Where was I? Oh yeah. Tuesday dinner. Peasant. Frankie De Carlo is a great friend. I found this place 9 years ago because my good friend Nabil had built Frankie a wood burning rotisserie, wood burning grill and a wood burning pizza oven. I went to look at it and fell in love with Frankie’s food, and style. It’s simple food cooked with passion.
Three years ago Alain Ducasse, arguably the best known chef in the world, was asked to name his three favorite restaurants. He named one in Japan, one in Italy and Peasant. It’s in NoLita (SoHo) on Elizabeth and Spring. You’ll love everything from the house made ricotta to the oven seared sardines. And maybe the world’s best panna cotta.
I didn’t mean to overlook lunch Monday at the Carnegie Deli, a must for each trip to NYC. A mile high tower of the world’s best corned beef, great pickles, Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda (diet).
Monday night was all about Soto. I knew him when he was in Atlanta. Word was he wigged out a time or two. Such is genius. (I don’t wig). He’s in Manhattan now, being compared to a working man’s Nobu. And work he does. It’s a small place at 357 Sixth Avenue. That’s important to know because there is no signage at all. The six of us asked him to send what he wished, make it easy for him. He refused saying we were too large a party and must order a la carte (?). I’m confused. Anyway, we ate 19 different plates of food. Most were terrific, a couple were stellar. One was awful. If you think the stinky shark I had in Iceland was bad, try the fermented sea cucumber intestine mixed with pureed squid and a quail egg yolk. But the rest was so good we have to figure it’s about as good as Japanese food gets. And his knife skills make me look like I wear boxing gloves when I slice.
Landed in NY Sunday, visited our son in Brooklyn and went by train to Blue Hill at Stone Barns. Stunning. Wow. It’s a Rockefeller farm circa 1930, renovated by David Rockefeller. The farm apparently is run by different entities and the restaurant (Blue Hill) buys from them. The food is seasonal and very good but the setting is spectacular. It’s in Tarrytown, 30 miles from NYC. Oh yeah, the economy hasn’t seemed to hurt this, and other high end restaurants. More on this soon.
I’ve been fighting for a smoke free world for most of my life. When Jean-Louis (Palladin, my mentor) smoked, I ragged on him non-stop. Now he’s dead. And with Illinois pretty much smoke free it’s even harder to tolerate walking into a restaurant back in Richmond, VA. But…I got a flurry of emails last month from friends back home when Virginia passed a no smoking bill to take effect this December.
I think I’m glad to see a bill giving the FDA regulatory powers over tobacco. Not sure. We really need to protect the workers from smoke so I hope this doesn’t hamper those efforts. Maybe OSHA needs to step in. Too bad the gov’t needs get involved but there seems to be no alternative. And now I can go to jazz clubs, or bowling with my kids for the first time in years. It’s a great feeling.
Wow. How bad can service be? I took Laura Yee to lunch Wednesday (my PR maven, business lunch thank you). We tried to get some things accomplished but this waiter thing kept interrupting by bringing plates of food to us and asking if that’s what we ordered. Three times! And he questioned out loud why I was looking at him funny.
Then came the check. He charged me for the potato omelet tapas that we never got. When I pointed that out to him he screamed over to his colleague “Hey, I found the table that the omelet was supposed to go to!”.
I’m taking my Chef de Cuisine, Geoff Rhyne, to NYC in a couple of weeks to dine. We’re taking a break from June 28th to July 6th. The restaurant will be serving a limited, non SugarToad menu.
One place I thought I’d take him is per se. Thomas Keller is one of the best chefs in America. When I made the reservation, however, the site noted that jeans were not allowed. Unfortunately, it’s all I own. I’ve made a career of telling folks I became a chef so I could wear jeans to work, and play. So I left a message for the GM of per se to see how strict the policy was, and he replied by email “if it’s jeans you wear, then jeans it is.” He then asked that I wear dark jeans, and a jacket. As it turns out we got tickets to Colbert and I had canceled per se before I got the reply.
Anyway, my philosophy is that food should be fun and by golly if you want to dress up, go ahead. And if you’re more comfortable in jeans, great. But please, wear shoes.
I moved a lot as a kid. 17 times. But three formative years (high school) were spent in Charleston, SC. The restaurant scene there is pretty strong although, like anywhere else, ask the chefs where to find a great meal and they give you the same look my Basenji does when I ask her what day it is.
However….I had a very good meal, actually two, this week. I went there to give my Mom some attention and had to catch up on the restaurant scene. Jessie (my 7 year old niece) and I went to FIG (Food Is Good) on Monday night. Very good. Simple, seasoned (good salt), and well prepared. Did I mention simple? I’ll go back any time.
Last night I ate at Ken Vedrinksi’s new place, Trattoria Lucca. Tiny, cute, and also very good. Simple, well seasoned, and well prepared. Did I mention simple?
I’m happy to note that both meals were very much in the style of my food. And since I’m a bit older than either Michael Lata at FIG and Ken, I can say that I’ve been there longer. Let’s hope the industry stays on this path. It tastes so good.
I’m always asking the locals where to eat. It starts out with folks talking about how much they like to go out. When I ask where they recommend, they stammer and stutter. I have found really good Chinese food at Mapo. And I like breakfast at the Morningside Cafe in Lisle. Stacey and I tried the Bavarian Inn on Odgen and were pleasantly surprised. Simple, cheap. But where else? And where’s the really good pizza?
When I was in Urbanna, Virginia, in 1987, the owner of the restaurant urged me to use margarine, salad oil, and frozen seafood, instead of the good stuff, to dramatically reduce our costs.
“These customers will never know the difference,” he declared.
I declined to follow his suggestion but am reminded of an interview I saw on TV some time back.
Olivia de Havilland was talking about the making of ‘Gone with the Wind’. She recalled saying to the producer, David O. Selznick, “We’re over budget, behind schedule, and on our third director. Yet you are bringing seamstresses over from Italy to sew the silk undergarments for the ballroom scene. Why bother? They can’t be seen. Nobody will even know that we’re wearing hand sewn silk.”
At that, Mr. Selznick looked at her and said, “You’ll know.”
I had a customer (the wife of a chef) tell me she thought my putting a single cake on a white plate with no garnish was ‘arrogant’. She also said it was better than her husband’s. I always thought it was more about contradictions. My restaurant in Urbanna, VA 25 years ago was a weather worn beach house on rusty stilts. But the view from inside was spectacular. Messing with expectations.
Oh, here’s a link to the ABC TV show from last week on our softshell crabs.
