52 replies to this topic

[Sneakeater]

If you remember, in the early days of Spice Market, we were all pretending we were eating Gray Kunz's food.

[Rich]

If you remember, in the early days of Spice Market, we were all pretending we were eating Gray Kunz's food.

Speaking of which, where has he gone?

[oakapple]

If you remember, in the early days of Spice Market, we were all pretending we were eating Gray Kunz's food.

Speaking of which, where has he gone?

Hopefully not the same place as Joe DiMaggio.

Actually, I think I heard that he was opening a place in Asia. Waiting for the right time to return to New York.

[oakapple]

I was skeptical of visiting ABC Kitchen for the same reason I am skeptical of any new Jean-Georges Vongerichten place. Too many of them are precious, over-thought, and derivative. Whatever quality they have diminishes rapidly after Vongerichten moves to his next project—which takes him all of about a week.

So I was surprised to find that ABC Kitchen is not bad at all.. We tried six dishes and really liked five (a greasy pork terrine being the only dud).

This just might be the JGV place where his detachment is a good thing. Any restaurant that takes the farm-to-table concept seriously needs to change the menu pretty frequently. That requires a chef who is thinking for himself. I haven't heard of Dan Kluger, but he has two Danny Meyer places on his resume, so presumably he knows his way around a kitchen. The best scenario for this place is that Vongerichten lends his name and doesn't interfere, in which case it will depend on a chef who is present, rather than one who is absent.

The restaurant was full on a Friday evening—and not, from what I could tell, with ABC Home shoppers.

[Rich]

I was skeptical of visiting ABC Kitchen for the same reason I am skeptical of any new Jean-Georges Vongerichten place. Too many of them are precious, over-thought, and derivative. Whatever quality they have diminishes rapidly after Vongerichten moves to his next project—which takes him all of about a week.

So I was surprised to find that ABC Kitchen is not bad at all.. We tried six dishes and really liked five (a greasy pork terrine being the only dud).

This just might be the JGV place where his detachment is a good thing. Any restaurant that takes the farm-to-table concept seriously needs to change the menu pretty frequently. That requires a chef who is thinking for himself. I haven't heard of Dan Kluger, but he has two Danny Meyer places on his resume, so presumably he knows his way around a kitchen. The best scenario for this place is that Vongerichten lends his name and doesn't interfere, in which case it will depend on a chef who is present, rather than one who is absent.

The restaurant was full on a Friday evening—and not, from what I could tell, with ABC Home shoppers.

So it was like a magic carpet ride...???

[joethefoodie]

I liked it too, oakapple.

[ulterior epicure]

I don't know who Jay Cheshes is, but he seemed to really, really like it.

[Sneakeater]

Why is Ryan Sutton the only reviewer who seemed to feel the way I did about this place?

[Rich]

Why is Ryan Sutton the only reviewer who seemed to feel the way I did about this place?

Secret Identity???

[joethefoodie]

Why is Ryan Sutton the only reviewer who seemed to feel the way I did about this place?

I doubt you really felt like Sutton did. 'Cause it's not what you wrote. And guess what? Sutton, atfter eating food like this:

"Mushrooms must’ve been steamed in grease; there’s no other way to describe the slimy fungi. Bigoli pasta was so salty as to be inedible. A side dish of endive, ham and gruyere was baked into bland, watery submission. Overcooked lobster’s claws had a Styrofoam-like mealiness. "

still gives it two stars.

Which really confuses the fuck out of me.

Maybe we need a Ryan Sutton what are you smoking thread, instead of all the Sifton bashing. It's obvious, Sam's not the only "questionable" writer of reviews.

[oakapple]

Sutton, atfter eating food like this:

"Mushrooms must’ve been steamed in grease; there’s no other way to describe the slimy fungi. Bigoli pasta was so salty as to be inedible. A side dish of endive, ham and gruyere was baked into bland, watery submission. Overcooked lobster’s claws had a Styrofoam-like mealiness. "

still gives it two stars.

Which really confuses the fuck out of me.

Maybe we need a Ryan Sutton what are you smoking thread, instead of all the Sifton bashing. It's obvious, Sam's not the only "questionable" writer of reviews.

Bloomberg, like the Times, uses a four-star system, but it defines the stars differently. At the Times, one star is "good", and zero stars is satisfactory, fair, or poor. At Bloomberg, two stars is good, one star is fair, and zero is poor.

Now, you've quoted the most damning paragraph of the review, but you didn't quote several others in which he mentioned dishes he liked—even loved. So what we've got here, according to Sutton, is a restaurant where your meal can be very good, but you have to order the right way. Over the years, the Times has given tons of one-star reviews (meaning "good") to restaurants just like that. Bearing in mind that two stars at Bloomberg equal one at the NYT, Sutton's rating is defensible. He's averaging out the best things on the menu (very good or excellent) with its unevenness, and arriving at "good".

I don't like Bloomberg's system, as I think one star ought to be a compliment, rather than just "fair". But if that's your system, it also follows that a lot of mediocre-sounding places are going to wind up with two stars.

[Wilfrid]

The straight restaurant review is starting to seem otiose, as places are previewed into the ground, then reviewed twenty or thirty times in their first month of operation. So I am consciously rambling and getting a few things off my chest when I discuss ABC Kitchen at the Pink Pig.

Not a bad restaurant, but one taken too much at face value by a number of critics.

[Orik]

I can't remember seeing portabella on any non-pub menu, very innovative of them.

[Wilfrid]

I don't mind a portobello mushroom, but like the single big tomato, it's a bit anti-climactic after all the talk of the finest, fresh, local, seasonal, market-driven ingredients.

Come to think of it, the tomato could have used some fresh herbs on it.

Thinking about it, my review would have much worse if not for the scallops and the remarkably beautiful busser.

[wingding]

I stopped by for a light lunch last week,which they are good at-cold green pea soup and some mackerel ceviche were tasty,satisfying on a hot day.Great lime basil drink.But when I heard the waiter discussing an heirloom-something ridiculous that I now can't remember-special,it was very hard not to burst out laughing.I'm all for green restaurants,but don't hit me over the head with it,and make me feel silly for eating there...