Just went to Ai Fiori…good food and lovely service.A little corporate feeling.Great wine list!
+1. Also curious about I Trulli & cork fees
Went to Wayan last week as we couldn’t secure a spot at Wayla and only were notified of an opening at Luthun rather late.
On my modified Tuppatsch scale (ugh, meh, eh, okay, woah, schisse), I’d put it in the eh+ range. As a caveat, we ordered largely vegetarian (as my wife doesn’t partake in the meats) but I did order the cod main.
We ordered cocktails as the wine list had a few interesting things but we didn’t want to drink a bottle (had been at CsV before and were headed to Bar Goto after an ensuing show). Cocktails were dressed up, somewhat reasonable at 14/per but not awe-inspiring.
They did a very good job balancing SE Asian spice with texture or acidity. Notably the Eggplant Balado side was creamy and delicious with accents of Thai basil.
The vegetable spring rolls were kind of boring, while the avocado gado gado was fresh and accented but not particularly complex. The Cod was really fantastic, sitting over lumps of delicate but textured squash with a lovely cream sauce to offset some of the heat.
In terms of decor, the back-area is far more enticing, as is the bar, compared to the front dining seats. They have an inviting round table at the front that reminds me of the curved booths at Pasquale Jones. Corkage is $38/btl max 2. Bring some riesling! Ideally this is a date spot. For me, I’d take uncle boons / ugly baby for this nexus of food. YMMV if you sample more of the non-vegetarian menu!
woops
My wife and I had dinner at Frenchette yesterday evening.
It’s a Monday prime time, and this place is very busy. But, in spite, we can’t find anything negative to note about the service which, I think, they’ve pretty much perfected as our efficiently attentive wait staff clearly know how to keep us casually comfortable. Noise, though, is up there at the medium-high level, but I’ve survived and even enjoyed much noisier restaurants.
Wine list? Well, it’s probably already known by most that it is all-natural, of which I estimate about 35% are < $100. Given my described preference for minimal skin-contact natural whites, I took a recommended offer for a bottle of Jean Maupertuis “Puy Long” VdF, a chardonnay from Auvergne. Nice, fresh, medium-bodied, mineral-notes, slight oxidative character, Juraesque, and bone dry. This went very well with our hors d’oeuvres of Brouillade and Gnocchi Parisienne that were both very good.
Our entrees were not as successful. My Duck Frites tasted OK but was on the tougher side and, perhaps, cooked a bit longer than I would expect. Good, tasty fries, though. Our other entree was the Ris de Veau which we found the featured sweetbreads to be very gamy and quite unappetizing. I asked for, and was offered, a glass of Carignan form Catalonia to pair with my duck entree. Didn’t work for me. This is where I’ve usually had trouble with restaurants that offer only natural wines. That their robust, usually roasted/grilled, meat dishes are quite difficult to pair with natural reds.
I still hope to go back, maybe not a Monday dinner, perhaps even for lunch, and will concentrate more on trying the other appetizers.
Count me as a huge fan of Wayan. Maybe it was an off night. I’d recommend trying it again. Normally it’s great.
Lunch at Ai Fiori yesterday was A+. Portions in the small side but I knew that going in.
Both the trofie nero with scallops and the scallop main were A+. Dishes were more complex then usual Italian to excellent effect.
I have a reservation for 2 @ Luthun on this Friday at 6:45PM that I will be canceling shortly, if anyone wants it.
Admittedly we couldn’t order the Nasi Goreng (made with animal stock), the skewers, or other mains…so it’s a limited review.
I tried Hutong for lunch given it is a block from my office. Huge, flashy decor. The calamari flower appetizer was excellent. Everything else including the duck was just ok. I have had much better Duck in NYC. The wine list was decent and fairly priced. I will go back given the dearth of options in this area but overall was underwhelmed.
+1
I think your non-meat ordering hindered your experience (although I recognize there’s not much you can do about that!). We had the ribs and the veal chop and they were both awesome.
Also, while I have ribs on the brain, Van Da in the East Village is also very good.
is that the old le cirque?
Yes.
FYI James Knappett from Kitchen Table, London, is doing a one night pop up at Benno on Sept 17.
I took Arnold and his mom to Manhatta for brunch yesterday. Pretty much as advertised, stunning views, excellent Danny Meyer level service, food was hit or miss.
My heirloom tomato salad had three very thin perfectly nice slices of tomato marred by slices of sour, very underripe nectarines. The foie gras reuben was a bad idea from start to finish. Not only was each individual part of the dish subpar - the wagyu pastrami way too smokey, the foie gras too bland (how do you even do that?) but the whole was less than the sum of its parts. Nothing went together. Oysters Rockefeller was the best of the three, perfectly fine rendition of a dish which has wallowed in generally deserved obscurity for decades.
Things picked up with the main courses. While the duck was overcooked (Arnold liked it more than I did) the chicken was delicious and my squid ink Strozzapreti was surprisingly addictive.
All three desserts were top notch. The cheesecake, the ricotta, and the olive oil sabayon were all delicious with the crown being given to the sabayon.
So I wouldn’t rush back but for certain purposes it’s a good arrow to have in the quiver. For example I’d love to go back for a dinner around sunset when the view should be even more amazing that it was early afternoon.
Going to be in NYC with my wife in November. Staying somewhere between soho and downtown this time. Have 3 dinners to plan. 1 night we are thinking Atomix and another night more casual, something like Frenchette or Via Carota. Would also like to do Japanese one night. What are the current favorites among the New York regulars? Could be kaiseki or sushi. Price not a factor. Thanks!
i have been to carota + or - 50 times and frenchette exactly once
given the choice i guess you know where i’d go.
the wine program at frenchette is indeed very interesting, but if you can catch carota when it’s not crazy busy (rare since recent awards and reviews) i’d rather be there.
also if in soho hard not to recc uncle boons if you can get in.
recent visits
as summer ends i’m finally getting back into the city and braved our way to hudson yards for mercado little spain.
it’s a mall, and it feels like a mall.
the mercado is well done and well staffed. some wonderful apps at barra (the dissolving olives are worth trying once) with the potato wrapped chorizo being a standout.
then over to mar for the weird but most tasty shrimp in the style of bulli 1996, and also the garlic shrimp which were quite good.
i can’t really see going back unless i had to be at javits or something.
then onto legacy records which i immediately did not like the vibe as much as charlie bird (which i love)
the wine list is bigger at legacy and they do not want to sell half bottles like at charlie bird (but they might depending on the bottle, apparently)
an enjoyable experience with a lovely staff, but not as well located nor as comfortable (for me) as on king street.
I would suggest you consider Uchū or Cagen (the 6 seat Omakase not the front Kaiseki - both are good but the 6 seat Omakase is very special) depending on your price point. There are many other high end Sushi choices.
Atomix is amazing just make sure you know when you need to make reserve for November because they book up fast.
Thanks for the recommendations. Robert, we did Uchu last year and loved it. We will try for Cagen. Any other high end sushi recs in case we can’t get a booking at Cagen?