I'm being serious here. A spatchcocked chicken is a specific kind of cooking method, wherein the bird is split, and then flattened. This usually yields a perfect roasted chicken with wonderfully crisp skin in about 30-minutes, which is generally 15 minutes quicker than roasting a whole bird.
How then, can The Tavern by WS's rotisserie chicken be called "spatchcocked" as is stated on its menu, especially since the rotisserie process allows for drippings to fall onto each chicken as it rotates? The skin is not crisp.
Spatchcocking isn't a cooking method; it's a preparation method. Once you've split and flattened the bird, it's spatchcocked, and you can then cook it however you like.
5
I love NYC, having spent my childhood there and then visiting friends and family for the last several decades. Somehow, I find the sterility of Hudson Yards to be a real turnoff. This review captures my feelings about the whole "mall". It's sterile and unappealing and dated, but I'm very glad to hear about the food behind the facade. Thank you, Pete Wells.
3
@ Steven M. New York, NY Feb. 12
Thank you, I found that review. The picture of lobster thermidor in TAK Room is simple and conservative. On the Web, there is a viseo of a Chef John, showing a more appetizing and elaborate lobster thermidor, grilled on several sides, and with chopped mushrooms and other plant ingredients added.
The biggest mystery to me is what happens to the parts of lobster, other than the most popular lobster tail. The flesh of the crushing and cutting claws is most tender and delicate, but no lobster claws are sold in retail. One finds though everywhere frozen crab claws.
Pete's on fire.
As an older fella, the phase 'another case of an aging brand getting funky on the dance floor to prove that the old man’s still got it.' is a personal nightmare. Nice touch.
3
Nobody can take the joy out of dining and restaurants the way that Pete Wells can. This is not my ultimate type of restaurant experience but I know people involved in this project and they are some of the best in the industry. To spend so much time on location and ‘WS’ is a disservice. New Yorkers deserve better than Pete Wells. We deserve someone who has passion and is able to be moved by their experience and doesn’t get stuck on things that are less relevant.
3
Imagine getting mad at Pete Wells for giving your friends a two-star review in the NYT, LOL.
5
@Tim Arnold
Did you read past the first half of the article? The food sounds quite excellent!
2
That’s the point in fine dining: everything is part of the experience.
2
From the gist of it I would opine that this is a non correlated indicator of a bull market top. Clearly times and wealthy egos have drawn to extremes in everything.
1
Rich people amuse me the way they create a culture only available to those they let in and then write about it as though it was the Second Coming.
5
More than half of this "review" was spent discussing everything other than the food. I know this is common for Wells, but I don't like it.
4
I love you Pete Wells. Your writing moves me.
7
I figured "by WS" meant "by West Side" Railyards. Or that it carried a double meaning, which would make it a slightly creative name.
4
At first, I thought Pete was being a bit harsh about the architecture - and then I saw the pictures. Yikes!
5
There are certain portions of this review that I will memorize to be invoked the next time I need to verbally summarize the absurdity of spending more than a few hundred dollars for a bottle of wine in a restaurant.
6
Good review. "Perhaps this is why the Tavern by WS looks as if its designer, Rockwell Group, finished all its drawings for the dining room around 1999, lost them, rediscovered them last year and decided they were still good to go." -Funny!! I had to look up the definition for - masochism.
4
Since hardcore Trump supporter Steven Ross is the developer of Hudson Yards, it wouldn't matter to me how good the food is at any of the restaurants at Ross's mall. I also stay away from Jean George because of it's location at trump Tower. There are plenty of great restaurants in NYC that have no affiliation with scoundrels.
50
By the way the notion of Pete Wells reviewing a restaurant owned by Wallace Shawn is delicious.
7
@Scott S Yes, but surely it would be even better if it were owned by William Shatner?
6
Ha! Will Shortz manages to creep into a Pete Wells restaurant review. It doesn't get much better than this, except that it does. When Pete describes the design of the restaurant as something that the Rockwell lost, found again, and decided it was good to go.
The food review itself is perfect, and it is heartening to see a chef as good as Eli Kaimeh find redemption, albeit in an unlikely spot.
This restaurant will be truly great when it finds itself a nice spot elsewhere than in a barren tundra, another brilliant Wellseian bon mot.
Thanks again and again, Pete.
9
If only this restaurant were indeed by Wallace Shawn or Wanda Sykes - I’d be making reservations in a heartbeat. As it stands, even with the reasonably positive review of the food, I’ll be avoiding the existential hellscape that is Hudson Yards for the foreseeable future.
14
Typical Pete Wells review; 2/3 talk about everything BUT the food. In my opinion, if one doesn't need numbers from 1-100 to denote the quality of wines, we don't need stars to denote the quality of restaurants. Hypocrisy much? Time for a change in the post of food critic?
20
@ManhattanWilliam Wells is a witty, insightful journalist read by a huge audience who thoroughly enjoy his work. The fact that very few of his fans will ever eat in the restaurants he is reviewing is irrelevant. You want detailed evaluation of every restaurant in your neighborhood, your price range, etc. go to the internet.
26
@ManhattanWilliam You clearly have an axe to grind, since you've mentioned your dislike of Pete Wells before.
As for the stars, at least they are better than the 1-100 wine scores where no wine ever scores under 90 or over 95, turning the scoring into a five point spread.
11
Restaurant reviews in the Times or any other reputable publication have never been (and should not be) solely about the food, but about the entire experience of going to a restaurant. Mr. Wells writes about these experiences better than almost anyone else I can think of.
41
Robert Parker, the Wine Spectator, the ‘100 point grading system’ and wine as a luxury-branded status symbol: goodbye and good riddance.
19
Eleven paragraphs before we even get a mention of the food. Forgot that I was reading a restaurant review and not some historical reference on the workings of Hudson Yards & Wine Spectator.
11
@Richard Sessa especially at a restaurant this pricey, total experience is part of dining. I like to see the entire
1
I love this review! Funny, but telling all the same. Despite the pretentious name (just call it The Tavern, already), it sounds as if the chef is doing some good things. (And somehow I doubt the Hudson Yards is the most horrible thing to ever happen to New York - as TDM states below!)
6
Holy cow, $18 for a bowl of minestrone? You know how cheap that stuff is to make?
I concur with Ignatius on paying out of pocket (mine are only so deep).
10
@Pat In Manhattan there's higher priced minestrone being made with boxed pasta, 1 kind of green bean, no croutons or splash og good olive splash.
2
All the free food and wine in the world couldn’t entice me back to Hudson Yards.
Clueless tourists bumping into each other to photograph themselves in front of a set of stairs to nowhere.
No, thanks.
47
@Will. I'm a native New Yorker and I STILL haven't had any desire to visit this Dubai-in the Hudson Tourist dump. And this restaurant-while some of the dishes are tempting-is an overpriced tourist, old-dude trap.
12
Native NY’er. Love Hudson Yards. Its different, as are NY’ers. I also love union square, the park, arthur ave, soho, most of brooklyn, bayside, riverdale, the upper west side, harlem, wash heights, park ave, bryant, and the Yankees.
Stop the hating. Embrace the diversity.
12
@Will. I mean, some of the free wine and some of the free food... just might do the trick.
Is this restaurant sustainable environmentally?
3
"Morbid curiosity along with a bit of masochism drew me back to Hudson Yards." This opening gave me a huge laugh! Ain't it the truth, though? It's just horrifying urban design, and I certainly wouldn't want to dine there.
Where have you gone, Jane Jacobs?
35
"Any magazine like Wine Spectator is going to promote wine as a status symbol; this just turns the idea into architecture" is vintage Pete Wells. Bravo. But the irony of criticizing an established magazine for awarding points to wine... by an established newspaper that awards stars to restaurants...
20
the food critic is complaining about the wine critic?
both are helpful to people who care about these things. I will say, the wine tasting notes are usually very important compared to actual score.... especially compared to vintners over time....
7
If you can get past the location, or the owner of this place, you have to recognize that this is yet another cleverly written Pete Wells review. For the Times's national audience of readers, these are a pleasure to read. Vegas-in-the-Clinton Era! Well done.
34
Regarding the photo: Why does a restaurant serve wine by the third of a glass?
3
Would love to know if NY Times has ever written about the phenomenon of NY restaurants charging for a wine glass and delivering some measly amount. I’ll stick with the European standardized 0.1cl and 0.2cl to know I’m getting my money’s worth, thank you very much.
16
Moved from NYC to DC before the monstrosity that is Hudson Yards was completed. On my last visit to the city, I saw it for the first time walking between the Bolt Bus stop and the 7 station. As far as I can tell, the extension of the 7 is the only place worth patronizing in that whole complex.
12
Looks like a place to drink expensive wines more than to savor food (chicken again, chef with uncovered head in the kitchen).
I am still awaiting a review of TAK Room and its lobster thermidor, mentionned by Frances Fabricant at the opening of Hudson Yards.
1
@Tuvw Xyz It was already reviewed. It got two stars
5
Her name is Florence Fabricant (aka FloFab), not Frances.
10
Not only was it already reviewed, but you commented several times on the review, Tuvw.
$18 for a bowl of minestrone, on 11th avenue no less. None of this soup for me.
6
Give me a break. It's only food. I can figure out better stuff to spend my money on which I'll still have the day after I drop a considerable sum of cash on something so fleeting as a meal.
2
Mr. Wells is probably justified in some of his criticisms of Wine Spectator. It does, indeed, tout wine as a status product. It sponsors events in major cities that cost guests hundreds, if not thousands of dollars (of course, there are VIP-tier tickets) to rub shoulders with and taste the products of winemakers it has advanced for decades. Yes, the 100-point scale is terrible and terribly subjective: I've tasted WS 98-point wines that were not drinkable and WS 88-point wines that were terrific. Mr. Shanken also publishes magazines appealing to whisky drinkers and cigar smokers. However, reading Spectator as a critical reader through the years, has permitted me to learn volumes about wine. As for this restaurant, there's nothing in the review that convinces me I should travel to the horrible new NYC landmark, Hudson Yards, for what is offered therein.
5
"Service is prompt, polite." At these prices the service should be beyond amazing.
8
I enjoy the Wine Spectator ratings. I find they usually point me to good value. You are too cool for school, man.
6
As per usual, Pete nails it with insightful wit!
11
Hudson Yards is the most horrible thing to ever happen to New York. Period.
87
It displaced no one, is generating significant revenue for the city and has provided much needed truly modern office space. Some folks are simply threatened by prosperity.
15
@TDM Why?
3
@TDM
Not entirely true. The subway station is nice.
10
Steven M. Ross is a big "trump" supporter, so it's a no-go.
Everything he is involved in is CANCELLED.
127
@Matthew Do you check every restauranteur's possible politician preferences before being a patron?
9
@Matthew
Yea, and I stormed back to the customer service counter at Costco last week, when I saw the Bernie Button on his lapel.......
3
@Matthew
Hear Hear! We must vote with our money so thank you for reminding us to stay far away from anything Ross is tied to.
30
Thomas Keller's been overrated for years. Had lunch a few times at his restaurant in Beverly Hills several years ago, easily the most disappointing meals from a celebrity chef I've ever experienced. Place chosen by friends who fawned over his name. How bad was it? Trader Joe's organic tomato soup in a box was better than the ten dollar bowl of soup I had there, and everything else similarly didn't come close to par. Don't tell that to the clueless tourists or the natives who have lots of disposable income but no sense of taste or value. (The restaurant has since closed, and good riddance.) So a good move by Eli Kaimeh to escape the shadow of TK and start doing his own thing.
Yet, still we have, again, a $$$$ restaurant with ** stars. Wonder how Pete Wells would feel about these joints if he was a regular joe having to pay out of his pocket instead of just submitting the bill to the NYT.
26
@Ignatius J. Reilly Except they are opposite ends of the $$$$ range. Dinner at Per Se is anywhere from 5-10x as much as dinner at Tavern by WS.
3
@Ignatius J. Reilly
Wells regularly reviews restaurants at a variety of price points. He's not your personal critic only assigned to cover those establishments that meet your budget and interests.
27
"The notion that a drink produced by sunshine, rain, dirt, vines and yeast can be judged by how close it comes to perfection, signified by a 100 score, never made much sense."
Yet, a food critics totally subjective view of a restaurant and the food that it serves makes perfect sense. Right.
70
@Anon, I take your point but it occurs to me that a scale with 5 possible grades is easier to justify than one with dozens. (I doubt that Wine Spectator bothers writing about wines that they think merits a score less than 75 or so, just as Pete Wells rarely writes a no-star review.)
13
@Anon I think you may have misunderstood the point of Pete Well's argument. Wine, with the exception of mass produced, chemically altered wine, is largely an agricultural product and it is affected by varieties of geography and weather, which varies from season to season and year to year. Using a ranking system initially designed to score students' tests, as if a wine could fill out all of the boxes and get all of the answers right, just doesn't make sense. The restaurants Wells reviews are staffed by human beings, who make food and provide service according to certain standards, albeit standards which, yes, can be subjectively interpreted.
Of course ranking systems for restaurants are imperfect, but it makes much more sense to rank a restaurant, especially when you accompany that ranking with prose as devastating as Pete Well's, than it does to give a wine 92 points, throw a few adjectives at it (black berries, cherries, and [light/chewy/soft] tannins), and put that relatively pointless information on a shelf talker card.
17