June 30, 2005
Rub, Smoked, Rib, Dinosaur, Dallas ... such are the creative names of NYC's BBQ joints. The first three are new; Dinosaur hit Harlem some months ago (and imported a number of waitresses from Upstate); and Dallas has been an established chain. But what gives with extending the trend of one-word restaurant names to the BBQ arena as well? Eventually with this craze of BBQ joints, the number of place names will be exhausted. On the other hand, maybe these five are more aptly named than Bone Lick Park.
Tags:
bbq, dallas, dinosaur, rib, rub, smoked
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Posted on 6/30/2005
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June 28, 2005
You can always fit the facts to make the story. But fact is, plenty of affordable and decent restaurants still exist in Manhattan; even if you're not a white female correspondent for the New York Times, you're quite likely to find these places if you just look around more carefully. However, Chomper is willing to accept this analysis as semi-valid: The analysis of prices did not try to measure Greek diners, corner Chinese restaurants or chicken spots, no matter how sublime their wings. There remain many satisfying and inexpensive restaurants in what is arguably the nation's greatest food city - restaurants filled with patrons who are not seeking a memorable dining experience each and every night that they disdain their stoves.
But the high-quality bistros, trattorias and American comfort-food outposts, where diners flocked for a good meal, quite possibly served on a tablecloth, have greatly increased their prices, or moved outside Manhattan. The new hotbeds of affordable innovative cuisine are increasingly in places like Park Slope and Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn, or Astoria in Queens, having been pushed out by higher rents in Greenwich Village and Chelsea.
Well, in fairness, here is more of the article:
Yesterday's Special: Good, Cheap Dining
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER and JO CRAVEN McGINTY
There was a restaurant in Greenwich Village called Le Zoo, and it was good, and it was cheap, and now, like so many others of its kind, it is gone.
It was not the sort of place that drew tourists clutching their Zagats, but it swelled each night with young hipsters and people from the neighborhood, who sipped red wine at the bar and ate $6.50 trout salad and $13 salmon at the crammed-together tables, and yes, smoked.
But last year a new restaurant, the Spotted Pig, arose in Le Zoo's spot on West 11th Street, and it quickly became a destination for patrons with deeper pockets and expense accounts. Pub classics like sautéed veal kidneys are $18, and desserts are $6, not $4. The average bottle of wine is $30.
Restaurants like Le Zoo - small, with a decent and inexpensive wine list, a memorable special, a total bill for two of $50 - used to be easy to recognize, the high-quality neighborhood places that were one of New York's pleasures. But now, in Manhattan, they are increasingly becoming a memory.
In interviews, several restaurateurs confirmed what many New York diners have long suspected: it is becoming impossible to serve innovative and high-quality food at reasonable prices in Manhattan. Melissa O'Donnell, formerly one of the chefs at Le Zoo and now the owner of Salt in SoHo - where the entrées are 30 percent higher than at Le Zoo - said one more rent increase could be the end of her restaurant.
"I'm from Manhattan, my client base is here, I have been working in downtown Manhattan since I went to cooking school," she said. "This is my home. But I think my type of place here is going to be a thing of the past."(NYT)
Tags:
cheap, comfort food, diner, dining, greek, le zoo, zagat
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Posted on 6/28/2005
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June 25, 2005
Everyone's taste is represented in this 23rd century salad bar meets Korean deli. This is the future of hybrid cuisine, in which our dear Mexican friends make soups, tossed salads, panini, quesadillas, pressata, sandwiches, wraps, teriyaki, sushi rolls, coffee, juices, and smoothies. Sheer genius! Note the color scheme, the glass panes, the photography: this somehow appeals to something inside everyone. Also note how the Nepalis figured this out ten years ago, creating Everyman's Hill Café for tired trekkers and now the concept has finally hit our shores near a major subway and PATH station.
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coffee, juices, panini, pressata, quesadillas, sandwiches, smoothies, soups, sushi rolls, teriyaki, tossed salads, wraps, your taste
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Posted on 6/25/2005
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June 25, 2005
It's 4 a.m. and you are drunk! Yes you skunk, you are drunk and starving. So many diners to meet your needs for breakfast or a cheeseburger or some other large greasy object to fill your worthless intestines. Long, long ago this was my situation, and I found myself near the L train with my comrades. Flash forward about 13 years, and I found myself here again, similar circumstances. Cops are always hanging around the place, and no matter how ugly you think you look, there will always be another table full of drunker and uglier.
Tags:
diner, kelloggs, williamsburg
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Posted on 6/25/2005
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June 25, 2005
Timeless Afghan restaurant, full of pillows, furnishings, artwork from Afghanistan. Somehow its setting on St Marks Place is just right, because it fits in neatly with the anarchy all around it. I've tried nearly everything on the menu, and remember the exotic-sounding dishes from 15 years ago that no longer sound so exotic. The taste of pomegranite, of pumpkin-filled turnovers, of noodles with meat and yogurt sauce. Along with neighboring Dojo, this was a sort of punk heaven long ago.
Tags:
afghan, dojo, khyber pass, st marks place
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Posted on 6/25/2005
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June 22, 2005
On St Marks again recently I hit my favorite places (Dojo, Khyber Pass, Grand Sichuan, and La Palapa, plus the underground Japanese grocery store) all in a week, but Klong Thai really stands out as the best of the new Thai places in the East Village. Although related to Sea, Spice, Peep and Isle, the design is ultra-funky and the crowd seems to be mix of St Marks usual suspects and tourists. I'll get to my other faves later, but Klong really is good news.
Tags:
dojo, grand sichuan, khyber pass, klong thai, la palapa, st marks place
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Posted on 6/22/2005
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