Last week I visited The Standard Grill, a fashionable newcomer in the meatpacking district hotel of the same name. It opened last summer to a lot of fanfare. It’s the kind of restaurant that doesn’t need a great kitchen. Everybody wants to be there anyway. Nevertheless, since its opening The Standard Grill has received lots of buzz for food that stands up to the scene. Some of it doesn’t sit right with me.
Before I visit a restaurant with such anticipation, I like to amp myself up by reading the NY Mag and New York Times reviews. But last Friday I noticed a strange parallel between the two. It felt like both Pete Wells and Adam Platt were forgiving the Standard Grill for issues that normally wouldn’t slide, due to its immense popularity and sprawling space. I’ve seen both critics be pretty brutal towards other restaurants but for The Standard Grill, I read sentences like:
With 100 seats in this room, another 100 in an even noisier antechamber, and 85 more on the sidewalk, it is a marvel that the kitchen reliably bangs out solid, flavorful food
The rambling menu doesn’t always cohere, and the waiters can be unequal to their jobs, but somehow none of that matters much.
I’m sorry, why are we applauding The Standard Grill for functioning?
Chef Dan Silverman has decades of experience under his belt at Union Square Cafe and Lever House. He should be crafting beautiful food. When you establish a pedigree for yourself you should live up to it. Nobody should be making excuses for you. And the owners of The Standard Grill clearly chose a sprawling space in a trendy area with the goal of filling it. I feel snooty for saying it, but should we be congratulating them for doing their job? Should we be wowing in amazement that they can greedily fill every seat, creating lines out the door and forcing people to wait 45 minutes for a reservation?
I think it is important that restaurants are reviewed in a vacuum, so to speak. The food and service should be up-to-snuff at a quality restaurant, period. When I read sentences like “well, the food isn’t good but man, what a huge place!”, it’s concerning.
Conversely, I recently noticed a review by Platt of SHO Shaun Hergatt, the ostentatious Asian-fusion spot which is receiving top ratings, including a Michelin star this year. Platt praised the food endlessly but then removed a star because it’s located in the Financial District, a few stories up in a hotel. Due to its location, an elegant restaurant like SHO Shaun has the same number of stars as the Standard Grill, which is leagues below in food and service. For me, location has nothing to do with merit. The fact that Adam Platt finds SHO Shaun inconvenient is irrelevant. People do live in the Financial District, you know. Maybe we should take a star from Per Se for its 4th-floor location in the Time Warner building?
I would never argue that I have the chops of these professional critics. Most often, I visit a restaurant once and then base a review from one experience. It may not be completely fair, but nobody is paying me to do this. So I’m not telling anybody how to do their job. But I don’t understand this double standard. Why should The Standard Grill get extra points just for being able to handle its own setup?
So now, I ask for your opinion. Whether you’ve dined at The Standard Grill or not, do you feel that location and size should carry weight with a restaurant’s merit?
Yes? Well here’s how. Paula Deen shows you how to make her “Lady’s Brunch Burger” which is topped with bacon and a fried egg, sandwiched betwen two glazed doughnuts. Has there every been a more horrific creation? I’m all for splurging once in awhile, but the last thing Americans need is to learn a new combination of artery clogging atrocities.
The best part about the video is that Paula makes no apologies for how ridiculous this is! It’s as if it’s completely normal. Apparently this burger is not Paula’s invention and has a history of being called “The Luther Burger.” It even has its own Wikipedia entry. If this burger sounds appealing to you, by all means, find the full recipe here and let me know how it tastes!
I had a great meal last night at Trestle on Tenth, a cozy Swiss restaurant around the corner from my apartment. I was with my immediate family plus my aunt, uncle, and cousin, who love collecting wine as well. Between my Dad and my Uncle, we brought seven bottles of wine to dinner. We started with a buttery Far Niente Chardonnay then had a complex White Chateauneuf-du-Pape. For reds we had a hardy Remirez de Ganuza 1994 Rioja, a South African Shiraz, and a Walla Walla Washington State Cabernet. The wines were as diverse as can be so not all of them pleased everybody. But it didn’t matter, there was little risk involved with the $20 corkage fee assigned to each bottle. We weren’t paying a 100% markup for each bottle like we normally would, had we ordered from the wine list.
The restaurant was near empty on a Sunday night at 7:30. Despite our rowdiness and our quirks, I think they were glad to have our business. Nobody questioned the fact that we brought our own wine. Truthfully, how could they? In today’s economy, avoiding a restaurant markup is an easy way to save money. A recent survey by the Wine Market Council showed the majority of participants were eating out less, with the most significant decline (39%) in fine dining.
Of course everybody needs a reprieve from the stress that all of this causes and people may still be gripping the bottle to calm their woes. But they aren’t buying $100 bottles, they’re looking for the sweet spot of great wines at affordable prices in the $15 range. I know this from experience, promoting wine every day on WineExpress.com, but it’s no secret. Knowing all this, fewer people will needlessly pay $45 in a restaurant for a wine that’s on sale for $15 at the wine shop around the corner. Restaurants will need to wise up to meet the changing consumer, or risk facing empty tables.
My predictions for what needs to happen:
BYOB will become more of a standard habit, with nominal corkage fees
If not, prices will have to come down. Consumers are smart and know what a wine should cost and what it costs on a menu. They simply won’t pay double.
If not, menu prices will have to come down. I get that restaurants make most of their money on drinks. Maybe it’s unreasonable to expect prices to come down on wine, but people need some incentive to open their wallets. Maybe more prixe-fixe meals or weekly specials?
Something’s gotta give, or I’m afraid restaurants might have a painful year (or more?) ahead of them.
Now that the holiday season is upon is, saving money when you go out is all the more important. We’re even more squeezed when we have gifts to consider. Last month I listed a few great deals going on in the city, proving that you can still eat great food on a budget in Manhattan. Here’s a few more:
5) Fresh Direct’s Produce Code: If staying in during these cold months is more your bag, take advantage of Fresh Direct’s 10% off all produce code. Just enter code PRODUCE at checkout and you’ll save cash. I’m an unabashedly huge fan of Fresh Direct and I saved $12 on my last order. Gotta love that!
4) Use OpenTable.com: OpenTable has really expanded in the past year and now features a majority of the great resaurants in the city (maybe even the country?). You can save the hassle of calling the restaurant by booking online and earning points for each reservation you honor, which go toward “Dining Cheques” at any Open Table restaurant.
3) Use SeamlessWeb- SeamlessWeb is an online food delivery ordering service, currently available in New York as well as other major cities in the East Coast plus L.A, San Francisco, and even London. Ever had the experience of placing a delivery order and wondering just how badly the person misheard you? On SeamlessWeb you order electronically, so there is no room for error. It’s a great service and I think they’re just scratching the service of its potential. Use code SWNEW to get $5 off your first purchase.
2) Prixe-Fixe Meals- A lot of the nicer restaurants in the city are offering prix fixed deals right now, especially for lunch. Some examples: Jean Georges, Gotham Bar & Grill, Milos, Perry Street, Tabla and Grayz. Of course it won’t be a cheap meal, but you’ll get fine dining at a more reasonable price.
1) Go out for small plates- You can try some real unique dishes at small plates and tapas restaurants and be surprisingly full, if you monitor how much you order. The Senior Editor of the magazine, Sue Kostrzewa, recently wrote a piece on this for our blog UnReserved. Some great spots in the city include: Pipa, Stanton Social, and ‘Inoteca
On the pages of New York Magazine,Gael Greene pioneered popular food writing through a time when Le Cirque had just opened, Chinese was the new trend, and New York gourmands were just learning about souffles. Forty years later after fancy French cuisine has become tired and the novelty is now back to basics (American barnyard is it?), Greene is still here. She has been relevant for four decades, an amazing feat for anybody whose job is to stay current. And yet last Wednesday, Greene was finally let go by New York Magazine, supposedly the latest victim of a magazine wishing to downsize.
Since I was too little to appreciate Gael Greene in her prime, I’ve typically thought of her as “some famous food person.” I wasn’t aware exactly how long Greene’s tenure had been and what a contribution she had made. Then last Summer I read her memoir, Insatiable Gael Greene, a thrilling look at the culinary progress in the U.S. as told by eyewitness Greene. Her stories are sexy and indulgent, about intense truffle tastings and romps with Elvis Prestley and Burt Reynolds. It’s not just what she did, it’s how she tells it. She weaves together metaphor upon metaphor, yet somehow it’s not contrived, but perfectly illustrative. For lack of a better phrase, it’s a feast for the senses. It’s amazing how much this woman has experienced and what fascinating musings she has brought to other food hedonists over the years.
But, the book is dotted with recipes that I frankly skimmed because they are far too, let’s see… “nostalgic” for my taste. Mushroom strudel and orange fruit soup remind me of my Grandma. So maybe Gael does need to slow down a bit, but I don’t think her importance should be minimized. I caught a glimpse of this story on Eater.com today and I think she deserves more than a few fleeting, whiny paragraphs. She helped create today’s food culture. Read her book, it’s a blast.
The economy sucks, but that doesn’t mean you have to sit at home and mope in front of the TV. Though Manhattan can be expensive, there are plenty of ways to go out without breaking the bank. Here are a few ideas:
1)   DiningFever.com- You can find coupons that range from 15-20% off your entire check at a myriad of New York restaurants on this site. Even nice restaurants like Merkato, Crema and Devi have listings here. Follow DiningFever on Twitter for the latest updates. 2)   BYOB- Restaurant markups on wine are tough but there are plenty of places that will allow you to bring wine with a small corkage fee. Places without a liquor license, may even allow you to bring wine and beer for free. Call in advance to find out the fee. Try Kuma Inn, Nook, and Zabb City. 3)   Bar Deals- A lot of bars have special discount nights with half off certain beers, or free snacks. The Half King, on 10th and 23rd for example, has free salsa and chips and a free shot of tequila on Wednesday nights. I’ll be watching the election there tomorrow night, when they offer everybody a free drink and unlimited pigs in a blanket ☺ 4)   Sunburnt Cow-Is a fun, Australian spot in Alphabet City. The $16 “Counter Meal†will get you 3 courses worth of food. Don’t miss the “burger with the lot†topped with bacon, egg, beets, cheese, grilled pineapple, lettuce and tomato. This is one of the best deals in the city. 5)   “Dine with Wineâ€- Is an event hosted by The Village Alliance and amNewYork plus the Food Bank of New York City. Now through November 17th, eat at a host of downtown restaurants on Monday nights (including Elettaria and 8th Street Wine Cellar) and receive half off your bottle of wine.
Are you doing anything to stretch your dollar? What are your favorite deals in NY or in your home city?
At Insieme, the menu is separated into “traditional” and “contemporary” Italian dishes, and they offer a “pasta tasting menu” as well. Insieme means “together” in Italian, so it’s a fusion of old and new, with a focus on fresh ingredients as chef Marco Canora learned from Tom Colicchio. But in light of its recent Michelin star gain, Frank Bruni’s coveted “very good” review, and praises sung by my family members (who are hard to please), my expectations were as high as could be before my visit. With these high hopes, I couldn’t help noticing the strange service.
The oddities began at the very beginning, when our waitress warned that there were only 2 left of the special pork appetizer, despite the empty restaurant and the wee hour of 5:30PM we were dining at. I guess the lunch crew really loves their pork? A friend of mine said she had a similar experience when they were nearly out of the lasagne on her visit. I get that it’s possible for a restaurant to “run out” of things, and dishes are not made completely fresh for each meal, but having it be a point of discussion was off-putting and seemed out of place in a fine restaurant. In addition, our waitress was uncomfortable with the menu and rather cold toward us. My Mom inquired about the lamb preparation and the response was that it was a loin and a shank. She then had to pry for more information. Is this the “warm hospitality” that Insieme prides itself in?
This, coupled with my Dad’s extreme difficulty in finding somebody to help select a Gruner Veltliner, started the meal on bad footing. Our waitress was missing so a bus boy tried to assist, followed by the manager, despite pleas for help from somebody familiar with the list. Eventually the beverage director assisted us.
The food itself, was really nice. I’m still dreaming about my sweetbreads with lemon, capers and parsley and a perfectly cooked papardelle with smoked lamb neck. A branzino “saltimbocca” wrapped in paper thin slices of prosciutto was delicately seasoned and accented by a lemon puree. I was still envious of my sister’s tender, rich duck breast with foie gras and hazelnuts though. The beverage director helped us select a cheese assortment that fit my “super stinky” requirement and brought some Madeira to close the meal. He truly salvaged the meal from our frigid waitress, hand-picking wines for each course including the Gruner Veltliner, a Garnacha, and an ‘03 Brunello.
In perspective, my complaints are not major, but worth noting. I love Hearth and Terroir, Grieco/Canora’s, other spots and I think they’re better than this. I hope that if you visit Insieme you order the papardelle, and a different waitress.
Insieme: 777 7th Avenue @51st Street Cuisine: Italian Average Entree Price: $20-$36 Food: Very Good Service: Good Value: Very Good You Gonna Finish That? Every last bite
The announcement of next year’s New York Michelin star recipients was, to put it lightly, surprising. The list was briefer than last year, and I found that many restaurants were stiffed while others were given undeserved merit. For New Yorkers, Michelin ratings may have diminished in importance but the guide still remains an important yardstick for tourists. In the current state of world, when people now travel in herds for great buys in the U.S.A. , I think Michelin is all the more relevant.
Here is the lowdown:
3 Stars (excellent cuisine and worth the journey)
Jean-Georges
Le Bernardin
Masa
Per Se
2 Stars (excellent cooking and worth a detour)
Adour Alain Ducaisse
Daniel
Del Posto
Gilt
Gordon Ramsey at the London
Momofuku Ko
Picholine
1 Star (a very good restaurant in its category)
Allen & Delancey
Alto
Annisa
Anthos
Aureole
Blue Hill
Cafe Boulud
Cru
Dressler
Eighty-One
Etats-Unis
Fiamma
Fleur de Sel
Gotham Bar & Grill
Gramercy Tavern
Insieme
Jewel Bako
JoJo
Kyo-Ya
l’Atelier de Joel Robuchon
Oceana
Perry Street
Peter Luger
Public
Saul
Spotted Pig
Sushi of Gari
The Modern
Veritas
Wallse
WD-50
Some observations:
It looks like Mario Batali got shafted this year. I haven’t always been a fan of his attitude toward bloggers, but Babbo is still one of my favorite meals of all time. I hope it hasn’t gone downhill.
Only Del Posto made it this year, my least favorite of the Batali restaurants.
Where is Bouley? So sad to not see it anywhere on this list. What gives guys?
Eleven Madison Park was shafted once again. I happen to agree as I never got the hype of EMP as much as others. I bet many are surprised though.
Spotted Pig was once again awarded a star. I just don’t get this one. It’s a hip, gastro-pub with great food (love the gnudi). Michelin star worthy? I don’t think so. If anybody can explain why Spotted Pig continually gets Michelin stars I’d appreciate the enlightenment.
I loved my meal at Public but I don’t think it stands up to the other restaurants in this category. Same with Sushi of Gari, which gets a star year after year.
I may be alone on this, but I’ll come out and say it: Insieme doesn’t need to be on the list either. My meal last week there was good, but far from excellent.
3 cheers for Annisa! Anita Lo is doing some amazing stuff, and I’m so pleased to see her earn a star again.
Country lost its star, not surprisingly.
I’ve never been to, or even heard of, Kyo Ya, but apparently I need to make a visit! Anybody been?
So all-in-all, I am confused. Of course my observations are based on one-time visits, so one can take my opinion with a grain of salt. I suppose every year there are disappointments and surprises, but this year seemed to be particularly odd. Am I alone on this?
As a country founded by immigrants, some say that American cuisine is a fusion of everything. We have the best of Italy, France, Germany etc. and we’ve fused it together over the years, to create a melting pot of food culture. Dissenters on the other hand, may feel that American cuisine is actually the absence of any style. Fast food is our cuisine, it’s the only development we can truly consider our own. Regardless which camp you may be in (or maybe an entirely different one), it’s interesting to note a study by the James Beard House published this month, that sought to answer that very question: “Is there an American cuisine? If so, what is it?” The study was conducted among visitors to their web sites as well as readers of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine and other “experts in various fields related to food, nutrition, and gastronomy.” A few hundred people participated overall. Overwhelmingly, participants felt that there is an American cuisine and described it using words like “comfort”, “melting pot”, and “regional.” The most fascinating part was a table that listed the top 5 American foods.
TABLE 2: Iconic American Foods
Hamburgers and Cheeseburgers 44.4%
BBQ 39.3%
Fried Chicken 31.6%
Mac n Cheese 29.1%
Apple Pie 26.5%
To me it was somehow a mixture of surprising and obvious. These are comfort foods that largely originated in the South and Midwest. But as a New Yorker I have to ask, what about pizza? Do people think of foods that are associated with one ethnicity (Italian food) as being Un-American? I think that whether it originated here or not, it’s just as much a part of American cuisine as hamburgers. And hey, didn’t hamburgers come from Germany anyway? Does something have to originate here, to be considered part of our cuisine? One could argue that all of our food was born out of another country. I’m of the belief that American cuisine exists and is ever-changing. One day sushi will be just as American as apple pie. I’m blabbering, but you get the picture here I hope. Do you agree with these 5? What’s missing? Do you feel there is an American cuisine?
Has anybody else discovered this incredible yogurt yet? While I was away in Nice, Mom came to my apartment and stocked the fridge with some treats (as she typically does ), amongst which was this Icelandic style strained skyr yogurt. It seemed like an odd ticket but I ventured into it this morning and was pleasantly surprised. It is decadently thick and mildly flavored with pomegranate and passion fruit. Siggi’s also comes in other flavors like Pear and Mint and Blueberry. It’s also completely organic, made without aspartame, gelatin, corn syrup or any of that other muck that you find in yogurts. Somehow this treat is only 120 calories and nonfat, made with skim milk!
I realize I am completely “geeking out” here about yogurt but I encourage any skeptics to try it. If you like Fage or other Greek style yogurts, you will definitely love siggi’s. Siggi is an Icelandic dude living in NYC so right now it is mainly available in Manhattan in Brooklyn. I read that select Whole Foods’ outside of the city carry it as well though. Stay tuned, It seems the word is spreading as this person and this person are just as excited as I am about it. Maybe Siggi’s will make it to a store near you.
Subscribe in RSS
