I remember that encounter well! It was an incorrect bottle of Leroy Beauxmonts, if I recall correctly, maybe a 1999?
Perfect recall. Yes that was the bottle. And despite his telling you, he knew better, you stared him down and wouldnât budge.
He shot himself in the foot when he claimed to open that wine every day.
Surprising article on how hot the nyc restaurant real estate market is in the WSJ.
I guess surprising to me given how tough the business is.
Sorry for the paywall.
Indeed. This place and its backyard has a special place in my Brooklyn heart.
Gift link for nonsubs:
2 Likes
The picture in the article of packed tables outside of Bar Valentina is spot on for NYC these days. There are areas on the lower east side that feel almost Parisian to me with bistro type tables packed and lining the street. On a good weather day it can be a really delightful experience. Cervoâs is a great example. Also, we ate outside at Mama Mezze the other week and it was almost European (food was meh).
2 Likes
I think price point is key. Lower priced spots are doing well. And there seems to be a constant stream of new openingsâŠ
Just circling way back to say thanks to many in this thread, including @tsilver and @Robert_Dentice for excellent food recommendations. I was in town the beginning of July and had some issues getting reservations a few spots surrounding the 4th of July. Ikumi, for example, appeared to be available and booked, but it looked like they ultimately just blocked off the weekend as a holiday. A number of my targets werenât open on the 4th or for the entire weekend.
We had a superb meal at Claud, save one minor technical issue which may just be a matter of perspective (over-char, like completely charcoal, for us, on the otherwise insanely delicious cabbage dish - we could scrape it off). Great experience, around $200/pp before tip.
Our omakase at Sushi Mumi was very good. The vibe can be a touch uncomfortable with how quiet the space is and how every word is absorbed by the chef and server, but there is great attentiveness and attention to detail. My wife had a few courses she wasnât super fond of and didnât know what to do or the etiquette of the situation. Since the chef is always right there, she did her best to hide her reaction, but the chef did ask if she didnât like some things, trying more to engage with the guests than necessarily customize each portion. There was at least one other person there for a birthday who was not a huge fan of many items and clearly not very experienced in the variety of sushi offered. Chef was extremely gracious and respectful, and we ended up having some nice conversation with him toward the end of the service. In my narrow view, the fish quality was terrific, the craftsmanship was solid, and it was a very straightforward omakase with little embellishment, which is effectively what I asked for. If you are going for over the top service and to wow someone who wants more than just high quality food, itâs probably not the best option. The sake menu was solid, and I didnât inquire about BYO wine.
We had a cocktail and snack at the Bar Room at the Modern (would love to come back for dinner), bagels at Broad Nosh (meh, definitely not something that screams NY bagel superiority), coffee/breakfast at Bluestone Lane in the UES (solid but great venue and location for the Guggenheim), Karaoke at Planet Rose (a nice dive and fun people), and late night pizza at Village Square Pizza (solid for that style and what I needed at the time). I really wanted a Katzâs visit, but settled for a decent pastrami sandwich at Friedmanâs in Chelsea, because it was close to the Whitney and we just settled after wandering around the market aimlessly.
We also crammed in Oh, Mary!, the Whitney, the Guggenheim, the High Line, and a random walk through Alphabet City on the 4th of July with a nice slice of a different kind of Americana than I normally get in the Midwest. Overall, it was a great trip, and I canât wait to do a completely different version next time!
11 Likes
Sounds like a great trip! Thanks for posting.
1 Like
thoughts @Zachary_Ross ?
Archive link: https://archive.is/lP1X4
3 Likes
Interesting. Itâs usually the rents, right?
So just a bit upthread I recommended several Prospect Heights restaurants, including Café Mado, Lowerline, and Sofreh. None of these are on Vanderbilt.
I think one reason Fort Greene (especialy DeKalb Avenue) is doing better than Vanderbilt is that the restaurants are better. Olmstead was great but there was nothing else on Vanderbilt that I liked as well. (I want to try Wayward Fare.) Whereas on DeKalb you have Sailor, Evelina, Miss Ada, Romanâs, Saraghina Caffe etc. (Too many Italian places but thatâs just NYC for you.)
3 Likes
A somewhat hushed atmosphere, with very attentive chef and server, is quite common with truly Japanese omakase. You wonât even find music playing at many high end sushi counters in Japan. I can see how itâs not for everyone, but it is very Japanese.
For future reference, itâs okay to say at the start if there are fish you know you donât like (uni or ikura or mackerel for instance), assuming you know what they are. If you are served something you donât care for, and itâs more than a bite (honestly, if itâs only a bite, most people Iâve seen will just eat it), it is of course okay not to finish, and itâs okay to tell the chef itâs not your favorite. The polite phrase in Japanese for that is one of the first I learned, though I mostly like everything and really only use it to apply to natural wine these days. Engaging with the chef at a counter is often, though not always, welcomed and expected - itâs one of the reasons for counter seating - with the understanding there can be a language barrier. If it feels uncomfortable to have that level of observance going on, then a table is probably best.
I am sympathetic. Though I am a huge fan of the variety of fish available in Japan and at good sushi restaurants in the US, the fact is that most Americans have only encountered a very limited number of selections, usually the most innocuous, like tuna, yellowtail, shrimp, snapper etc. So itâs possible for an American diner to think they love sushi, and be faced with an unfamilar and unappetizing array when they first go to an omakase with a lot of variety. Obviously your wife and the other person you mention struggled, and the chef noticed. I can see how that could happen and be uncomfortable. Iâm glad it was a good experience anyway!
2 Likes
thanks - from your POV is there some other element of vanderbilt / that immediate neighborhood that is inherently more difficult? different demographics etc? super curious.
Bit late to this conversation but I do have to echo a lot of whatâs been said about Shmone - when I went I was thoroughly disappointed, and I, too, really wanted to / expected to enjoy it a lot.
None of the food really stood out as particularly good/interesting and I was unimpressed by the beverage program. Candidly there werenât really any redeeming qualities about the experience, and coupled with the aggressive prices on a lot of the menu it is not a place I expect Iâll return to.
Sidenote - obviously a very different sort of concept/experience, but I actually happen to think the food at Miznon is fantastic and perfect for lunch / a quick dinner.
1 Like
i lived in park slope for much of my 20s and noticed a similar issue with 5th avenue and smith street in the late 90s and early 2000s. the restaurants blew up, the people bought apartmentsâŠstarted families and changed the nightlife dramatically.
i think whats going on at vanderbilt ave is very similar to what happened to smith street. perhaps dekalb/myrtle is not there yet (or perhaps will never be). if you can raise a family in the area close to a restaurant strip, i think the restaurants have a hard time keeping the space filled 7 days to cover the higher rent.
2 Likes
Not sure, and thanks for provoking my thinking on this. You would think that with all the recently built, large-scale apartment buildings along Atlantic Avenue there would be plenty of density to support a variety of restaurants. And I donât think itâs because the neighborhgood skews toward families; Fort Greene is almost entirely townhouses full of families. I wonder what the average commercial rents are for each neighborhood.
Also, Vandberbilt is a wider and busier thoroughfare with two directions of traffic than DeKalb (one-way) and is not as inviting, doesnât feel as intimate. They have tried to improve the avenue by adding a planted center divide and closing the street on weekends (I think just in the warmer months).
You know, Fort Greeneâs proximity to BAM and the arts district centered around it may be a part of it. Just spitballing here, but people who come to BAM often plan on a nice dinner nearby. Whereas Barclays brings in a lot of people to both neighborhoods but I would venture that fewer of their visitors are looking for higher-end hospitality.
1 Like
Iâm in Boerum Hill and have been waiting for ages for all of the new apartments to give birth to some decent new spots west of Flatbush / 4th Ave. Slim pickings. What on earth do all the people who moved into these buildings eat, for heavenâs sake?
3 Likes