1134 replies to this topic

[Sneakeater]

within a few blocks of Ssam Bar you have:

Kasedala, a couple different ramen places, Momofuku Noodle, Degustation, Hearth, Knife & Fork, Mermaid Inn, Il Posto Accanto, Mo Pitkins, Casimir, E.U. and more.

Just to pick away at this:

You're gonna WALK INTO Degustation (with a party of more than one)????????????????????????????

You're gonna WALK INTO Noodle Bar and not have a long wait???????????????????????????????????

[Nathan]

I'll say it again:

but this is the great thing about NY! with a few exceptions....you can just pick a neighborhood to eat in when you agree to meet your friend...and then end up wherever circumstances lead.

thats' bliss.

no, I wouldn't recommend doing that in Tribeca at 10:30 on Sunday night.
or the UWS.

but take Bedford & Downing, you have:

Ino
AOC Bedford
3 different Blue Ribbon establishments
Mas
Ditch Plains
Barfry
Market Table
Deborah
Little Owl
that Portugese place
Snack Taverna
Pegu Club
Chumley's (when it reopens)
that bbq place
that noodle place
that pizza place
Rare
Bellavitae
that pretty good Indian place on Bleecker
and more.

at least five of those options are really good.

at least ten are more than good enough...probably 15.

Why is that better than KNOWING you're going to eat somewhere good (and pleasant) (and comfortable), and not having to wait to meet someone on some street corner (since one of you will undoubtedly be late)? (Of course, you'd probably actually arrange to meet in a bar or something. But why is THAT so much better than just meeting in a restaurant?)

spontaneity is a good in and of itself. plus, different restaurants have different energies on different nights. and different people have different energies on different nights.

have you never walked into a restaurant you planned on going to and thought "I just don't feel like eating here tonight"? it happens to me all the time.

[Wilfrid1]

Okay, let's erase the ones I wouldn't want to finish up at (and the ones impossible to identify from the descriptions, and see where we are:

Ino - sandwiches, basically
3 different Blue Ribbon establishments - usually a long wait
Mas - the communal table is possible, but anything else is hard without a reservation
Ditch Plains - yeah, okay
Barfry - mm, tempura bar
Market Table - haven't been
Deborah - small, is it really easy to walk in?
Little Owl - famously difficult to walk in
Pegu Club - er, bar snacks
Chumley's (when it reopens) - if it re-opens
Rare - swanky bar snacks

Let me concede that bar snacking is easy. There's not much in that list resembling a dinner destination where you're likely to get seated.

Reservations (and cancellations) are so easy in comparison.

[Nathan]

I think Nathan deserves congratulations for forebearing from saying this is generational so far.

I don't think it is.

[Rich]

Just as an aside - the title of this thread includes the word "squaresville." The last time I heard that word was on the Doby Gillis Show and it was uttered by one Maynard G. Crebbs (circa 1958).

[Wilfrid1]

within a few blocks of Ssam Bar you have:

Kasedala, a couple different ramen places, Momofuku Noodle, Degustation, Hearth, Knife & Fork, Mermaid Inn, Il Posto Accanto, Mo Pitkins, Casimir, E.U. and more.

It might amaze you to hear that I know that.

Sigh.

Degustation, you need a reservation, especially if you're more than two.

Hearth was full.

Knife + Fork is tiny, and you need a reservation.

Mo Pitkins has significantly downscaled its food operation.

I wouldn't bother with Casimir.

I would hardly bother with E.U., but it's not at all easy to walk-in, and it's not that nearby. Kasadela, which is fine, is not that nearby either: Second Avenue to Avenue C.

[Sneakeater]

I think Nathan deserves congratulations for forebearing from saying this is generational so far.

I don't think it is.

If it isn't, I think your preference is extremely idiosyncratic (which is not to take anything away from it).

[Daisy]

within a few blocks of Ssam Bar you have:

Kasedala, a couple different ramen places, Momofuku Noodle, Degustation, Hearth, Knife & Fork, Mermaid Inn, Il Posto Accanto, Mo Pitkins, Casimir, E.U. and more.

Just to pick away at this:

You're gonna WALK INTO Degustation (with a party of more than one)????????????????????????????

You're gonna WALK INTO Noodle Bar and not have a long wait???????????????????????????????????

Right. There were at least six of us, maybe even more.

For me, it really depends on what I am doing and who I am dining with. I fully intend to walk in somewhere in my neighborhood tonight and without a reservation. I do it a lot on weekends because I end up doing something spur of the moment. But I have friends and family who I would never ask to do this because it would not make them happy. So I defer to them.

And if you want to go to Le Bernardin or Hearth or even Red Cat to,say, celebrate your sister's birthday with a party of four to six then you had better have a reservation.

[Nathan]

we both know ebb and flow can be weird.
last night at Ssam bar there were a bunch of empty seats at 8:30.  at 10 every seat in the house was taken.  on a Tuesday night.

[Sneakeater]

Just as an aside - the title of this thread includes the word "squaresville." The last time I heard that word was on the Doby Gillis Show and it was uttered by one Maynard G. Crebbs (circa 1958).

It's because I was reading the Louis Menand piece in the New Yorker about Jack Kerouac at breakfast this morning.

[Wilfrid1]

we both know ebb and flow can be weird.

Totally. That's why it doesn't govern my valuable leisure time.

[Nathan]

THIS THREAD BELONGS ON THE NY BOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wilfrid1]

Just as an aside - the title of this thread includes the word "squaresville." The last time I heard that word was on the Doby Gillis Show and it was uttered by one Maynard G. Crebbs (circa 1958).

The title has disappeared, but just as an aside, it's because I was reading the Louis Menand piece in the New Yorker about Jack Kerouac at breakfast this morning.

There will be a critique of that in the Pink Pig on Friday. Maybe that's why I posted "hip jive" this morning.

[Orik]

THIS THREAD BELONGS ON THE NY BOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, it does not. It's a general thread about nothing.

[Rich]

THIS THREAD BELONGS ON THE NY BOARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, it does not. It's a general thread about nothing.

Seinfeld???