Had a really nice meal at Crown Shy this past weekend. Service was great, and wine service was truly exceptional.
Spent the weekend in Westchester and only ventured to Manhattan for dinner Saturday to celebrate our son-in-lawâs new job. He liked our December dinner at The Grill so much that we returned for an encore. Drank â18 Cedric Bouchard Ursules, which is already delish. My main, veal breast stuffed with foie in a morel cream sauce was a perfect foil.
We generally prefer lighter, more modern cooking, but The Grill executes classics so well that it is worth the detour. And the roomâŚ
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Quick Manhattan trip.
The Grill - Had the Guinea Hen Clairborne; fantastic flavor. The Grill is very consistent.
Work dinner at Bad Roman - We had a private room past the bar for about 60 people. Had a set menu with passed apps. Food was good; nothing super memorable. Hard to fairly rate a restaurant with that kind of dinner.
Scene was crazy, especially given itâs in a mall, but it was on a Friday night.
You could say that about any number. Just because it doesnât work for you doesnât mean it doesnât work for others.
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Nato now serving a prix fixe lunch
Good to hear. Iâve had a few mixed experiences. Especially when it comes to wine service. Maybe theyâre getting it together.
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A couple of East Village reviews.
I just got back from a Japan trip where I met a couple from NYC that was in the midst of a 3 month food tour, needless to say they are serious about food. We started talking about food and they mentioned Hanoi House was one of their favorite restaurants in NYC. Low and behold it is 3 blocks from me. I checked out the menu and it looked good. Upon arriving it looked like any number of East Village spots packed with a younger crowed that I walk by 100x. I had called earlier and the person on the phone was super nice and upon arriving even nicer. She clearly had googled me based on my resy profile. I was impressed with the welcome and hospitality. The food was really great and paired extremely well with a riesling and pinot I brought. The service was excellent. Corkage is $25. The person who greeted us sent out a comped dish and checked up on us several time and as we left thanked us and gave us her card. Sure enough she was the owner. This is a hidden gem, hidden might be the wrong descriptor because it was packed, hidden in the sense that the food is much, much better than you would think, reasonable corkage and open for lunch which hard to find these days.
I also did Momofuku Ko Bar this week. This is also a hidden gem because it is always easy to reserve, never crowded, the food is excellent and the wine list deep and fairly priced. And Niki the wine director is simply one of the best. I love it because if I ever need a good spot to meet someone on short notice I can almost always get in.
There you have it two East Village hidden gems hiding in plain sight !
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Hanoi House is a block away from Noreetuh where I was last night drinking â93 burgundies. Worth checking out. Thanks.
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93 is such a great vintage! Hanoi House is a great lunch option or if you want a fairly quick meal. Of course I go to Noreetuh a fair bit, Jin is awesome.
Finally hit Stretch Pizza! The Margherita was the weakest dish which I guessed but I could not break my rule of doing a Margherita at any new pizza joint. Baseline! Donât get me wrong it was fine but I think the other pizzas are more interesting here.
We have been big fans of @wyliedufresne since the early days of 71 Clinton Fresh Food which opened in 2000. A very important restaurant along with The Tasting Room (R.I.P. Colin) and Jacks Luxury Oyster Bar (I heard Jack is now a judgeđ¤Ż) in both the history of dining in downtown NY but also our own culinary journey. Momofuku Noodle Bar soon followed these restaurants in 2004 and the rest is history.
Needless to say given our history and love of pizza we were very excited when we heard about @stretchpizzanyc
We tried to lower our expectations and honestly did not make any of the tired above 14 street snide remarks.
The starters were excellent, the potato chip salad incredible.
We loved The Nellie a triple shallot pizza - roasted, pickled and fried (I might put that on my tombstone)
And the desserts were mind-blowingđ¤Ż
Most importantly there was a noticeable joy in the food and we look forward to returning soonđđź
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It has been a long time since I dined at Hearth. I saw an amazing looking dish of Morels, ramps and boneless chicken wings posted by Jeff Gordinier. We called on Saturday and they had enough Morels for two more dishesâŚthank god because I donât know how we would have split one. A candidate for dish of the year. And an overall excellent meal. It has been a good eating weekend in NYC and tonight Chef Kobe Desramaults from In der Wulf at Fulgrances!
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Looks great! Iâve had Hearth on my list for a while but have never been.
Just found out a couple friends are coming in town this week. Was not excited to try and find a reservation for 4 on a Friday night with a few days notice but was able to snag one at Hearth. Looking forward to it.
Is hearth still no BYO?
Not sure but they have lots of interesting wines at reasonable prices.
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$40 per bottle. It canât be on their list. I didnât think they were ever no BYO but I could be wrong. I did a bunch of wine dinners there back in the day.
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for the curiousâŚ
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For the many Pete Wells fans here 
, hereâs your top 100 list (may be paywalled):
i thought it was a good list in that it took the popular, current favorite and sprinkled in some others that are less heralded (houseman, my local).
Finally managed to head over to HAGS dinner earlier this week. Had a lovely meal there. Beautiful space, very attentive staff. Really fun, creative cooking with an emphasis on seasonal veggies and produce. Solid, varied wine list. Gabriel Glas StandArt stems. Will be back again soon
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I visited Red Hook Tavern earlier today - nice, diversified list, quality burger and strong service. My first time; Iâd definitely go back.