Reflections on this latest NBC effort at the Pink Pig today.
Not all bad by any means but I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw fish and meat being pushed randomly around the same space of the grill. Not a very hot grill either. And the booze prices were out of whack with the food prices.
St Anselm
Started by Wilfrid, Aug 08 2011 05:36 PM
73 replies to this topic
#1
Wilfrid
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Posted 08 August 2011 - 05:36 PM
Why live your life when you could curate it?
At the Sign of the Pink Pig
#2
Steve R.
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Posted 08 August 2011 - 06:06 PM
Twas on the top of my "must go there" list (probably for tomorrow or Wed dinner) till I read your report.
Dom is almost god spelled backward.
#3
Wilfrid
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Posted 08 August 2011 - 07:20 PM
I enjoyed two out of three dishes, remember, but the silliness of cooking everything together on the grill does kind of overshadow that. Mind you, the bone marrow and grilled bones (sold out) are perhaps more resistant to fishiness than straight cuts of meat.
Why live your life when you could curate it?
At the Sign of the Pink Pig
#4
Sneakeater
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Posted 08 August 2011 - 07:31 PM
The bone marrow might even benefit from it. (The steak sounds kind of disgusting.)
After that New York Magazine review, I'm surprised you can get within a block of this place.
After that New York Magazine review, I'm surprised you can get within a block of this place.
Bar Loser
#5
Wilfrid
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Posted 08 August 2011 - 07:35 PM
I had back up plans (Broolyn Star, Le Comptoir, etc), but found a seat at the bar late-ish on a weekend evening. A member of staff arrived with a clipboard as soon as I seated myself, announcing "We actually do have a waistlist for the bar..." Ah, okay. "But..." (checks clipboard) "...er, actually, you're fine." 
Why live your life when you could curate it?
At the Sign of the Pink Pig
#6
Orik
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Posted 09 August 2011 - 12:35 AM
Prune, kings of fishy steak, are still in business a decade later and doing quite well.
I never said that
#7
Lex
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Posted 09 August 2011 - 01:54 PM
Mmmmm ... fishy steak.
“I have a dream of a multiplicity of pastramis.”
"None of you get it." - Wilfrid (on the Beatles)
"I don't have time to point out all the ways in which you're wrong" - irnscrabblechf52
"None of you get it." - Wilfrid (on the Beatles)
"I don't have time to point out all the ways in which you're wrong" - irnscrabblechf52
#8
Wilfrid
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Posted 09 August 2011 - 02:28 PM
If I hadn't been watching the grill chef closely, I might have just thought the steak was a bit funky. They were selling plenty of them. Fishy steak is not inedible, just...well, fishy.
Why live your life when you could curate it?
At the Sign of the Pink Pig
#9
Lex
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Posted 09 August 2011 - 02:54 PM
Maybe the Williamsburg crowd isn't particularly discerning. It would explain a lot of things.
“I have a dream of a multiplicity of pastramis.”
"None of you get it." - Wilfrid (on the Beatles)
"I don't have time to point out all the ways in which you're wrong" - irnscrabblechf52
"None of you get it." - Wilfrid (on the Beatles)
"I don't have time to point out all the ways in which you're wrong" - irnscrabblechf52
#10
Stone
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Posted 09 August 2011 - 02:55 PM
They could use a good riot.
#11
Lex
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Posted 09 August 2011 - 03:12 PM
One of these days you're going to get your own TV show. You need a wider audience.They could use a good riot.
“I have a dream of a multiplicity of pastramis.”
"None of you get it." - Wilfrid (on the Beatles)
"I don't have time to point out all the ways in which you're wrong" - irnscrabblechf52
"None of you get it." - Wilfrid (on the Beatles)
"I don't have time to point out all the ways in which you're wrong" - irnscrabblechf52
#12
Wilfrid
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Posted 09 August 2011 - 05:10 PM
Ya think? 
I just can't understand how the owners and kitchen staff would be doing something nobody who cared about food would do at home.
I just can't understand how the owners and kitchen staff would be doing something nobody who cared about food would do at home.
Why live your life when you could curate it?
At the Sign of the Pink Pig
#13
Suzanne F
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Posted 09 August 2011 - 07:08 PM
Maybe they don't see their clientele as "people who care about food." Such people are probably in the minority, after all.Ya think?
I just can't understand how the owners and kitchen staff would be doing something nobody who cared about food would do at home.
But really, what you described about the use of the grill is just poor kitchen skills. It's no big deal to scrape the bars down frequently (like, before you place something on them). Been there, done that, working on a grill where I cooked tuna in a spice crust and chicken in coconut milk marinades, among other items. And unless the grill cook ("chef" is pushing it
) is brand new, he should know the heat of various areas, and place food accordingly. It's necessary to place something and then let it sit, otherwise it will stick when you try to rotate or flip it. But it's also pretty standard to move items from hotter areas, where they develop a crust, to cooler ones where they finish cooking. If he doesn't know the different temps of different areas, he needs to be trained better.
[M]ost of the pastas hover around $25. This ought to be enough to buy bucatini that is cooked on both ends. -- Pete Wells on Caravaggio ( * review)
Tonight, there was a dessert of coconut, rhubarb, and black olive. Obvious in its execution how innovation and experiment, when introduced for their own sake, are annoying. --irnscrabblechf52, May 9, 2013
notorious stickler -- NY Times
deeply annoying and nitpicking -- Molly O'Neill, One Big Table
#14
Wilfrid
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Posted 09 August 2011 - 08:12 PM
My observation was that he was trying to do just that. But judging by the time it took to cook steak even to rare, the cool center of two items served to me (artichoke and steak), and the lack of char on the steak (why grill it?), the hot areas of the grill weren't very hot.
I should also emphasize that the grill cook doesn't have a large area to work with, so steaks which need heat are inches away from seafood and vegetables wherever they're placed.
He scraped the grill down regularly, but using the same unwashed scraper. Just moving the grease around as far as I could see.
I should also emphasize that the grill cook doesn't have a large area to work with, so steaks which need heat are inches away from seafood and vegetables wherever they're placed.
He scraped the grill down regularly, but using the same unwashed scraper. Just moving the grease around as far as I could see.
Why live your life when you could curate it?
At the Sign of the Pink Pig
#15
TaliesinNYC
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Posted 10 August 2011 - 01:57 AM
My observation was that he was trying to do just that. But judging by the time it took to cook steak even to rare, the cool center of two items served to me (artichoke and steak), and the lack of char on the steak (why grill it?), the hot areas of the grill weren't very hot.
I should also emphasize that the grill cook doesn't have a large area to work with, so steaks which need heat are inches away from seafood and vegetables wherever they're placed.
He scraped the grill down regularly, but using the same unwashed scraper. Just moving the grease around as far as I could see.
You really know how to turn a phrase.
