It’s in vogue these days to trash the reviewers; hope you all have fun doing that. I enjoyed reading of the food spectacle even though I’ll never be a patron of the restaurant- it does give me ideas about changing my own menus a bit.
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I for one appreciate Mr. Wells approaching this restaurant without prejudice, and am impressed by its review.
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Good luck with that!
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@ Steven M. New York, NY, @ Rls NYC, @ Marjorie Summons
Greenpoint
Thanks to the first two for reviving the bee buzzing in my bonnet about the tattoos and utensils, and to the latter for an explicit list of dishes that I was prevented from seeing either by the quirks in cyber space or the NYT Editorial server.
Mr. Wells reviews are often quite confusing. His standard treatment for places like this is to acknowledge their great cooking, then take them down a notch or two for being too expensive for us common folk and settling on two stars.
After reading this, I am not really sure why it got three stars and TAK only got two. While the food here looks more modern, it seems to be about in par. Personally I’d rather spend an evening in a bright open space in Hudson yards then sitting on those dark blue banquets and having to trek to a hotel in Times Square.
@Mike. Dear Mike, I think I might have know the said writer of said newspaper for some years now. I could be said that the serial romantic episode did not happen....
but it did
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I ate Marjorie Summons – we won’t be hearing from her anymore.
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@Observer. Touchez James.
I had an interesting time once with a Blanquette de Limoux in Lyon. They had a stash from the war. We ate gateau Chinoise and tartlet amboise. I once visited Amboise when I was young and was interfered with by a scholar.
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I never spend less than $80 a bottle for wine. I feel it shouldn't even label it "wine" more like "fline". I once fell for a sommelier but he did technically trip me.
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The description of this decadent hash house brings to mind a line from a song by George Harrison: "Everywhere there's lots of piggies leading piggy lives. You can see them out to dinner. . . ." Maybe they have a vomitorium here, as in the late Roman Empire, but Wells doesn't say. If they do, it would probably cost $50 to get in.
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Sure doesn't sound like a 3 star review.
Does anyone remember the old expression "clip joint"? The wine prices qualify.
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My feelings exactly...did’ja get a load of that Chianti list?!! I’m still laughing.......
@Carl Ian Schwartz. No but I do remember aerial acrobatics and a burlesque dancer with whom I had a torrid whirlwind of a time in Boca.
@Carl Ian Schwartz Let me add a reference to a terrific 1937 film--"Marked Woman," where Bette Davis became Queen of the Lot at Warner Brothers, playing a "clip joint" hostess, whose "job" was to get customers to drink overpriced liquor and food at the Club Intime.
While in 1937 (under the Production Code), the Club Intime was as far as the Warners could to in depicting the Lucky Luciano compulsory prostitution racket (with Humphrey Bogart playing a simulacrum of Thomas Dewey!), nobody is compelling anyone to go to a place and pay these inflated prices.
Another restaurant for those nostalgic for black-market occupied Paris in 1943.
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Broiled live sea scallop!!!! - disgusting, would not eat at any restaurant that has such low respect for a living thing. Just like lobster, dispatch it first, quickly -- head off, then in the pot.
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The part of the scallop that you eat is not, on its own, a living thing. It's a muscle that is only part of the living thing, the rest of which is generally thrown away.
I do realize that if one were entirely vegan, that fact would not make things any better at all, but if you already eat scallops prepared other ways, there is nothing exceptionally cruel about this method.
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I am not sure "vinatge Calvados" is a thing. Vintage derives from vinum which means wine, not apples which is what Calavodos is made from. I have never seen "vintage' used as a modifier for any Spirit, perhaps Mr. Wells means "aged" because I have seen old bottles of Calvados, or perhaps he is correct I am not.
@Chris Googling "vintage calvados" will answer that for you. Many calvados show not only the number of years aged, but only the year they were distilled and barreled.
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but also* ;)
@HeyMrPonytailMan. I was distilled and barreled in Corsica once but they do that to all the English visitors of a certain age.
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Markups on wine are low? $330 for a $50 Kosta Browne Pinot? I could go on, but caveat emptor...a quick look show some decent deals on the few sub $80 wines.
I'm really not sure why restaurants still have these extensive wine lists...when I go out to eat, I'm in no mood to spend 30 minutes navigating and selecting a beverage. It's an incredible expense for the restaurant that gets passed down to all the customers. At least here in LA, we can BYOB for a reasonable fee virtually everywhere. Saving money, time and making dinner more pleasant fpr everyone.
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@GCT My Internet shows that bottle for about $100 retail https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1360662
The other wines I am familiar with look like around 3x markup which I believe is fairly standard.
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@Chris My mistake...I believe the wine released at winery for $75...which usually means the restaurant got it for substantially less. KB gets a premium at retail for some bizarre reason.
But many other prices are obscene...not sure where you are buying your wine...go on winesearcher pro to see.
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Oh come on...those SEVEN sommeliers hafta do something to justify their existence, don’t they?!!
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You get no kicks from Brut $66.
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@Jay Why
Excellent, Wellsian quip.
True about the wine prices, but the food looks great, and Pete's descriptions are just as beautifully crafted.
I'm in, even if I fear it may be a sober night out.
Say what you will about this new restaurant! When I’m in Times Square, I’ll have a Coney Dog from SnackBox. Thank you very much!
Oh … and a glass of Sangria!
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I’m with Chambolle and Musigny too.
Blanquette de Limoux at 26$ a glass! In France it costs 10€ per bottle and has very few takers outside of Limoux. Here in Champagne at that price someone would call the police. With these wacko wine coefficients one could be induced to believe that DP at 66$ a glass is a value. Sorry. Why can’t these classy places have a palatable « house selection » for 50$ a bottle or 12$ a glass? People would either trade up on a subsequent visit or order at a higher price point out of fear of looking cheap instead of feeling washed and not returning.
Whine by the glass.
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I wonder at what stage food reviewers will question the morality of serving bluefin tuna whose populations worldwide are under threat from overfishing.
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@MikeZim I couldn't agree more. Any kitchen serving bluefin should be chastised, not celebrated with three stars.
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@MikeZim
Or Foie Gras, which is currently being considered for an outright ban here in NYC due to its extreme animal cruelty.
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I debated with myself whether to comment, but it must be said: this place has one of the most ludicrously abusive wine lists I’ve seen in a very long time. A bottle of young, village Pommard that can be purchased at retail for under $50 should not cost over $250 on the restaurant dance card. A bottle of Muscadet that runs around $25 on a retail shelf should not be $120 — and that’s the closest thing to an ‘affordable bottle’ one can mine from that list. Petit Chablis, even from the now cultish Vincent Dauvissat, is not a $220 bottle of wine in any rational universe.
The formula appears to be four to five times full bore retail. That’s beyond outrageous — it’s larcenous. They can stock the staff with all the ‘somms in training’ and wheel around all the ‘champagne carts’ they like; few if any knowledgable, self-respecting wine lovers would set foot in the place, unless overcome with the urge to put a blowtorch to a pile of money for no particularly good reason.
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@chambolle I completely agree and was going to say the same thing. I'm also disappointed Pete didn't mention this. Krug Grande Cuvee at $672 for a bottle is extortion. Most restaurants in the city that offer it charge $300 per bottle, and it retails for around $200.
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@chambolle I agree with every word you say and, honestly, does anyone really care what Pete Wells says anymore? I read these reviews to see what restaurants are opening and what they're offering but as to his evaluation of them? I stopped paying attention a LONG time ago.
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@chambolle
I totally agree with you.
I live on the Upper West Side and used to go to Dovetail.
There, too, many people including myself complained about the price of their wine even though their food was beautiful.
And Dovetail's food deteriorated towards the end.
We live in the Trump era, where money and power dominate more than anything. That feels quite empty and lonely. Namely, the empty core of narcissism.
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A lovely read--Mr. Wells writing at his (restrained) best and Messrs. Fraser and Rouxel offering dishes I'd gladly try. Seven sommeliers? A delight.
Limoux and dessert to end, please. If torn between sponge cake with peas and white chocolate (which, because of the sorbet, just may work) and parsnipped-pastry cream, I'd hesitate between one of each or two of the latter.
Yes, two!
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I am at a great disadvantage of having the Food Section articles blocked on my tablet (WiFi) and laptop (cable). All I see is the article heading, subheading, first picture, and comments.
With this very incomplete information, I learn of a three-course dinner for $98, but no further knowledge of the dishes served (the slides are blocked).
I hope to learn more from additional comments to come.
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@Tuvw Xyz There are no utensils shown in the pictures, but there are tattoos and facial hair.
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@Tuvw Xyz Maybe it's your router. Have you tried your cell phone (cellular network)?
@Tuvw Xyz. Asparagus with little lemons bits thrown about non chalantly.
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A luxury restaurant with a $98 three-course prix-fixe is nice to have. However, an "offer" of a $66 aperitif or a Calvados with the cheese course is, not mincing words, an "upsell", in restaurant parlance. Caveat emptor.
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@Famdoc It's really not $98...factor in wine pairings, tax tip and maybe coffee/bottled water and dinner will run nearly $500 for two.
Seems a lot pricier than $98!
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