I thought their jambon beurre was fantastic. The coffee was very good. a madeleine was, ironically, forgettable. I also left with a block of Bordier.
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Thatâs too bad. I love Cafe Gitane (and Cat Power).
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Same. That was the era where I went to the city nearly every day after high school. X-large, liquid sky, supremeâŚI can barely remember all the restaurants we went to.
On another noteâŚwhatâs up with foxface? I think they closed?
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I remember all of those shops! A couple of years ago I surprised RenĂŠe with an early 90s night I took her to Temple Bar which had just reopened and Indochine. It was fun in a nostalgic way.
As far as Foxface the building has some structural issues and the temporary closure is taking much longer than originally anticipated.
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Finally went to the new ADDA in the East Village for the Butter Chicken Experience! I have been waiting to go until I could get a reservation for the experience which is very hard because they only do 5 per night. The place is very big but still impossible to get in.
Letâs start with wine. I was not sure about their wine program because Semma and Dhamaka have fairly small wine programs. I emailed about corkage and got a very quick response that it is $90. Turns out they have a fairly large wine program with standard NYC 2-4x mark ups. I have no idea what wine goes with the food. I consulted with Raj Parr on what to pair with the Butter Chicken and he recommended the 23 Brij wines âBassiâ Syrah that I had recently received and was one of his best wines (it was absolutely stunning!).
Upon seeing the large wine list I decided to select one and open the Brij. My love affair with riesling started with Austrian riesling so I went with the 23 Hirtzberger Singerriedel. Have not had current vintage of this wine for many years and boy did it welcome me home!
On to the food. It comes at you fast and in multiple ways! Since we were having the Butter Chicken Experience we only ordered two appetizers. A lamb dish which magically excelled with the syrah and a squash dish which was symbiotic with the riesling.
We begin with an Indian pickle tasting which was really cool. Followed by a server carrying a tray full of small potato and chick pea appetizers. The potatoes were stunning and also went great with the riesling.
Then on to the main event THE Butter Chicken Experience!
First step is to choose your wood chip flavor for the table side smoking of the chicken. Then you choose your base butter. Then topping butter. It is all prepared table side. End result was a very nice dish but in all honestly not any better than the other dishes. The food overall was excellent. We will definitely be going back but donât really need to do the experience.
As an endnote I marvel at how many great restaurants are in the East Village my Hood!
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Looking for somewhere in the World Trade Center area (ie convenient to that Path line for NJ folks) that would be suitable for a smallish wine dinner. Recs appreciated!
Depends what you mean by a wine dinner, but Chambers is very close to the WTC!
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mondays are no corkage at crown shyâŚchambers of courseâŚ
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Would add LEI Wine Bar. If you want a corkage place Wuâs Wonton and Uncle Lous are not too far.
If you are up for a 20 minute walk, Harryâs has great steak and a really great wine list - they just donât publish it online so you have to show up and find out
Sorry for the lack of clarity - I need somewhere thatâs happy for 8-10 people to bring 2-3 bottles each at a reasonable corkage price.
Thanks for the suggestions so far.
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Uncle Louâs and Wuâs are good options. Uncle Louâs corkage is $20. I think Wuâs might be free? Others can chime in.
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My noodle shop got outbid.
Seconds on Louâs and Wus.
Think Crown shy private rooms are too big. Chambers isnât really set up for that.
Wuâs corkage was free, last I checked. Not the best stems though.
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Chambers can offer a set menu and sit up to 12 people at the communal table in front. If you bring corkage and buy a few bottles off the list, theyâll be happy and likely wonât charge corkage. Otherwise, I believe Pascaline charges corkage per person and not per bottle.
Edit to include Crown Shy - they have a nook in the main dining room the can accommodate a large party. I hosted a dinner of 12 there without a problem.
We are just home from a wonderful quick trip up to NYC for some food, wine, and time with friends.
Four Horseman for lunch is still one of the best restaurant experiences in this country, when taken all together. Food is outstanding, service and atmosphere a delight, and the wine list offers many good options. We absolutely loved our meal.
We joined @Robert_Dentice and Renee for dinner at Eyval, which was warm and welcoming. The fish dish was particularly good. We then went for a second hit at Lei Wine Bar, which we loved. The space is tiny, comfortable, buzzy but not noisy. We loved most of the small dishes we ordered, especially the lamb pasta, and the wine list is truly great. We ordered a number of bottles and shared all of them, plus what was left from dinner with friends and the staff.
Due to a business obligation in the AM on Sunday, we werenât sure what lunch would be, but we ended up getting a last minute reservation at Noreetuh. Believe it or not, it was our first time there! I can see what everyone loves about the place. The food was delicious, the staff incredibly friendly and capable. We didnât order any wine, as we had open bottles of Kikuhime from our tasting that morning, but there were so many options weâd have been happy to drink if weâd needed something. I have to say, though, that none would have been a better match with the food than the 2002 Yamahai Ginjo Genshu ishobin we brought!
Dinner that night was Atomix with @marc_shivers and Journey. It was superb, easily the best meal of the year in the US for us. A meal like that is like a great orchestra performance - each player is excellent in her/his own right (great ingredients), and they are playing an amazing piece of music (conception of the dishes), brought together by a single, brilliant conductor who vision shapes the whole, and brings out the best in each element (great chef). So often, dishes with many elements just end up being muddy, as if each player is playing his own thing, and thereâs no cohesive whole. Atomix got it perfectly on almost every dish. We loved it.
Finally breakfast at Russ and Daughters hit the spot before a very easy drive home. If a NYC hit could be that successful every time, weâd go more often!
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didnt know that fulgurances is closing this month. and seeing fette sau, winonas and so many others, im kind of frightened to see how many places will close after the holidays.
Not fully closing. They are turning the place over to one of their resident chefs (Kevin Finch) and opening a new restaurant focused on Roast chicken called Gigis! Really excited for the new spot!
I had not heard that about Winonaâs. I only stopped in once for a glass of wine. It was pretty busy.
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Wuâs is still no corkage and youâre being generous describing their glassware. Another thought is Pings. Corkage is minimal. Food is better than Wuâs. Stemware also sucks.
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