Kathryn Erbe of ‘Law & Order: CI’ Isn’t Cracking Down on Her Cookie
In tonight’s season premiere of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Detective Eames revisits the murder of her late husband. Eames has a weakness for double-vodka martinis, but the actress who plays her, Kathryn Erbe, says her only remaining vices are sugar and caffeine. “I have a terrible sweet tooth,” she tells us. “I’m a cookie addict.” We suppose it’s better than being the sort of addict that she fights in CI — she is a mom and all. So where does the Brooklynite feed her habit?
The Underground Gourmet
Sandwich of the Week: BLT’s King Burger, in All Its Deep-Fried GloryNecessity may be the mother of invention, but never underestimate the creative potential of a kitchen staff with time on its hands and a deep fryer at its disposal. Take, for example, the culinary think tank that lies behind the swinging doors at Laurent Tourondel’s BLT Burger.
The Other Critics
Two Angles on Cafe Cluny; Meehan Devours ‘Avian Oddities’Loud, crowded and unimaginative, Cafe Cluny still hews closely enough to the Balthazar mold in both the front and back of the house to earn one star from Bruni. [NYT]
Paul Adams likes Cluny even better, calling the food “impressive,” and laying off the cultural context. He’s just here for the duck. [NYS]
Meanwhile, Peter Meehan is fascinated by the “avian oddities” served at all-chicken spot Yakitori Torys and writes enthusiastically, though not exactly convincingly, of the joys of eating chicken bones and necks. [NYT]
Back of the House
Restaurant Guru Predicts the Future, Assumes We’ll Eventually Get HungryMichael Whiteman — the restaurateur who, with his late partner, the legendary Joe Baum, created the Rainbow Room, Windows on the World, the Hudson River Club, and a number of other historically important places — has issued his annual predictions for next year’s restaurant trends, including “tropical superfruits,” “ethical eating,” and “wildly flavored chocolates.” The list is pretty wide-ranging, but if we were handicapping all ten wrinkles, we’d say the odds are on “chef-driven steakhouses” (as Whiteman has persuasively argued), “Japanese small plates” (i.e., izakayas), and “burgers with pedigrees,” like those promised by Joe Bastianich’s Heritage Burger (which we announced the other day). The long shots for ‘07? Peruvian cooking, those spice-flavored chocolates, and the popularization of molecular gastronomy (“equivalent to a gastronomic IQ test in which typical diners are all below average”). Then again, no one ever said we were the oracle.
‘Party-Colored Beets’: 2007 Buzzword Preview [Eater]
Remembering Joe Baum [NYM]
In the Magazine
Two More on the Burger Bandwagon; Hardly Any Space for BunsA blizzard of burger openings has recently hit the city: BLT Burger, Royale, the new Goodburger, and Fort Greene’s 67 Burger. And there are more on the way: Heritage Burger, the concept for which we recently sketched out, and the still-secret chef-driven East Village place that we announced in late October. This week, Rob and Robin introduce two more newbies — Stand and the convenient-to-text-message brgr — breaking them down by beef, bun, and condiments. It’s all practically enough to make you forget the name Shake Shack.
Burger Madness [NYM]
The Other Critics
Déjà Vu: Toqueville, Tasting Room, Frederick’s, and PeriyaliBruni visits the bigger-but-not-better new locations of the Tasting Room and Tocqueville, taunting them with the same number of stars (one and two, respectively) Grimes gave their old locations. [NYT]
Meehan turns his nose up at BLT Burger, agreeing with Augieland’s earlier assessment that the Kobe sandwich isn’t worth the extra $50 — and pointing out that you can get a better burger at BLT Fish. [NYT]
Moira Hodgson eyes the beautiful people (well, beautiful bankers) at Frederick’s Downtown and finds the food (including the “dish of the moment,” scallops with cauliflower and white raisins) makes up for the pounding techno. [NYO]
The Other Critics
Tapas, Talk of Town; Mexican, Not So MuchBruni two-stars Boqueria and agrees with Platt that the entrées, not the tapas, are where the action is. “Glossier than Tía Pol, cozier than Barça 18, Boqueria manages to have the virtues of stylishness without the vanity, luring relatively young, good-looking diners who turn out for the eating more than the posing.” [NYT]
Though things are looking up for Spanish cuisine, Paul Adams says “tequila trap” Papatzul, despite “complex, delicate, attention-deserving food,” isn’t doing much to lend Mexican cred. [NYS]
Perhaps Papatzul translates to “hit or miss”? [NYPress]
Meehan rolls up his sleeves for Ethiopian at Meskel and finds a dish that’s “the best thing to happen to East Village vegetarians in a long time.” [NYT]
Restaurant Girl’s skepticism about Frederick’s Downtown is eased by orzo fit for bathing and foie gras that makes her want to get a room. [Restaurant Girl]
At BLT Burger, Augie springs for the Kobe burger but finds the classic one does the trick just fine, thank you. [Augieland]
Tables for Two gets around to visiting L’Atelier, agrees the experience is spotty but “the food has the air of a miracle.” [NYer]
Addictive substances in Pearl Oyster Bar’s lobster roll? [Feisty Foodie]
Mr. Snitch
BLT Burger on Notice: Gourmet Competition Soon to ComeThis may come as a shock to Laurent Tourondel, who just opened BLT Burger yesterday, but another one of the city’s top chefs is about enter burgerland. We’ve been expressly forbidden from going into details just yet, but this cook, who is known for deploying the highest-quality ingredients and a downtown restaurant of august repute, told us he’s planning on buying out a popular East Village eatery and reopening it as a hamburger joint. He intends to close the deal in the next two weeks and open six weeks after that. We sincerely hope the process doesn’t take much longer than those two months — these burgers will no doubt contend for the city’s top burger honors.
BLT Empire to Storm Burgerland [Grub Street]
