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Jean-Georges: Look for him in his eponymous
restaurant most nights.Photo: Getty Images
“Many years ago, Paul Bocuse was asked the following question: ‘Who is cooking when you’re not in the kitchen?’ And his response was, ‘The same people as when I am in the kitchen!’
Samuelsson happens to like Aquavit.Photo: Getty Images
Just Ask the Locals [NYC Visit]
Smile all you want, but it won't help you at the judges' table.Photo courtesy Bravo
Why should we care what the San Pellegrino company thinks are the world's 50 best restaurants? And yet, as with Michelin, Zagat, and every other ranking, we always do. San Pellegrino's angle is that they rank the top restaurants worldwide, thus awaking nationalist fury in every slighted country. (The list is determined by a global poll of chefs, restaurateurs, and food writers.) Which, as usual, means every country other than Spain, since again El Bulli has come out on top, followed by England's the Fat Duck, France's Pierre Gagnaire, and another Spanish entry, Mugaritz. But — a consolation to the U.S. — next on the list come back-to-back Americans: the French Laundry and Per Se. After that, the U.S. falls off the list until Jean Georges at 17, Le Bernardin at 18, and Chicago's Alinea at 21. No doubt the list has a major snob appeal and will make a fine to-do list for international bons vivants.
El Bulli Named World's Best Restaurant; Per Se, Noma Advance [Bloomberg]
Frank Bruni rewards Michael Psilakis for his practical efforts to create, in Mia Dona, an affordable restaurant with two stars. (And possibly to make up the third star Anthos should have gotten.) [NYT]
Overall, Restaurant Girl cottons to Merkato 55, though she reserves her fullest praise on account of a few “flubs” and boring desserts. She likes the energy and audacity of the place, though. [NYDN]
Paul Adams has more or less the same sentiments: He likes the place, but it “doesn't dazzle.” Then there are these words, which no doubt the restaurant dreads reading: “not as flavorful as the version I get for half the price uptown.” [NYS]
The James Beard Award nominations are out, and the news for New York is good, though not as overwhelming as last year. Anthos is in there carrying the torch for Best New Restaurant nationally; Dan Barber of Blue Hill is a finalist for Outstanding Chef; and two of the five national nominees for Outstanding Restaurant are New York blue-chippers: Jean Georges and Gramercy Tavern. (The latter is a huge triumph for both Danny Meyer and chef Mike Anthony, given the restaurant’s long association with Tom Colicchio and its brush with being taken for granted.) As for the always-longed-for Rising Star Chef award, there’s a New Yorker in there, too: Gavin Kaysen of Café Boulud.
We are pleased to announce that New York received a few nods, too. Two articles — "My Empire of Dirt" and "Cartography" — were nominated for "Magazine Feature Writing Without Recipes," and Grub Street was nominated for "Multimedia Writing on Food."
We’re always leery of the strange, strange world of Abbe Diaz and her online forum, PX This, but a media alert titled “Blogger Tossed From Jean Georges” was difficult to resist. As you might expect, Diaz — a former maître d’ at Jean Georges who wrote a dishy book about her experiences in the business — was in fact the blogger tossed, a cringe-inducing event publicized by the pilloried herself. (All of Diaz’s entries on PX This read like interminable text messages tapped out by the jittery, manicured thumbnails of an ex-model at Rose Bar at 4 a.m.) We include it here entirely for purposes of education: Remember, if you dog someone you worked for in a book, don’t go to his restaurant unless you know he won’t be around.
"Abbe, Maybe You Should Think About…" [PXThis]
Related: Is Abbe Diaz Behind "Sympathy for the Restaurant Industry?"
Who knows…not Jay…he never lost control…Courtesy of Henry Holt and Co.
Cheftestants Lisa, Andrew, and Nimma.Photo courtesy Bravo
'Top Chef' Chicago Premieres in March [Bravo press release]
Nicole Kaplan: moving on again.Photo: Patrick McMullan
Mark Lapico lets all the steam out, just for us.Photo: Melissa Hom
Gael Greene returns to her sexy-tables topic after an influx of reader mail: "Several romantics agreed with Francesco that 'Jean Georges at lunch could not be more sexy.'" A reformed Madame Bovary concluded: "It was a lot of bang for the buck." [Insatiable Critic]
Even the Brits are buzzing over the prospect of Charlie Trotter opening a restaurant overlooking Madison Square Park. [Caterer Search, UK]
Related: New York to Charlie Trotter: Bring It On!
This hefty roundup of book recommendations for foodies includes such Grub-approved picks as the Food Snob's Dictionary and My Last Supper (where you can see Wylie Dufesne lounging like Lady Godiva, but with cheese). [Zagat]
Related: Meet the Original Food Snobs
David Kamp Brings Aid to Would-Be Food Snobs
Eating the Last Supper
If there’s one thing you can count on Gael Greene to deliver, it’s tales of seduction by food — and her latest post has it in spades. This time, it’s from the male point of view, as Gael offers a “service feature on seduction,” courtesy of her friend Francesco, “the teflon Romeo, in and out of love constantly, an outright chauvinist pig, in fact, but as a pal, really fun, full of zest and unfailingly loyal.” Francesco’s advice includes the following helpful tips:
It's Z-man's happening, and it freaks us out!
Johnny Z: "Chocolate is my ace in the hole."Photo: Patrick McMullan
Boerum Hill: Now that Trout has taken over Gravy, the new menu is not surprisingly chock-full of fish dishes. [Bergen Carroll]
Midtown East: Richard Sandoval’s restaurants including Pampano are celebrating Day of the Dead through November 2 with specialty foods like pan de muertos, which is a sweet bread that’s baked to look like a skull! [Grub Street]
Midtown West: At convivial spot La Bonne Soup, which has been a French staple on West 55th Street since 1974, you can have a soup, salad, bread, dessert, and a glass of wine for $16.75, only slightly more than half the price of lunch at Jean Georges. [Lost City]
Nolita: D.J. Mark Ronson has designed a playlist specifically for Noble Food & Wine. Dinner gets it own soundtrack. [Down by the Hipster]
Tribeca: A Murray's Bagel partner is opening Original Zucker’s Bagels & Smoked Fish on Chambers Street at the end of November. [NYS]
Upper West Side: The Triad Theater is now promoting a new musical called Wine Lover. The audience will sample six wines throughout the performance. [Snack]
Cuozzo fantasizes about the possible successes Jeffrey Chodorow could develop if he signs a lease on the enormous space at Broadway and 63rd Street. They include stellar risotto, traditional dim sum, and haute Lebanese — if only he doesn’t “blow it on another howler like Rocco’s or a limping dud like Kobe Club.” [NYP]
A Queens dumpling celebrity, a chef in northern China before transplanting to the U.S., has been persuaded to supply her specialty to TKettle on St. Marks Place. Get there early, though; she’s only agreed to hand-make 1,000 per day for the bubble-tea shop. [Eat for Victory/VV]
Two young female patrons of the Box have been abducted from outside the club and raped on separate occasions in less than a month, and the predator has not been apprehended. [NYP]
No, that’s not the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Photo: Melissa Hom
