New York Restaurants

I went to Blue Hill in the village six months ago. I plead guilty to it being totally up my ideological alley with the seasonality and big flavors and hushed worship of the solitary baby vegetable and all, but it was the best meal I've had in NYC since Jean-Georges was in the kitchen at JoJo (I haven't been to J-G itself). It wasn't scene-free tho, I thought.

What did Honmura An ever become? I heard J-G took the space over and were gonna do something...

Anyone been to Masa or Bar Masa?

I've been to Masa twice and Ginza Sushi-ko (Masa's old restaurant in LA which is now Urasawa).

oh that'll be a great anniversary spot xp

really enjoyed queens hideaway the other night, even if my seafood gumbo was just okay. shoulda ordered the tongue.

I've been to Masa twice

was it worth it? practically the most expensive place in the city (which is saying something)

I think I would try Per Se before Masa if I was going to drop that kind of $$$

I've heard the Westchester Blue Hill is really good. was supposed to go one time but had to cancel -- my friends went without us and ended up sitting one table away from the whole Clinton fam.

our meal at blue hill was wonderfu, although next time i'd do a cheese course instead of a sweet dessert. they were lovely to look at, but a bit underwhelming after the excellence of the rest of the meal. my big complaint: the beautifully presented, interesting wine list doesn't have a "big, bold" red (their words) for under $50.

Blue Hill was really good. You certainly pay for it, but at least you have a unique food experience. We spent a few hours on the farm, then changed in the restroom and had dinner. We went for the cheapest option - two-course plus dessert, but they gave us a couple of extra tasting dishes on account of our anniversary and we splurged a bit on a bottle of wine. You can't really eat pork and lamb like that many places, regardless of price (or vegetables like that, for that matter), not to mention that it's from animals like the ones you've just spent the day watching in the pastures and pens outside. I thought the deserts were great, actually, except slightly too sweet. I couldn't have even handled a cheese course by the end.

The whole "sustainability" thing is a bit of a marketing gimmick - this is basically aristocracy eating for the capitalist age - high quality, small quantity estate livestock and produce for anyone willing to put up the money.

Had Congee Village for the first time 2nite. Dried scallop congee/clams in black bean sauce/pan fried shrimp noodle all delicious.

blue hill in the village was one of the first real top-notch restaurants i ever went to in new york (the first was patria).

a friend of mine went there once and puked up afterwards because she hadn't eaten in like a day and a half and then went straight for the pork shin once she was there.

Hey, is Wo Hop still there? I forgot to look for it the last couple of times I was in town. I used to love their big bowl of periwinkles.

I don't think Wo Hop will ever die. Last time I was there was maybe 18 mos ago, though, so anything could have happened by now.

Does anyone have anything to say about Aurora in Wmsbg?

went once a while ago, it was pretty good.

I'm going to Zenkichi tonight.

yeah, went to aurora in soho once. solid modern italian.

Anyone recommend any good drinking dens for this evening?

looking for a nice somewhat romantic place in Williamsburg or an adjoining neighborhood, but quality of food is probably the top consideration. Any other recs are welcome.

Emma B, mrs Tracer Hand, rates food at Aurora very highly, which is about as good a recommendation as a place can get. I might try next week. I believe it is Cash only.

menu looks great

dressler. still haven't been myself, but i've heard glowing reports (and it got a michelin star, ooh la la).

ed, what neighborhood?

dressler looks good too but I have a feeling the wife will like Aurora better

is east side company bar still going? i love that place.

LES, Willamsburg, wherever, if anyone else is out drinking would be good too.

yeah, east side company is still around, i think. you'd probably like that, ed. milk and honey-affiliated so it has wicked cocktails but it isn't a members bar. on essex st, in the les. i think i'm out of commission tonight sadly due to martini/red wine hangover. ow.

it's the first thing that came to mind when the phrases "Ed" and "drinking den" appeared in the same sentence

Dressler has top hipster decor but it is noisy and overpriced, in my book.

You want Aurora for romantic. Grand to Aurora is one of the most romantic walks in Williamsburg. It is cash only. You need a reservation. Request the garden area if you can get it. The wait staff have such thick Italian accents you can barely understand them.

I am not a big drinker but the Prosecci are really good. Their pasta is like candy, and I don't even like Italian food!

only been to dressler once, but it was awesome (venison wau)

Definitely worth a visit. Brooklyn, represent.

Speaking of Williamsburg Italian, did any of you ever get to try 718 diner (R.I.P.)?

http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/restaurants/archives/w-diner.jpg

Their chocolate souffle was to die for. Does anyone know if 718 is permanently closed?

Another great, mobbed-up North Side Italian joint is
Cafe Capri at 427 Graham between Frost and Withers (technically Via Vespuccci).

http://www.brooklynrecord.com/archives/060719wrap.jpg

BEST ICED COFFEE.

dressler = fantastic. best service i have ever received.

also great in williamsburg: the diner/marlow pair. always great.

I ate at the 718 a while back. I thought it was good but the meal was not especially memorable. They had really good coffee though. Didn't know it had closed.

cafe capri is great.

Download the Shake Shack Dashboard Widget.

It tells you the frozen custard flavor of the day, time, temperature and, most importantly, refreshes the Shake Shack Line-cam every 5 seconds.

the best service I ever recieved, by about a million miles, was at this place:

http://www.bluehillstonebarns.com

not to mention some of the best food. 5 people, we did the farmers feast tasting menu, it was my sister's birthday and in discussion they knew she is a pastry chef, and she knew one of the chefs. We had 3 amuses, 5 courses, 3 deserts, chef Dan Barber came out and introduced himself twice, we got a tour of the kitchen, the curing rooms, the wine cellar. Pretty much the best possible eating experience imaginable. And the best bit was one of the deserts, simply sweet potato, candied pecan and brown sugar ice cream. They made mine without the pecan and it was still the best thing I'd ever tasted. Just the fact that for a tasting menu they dealt with a party that involved 1 vegetarian, 1 pescatarian who hates cheese and one omnivore who's allergic to nuts.

capri's cappucino is yummmm

Masa, Per Se, Daniel, Jean-Georges, Blue Hill, blah, blah, blah.

Holy shit! I had no idea Diner closed! It was my favorite restaurant in Brooklyn.

No love for Danny Meyer's Shake Shack . . . can I get a witness? Madison Square Park, Breakfast at Tiffany's, cheese fries, Chicago Dogs, custard calendar? Come on.

Daniel is the most beautiful room in New York.

As I said upthread, my wife and I had a great experience at Blue Hill Stone Barns. If anyone is thinking about doing it, I recommend going early on a milder day and spending a couple hours on the farm before dinner (we brought clothes and changed in the restrooms).

that is if you can bear to look a beautiful hog in the eye before you eat its cousin.

shake shack is so awesome in good weather

last night we had valentines dinner at babbo. I had sweetbreads for the first time. mmmmmmmm ... pancreas. insanely good.

my favorite thing they do at stone barns is the soft fried egg -- I guess they hard boil it halfway, then peel the shell, bread it and throw it in the deep fryer

diner is not closed. felicity was talking about 718 diner aka ms williamsburg diner.

I just went to Blossom in Chelsea. It is the better of the vegan restaurants.

I really want a chicken burrito now.

I just realized I was confusing the 718 diner with Relish.

Aurora tonite. Will report back.

I was not impressed with my admittedly institutional dinner at Daniel, and I've heard similar where's-the-beef sentiments from others who have eaten in the comfier rooms.

I like the Shack lots and what room could beat Madison Square Park, but I prefer the burger over at Blue Smoke. Maybe that's not a fair fight, but even on the faster end of the burger scale and putting aside the fact that my apollonian sandwich is essentially a tomato-delivery-device, I lean toward the mini version of the real thing rather than the glop-crunch of a double stack, though the latter admittedly is a better adjunct to a tasty root beer.

Dressler doesn't look nearly as pleasant a space as Dumont's garden, and the room/vibe are probably fixed just-so in michelin's supposedly-food-only cosmology, but the food at Dumont made enough of an impression on me that a hauter version is high on my list. I suppose it helped that I ate at the older place at the height of Summer.

speaking of great little places, Spigolo, located in the restricted zone, is kind of harried, but has some really wonderful food, and I'm not even that into 'Italian'.

I've never eaten at any of the Batali places, unless you count an institutional dinner at Del Posto, which really was pretty good as far as those things go, though the wine outshone the food.

I haven't yet eaten at any of the Michael Psilakis places either, but he seems to be the most interesting thing going right now.