77 replies to this topic

[Wilfrid]

I am sure we had a thread for this place, but I can find it neither using the internal search engine nor Google; searching for neither Saxon, Parole, nor Farmerie. Please combine this with an earlier thread if anyone can find one.

All I have to say is that my entirely inconclusive review of the place is at the .Pink Pig.

The truth is, S+P gallops off in so many different directions (steakhouse, seafood restaurant, American bistro) that one hardly knows how throw a rope around it. After my first dinner there, I convinced myself I needed to go back and eat a different way.

While I was sitting on this plan, other meals needing a review piled up, and I finally resolved to get it out there for what it's worth. I don't even blame the restaurant - Balthazar has a menu of similar scope. What I blame is having neither the time nor the expense account to visit every place two or three times.

[Daisy]

I think you nicely described what I'm going to term the place's 'identity crisis'. I have had some very good shellfish here and an excellent burger, and the cocktails are pretty good. I have a family holiday dinner coming up and it's definitely in the running, it strikes me as a good place for a largish group.

[Nancy S.]

My husband and I had cocktails here last night before going to dinner somewhere else. They were quite good. The bar was packed while we were there (from 8 to 9:15). I also liked the music selection.

[Sneakeater]

You should have tried their hamburger. It has an egg on it.

[Nancy S.]

You should have tried their hamburger. It has an egg on it.

Ha! I welcome the levity. Thanks.

[Wilfrid]

Ryan Sutton is not happy.

... just another $16 glass of red at a crowded New York hotspot. Such a transactional style of delivery one might expect from the UPS man, not at a restaurant charging $22 for an Archipel cabernet sauvignon or $25 for a flute of Ayala Brut Majeur.

..On arriving, some guests are offered coat check. Others aren’t. When your table is ready, about 15 minutes past the reservation time, you vie to flag down the bartender, because the host won’t transfer any checks.

Worth a read.

[Wilfrid]

If it has to be one or the other, I'd choose Danny Meyer-style manic enthusiasm any day of the week.

[oakapple]

If it has to be one or the other, I'd choose Danny Meyer-style manic enthusiasm any day of the week.

And so would I. Honestly, the enthusiasm for Brad Farmerie is somewhat beyond me. I've paid five visits to his various places and really liked only one (Monday Room).

[Orik]

Two expressions of the same class of service.

$25 for a glass of Ayala.

I hope it comes with some lubricant.

[irnscrabblechf52]

i have to admit, i find the obsessive recounting of price in the review to be a little gauche and unseemly.

[Orik]

Sutton's price hike persona tends to take over, but I think a $25 flute of Ayala is getting close to Per Se wine pricing, making it fair game given that S&P is not Per Se.

[oakapple]

i have to admit, i find the obsessive recounting of price in the review to be a little gauche and unseemly.

Sometimes, when the prices are way out of line (as he seemed to believe here), it is the best way of explaining precisely what is wrong with the restaurant. Most people these days expect a restaurant critic to address whether the restaurant offers good value for the money, and not merely whether it is good in the absolute sense.

[nuxvomica]

this type of wine service is so prevalent all over town. hate not seeing the bottle. (and, yes, especially at those prices.) another reason why i like eating at the bar

[Adrian]

i have to admit, i find the obsessive recounting of price in the review to be a little gauche and unseemly.

Sometimes, when the prices are way out of line (as he seemed to believe here), it is the best way of explaining precisely what is wrong with the restaurant. Most people these days expect a restaurant critic to address whether the restaurant offers good value for the money, and not merely whether it is good in the absolute sense.

Price can be a signifier of more than value as well. Huge markups can say much about the type of crowd the restaurant hopes to attract, which can sometimes say things about the seriousness of the food. Bottle service being the most obvious example.

[irnscrabblechf52]

i have to admit, i find the obsessive recounting of price in the review to be a little gauche and unseemly.

Sometimes, when the prices are way out of line (as he seemed to believe here), it is the best way of explaining precisely what is wrong with the restaurant. Most people these days expect a restaurant critic to address whether the restaurant offers good value for the money, and not merely whether it is good in the absolute sense.

the point can be made in a short analytical graf, substantiated with representative figures. it does not need to be made by obsessively annotating the piece. it is essentially a rhetorical choice, one that i find both unpersuasive and off-putting.
furthermore, i always assume that restaurants do not offer good value unless that is explicitly articulated. good value is relative too. for instance, it is idiotic, value-wise for me to ever drink wine at a restaurant instead of buying wine myself. not the case for most on this board.