1568 replies to this topic

[Wilfrid]

Primehouse NYC has "lite aged" bone-in filets at two sizes. Morton's too, although I haven't been to a Morton's in many years.

[oakapple]

Me too, but heaven knows where. Possibly craftsteak?

Last place I distinctly remember ordering it was Harry's Steak in FiDi (photo here).

[Orik]

A three star restaurant has, or should have, different considerations than those of your neighborhood butcher or 16oz steakhouse. You can't hang your tenderloin together with the fat capped parts because you don't really want the various molds flying about the locker to attach to its surface, but if you have a clean locker (and I mean bleach clean) then you can easily age fillet and trim it as necessary. The result, though, is going to be more liver/game flavored than the mineral/penicillin combo people are used to, and I didn't get the impression EMP thinks highly enough of its diners to serve them something that challenging.

[FoodDabbler]

I recall in my early days of steakhouse-going in the States ('90s), filet mignon being heavily promoted.

I first had filet mignon as a relative newcomer to the U.S. in 1978. I was treated
to it as the most expensive offering on the menu by somebody I was seeing who was
trying to atone for having gone to an orgy without me.

Ah, the seventies!

[g.johnson]

Me too, but heaven knows where. Possibly craftsteak?

Primehouse. And Strip House offer it as a special.

[splinky]

I recall in my early days of steakhouse-going in the States ('90s), filet mignon being heavily promoted.

I first had filet mignon as a relative newcomer to the U.S. in 1978. I was treated
to it as the most expensive offering on the menu by somebody I was seeing who was
trying to atone for having gone to an orgy without me.

Ah, the seventies!

the standard apology meal for getting screwed out of an orgy is a whole lobster and a porterhouse steak. you got cheated twice

[Orik]

Israel's Ha'aretz Newspaper (equivalent of nytimes) reviews EMP. I don't know the current critic, but he seems to have eaten in all the right places, and easily nails it.

http://www.haaretz.c...views/1.1716050

Some snippets (my translation):

"... I felt like a penguin with a head cold after receiving celery ice as an amuse, jamon ice, two ices for dessert... It'd be forgivable if there'd be some culinary justification... take for example a dish of uni with celery milk ice. On the face of it, brilliant - the metallic tang of celery would balance the sweetness of the uni... could be fantastic... but the celery milk was so dominantly acidic that it made the uni vanish altogether. They could have equally used orange silly putty... maybe it was orange silly putty, my frozen taste buds couldn't tell..."

Some due mockery of the brilliant tongue in cheek presentations of local staples:

"...The meal's most complex and creative dish was an attempt to replicate the new york deli experience in one course. A dish covered with a large glass dome was presented (yes, folks, tableside smoking is still an attraction in nyc) accompanied by cream cheese dotted with (a tiny amount of) caviar and some toasted rye and another plate with bagel crumbs topped with quail's egg (an ever so slight hint at a bagel and egg ) and a bowl of pickles..."

"...it seems that the examples above clarify the nature of the current crisis in nyc's high-end restaurant (and not just nyc's) - the availability of excellent ingredients, once a primary advantage of these top tables, has vastly improved the second and third tier tables, and the velocity at which new and advanced techniques are being distributed has also narrowed the gap between the former masters and their students..."

"There's no shortage of asinine ceremony - EMP is one of those places where every sip of water causes a waiter to top the glass, but unlike some places (in France, primarily) where this happens with silent grace, here this happens with such ineptitude* that I considered abstaining from hydration as it felt like I was putting the waiter in misery."

"...flavor is not a top priority..."

And so on and so forth... concluding:

"EMP, despite all its awards and accolades is polished, rich, gorgeous, and mediocre. Some may say this may be a fair personal interpretation of nyc at the turn of the 21st century."

* the hebrew word used here doesn't have a good equivalent... the grace of an elephant waiting tables at Swarovski's cafe, say.

eta: google translate, almost readable:

http://translate.goo...views/1.1716050

[Sneakeater]

You would think a food critic from fucking Tel Aviv would know the difference between Deli and Appetizing.

[Orik]

You would think a food critic from fucking Tel Aviv would know the difference between Deli and Appetizing.

Why?

(Do you think the waitress at EMP knows the difference?)

[Sneakeater]

Why? Because he might know some Jewish people in New York.

[Orik]

I doubt any Israeli critic or foodie without American roots has heard the term, it's just not that widely used.

[Sneakeater]

You miss too many International Jewish Conspiracy meetings. We talk about it all the time.

[Orik]

I get the transcripts from the Mossad, but they black out anything that has to do with Plotnicki.

[Adrian]

An attempt at high level analyses of EMP in forty words or fewer:

When I lived in New York, I never went up the Empire State Building because it was “for tourists”. Last summer, I went up with L’s family. It’s beyond awesome, even if there are taller, more architecturally impressive buildings elsewhere.

[Wilfrid]

Seems to be a lot of smoke and mirrors in this new "overhaul." The most obvious change is making $195 the entry price for the tasting menu; a reaction, surely, to what Brooklyn Fayre, Blanca, Atera et al are doing, and one which we predicted.

ETA: Although I have to say, this is far from clear...

The grid menu will remain, but it will now be blended with a tasting menu of about a dozen dishes. The $195 price will be the same as for the restaurant’s current tasting menu, but a $125 option will no longer be available.