Restaurant Ramblings

La Masseria - Dock's West - Bongo Fry Shack - Artie's Deli - Masa

La Masseria - reviewed in today's NYT - 01/05/05 - pretty accurate - I would have given him two stars - but they will more up -

The Times made no mention of the wine situation - except in the cursory listing of restaurant details - Mostly Italian, with a range of selections from every region and many relatively economical alternatives - in fact - as I wrote back in October - of Pepe - the owner - manager - chief cook and bottle washer - ....this is a man who knows Italian wine - our trips to La Locanda were a masters course in regional viticulture - never drank the same thing twice - prices were reasonable - I look forward to continuing my education - if you make it to the new space - take advantage - its a great tour -

235 West 48th Street (Eighth Avenue) - (212) 582-2111

Dock's West - we started going to Dock's - 20 years ago - it was the only "real" restaurant - on the "wild" west side - the fish was fresh - fresher - freshest - they put raisins in the cole slaw - and - service was tops - its was adult - no corners being cut -

We drifted apart over the years - several revisits - nothing out of the ordinary

Flash forward to today- ownership has changed - physical restaurant is still the same - excellence has moved higher up the scale - more exotic offerings - great service - still a grown up sort of place - and I bring special attention to Chef Q's crab cakes -

I manage to eat crab cakes - at every seafood restaurant I wander into - heavy - pan fried - deep fried - baked - breaded - loaded with bread - loaded with filler - who knows if its bread - 100% crab meat - falling apart - held together - as if by cement - sort of like a hockey puck - too small - too thin - more like silver dollar pancakes - imagine a variant - I have been there - tasted that -

The crab cakes at Dock's West are simply wonderful - light - balanced - no filler - cooked just right - homemade tartar sauce that complimented rather than overpowered - the kitchen even got the plating right - as I ordered them - without french fries - i.e. - they were a treat - worth going back for -

2427 Broadway @ 89th - 212.724.5588

Bongo Fry Shack - someplace along the line - we stumbled into Bongo Lounge - on Tenth Avenue at 27th - great vibe - great owners - pouring the right spirits - mixing the deadly martini - heard about their food - watched others eat - never indulged -

This fall they opened - Bongo Fry Shack - on Ninth Avenue at 24th - so after listening to a friends band play - Dusty Wright - we headed down - they serve until 3:00 AM

Decorated like a garage converted to a seafood shack - big overhead door - couple of lobster traps on the walls - big varnished picnic tables -

Food comes in paper containers - fried oysters - fried clams - fried onion rings - lobster rolls - splits of Moet and VC - delicious - funky - fun - cute - dangerously expensive - we were a hungry party of four - bill was a shocker - even without the champagne - double order of fried oysters 19.95 - split of VC - $40.00 -

After a night of abandoned clubbing - perfect - as a quick snack joint - as good as they are - have to wait until the fried oysters and clams go on sale -

240 Ninth Avenue - 212.675.2692

Artie's Delicatessen - mentioned not for the corned beef - pastrami - turkey - franks or black & whites -

Its flu season - and while man can get to the moon - the common cold and its big "flu" brother - will put the best of us on our backs - Artie's to the rescue - chicken soup - with matzoh balls or noodles or both - my daughter's favorite - most importantly - they deliver -

2290 Broadway (at 83rd) New York, 212.579.5959

Masa - I would be remiss to say anything about New York restaurants - without taking a stab at Masa - receiving 4 stars from Frank Bruni last week - the review was the talk of New York - and I'm sure will come up at tonight's wine tasting - after all we do talk about things other than wine -

undefined called Masa "divine" - and his eating partner described it as "the sushi of the gods" - Amanda gave it 4 "????" - last spring - the reviewer from TimeOutNY gave it $1,032 -

At a tasting last night - I got into a conversation about dining at Chanterelle - still on Grand Street in Soho - almost 20 years ago - shortly after Brian Miller gave them 4 stars - my sister in law invited to join a dinner group - dining at all the top restaurants - it took her 4 or 6 weeks to get into Chanterelle - there were eight of us - sitting at a round table - excitement reigned as the food was brought out - but what I remember most from the evening - was the heated discussion over the foie gras - was the appetizer really "worth 12 dollars" -

This is not what you should remember from a meal -

While I love great food - Masa will not go on my "must eat there" list - I'll live vicariously - allowing others the bragging rights and memory of having spent gazillions of dollars on the spirituality of -  "transparent Fugu intestine stuff with slivers of scallions" -

The Time Warner Center, Columbus Circle - (212) 823-9800

Enjoy 

HBH

Comments

[Elisa]

In Boston this weekend my friend on the ground led us to Central Kitchen. Clad in 'copper' and candles, the place looks like a bar: the room is long and narrow with a long bar and tables are not set before guests sit down.

Central Kitchen, on Central Square in Cambridge, sources all ingredients within a 75 mile radius -- we traveled 220 miles -- and the wine selection is lovingly compiled and gently priced.

We started with hummus w/ feta, where feta is mixed into the hummas, with olives (red, black & green) & bread. Hummus is so simple and usually boring, but this was good and the olives were choice. House cured salt cod brandade on crostini - poached egg, lemon oil & roasted garlic was excellent; ginger carrot soup was more of a vege puree that was filling and warming on a cold night, and 1/2 dozen oysters briny & fresh from nearby waters were satisfying.

Entrees were my line-caught local cod w/ confit of cranberry beans -- kale, roasted squash & chorizo; steak frites w/ aged angus rib eye and root vegetable cassoulet. All delicious.

And accompanying all, a Remellari 2000 Rioja. We'd asked for a '99 but that wasn't available. This is one of the new, 'old' Riojas that is estate bottled from the northern edge of Rioja; full-bodied, well-balanced. soft but adequately structured and has a relatively long, nice finish. Besides not breaking the bank, the Remmelari let us bask in the reminiscence of another terrific wine we'd enjoyed the night before -- a Branham Zinfandel Rockpile 2001 that was just delicious -- jammy, smooth, long, lush ummmm good.

[Noah]

I am on your page about Masa. I recently was in Boston for a weekend and my wife and I had reservations at L'Espalier on Saturday for our splurge meal of the trip. It was fine but the night before we had stumbled upon this fantastic place in Cambridge called Central Kitchen. Reserve wine list priced $20 over retail, seriously great innovative food. At L'espalier the next night I couldn't help but think about the night before for about a third of the price. reviewed at juice.typepad.com
Used to live in Paris so I had the same experience with many Michelin 3* vs. bistros. *****But not always****

Nice post. enjoy your blog.

noah