if anyone is looking for a business lunch option in midtown, i enjoyed santi for what it was. newish from michael white. cant say im a michael white fan but ive never had a bad meal at any restaurant he was involved with going back to l’impero and alto back in the day.
very pleasant space, great for conversation. 2 courses for $59…i had the crab salad and seared tuna which was essentially a tuna nicoise salad.
i will certainly be back for business lunch purposes.
Just home from an excellent dinner at Smithereens. Totally get why @Robert_Dentice and others have said such good things about the place. Service was warm and attentive but not overbearing at all. Drank an excellent bottle of 2022 Bachelet Monnot at the suggestion of the somm which was pitch perfect with our meal. The abalone skewers, blue fin tuna special, and amberjack were highlights of a great mix of dishes. The apple cider donut with ice cream was a perfect finish. Had a nice chat with the table next to us about the apple cider donut (they offered me a bite of theirs before I’d eaten a thing!), kids, and watch collecting. Friendly vibes all around, and the manager Leslie noted they appreciate Berserkers who come to dine. Really enjoyed my meal and hope to make Smithereens a regular in my rotation going forward.
Is Chambers pouring 2019 Poggio di Sotto by the glass? (If so, at what price?)
What did you think of this wine?
I haven’t had the '19 in a year (my bottles are sleeping), but I had the '20 last week at Gambero Rosso and the '20 is drinking well.
They were, I finished the bottle, not sure if they are opening another one. It was $90/pour.
It was delicious. Young and tightly coiled but showed that amazing licorice root complexity.
Went to Le Chene tonight (and a shout out to @Jorge_Henriquez! Great to meet you!). What a cool place. Great food, great wine, cool people.
And I got to taste the 2023 d’Yquem!
And I ate too much.
So happy you liked it. I love their Sunday lunch!
Four of us went to Odre yesterday evening. Reserved weeks ago, then received a text from the manager the day before asking if we could come earlier or later. She said they changed their system to 2 seatings to make service less haphazard. Hmmm…I replied that I wasn’t happy with the last minute change and she offered to honor our original reservation. Ultimately, I agreed to the new time slot.
Upon arrival, she poured us a complimentary glass of Crémant. Throughout the night, she and our server were gracious, warm and professional. The 2 wines we brought were well handled (albeit opened at the bar). The manager seemed quite knowledgeable and said she appreciated the chance to taste older wines.
They also increased their price to $52. But it is an outstanding value given the overall quality and enjoyment. Just a couple of dishes fell short for me - the lamb stew and spring noodle. Standouts were the kimchi pie and abalone mandoo. Best of all was the humble Bansang.
Dining room was moderately full and a bit warm. Will definitely return.
We ended up pivoting to Bayside and went to Shanghai You Garden in Bayside . Did the trick. Thanks !!!
Went for an early dinner last night. Certainly not a bargain for dinner, and definitely a finance-bro vibe, but the food was excellent and it’s a good option in the neighborhood. Also has a nice bar.
Finally went to Bistro Ha! I absolutely loved it. The vibe is a blend of downtown Manhattan in the 90s and a Parisian Bistro. The food was overall very good but the overall package was excellent. Wine list is all natural, but I was able to find something to drink. It is definitely one of the hardest reservations to get these days and I can see why.
Any newish great ramen spots in the East village/ LES area?
Not new but if you haven’t been to Misoya I highly recommend the Hokkaido style charsiu ramen
Headed up to NYC in a couple of weeks in town shopping around for a wedding suit. Looking for some downtown recs.
Thursday lunch in SoHo: for 3 of us. Open to anything.
Thursday dinner - was thinking possibly Claud or try to walk into Lei? I’m the only wine person though.
Friday lunch near Chelsea: maybe lighter elevated fare?
Friday dinner I’m thinking Chambers.
Had an amazing, if also amazingly expensive, meal at Le Chene. Chambers is always great - book ahead.
Def do chambers. Don’t last mi tire Friday.
I agree Le Chene was amazing, but I don’t remember it being amazingly expensive. I had plenty of wine and more food than I needed and it was around $400 inc tip, which while expensive, isn’t anywhere near as bad as it could have been.
Don’t know what you ordered, but know what our table ordered and another table ordered. We did the $100 corkage and came out at $500 + tip so call it $600. We asked to modify the asparagus dish for allergy, and they upcharged from something like $35 to $50 without disclosing. This was 3 pieces of white asparagus.. no truffles. We didn’t order it, but they were pouring 2 ounce pours of 2010 Yquem for $85 a pour.
It was a great experience, until we got the bill and were WTF. FWIW, we would consider $400 expensive as well - so this was gratutious in their hidden charges on the bill.
I had 2 apps, the pithiviers, sparkling water, 3 martinis, 5 glasses of wine, 2 glasses of Champagne, and it was $420 inc tip (I was dining solo). I didn’t think it was outrageous at all.
If you were upcharged without disclosing, that’s obviously a different experience.
I’m just here to say, that is an impressive level of consumption! 
