it. And he’ll probably do it again.

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Current Menu (click to expand)

Prices at Momofuku Ssäm Bar are gradually inching upward, with many items a dollar or two higher than they were last year. The Bo Ssäm, which was $165 just fifteen months ago, is now $200. There are now two tasting menus ($45 and $75). The wine list has expanded a bit, though I don’t find any of the choices particularly impressive, and most bottles are over $50.

Nathan ordered the appetizers, and our party of nine was able to sample a good deal of the Ssäm Bar menu.

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Diver Sea Scallops — lychee, yuzu, watercress (left); Seasonal Pickles (right)

We started with Diver Sea Scallops ($16), which I enjoyed, although Ssäm Bar regulars said that an earlier version of the dish was better. Seasonal Pickles ($10) offer plenty of taste contrasts.

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Fuji Apple Kimchi — Burgers’ smoked jowl, maple labne, arugula (left); Steamed Pork Buns (right)

Fuji Apple Kimchi ($13) is one of the regulars’ current favorites, and it can’t be denied that the apple and bacon combination works beautifully. Steamed Buns ($10) with juicy pork belly is a dish that can’t miss.

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Fried Brussels Sprouts — chilies, mint, fish sauce (left); Spicy Tripe Salad — poached egg, frisee (right)

I remembered the Fried Brussels Sprouts ($12) from my first visit. They’re terrific, so it’s no surprise they’ve remained on the menu. I was not especially fond of the Spicy Tripe Salad ($15).

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Pork Sausage & Rice Cakes — Chinese broccoli, crispy shallots (left); Grilled Veal Sweetbreads (right)

I don’t have a particular recollection of Spicy Pork Sausage & Rice Cakes ($18), but I loved Grilled Veal Sweetbreads ($15)—usually, they’re served fried, breaded or sautéed, but when simply grilled they stand up beautifully on their own.

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Santa Barbara Sea Urchin — tapioca, whipped tofu, scallions (left); One dozen oysters (right)

The Santa Barbara Sea Urchin ($16) with tapioca and whipped tofu is a much celebrated dish. I certainly respect the creativity that went into it, but I wasn’t all that enamored with it.

At this point, I felt like I’d already had a full meal, and the pièce de résistance (accompanied by a dozen oysters), hadn’t even been served yet.

momofukussam06.jpg
The Bo Ssäm in all its Glory

The Bo Ssäm could almost be called liquid pork: it is braised to a point of such tenderness that the meat practically collapses at the touch. It comes with leaves of lettuce; you are supposed to put the pork inside, add sauce, wrap it up, and eat it like a burrito—that’s what the “Ssäm” in the restuarant’s name actually means. I tried this once, but from then on I was content to just eat the pork itself. It is so luscious that one can hardly be bothered to interrupt the appointed journey from plate to mouth. This must be one of the top ten dishes in New York.

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Cheddar Shortcake — apples, ham cream (left); Hazelnut Torte — parsnip buttercream, grapefruit (right)

Desserts, which could so easily be an afterthought at such a restaurant, were first-rate. I especially liked the Amish Cheddar Shortcake ($9), with an almost wickedly clever “ham cream.” Hazelnut Torte ($9) wasn’t bad either.

With nine certified foodies at the table, it’s no surprise that the State of the Momofuku Empire was a topic of conversation. One of my companions admitted that he had expected to see Momofuku clones springing up; so far, it hasn’t happened. My own view is that Ssäm Bar is sui generis. Impressive as the food may be, it lacks almost every other amenity that a good restaurant should have—a place to hang up your coat, for instance. As prices continue to rise, and Chang is distracted by other projects, I wonder if Ssäm Bar’s charms may start to fade as diners come to grips with its limitations.

There are signs that Chang’s act is starting to wear a little thin. Over on Grub Street, Cutlets suggested that Chang, “earnest and talented as he is…needs to be reassessed.” Over on Eater.com, a contributor complained that the very dish that Momofuku Ssäm Bar was named for—the $10 Momofuku Ssäm—is no longer offered at dinner.

What on earth is Chang up to? Another of my dining companions, a Ssäm Bar regular, conceded that “I’ve never seen him here.” Two weeks ago, Chang announced that “it’s clear some of us need to step aside and let the real talent shine,” naming new chef–partners for his two current East Village restaurants, as well as the still-unopened Momofuku Ko.

You have to wonder if all of the accolades are going to his head. If Thomas Keller—who has more restaurants than Chang—is in the kitchen at The French Laundry on most evenings, then why is Chang “stepping off to work on new restaurant projects” when, less than two years ago, all he had was a noodle bar? As Cutlets notes, “Ko will have to be phenomenal (and, let’s be honest, it very well could be) to shield him from what could be some backlash against the flood of praise bestowed upon the young chef in the past year.”

I don’t think Chang is the certified genius that some people say, but you have to give him credit for the remarkable phenomenon that is Momofuku Ssäm Bar. No one knows where it will go from here, but it certainly won’t be boring.

Momofuku Ssäm Bar (207 Second Avenue at 13th Street, East Village)

Food: **
Service: *
Ambiance: Burrito Bar
Overall: **

Saturday
Jan262008

Update: Keens Steakhouse

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Note: Click here for more visits to Keens Steakhouse.

My girlfriend, son and I had a pre-theater dinner at Keens Steakhouse last week. I ordered the incomparable Mutton Chop ($45.00), which I think is the best item on the menu. My girlfriend had the sirloin (43.50), which wasn’t quite as tender it should be.

Keens is one of the few NYC steakhouses that offers prime rib. The only option shown on the dinner menu is a so-called King’s Cut ($49.50). The perceptive server guessed that a twelve-year-old probably wasn’t going to finish such a massive portion, so he offered us the English Cut ($28.00), normally served only in the downstairs “pub”.

Fries ($8.00) could easily become addictive. We didn’t order a bottle of wine, but a glass of the respectable house cabernet was a remarkably cheap $8.50.

While the time-warp ambiance at Keens is matchless, its steaks are a notch below other places in town while being several dollars more expensive. The huge two-story space is built for volume, and servers aren’t as attentive as they should be. But for the mutton chop or the prime rib, Keens is always worth the occasional visit.

Keens Steakhouse (72 W. 36th Street between Fifth & Sixth Avenues, West Midtown)

Food: *½
Service: *
Ambiance: **
Overall: *½

Saturday
Jan262008

Lime Thai Bistro & Lounge


Source: Eater

Note: Lime Thai Bistro closed, either in late 2009 or early 2010.

*

Lime Thai Bistro & Lounge is a recent arrival in the lower West Village, though it is apparently a modest makeover of an earlier Thai restaurant called Hurapan Kitchen. Despite the attention-grabbing orange sign, the new version doesn’t yet have much of a following on this desolate stretch of Seventh Avenue: we had the place practically to ourselves.

That’s a shame, as we found the food food clever, terrific, and blissfully inexpensive.

Lobster and Shrimp Shumai ($9; above left) in a mustard-butter sauce were flawless. My friend Kelly enjoyed the Chicken Tom Yum soup ($5; above right).

I don’t recall much about the Peking Duck Wrap ($11; above left), except that we liked it. Kelly raved about the Spicy Drunken Noodle with Duck ($8.95; above right), a concoction of fresh basil, white onion, tomato, carrot, and Thai hot sauce.

I was mightily impressed with Marinated Skirt Steak ($19; above), which was beautifully prepared, not at all greasy, and a better quality of beef than I would have expected at this price. The chili dipping sauce added a nice kick, but wasn’t overly hot.

The décor is functional but rather charmless. Service was prompt and efficient.

Lime Thai Bistro & Lounge (29 Seventh Avenue South between Morton & Leroy Streets, West Village)

Food: *
Service: *
Ambiance: *
Overall: *

Saturday
Jan262008

Bar Blanc

barblanc_inside.jpg
Kalina via Eater

Note: Bar Blanc closed on April 6, 2009, re-opening as Bar Blanc Bistro, which too has closed. The space is now the Southern-themed restaurant Lowcountry.

*

Bar Blanc is the brainchild of three Bouley alums, with executive chef César Ramirez at the helm. The very blanc interior is sleek and easy on the eyes. Open since early December, reviewers so far (Andrea Strong, Tables for Two, Gourmet) have found the service clumsy, but the ambitious food promising.

barblanc_logo.gifWe had no issues with the service, though our 6:15 p.m. reservation was well before the masses arrived. We started with a cocktail, and the bar tab was transferred to our table without complaint—something you can never take for granted these days.

The focused menu has just four appetizers ($12–18), three pastas ($20–24), six meat and fish entrées ($24–36), three sides ($8) and four desserts ($10). These prices won’t be sustainable unless Bar Blanc can become more than just a neighborhood place.

The wine list, too, is extravagantly priced. I ordered a Palmer Vineyards Cabernet Franc ($34). Kudos to Bar Blanc for stocking a Long Island wine and serving it at the correct temperature, but that shouldn’t be the only red under $50.

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The server tried to upsell us to a tasting menu ($75), and he was also pushing the side dishes, but we both ordered just an appetizer and an entrée, which was plenty.

The amuse-bouche was a small puff pastry stuffed with goat cheese.

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Slow Roasted Rabbit and Sweetbread Salad (left); Milk Fed Porcelet (right)

Coincidentally, our sights landed on the identical choices. Slow Roasted Rabbit and Sweetbread Salad ($14) isn’t much of a salad at all, but it’s wonderful nonetheless, with a ricotta purée nicely balancing the two contrasting meats.

The menu description of Milk Fed Porcelet ($32) is practically essay-length. There is roast baby pig, pig head terrine, pig belly, chanterelles purée, diced Brussells sprouts, and a jus of cinnamon, star anise, and orange. That’s probably twice as much as it needed, as most of those ingredients were undetectable. The roasted pig was stringy and tasted like bitter ham. The belly was enjoyable, as pure fat tends to be.

It is still early days for Bar Blanc, and with this much talent in the kitchen I suspect there is much more to enjoy here. Though our entrée was a dud, the restaurant nevertheless looks promising.

Bar Blanc (142 W. 10th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, West Village)

Food: *
Service: *
Ambiance: **
Overall: *

Thursday
Jan242008

The Payoff: Mesa Grill

Yesterday, as the world yawned, Frank Bruni issued a one-star mini-smackdown to Mesa Grill:

Mesa Grill, no question, has considerable charms. You can’t mix this many creative margaritas, put this much vivid color into the décor and the food, and tap this wide a variety of chilies without summoning a festive spirit…

But on balance Mesa Grill presents only flickers of the excitement it did in 1991, when it opened, or in 2000, when William Grimes gave it two stars in The Times.

It’s an overly familiar, somewhat tired production. More to the point, it’s an inconsistent one.

Flay could have responded by spending more time at the restaurant. Instead, he fired the GM, which seems a bit silly. He couldn’t have been screwing up that badly, as the restaurant is still packed. The review is history, and Bruni’s successor won’t be back for another decade.

We lose for the third week in a row…but this time Eater loses too. We’re both $1 poorer.

          Eater        NYJ
Bankroll $65.50   $78.67
Gain/Loss –1.00   –1.00
Total $64.50   $77.67
 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Won–Lost 28–12   28–12