Glad you enjoyed it, Margie. Thanks for the update.
I give The Milling Room no more than a 6 month lifespan. Went recently on a Monday night (donāt know if Scott B. was there or not, but hey, it shouldnāt be dramatically different if heās not there, right?) and it was about as mediocre as can be.
Space is weird, tooā¦about as large as a TGI Fridayās without many customers.
Yikes, not a good sign Wilfred! Made reservations for my girlfriendās birthday in a few weeks. Itās on a Thursday night so hopefully thatāll be a better night for the kitchen.
Above posts make it clear that Monday is not the night to go. Although the owner needs to be fully aware of the striking difference from other nights of the week. I intend to have a conversation with him.
My fellow neighbors are rooting for The Milling Room. That stretch of a few blocks up and down Columbus Ave has not been blessed, ever, with the likes of a Scott Bryan and I hope that the local crowd keeps it alive long enough for the kinks to be worked out and the quality balanced.
I vote for success.
I had another excellent meal at the Milling Room on Friday night. Caveats about carvernous space still apply.
I think Telepanās place was/is quite strong no??
Telepan definitely is a big favorite, but itās on West 69th. The desert Iām referring to is West 79th and up.
Hit up Shuko Saturday night. Spectacular. Agree with your sentiment.
Funny, I was there as well. Third visit and consistently excellent.
Maybe The Milling Room will get their act together, but if I were a betting person, I wouldnāt put serious money on that bet. First, they told us that they chose the name because the room is so large, they imagined people milling about. What?
Second, a chef of the stature of Scott Bryan, is aware he will get reviewed. Most chefs, before they are reviewed by major critics, are there 6 nights a week until the reviews come in.
Third, isnāt he sufficiently skilled to hire and train a staff to execute his menu well even on a day off?
It was a real problem; I went with a restaurant critic (Gael Greene) and two foodie types who are, themselves, pretty influential. āDisappointingā and āmediocreā were words thrown about frequently during and after the dinner.
Anyway, good luck to them. I know Scott is a good guy but geezā¦
My good friend Brad Kane asked me why I went on a Monday night. I replied, āThey were open and were charging full fee.ā
Theyād been open less than 2 weeks, I can certainly see the staff not being fully up to speed without him. A number of people have eaten there by this point when heās in the kitchen with pretty much universal praise.
My good friend Brad Kane asked me why I went on a Monday night. I replied, āThey were open and were charging full fee.ā
wilfred
i get all your comments but not sure about this one. thanks
Basically saying āIf the restaurant is open for business as usual on X day, why not go?ā
Bradās point was that the chef is off on Monday night, so why did we go on a Monday night?
We didnāt, of course, know the chef was off that night, but Brad felt many chefs take Monday nights off so it was a bit unfair of us to go on a Monday. I donāt think that occurred to any of the four of us.
Jay, I could be wrong, but I think their publicist was promoting the restaurant to critics trying to get them inā¦not 100% sure but I think that might be the case.
I also made the point that they had only been open for two weeks and I have to say, Iām incredulous to hear that a critic wouldnāt think that a chef may not be in the kitchen on a Monday.
sounds like daring them to fail to impress.
Iām more disturbed by anyone publicly admitting to being friends with Brad Kane. 
Brad, you mean to say you never eat out at a restaurant on a Monday night?
Somebody should probably send a private email to Pete Wells at the New York Times to be sure he never eats out on a Monday night, as well.
No one in my group hoped they would fail; indeed, we wanted to have a good meal. Each of us paid our own money and wanted to have a good meal. At the end of the dinner, I did say, āThatās 90 minutes of my life Iāll never get back.ā
The background of our going there was initially, we were going elsewhere, but Gael had heard about this place and wanted to go. I somehow got the impression she heard about it from the restaurantās publicist but Iām not certain about thatā¦
Anyway, letās hope they are a huge success and they are there for the next 20 years.
Michelā¦yes, there is that! 
Not ones that have been opened for only two weeks, no. ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Good point, Bradā¦letās give them some time. Unfair to write them off so early.