the priya krishna/melissa clark thread

[Wilfrid]

To be clear, Kenny has passed away and his operation has moved around. I was talking about the original from a lot of years ago.

[backyardchef]

The original grocery store was great, but the tiny Essex Street Market space was truly special. 

[Wilfrid]

There are still lines for the newer, post-Kenny Essex Street space.

[small h]

1 hour ago, backyardchef said:

The original grocery store was great, but the tiny Essex Street Market space was truly special. 

I loved that place. Like a restaurant in a model train set.

[Diancecht]

our intrepid reporter discovers that $ talks

In interviews and messages, eight restaurateurs across the United States — who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they had signed nondisclosure agreements — said they had been offered cash deals from OpenTable that ranged from $40,000 to $95,000 to make the switch. (That’s a pittance compared with the $187 billion in swipe fees that American businesses pay credit card companies each year, according to the National Restaurant Association.)

This is because diners who frequent high-end restaurants are an especially coveted audience for credit card companies, as they “have more disposable income, higher net worth, higher credit scores,” said Nick Ewen, the senior editorial director at The Points Guy, a travel website that also reviews credit cards. In a report from the market research firm Mintel, dining was the No. 1 planned spending category in 2025 among customers ages 25 to 34.

[Orik]

I imagine that well is dry now that DoorDash bought SevenRooms and not OT

[MitchW]

1 hour ago, Orik said:

I imagine that well is dry now that DoorDash bought SevenRooms and not OT

Where's Door Dash get their $$ from?

[Diancecht]

they’re publicly held and not vc-backed as i had originally thought 

 

[Orik]

Opentable too is part of a public company (that also owns Booking.com, so you can tell where OT is going...)

[Diancecht]

supposedly this place is numero uno according to priya:

New York is teeming with Indian restaurants. Yet before Semma, a deeply personal tribute to the chef Vijay Kumar’s upbringing in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the city’s diners had never seen Indian food like this. Punctuated with chiles, coconut and earthy curry leaves, Semma’s flavors are lingering and loud, yet restrained. Its dosa is the best in the city: a crisp specimen that’s heady with fermentation and slicked with ghee and fiery gunpowder spice. Semma altered the course of Indian dining here, and four years on, Mr. Kumar’s food continues to feel fresh.

this year’s list

[mongo]

curry leaves are earthy now?

[small h]

Maybe if you bury them for a while.

[Wilfrid]

When I have guests that are both lingering and loud, I always wish they were restrained too.

[GerryOlds2TheReturnofGerry]

PK stepping down as critic, continuing as a reporter. https://www.instagram.com/p/DKpgvEQPmrm/

[Wilfrid]

Interesting Instagram response by Rosner. Is she telling us she knows who the new critic is?

helenr

 

 18h

If you need to offload the wigs I know a guy

[small h]

Time to close this thread!

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/business/media/nyt-restaurant-critics-announced.html?unlocked_article_code=1.OE8.U345.Se6BoTclmWhE&smid=re-nytimes

[Wilfrid]

Oh that all sounds so great...

ETA: One positive if you get far enough into the article, anonymity is canceled at last. Not before time.

 

[Orik]

But also the nyt restaurant critic role is sort of cancelled. 

[mongo]

i think that happened already when they let priya krishna do it for a year.

[Wilfrid]

1 hour ago, Orik said:

But also the nyt restaurant critic role is sort of cancelled. 

Yes. 

[relbbaddoof]

3 hours ago, Wilfrid said:

anonymity is canceled at last

Yup. "we are more or less 86’ing wigs,"

Personally, I think it was PK's penchant for wigs -- didn't she at one time boast of 10? -- that did her in. I only have six and they've sufficed at Foxface.

[MitchW]

Well, we have this to look forward to:

Quote

It is deeply un-New York to eat so early, but you want it all: the last of the afternoon light burning through the windows, then sunset’s long orange smear, blue night massing like a thunderhead, and all the buildings coming on like constellations.

In her first review as our new critic, Ligaya Mishan checks out the View, the revolving Times Square dining room with a nostalgic menu and a stunning panorama of the city.

[small h]

1 hour ago, MitchW said:

this to look forward to

Or to fear. Or to dread. Or to hide from.

[MitchW]

I'd hate to leave this thread only to Melissa and Priya, so here's today's little gem from Ligaya:

Quote

Washington is home to the largest Ethiopian population outside Ethiopia, so Mr. Onwuachi gives cornbread a swath of shiro butter, made with ground chickpeas simmered into silk and fevered with brick-red berbere, the purr of chiles tempered by sweet-warm cardamom and cloves.

A swath.  Simmered into silk. And fevered. Before purring.

[Orik]

Quote

Washington is home to the largest Ethiopian population outside Ethiopia

I don't even need to look it up to know it can't be true.