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The 10 Best New Restaurants of 2008
By FRANK BRUNI
Published: December 31, 2008
1. MOMOFUKU KO David Chang’s intimate 12-seat, sushi-counter-style restaurant heads this list not only because its best dishes and moments are so memorable, but because it’s a paradigm-busting experiment that, like so much of what Mr. Chang has done, heeds and adjusts for what a new generation of discerning diners cares most about — and what fuss and frippery they can do without.
2. CORTON This blissful collaboration of the restaurateur Drew Nieporent and the chef Paul Liebrandt presents luxury of a more classic sort, at an admirably moment-reflecting price of $76 for a three-course prix fixe with a flurry of amuse-bouches and petit fours. And it finds Mr. Liebrandt at the sweet spot between runaway imagination and good sense.
3. (TIE) SCARPETTA To what heights can a simple dish of spaghetti al pomodoro rise? Scarpetta provided the answer — the sky’s the limit — and a host of other delights, its sometimes agitated setting in the meatpacking district not among them. At Scarpetta the chef Scott Conant reconnected with his early glory days at L’Impero.
3. (TIE) CONVIVIO The post-Conant L’Impero, meanwhile, became this warmer, redder, more convivial restaurant. The chef Michael White’s improved menu here pegged him as one of the city’s top pasta whizzes, and he showed a Batali-esque enthusiasm for organ meat.
5. DOVETAIL The chef John Fraser abandoned Compass but not the Upper West Side, reemerging in this somewhat plain but entirely comfortable and charming restaurant, which surpassed just about everyone’s expectations, becoming more than just a neighborhood favorite.
6. MATSUGEN In the TriBeCa space where he had tried to make a lasting success of 66, Jean-Georges Vongerichten decided to treat Japanese cooking in a more straightforward and respectful vein than 66 had treated Chinese. He left the menu and cooking to a team from Tokyo, who rewarded him with underexposed, compelling dishes and excellent soba.
7. ADOUR ALAIN DUCASSE Mr. Ducasse ratcheted down the opulence of his previous fancy Manhattan restaurant in the Essex House with this successor in the St. Regis, notable for Sandro Micheli’s exceptional desserts and for a blockbuster (and pricey) wine list. I’d rank this higher if a first-year change in executive chef and Mr. Ducasse’s distant involvement didn’t raise questions about consistency.
8. BAR BOULUD This relatively casual effort from Daniel Boulud doesn’t get everything right, but for its outstanding charcuterie, an exemplary wine list and scattered other delights, it deserves big applause.
9. ALLEGRETTI Alain Allegretti, a French chef who worked under Mr. Ducasse, struck out on his own, choosing an odd block and a risky moment for saucy cooking that was, at its best, a heady ticket straight to Provence.
10. MIA DONA The chef Michael Psilakis, perhaps more prescient about the economy than some peers, responded to the kudos for his haute Greek restaurant Anthos with this Italian restaurant of big flavors and big portions at accessible prices.
McDonald's admits 1,000 people paid to join queue for Quarter Pounder debut in Osaka
Friday 26th December, 09:21 AM JST
OSAKA —
Around 1,000 people were paid to join the queue outside the Midosuji-Suomachi branch of McDonald’s for the release of their Quarter Pounder burger in the Kansai area on Tuesday, it was learned on Thursday.
The company has admitted to the fact that around 1,000 people who lined up on Tuesday were compensated, but claims they only made a request for consumer feedback to one of their marketing companies. There are suspicions however that the people were employed to help promote the new product, serving a role known as “sakura” in Japanese.
It is estimated that as many as 2,000 people were lining up outside the McDonald’s store at its peak on Tuesday, and that around 15,000 people in total visited the store during the day, setting a new record for daily sales for one of their stores. But it was learned on Thursday that about 1,000 of the people queuing outside were paid an hourly wage of 1,000 yen and also had their purchase paid for. These people were hired by a human resources company at the request of a marketing company commissioned by McDonald’s Japan.
A McDonald’s Japan spokesman said: “We wanted to know how the service and product quality were on the first day. We didn’t know 1,000 people had been sent to the store.
2009 To Eat List
NEW 2 ME
Devi
Del' Amina (and thier new spot)
Corton
Momofuku Milk Bar
Kuruma Zushi (was on the 2004 To Eat List:<()
MISSED IN 08
Insieme
Ushi Wakamura
Vatan
Bellavitae
Top Eats NYC 2008 (in no particular order)....
As usual its many repeats but here it goes....
Bar Boulud....best pate in NYC!!
Trestle on Tenth....great value, awesome wine list
wd~50.....a hero
Locanda Vini Olii....#1 Italian in NY
Bar Masa.....one can eat vegan here, and than one can not, either way rocks!!
Gramercy Tavern.....love the new chef, prefer tavern imho
Marlow & Sons......overall rocking, chilled red wine
Yakitori Totto.....chicken palace, go early to not miss the special parts
Sushi Yasuda.....first time for me, very pure, best sushi rice in my life
Sripriphai.....drunken noodles!!! best thai i know, there may be better, 09 I will look!!
I am sure i have forgotten some but thats it for now....
Liver Flush #10 just completed this morning....
Yup still at it, this finishes the 2nd year of Project Get Skinny, and while I have not lost much more weight this year, I feel much more healthy.
I eat apox 20% animal (meat/dairy) this year and in 09 I am moving toward 10%, I will be Vegan at home, and only eat animal when out, so apox 10 meals a month, 10 out of 80 meals (and not every one will be 100% meat, but some will be:>)
i like the way this recipe site can be browsed or searched, by level of difficulty, number of ingredients, occasion, etc.
Was lucky to score a holiday dinner at Corton last night. Overall I thought it was very good. Love the room. Wine list is insane of course (with a huge reserve list where the bottles need to be ordered 24 hours in advance so they can be brought from an off site cellar,) but also includes some decent sub $40 bottles. For instance we started with a Aubuisières Vouvray Sec ‘Cuvée de Silex,’ Loire 2007 which was great and very reasonable. I hate when there's nothing on a list under $60, it's just obnoxious, especially these days - so they got points there. The food highlight for me was some barely cooked nantucket bay scallops with ama ebi (baby sweet shrimp,) marcona almonds, radish, and some spicy microgreen surrounding a small pool of uni creme. Yum!
palate cleanser
old post on veganfriendlynyc.com i would like to try if they still exist!!
Vegan Treats Doughnuts at Atlas Café
Atlas Café at 73 2nd Avenue 2nd Ave in Manhattan is now carrying Vegan Treats doughnuts! So we went down there with our buddies Isa and Eppy and ate some. You can eat some too by going to Atlas on a Tuesday night. That's the day that they're delivered and, from what we understand, they're gone by Wednesday!
Boston Cream
Boston Cream was always my favorite doughnut! With sweet chocolate, tangy custard and fried dough, how can you go wrong? Well, I was nervous that the vegan version might not be the same, but my fears were unfounded. It was awesome and very authentic! They got everything just right, even the custard which seems like it would be tricky to do vegan. -Jim
Rainbow Sprinkled
Mmmmmm. Donuts. This was the simplest and my favorite of the bunch. Good enough to fool Homer Simpson. A classic, undeniably donutty flavor and texture, lightly glazed and topped with colorful sprinkles. I loved it! It even smelled like heaven. (This, of course, is based on my assumption that heaven smells like dessert.) -Ev
Coconut Cream
Ok so imagine this, you take the Boston Cream doughnuts I described above, but instead of chocolate, you put sugary sweet glaze and toasted coconut on top. The end result: an even better doughnut for a coconut lover like myself. Coconut is one of my favorite dessert flavors (as evidenced by the ChoCofCo, my brilliant contribution (ok, not so much a contribution as a suggestion) to Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World), so this doughnut was like heaven to me. The same awesome custard in the same awesome doughnut, but coconutty! Yes! -Jim
High end recession dining deals. Includes my fav Perry St. lunch deal, but *tons* of others. Damn. I think there are going to be lots of places going under at these prices.
someone we know is a technivorm, yah?
our friend robin sent this turkey left over recipe :
(Panes con Pavo)
SERVES 6
Turkeys were "thoroughly domesticated by the Aztecs and other Mexican and Central American races long before the arrival of Europeans", according to A. Hyatt Verrill in Foods America Gave the World (L. C. Page, 1937). Proof positive: this gently spiced turkey sandwich, ubiquitous in El Salvador.
1 1⁄2 cups light beer
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. black peppercorns
2 tsp. sesame seeds
2 tsp. pepitas (dried pumpkin seeds; optional)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1⁄2 tsp. annatto seeds
5 cloves garlic
2 dried bay leaves
2 large turkey drumsticks (about 4 lbs.)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped
2 small yellow onions, 1 chopped, 1 thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
6 6" crusty italian bread loaves, ends trimmed, split
in half lengthwise
1 bunch watercress
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Purée beer, oil, peppercorns, sesame seeds, pepitas, oregano, annatto, garlic, bay leaves, and 1 cup water in a blender. Combine purée and turkey in a dutch oven; season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil on the stove, cover, and bake until turkey is very tender, about 2 hours.
2. Purée tomatoes, chopped onions, peppers, and 1 cup water in blender. Transfer turkey to a plate (leave sauce in pot); let cool. Add purée to pot; boil over medium-high heat, stirring often, until thickened, about 45 minutes. Discard skin and bones from turkey; tear meat into thick pieces. Stir turkey into sauce, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide stew between loaves; garnish with sliced onions and watercress.
(just dont use coors!!!!)
our friend robin sent this turkey left over recipe :
(Panes con Pavo)
SERVES 6
Turkeys were "thoroughly domesticated by the Aztecs and other Mexican and Central American races long before the arrival of Europeans", according to A. Hyatt Verrill in Foods America Gave the World (L. C. Page, 1937). Proof positive: this gently spiced turkey sandwich, ubiquitous in El Salvador.
1 1⁄2 cups light beer
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. black peppercorns
2 tsp. sesame seeds
2 tsp. pepitas (dried pumpkin seeds; optional)
1 tsp. dried oregano
1⁄2 tsp. annatto seeds
5 cloves garlic
2 dried bay leaves
2 large turkey drumsticks (about 4 lbs.)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped
2 small yellow onions, 1 chopped, 1 thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and chopped
6 6" crusty italian bread loaves, ends trimmed, split
in half lengthwise
1 bunch watercress
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Purée beer, oil, peppercorns, sesame seeds, pepitas, oregano, annatto, garlic, bay leaves, and 1 cup water in a blender. Combine purée and turkey in a dutch oven; season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil on the stove, cover, and bake until turkey is very tender, about 2 hours.
2. Purée tomatoes, chopped onions, peppers, and 1 cup water in blender. Transfer turkey to a plate (leave sauce in pot); let cool. Add purée to pot; boil over medium-high heat, stirring often, until thickened, about 45 minutes. Discard skin and bones from turkey; tear meat into thick pieces. Stir turkey into sauce, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Divide stew between loaves; garnish with sliced onions and watercress.
japan urging return to traditional foods. cool video
running late but on the december list....and its a couple doors from the basque place.......gran sichaun across the street.....below if from eater
Co. 230 Ninth Avenue
Initial Projection: December '07
Current Debut Projection: December 2
Odds, On Time Arrival: Even
Eater Projected Opening Date: 12/08/08
While 10 Downing attracted a good deal of press for its epic delays, it's not the only restaurant to make the fall previews two years in a row. Meet Co. Pizzeria, the long anticipated project from Sullivan Street Bakery's Jim Lahey, first announced in Summer '07. The pizzeria's original projection of December '07 came and went and we haven't heard much from the burgeoning pizzaolo all year. Until now that is. Longtime Sullivan Street Bakery disciple Ed Levine got a sneak preview of the setup last week and brought along Slice to document it. What they found:
finally open and on the december list......menu at link......peconic bay scallop crudo (thats my kinda crudo)!!!!
http://thejohndory.com/blog/
p.s. had awesome oyster's and sauted peconics at aguagrill last week, great place for oysters, peconics rocked, raw inside (and whats great was not on menu, but they did it for us!!)!!