Good, non-trendy cooking is not "nostalgic" (an overworked, stupid word). I would happily try this place in my old neighborhood on Hudson Street if it weren't for the apparently exorbitant prices. How about a review from Pete Wells that calibrates price to value? That's the kind of restaurant most of us "old-timers" are really looking for
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@Charles Michener
My thoughts exactly. One can get a good plate of pasta at some no name diners for almost half the price. Mr. Well's might you do a survey of some decent low-end places that are just making food rather than attempting to make food perfectly? Yes, I realize there are other NYT reviewers addressing some of these. BTW, I love the fresh approach Soleil Ho is taking as lead restaurant reviewer at the San Francisco Chronicle - perhaps you could share a meal or five with her?
2
Reading the review I'd think this restaurant has no desserts or they are not worth ordering. But they have three, plus four cheeses, and one even appears in the slideshow. Why all the mystery? Why soooooooo many words not about the food and soooooooo little information for readers about food choices? Is this a restaurant review or an exercise in self expression?
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“It is the kind of West Village view that makes you hope for snow.” I haven’t lived in NYC for over 40 years, yet this observation makes me homesick. I love you Pete Wells.
2
“Nostalgia is a fraught exercise in the Trump era. ...you hope for some sign that the creators understand that the past wasn’t dreamy for everyone.”
Wow. Trump made it into a restaurant review. As far as the past is concerned, people have both good and bad memories with most people choosing to remember their happy days. Restaurant reviews don’t need to include social or political narratives. It’s about the food.
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@Olivia Perfect reference. Perfect.
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@Olivia
Well said.
1
Ahh, but the totality of our circumstances defines us. If you don’t appreciate that, I suspect the notion of “comfort food” is foreign to you as well. Ingredients alone do not make a dish.
7
You had me at chopped liver.
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Another of "..the fallacies of restaurant criticism..." is that there is any need at all for it. Many thousands of restaurants just in NYC have come and gone without any 'review' by any critics. Yes, I know it's part of the entertainment for readers, but having spent many years in the restaurant business I have to say that you have no idea what it takes to create and run one. The risk, the stress, and the work for low pay is unbelievable.
Restaurants rise and fall mostly on the immediate response of customers who find their way to a table and try a new place. If they like the food, the service and the atmosphere they will come back and tell friends.That's it. A review like this can only do great damage to a place which otherwise can fight their way to survival on their own.
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@paulyyams Wednesday is my favorite day to read NYT. I like the restaurant reviews not just to tell me what the good restaurants are but I just enjoy reading about food. Wish Pete would talk about the wine a bit but...
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I began reading the restaurant reviews in the Times during Bryan Miller's reign. Read his review of Sardi's circa 1991 for a belly laugh.
The reason I bring him up is that he had a kind of formulaic approach to reviews wherein the wine was always touched upon. Of course this was at a time when the idea of wine by the glass was "red" or "white"- often by the carafe. Hello Conch e Toro! Lol.
But, seriously, he considered a discussion of the list part and parcel of every review.
2
I too was utterly disappointed with Antons. Hoping for a festive and tasty meal around the holidays, my party of six was unimpressed with our assortment of bland and diminutive pasta portions. The meat dishes were dull and the appetizers so limited and esoteric (especially to my non Jewish friends) that we ordered sides as apps. I've lived in the Village for 5 years and have reasonable expectations. The worse part was the cold and indifferent service, echoing this review. I could not get my club soda refilled. I almost never write reviews, but NYT readers need to know. It was that disappointing.
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We had the same experience!! I ordered the salmon and it was the worst salmon I’ve ever had in a restaurant! So bland and tasteless. It didn’t even seem to have salt or pepper! Very disappointing!
6
Mr. Wells writes, "a history of New York in which appetites have been shaped by immigrants". Looking at the lists of the oldest New York restaurants in Wikipedia, I got an impression that many indeed started in the 1800s as immigrants' small eateries and bars. Delmonico's is an exception.
At that time, the super-rich ate at home, so that the restaurant food probably evolved under the influence of the lower, but still well-to-do, classes. Today, it is submerged by pizzas and hamburgers.
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@Tuvw Xyz The super rich still eat at home. You don't know them.
So, how does the place get even one star, with spotty service and a largish handful of indifferent dishes?
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Until the last 3 paragraphs I thought it was going to be a stellar review. Wells and the photos create such a sense of atmosphere and he is so fond of a few dishes - I was very surprised when I got to that devastating 3rd from the last paragraph. But personally I still want to go just to try the anchovy pasta!
1
Whitefish salad photo shows dill and 'lavosh'? Not parsley and white bread toast. Minor point but....
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@Chef Dave: minor point but that's the description of the chopped liver. “The liver is served with white toast and curly parsley, which has waited long enough for its comeback, thank you very much.”
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The overarching theme and tone of this review simply confirms what "normal people" have long suspected - that the opinions of food critics like Pete Wells, Michelin, etc should be largely ignored and left to continue their slide into irrelevance. Despite the food critic navel gazing, this review does make it clear that "normal" people will find several dishes to love at Anton's - and isn't that the audience that really matters? Anton's may not be perfect, but as a "normal person", I think Pete misses the mark with one star. He is right about one thing though - the anchoiade is divine.
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@Norma L. Person Which is why Pete includes a "Recommended Dishes" section and a year-end list of top ten dishes. If you want one great dish, you need not rely on stars. The rating here is appropriate.
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@Norma L. Person : How does one find the several loved dishes without going 12 times to try them all and to determine which ones are great? A critic does this for me so I can go and get the great dish the first time.
10
As a “normal person” I will confirm that my experience here was terrible. Both the salmon and the pork were bland and flavorless. I can do better in my own kitchen!
2
I was there for brunch on Sunday and can say that I was not positively impressed. The restaurant was very loud and it took sometime to get seated. My omelette was lovely but not special. The schmaltzy potatoes were late, not tasting of schmaltz and cold. My companions were equally non plused by their entrees and for them the best part of the menu was their order of raw oysters. The service ran hot and cold and while I don't drink, the wine list seemed unnecessarily dear for a restaurant to this stature. The overall experience for me - there are other restaurants in the West Village I enjoy more.
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I am most impressed by Slide 5, toasted hazelnuts on chicory salad. Spaghetti and omelet seem rather run-of-the-mill offerings.
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@Tuvw Xyz And some lettuce with nuts strewn on top is not?
A proper French omelet aux fines herbs is one of the hardest dishes to execute brilliantly. Maybe you've never had a good one?
1
I'm a normal person who has been going to Anton's once a week since they opened, replacing my old stop at Gotham on the restaurant rotation. I've tried everything on the menu. Though some dishes are better than others (the anchoiade and pork chop are heaven, the chicken is a chicken), nothing disappoints, and the service has always been impeccable. To give one star to Anton's and 3 to the new, notoriously problematic Gotham is perplexing...but I'm just a normal person.
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@Ally Simpson
How is the new Gotham problematic?
The answer is right in the text, anyway. The menu is inconsistent. There are enough mediocre dishes to prevent this from earning anything more than a star and the good dishes were merely good. Gotham, in Pete's opinion, at least, had a consistent menu where almost every dish impressed him.
11
I am not a normal person and have been twice never trying the same thing, I feel this review is spot on. And a lot of it is good but also a lot of the menu is lack luster and missing the mark. For anyone who doesn’t go once a week I agree with the service also once was super on par the other time was like I was a bother
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@Brian c
If you want to go to a restaurant once a week, I would recommend Frenchette. As far as Antons, I think I'll pass altogether.
12