Extravigator - Dining Out

Vienna's Fine Restaurants

DonPablo — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 21:55:49 -0500

I've attached some photographs of some of the courses Donna Elena and I had when we dined at ZUM WEISSEN RAUCHFANGKEHRER (the Restaurant of the White Chimney Sweep) in Vienna last year.

We're going back to Vienna again in a few months and, when we get there, this is one of the restaurants that we surely will return to!

Great Gourmet Hamburgers

Jtilly — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:36:41 -0500

Many of you might not consider it to be a place where you can get a great gourmet hamburger but for the first time in my life I just tried the hamburgers at a local Five Guys here in the West Palm Beach Florida area and they were fantastic! Since President Obama likes them so much and frequently dines at at a Five Guys with visiting heads of state, I don't feel at all embarrassed in saying that they serve some of the finest hamburgers I've ever had!

France's Finest Restaurants

hotelier — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 10:36:51 -0500

Christine Muhlke just published a review of the new restaurant SATURNE in Paris, which sounds simply wonderful -

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/01/23/travel/23bites-saturne.html?ref=travel

I'm planning to dine there and see for myself the next time I am in France.

Sub-Par Dining Experiences at Expensive Restaurants

MarioV — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:17:56 -0500

A recent visit to Jean Georges in Manhattan was quite a let down.
The food was bland, uninspired, and the staff just seemed to be going through the motions. I was actually stunned, considering the restaurant continues to get rated one of the top in the city. If the flagship is wavering, could JG be spreading himself too thin ?

Sub-Par Dining Experiences at Expensive Restaurants

DonPablo — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 09:34:02 -0500

One sub-par dining experience that comes to mind was a meal that we had last year at the Allegro restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Prague, that I wrote about here on Extravigator.com:

http://extravigator.com/discussion/158/prague-restaurants/

Great Gourmet Hamburgers

The Rover — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:47:19 -0500

As we travel around the country, we all probably have found places where we can count on getting a great gourmet hamburger. As for me, it's at the Shake Shack in New York City, either in their Madison Square Park location or at the one at Columbus Avenue and 77th Street.

Thoughts on the Michelin Guide

jen — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 09:37:40 -0500

That is surprising considering Michelin has a number of ways it can give a restaurant a positive mention without granting it a star (a 'Rising Stars,' or a Fork & Spoon).

One thing I have noticed is that a Michelin Star in the United States does not equal a star in Europe. There appears to be a relative scale that changes from country to country or even city to city. If that restaurant were relocated to Paris, it probably wouldn't have star.

Thoughts on the Michelin Guide

Nanoose — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 15:36:52 -0500

Just curious if people still think the Michelin Guide is worth it's weight in table salt anymore? It has such a history to it and I've always counted on it as I travelled through France's countryside. However, I recently discovered that they gave this unlikely restaurant one star in Chicago. Now, the reason why the star offends me is because although the food is exceptional at this restaurant, it has zero customer service (you have to call perhaps 5-10 times to get a phone call returned in order to get a reservation) and it's housed in an unseemly building and its a BYOB place. I just was always under the impression that to get a Mich Star, you had to excel at all categories--including decor, service, wine list, food. Failing at even one category used to mean you didn't get even one star. Just because a restaurant has wonderful food and lacks everything else, doesn't make it star worthy at all. I guess times are changing!

Sub-Par Dining Experiences at Expensive Restaurants

travelista — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 20:38:18 -0500

Have any of you gone to a well-reviewed and fairly expensive restaurant, expecting to have a wonderful dining experience and instead be extremely disappointed? If you have, perhaps you'd like to share your story here.

Needless to say, I've got such a restaurant in mind. So I'll start this discussion off right now.

My wife and I met two of our friends at the Manhattan restaurant "Park Avenue Winter" after hearing some relatively good things about it.

http://www.parkavenyc.com/winter/

Whoever said those good things about Park Avenue Winter was sadly mistaken. Besides being a bit pricey, the restaurant was noisy, the service fair to poor and the food absolutely ordinary. Dishes were delivered late and in some cases cold. Also, we had made reservations for a table specifically in one room but instead were placed in a less attractive and noisier room. That's one restaurant we're not going back to.

Great Japanese Restaurants Outside of Japan

Jtilly — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 15:24:58 -0500

One of our favorite Japanese restaurants is on the West Side of Manhattan on Amsterdam Avenue in the eighties. It's called Momoya and its executive chef Takase Eiji-san has done a fine job in providing New Yorkers with authentic and delicious Japanese cuisine served in a modern relaxed environment. The service is friendly and efficient. Try the tenzaru and their special seaweed salad!

Great Japanese Restaurants Outside of Japan

jen — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 08:36:41 -0500

I'm going to have to put my vote in for the little known restaurant, Food Factory Miyake in Portland, Maine. Miyake was featured in the New York Times about a year ago, saying:

"Masa Miyake, a chef from northern Japan who worked at Inagiku and Oceana in New York, moved his family of five from Queens to open Miyake in Portland's West End in 2007... 'After so many years in New York, I wasn’t close to the $500,000 I would need to open my own place there,' he said. Also, he said, Maine’s weather reminded him pleasantly of home. Now he has created Japan-Maine hybrids like quahog sushi (sometimes gathering the clams himself at low tide) and lobster sashimi, the sweet tail meat barely blanched, then glossed with olive oil and microscopic pieces of fresh garlic. Masa Miyake orders about 70 percent of his fish from Japan, because local stocks are limited."

Miyake was also featured in Bon Appétit last year:

"The best of a spate of newcomers is Food Factory Miyake, an unassuming BYOB sushi joint, where my five-course omakase dinner rivaled any that I've found in New York—and at half the price."

I've had the pleasure of the seven course omakase at Miyake and I can say that without the above statement is entirely true. To eat so well without breaking the bank is a wonderful thing.

Here are two photos of his gorgeous sushi, featured in the New York Times:
Japanese Snapper
Eel Tempura

http://restaurantmiyake.com

(It's also worth mentioning that Miyake just opened his second restaurant, Pai Men Miyake, an equally terrific ramen bar at 188 State Street in Portland.)

Great Japanese Restaurants Outside of Japan

J.L. — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 03:01:22 -0500

Here in Los Angeles, we are blessed with an abundance of Japanese restaurants. Here are some of my favorites.

Nobu Matushisa's original (and still his flagship) restaurant in Beverly Hills, named (eponymously) Matsuhisa, still ranks highly on my list. Yes, it is the best of any of the Nobu restaurants I've been to (NYC, Las Vegas, London, and even Tokyo). The master himself is "in the house" when he is in town.

Two important things to remember about Matsuhisa: (1) It is a Peruvian-Japanese FUSION restaurant. Order from their hot or cold "Specials" menu, featuring dishes with a Peruvian flair, and you can't go wrong. Do not expect Matsuhisa to excel at more traditional, strict Japanese cuisine/sushi (though they can be very competent in that respect). (2) If you do go, it is much better to make a reservation for the omakase bar in the private room. The main dining room at Matsuhisa can get a bit crowded, and I believe the very best of Nobu-san's cuisine comes from the talented chefs in the private room.

For strict, Edo-style sushi in L.A., you can count on Chef Morihiro Onodera for the very best sushi outside Japan at his restaurant Mori Sushi. In fact, I've taken homesick Japanese business associates to Mori Sushi, and they have unabashedly admitted that Mori-san's sushi is as good as any they've had in Japan. My last omakase there included such seasonal delicacies as Hokkaido hairy crab, Japanese uni (sea urchin), and premium nori (seaweed). Mori-san makes all his own ceramicware for use in the restaurant. He even grows his own Japanese rice in his own paddie in California so as to ensure proper sushi rice for his restaurant. Authentic sushi lives outside Japan, after all.

The finest Japanese restaurant west of the Mississippi is also here in L.A.: Urasawa. Chef Hiro Urasawa apprenticed under Master Sushi Chef Masa Takayama at the 12-seat only Ginza Sushi-ko in Beverly Hills. When sempai Takayama announced his departure to NYC to open Masa (at the Time Warner Center), his kohai Hiro-san decided to continue the restaurant in the same Rodeo Drive location, to be renamed Urasawa. Since its inception, the once-understudy Hiro Urasawa has, in my opinion, surpassed his master. He serves fantastic, exquisite sushi kaiseki meals, featuring the very freshest ingredients from all over the world. No feature is overlooked, from service, to the glassware, to the seasonality of his offerings. It is an unforgettable gastronomic experience.

I hope this helps.

Great Japanese Restaurants Outside of Japan

Nanoose — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 03:06:49 -0500

Hola DP and hope you are well. For a wonderful Japanese experience in NYC, I would say Nobu--www.noburestaurants.com

In Chicago, I would go with Japonais. Also, seeing that you lived in Japan, I must say I had a wonderful experience at the early morning Tokyo Tuna Markets/Auction several years ago. It was a madhouse--as you would expect any international fish auction port to be but I had very best, freshest sushi breakfast ever! I do understand that they shut the market down now to visitors/tourists--I hear we were interferring with their good work at getting fish transported quickly around the globe!

Great Japanese Restaurants Outside of Japan

DonPablo — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:05:32 -0500

Having lived in Japan for a number of years during the nineteen-eighties, Donna Elena and I are quite fond of Japanese cuisine. As we've traveled around the world, although we've always concentrated on dining in restaurants that specialize in the food of the country that we're visiting, from time to time, we get a "yen" (pun intended) for Japanese food. We have our own favorites in various cities, but we'd be interested in any favorite Japanese restaurants that Extravigator.com's contributors might have in countries other than Japan, especially right here in the USA.

Chicago Restaurants

Nanoose — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 14:50:49 -0500

Shawfly, yes, I would recommend--if you haven't been there before, it's a throwback to Colonial French Vietnam. It's also on Rush street so it's right in the thick of the strip of swanky bars and restaurants-- so the theatre/circus/people watching is good too.

Chicago Restaurants

shawfly — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:44:25 -0500

Has anyone been to Le Colonial in Chicago lately and if so would you recommend it?

Fine Restaurants in the USA

Nanoose — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 17:01:49 -0500

And you are just talking about 3 stars--not two or 1 stars that several Chicago restaurants have obtained. As a Chicago resident, we have many starred restaurants, world class off broadway theatre like the Steppenwolf, a magnificent public lakefront that was decreed years ago nobody could every build on it so it's a huge beach and beautiful park that goes on for miles that includes marinas, fountains, piers, ferris wheels, bike paths, and well, even a zoo! We still have Al Capone's favorite hang out still operating, music clubs from Jazz to Blues to Symphony to anything you could imagine, a wonderful river that meanders throughout the city that is playfully colored green every St. Pat's day, a colorful cast of crazy political characters that are showcased daily in the news and showcased nightly at our world famous "Second City" Review comedy club. The White Sox ball team wins alot and the Blackhawk Hockey folks have won the Stanley Cup. So, at the end of the day, who cares about the Cubs? And anyway, Wrigley Field is so amazing and unique it sells out every day anyway!

Fine Restaurants in the USA

jensen — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:21:48 -0500

When the subject of fine restaurants comes up, the culinary establishments that are usually talked about, more often than not, are somewhere in places like New York, San Francisco or even New Orleans. Chicago is rarely mentioned, although it really should be right up there at the very top. Indeed, some great chefs in the "windy city" have been at the leading-edge of culinary innovation for quite some time.

Now comes word that the city of Chicago has not one, but two restaurants that have been awarded the coveted Michelin three-star ranking - Alinea and L2O. Michelin's announcement in this regard, which was made just a few days ago, puts Chicago on a par with San Francisco, which also has two similarly-ranked restaurants and trailing only New York, which has five. Now, if the Cubs could only win the World Series, all would be right in the world........

The City Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies

Rick OShea — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:02:31 -0500

I just came across your post on this subject and noticed that, in the discussion that you referenced on this website ("Upscale Breakfasts in New York City") the award for best cookie in the city seemed to have been awarded to the Levain Bakery, on the upper west side of Manhattan. But, I haven't sampled the cookies at The City Bakery and, as a result of what you said, I guess I'll have to try them. When I do, I'll report back with my results!

More great restaurants

DonPablo — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:35:55 -0500

Many believe that Del Posto is one of the best restaurants in the United States. It's one of the few establishments in New York City to have earned a coveted four-star ranking from The New York Times. Del Posto is located near the recently-opened the High Line park, which used to be the old New York Central right-of-way for freight trains traveling down the lower west side of Manhattan. The owners Joseph Bastianich, Lidia Bastianich and Mario Batali, and the chef, Mark Ladner, have created a 24,000-square-foot palace that embraces all that is to be loved in Italian cuisine and that has to be seen, as well as to be experienced. If you're ever traveling through New York City, it's not to be missed!

Charleston, South Carolina - best Southern and Seafood restaurants

Sherri Nadeau — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 01:18:31 -0400

Magnolia is the best for awesome Southern food

Should you send it back?

loml95 — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 22:57:39 -0400

all's well that ends well.
great story, donpablo

Charleston, South Carolina - best Southern and Seafood restaurants

JRMC — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 17:55:02 -0400

We are two couples visiting Charleston, South Carolina in mid November and would appreciate suggestions on the best places for Southern Cooking and for Seafood.

Should you send it back?

DonPablo — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 07:13:23 -0400

Just to complete the story, I'm following-up on my posts of October 10th and October 13th, 2010, in this discussion. My tennis partner, Ron, and I, after yet another exciting and exhausting late-afternoon singles match, returned to the same restaurant to have dinner yesterday evening. We found that things had returned to normal. Our friendly co-owner of the restaurant, Alicia, greeted us warmly when we arrived, the food was delicious and, as had typically been the case, we had a very pleasant dining experience there. At the end of the meal, Alicia came over and presented us with the bill, which consisted of just a "smiley face" and a thank you. She had "comp'd" us for the entire meal! Ron and I insisted that that was not necessary; but she wouldn't change her mind. It was my turn to pay last night and, so, I took the opportunity to leave a very large tip, to express our gratitude to her and her staff. Now, that's the way for a restaurant to treat customers when something goes awry in the kitchen!

Fine Bistros in New York City

lenkre — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:43:19 -0400

You can't mention Balthazar without mentioning Patis! Pastis in the Meatpacking district - always packed, you wait for your table even though you booked a month in advance - but it's great! http://www.pastisny.com

Café Cluny http://www.cafecluny.com just down the road is not too bad either...

Should you send it back?

Herry Lawford — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:06:38 -0400

As with most things, this is really an issue of manners. Whether or not you've had your food cooked exactly to your liking is a small thing compared to not making your guests feel uncomfortable (or even more, your host). If the food really is inedible, a quiet word with the maitre 'd (if possible without the rest of the table being aware of it) should produce another dish quickly so that the table isn't inconvenienced.

Should you send it back?

DonPablo — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 11:28:42 -0400

Hello, Nanoose. As always, it was a pleasure to hear from you.

In and effort to avoid my last post being too lengthy, I left out a few details when I described what happened at the restaurant. Indeed, the restaurant owner DID initially offer to "comp" us on our meals; but my tennis partner, Ron, and I adamantly rejected that offer, especially since we had completely finished our main courses (and they weren't THAT bad). It was actually her SECOND offer that I described in my above post. Also, because, up until that evening, the food that we had ordered at the restaurant had been consistently very good, we had inquired whether there was a different chef in the kitchen that night. The restaurant owner insisted that it was the same chef, and perhaps her offer to give us two new main courses to take home with us was an effort on her part to convince us that the chef had not lost his or her touch. Finally, let me say that, although I'm sure that you're right that the dish that she gave me, when re-heated, couldn't be as good as it would have been if I had eaten it when it was first cooked, it came in very handy as a quickly-prepared dinner during half-time that following Sunday, when I was watching the late-afternoon Sunday NFL football game.

All's well that ends well.

Should you send it back?

Nanoose — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 18:29:32 -0400

DP, what were you supposed to do with the food at that point seeing that you already had eaten? Because you are an excellent customer, why didn't she just comp the meal? I find it a nice gesture in theory but in reality, not brilliant to give you food that you can't eat and that will certainly taste subpar whenever you get around to eating it, if ever.

Should you send it back?

DonPablo — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 17:04:44 -0400

I recently had an experience that is somewhat related to what we've been talking about in this discussion. My tennis partner and I usually have dinner, after playing tennis, at a local, fairly casual restaurant, where the food is typically quite good. However, one evening last week, after a particularly grueling best-out-of-five-set singles match in the late afternoon, we were a bit disappointed with the main courses that we ordered. Although we had each selected different items from the menu, both were beef dishes and both were overcooked. Having spent virtually all of our energy out on the tennis court, neither of us was in the mood to start complaining, especially because the restaurant had been so reliable in the past. We were also hungry, and so we finished our food without saying anything. (I think that every establishment is entitled to have an off night once in a while.) Well, at the end of our meal, one of the owners of the restaurant came over to chat and asked us if everything had been prepared to our liking that evening. Reluctantly, my tennis partner told our host that we were a little disappointed and why. Without hesitation, and despite our protests to the contrary, she insisted that she was going to instruct her chef to prepare two complimentary main courses of our choosing, to take home with us, and asked us to accept them with her apologies. (This, of course, was AFTER both of us had already finished our meals.) My tennis buddy and I eventually accepted her kind offer and, later on, he and I agreed that this was just another reason why we liked her restaurant so much and why we would be coming back again and again.

Fine Bistros in New York City

The Rover — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:52:11 -0400

I particularly like Tournesol, an authentic French Bistro, run by a family from France, that is located one subway stop away from Manhattan, in Long Island City:

http://www.tournesolnyc.com/