October 25, 2005
Despite the extraordinary political developments of the past week — Mayor Bloomberg has essentially declared Larry Silverstein's World Trade Center project dead on arrival — the talk of the town, as usual, seems to be about restaurants. Specifically, with the arrival of the red Michelin guide to New York City next week, alarm bells are ringing for restaurateurs and hoteliers. Foodies are talking about who will be awarded three stars and who won't. Meanwhile, the recent release of the 2006 Zagat restaurant guide seems all the more dramatic: Will it be a battle royale? Or is there room for both of these red guides on the shelf?
In the few weeks since our re-launch, our users have written numerous reviews that indicate just how much food is on the minds of New Yorkers. Everyone here is a restaurant critic, and our website allows you to sign up in a mere New York minute and start writing. But we take the Zagat and Michelin concepts one step further: Rather than allowing anonymous critics, by actually signing your own review, our users become the real face of NYC.com. What's more, with comments on reviews, we allow you carry on a dialogue and let you get to virtually know each other. And NYC.com can alert you instantly when a hot piece of news is posted....So good luck social networking with your little red book.
But back to the Michelin Guide. Its editor, Jean-Luc Naret, has been doing the obligatory media appearances, including an intriguing interview on yesterday's Leonard Lopate show. In addition, two familiar restaurateurs, Eric Ripert of Le Bernadin, and Doug Psaltis, Executive Chef of Country Restaurant and author of The Seasoning of a Chef: My Journey From Diner to Ducasse and Beyond comment on the arrival of the Michelin guide in North America. New York magazine chronicles what additional star chefs have to say about it.
In egalitarian America, everyone's opinions seem to count, and certainly the lightspeed rise of reality TV indicates people clearly enjoy paying attention to what other people have to say. So does the classic Michelin guide have its place in a world-class city with thousands of restaurants? While it will not deliver Zagat-like (or Zelig-like) popular reviews, its rigorous standards, adapted for the American restaurant business, will surely deliver interesting commentary and food for thought for our restaurant-obsessed city. In its press release, Michelin does trumpet some fascinating facts as well as how its standards were applied here across the board. The comfort rating and special distinctions reflect the tremendous diversity in our restaurant marketplace, and additionally fascinating to read is the history of the guides.
And the power of the Michelin guide? We cannot overlook the suicide of famed restaurateur Bernard Loiseau, who offed himself some time after his restaurant was downgraded by Gault-Millau; although Michelin did not downgrade his restaurant before his untimely death, much speculation has centered on whether this perpetual fear of downgrading may have somehow contributed to Loiseau's suicide. In any event, his death has been the source of tremendous speculation and soul-searching in France. However, we are certain no New Yorker would ever suffer Loiseau's sad fate after a downgrading, not least since our egos here are tough enough to weather any critical firestorm. Surely the response of the New Yorker would be a forceful fuhgeddaboutit?!
What's your opinion on Michelin? A warm welcome? Outdated concept? A Johnny-come-lately? Necessary evil? Won't work here? Can't wait to read it? Do tell us. Our own Adanna has a fascinating take on it.
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Posted on 10/25/2005
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October 04, 2005
While the SoHo gallery scene died years ago, some notables hang on, anchored by the ancient premise that West Broadway consistently regenerates itself into something more expensive, more fabulous, and ever more Italian. While Walter DiMaria's permanent installation Broken Kilometer remains just as restaurant I Tre Merli does, once the beloved Rizzoli bookstore went, so did many, leaving SoHo behind for the Eurocognoscenti and other tourists to devour.
Enter Illy, which has brilliantly capitalized on this nexus of cash, culture and glitter, fortuitously and perhaps consciously directly across the street from Sotheby's. In a dazzling, light-filled space with charming minimalist touches, a gallery/café that highlights Illy products has arisen and remains through mid-December. Relax and peruse one of dozens of art books or booklets of illystories while enjoying a ristretto ($2) or a marocchino ($5) with desserts from notables such as Jacques Torres, Le Cirque, BLT Fish, and wd-50.
Surely Galleria Illy was destined to be the ultimate tie-in, for you can also take a three-part class that meets on Tuesdays, or simply order the espresso machine and designer cups of your choice. The cup selection is terrific, the machine selection rather average. Additionally, the busy professional can choose a membership program or home delivery coffee program, replete with pods in case you hate to clean up coffee grounds.
For further explication of this extraordinary development, consider the past 1000 years of coffee drinking as retold in chapter 19 of Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat's History of Food. This chapter on "Coffee and Politics" has a charming recollection of an English tourist in 1617, who tasted a beverage "made of a blackish bean boiled in water 'to which it imparts almost no flavour'," a tale that reminds us that a mere 20 years ago the coffee culture in New York City was equally morbid. While it was perhaps possible to find a few locations serving a palatable espresso in the mid-1980s, Chock Full o' Nuts was still widely considered to be serving a decent beverage, a coffee that was described by a blogger on this website as "hot water with a brown crayon dipped in it."
While this website has no need to detail the descent of the Starbucks mothership ten years later, only to be followed by the endless cloning of graphically-challenged Dunkin' Donuts outlets a further ten years after that in 2004, we still must confess that despite Illy Galleria, there are still many, far too many restaurants that cannot make a decent espresso, regardless of how expensive the machine in use. Our unscientific study reveals the usual suspects: 1) the staff are untrained in the art of making an espresso, 2) the restaurant does not consistently use freshly-ground beans, 3) the restaurant has busboys make espresso, sometimes reusing the grounds when not merely using half the necessary amount required to draw a proper espresso. This third observation is not a joke; we have seen it done multiple times. A recent example—with other staff of this website as witnesses—was a waiter who decried he could make a perfect espresso. What he brought was translucent and had nothing that resembled crema on top. When he inquired how it was, he got an honest response, and unfortunately insisted on making it again, which is always a bad idea. The rule of thumb: quit while you are ahead. Insist on a cup of tea instead, because round two will be somewhere between the aforementioned hot water with crayon dipped in it and a normal cup of coffee. But this waiter was so earnest and insistent, we did not want to disappoint. Too bad the result was also disappointing. In contrast, Falai on Clinton Street serves such a perfect espresso that after a fine meal there it would be a pity not to order one.
We conclude that anything to further the utopian goal of producing a good espresso ought to be greeted with joy, if not a healthy dose of skepticism. But on West Broadway, where suspending disbelief is the norm, a perfect espresso for two dollars is actually a New York bargain. True confession: this editor uses a stainless-steel Saeco Classico machine, does not use pods, and consumes four espressi a day (the first around 7 a.m., the last around 10 p.m.).
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Posted on 10/4/2005
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