US dining visit.

[munchers]

some advice needed,
Im going to New York, and i really want to dine in good restaurants. At the moment iv book a table at DB moderne. Has anyone got any ideas.
look forward to hearing from you all .

[Mezzaluna]

Munchers, you can do a search on this board for some ideas. I hang out at a travel board (Slow Travel Talk - on the Slow Travel message board) that has restaurant reviews, too. I think I have a few of my own there as well (also under Mezzaluna).

[Cat Man]

Try dining at DANI on Hudson St. 333 I believe
Don Pintabona is the chef/owner.
Very talented...He was Robert Dinero's chef at Tribeca Grill

Also, try RM, Rick Moonen's restaurant...the food is outstanding

The Cat Man

[munchers]

i really oppreciate you advice on this matter, im going to take you up on your reccommdation to dine in east of eight. Im so looking forward to it. Ill let you know how I get on.
ciao for now.

[Suzanne]

Alas, Rick Moonen has folded his tent (or rather, his sails) and moved to Las Vegas.

You should look at some of the food boards where restaurants are discussed at length: Mouthfulsfood.com, eGullet, and the Chowhound boards for Manhattan and the rest of New York City, aka Outer Boroughs.

And since you are an instructor, you might want to eat at L'Ecole, the restaurant that is part of the French Culinary Institute. The staff are all students at the school, supervised by chef instructors. Not always a great meal, but very good for the price, and something you might be interested in seeing.

[Cat Man]

Chef Rick didn't abandon NYC's RM, he just opened a second location in Vegas under a management deal. I believe he gives them 3-5 days per month, but still spends a great deal of time in his flagship

Cat Man

Originally Posted by Suzanne

Alas, Rick Moonen has folded his tent (or rather, his sails) and moved to Las Vegas.

You should look at some of the food boards where restaurants are discussed at length: Mouthfulsfood.com, eGullet, and the Chowhound boards for Manhattan and the rest of New York City, aka Outer Boroughs.

And since you are an instructor, you might want to eat at L'Ecole, the restaurant that is part of the French Culinary Institute. The staff are all students at the school, supervised by chef instructors. Not always a great meal, but very good for the price, and something you might be interested in seeing.

[Suzanne]

rm occupied the site where, a couple of incarnations earlier, Match Uptown was located. I know; I worked there for almost two years (and I had trailed at Moonen's Oceana back in 1997 right out of culinary school). Since sometime in 2005, the space has been Philippe. Check your Zagat's, Cat Man, sweetie.

[Cat Man]

Sue (if I may call you that?)
Thanks for the heads up. I was unaware, because last time I spoke with Rick, he told me he had no intention of abandoning his NYC restaurant. I used to really enjoy eating upstairs at the chef's counter.

Now I'm going to have to call him and find out what happened. He was very proud of that location.

Cat Man

[munchers]

Suzzanne
Thanks for that . If i can convince the boyfriend to come ill try the L' Ecole. We have a simular type here and also it's a hit and miss at times.

Im getting more and more excitted about the thought of going to NYC mostly for the eating i have to add.

I'll keep you posted. What do you both think about a magazine called Pastry and art / Chocolatier. Im going to purchase them if i can get my hands on them. Any other mags that would be good to get????

[Suzanne]

Are you mainly a pastry person, or are you interested in the hot side, too? Food Arts is one of the better professional magazines for both sides (more substance, not just adverts), although it might not be easy to find in stores.

[Suzanne]

Another suggestion, very high-end: Gramercy Tavern. I was just there last night with a couple of friends (one ovo-lacto-vegetarian, the other "pescatarian" -- me, I'm the lone omnivore ) and we had a wonderful meal. The chef, Mike Anthony, has been there about 9 months, and has really hit his stride. Everything was perfectly cooked and very boldly flavored, with the most beautiful seasonal vegetables and other ingredients. The service was exquisite, and not just because we were friends of the house -- they were very solicitous of the table next to ours, a couple of women who seemed quite new to fine dining. The place was just rereviewed last week and got three stars (out of four).

[bluedogz]

Ahhh.... good restaurants in New York....

The New York dining experience consists of, among other things:

- eating fresh bagels curbside on Broadway at 4AM, watching the sanitation guys drag-racing their garbage trucks.
- ordering from a nameless restaurant in Chinatown, wondering if the waiter understood you or anyone else when he nodded at your order and returned with a soup pot full of snails in garlic sauce.
- hot pretzels eaten with mustard in the freezing cold next to the Rockefeller Center ice rink.
- realizing that thing you thought was a biscuit on your plate is actually a challah-battered onion ring.

Sure, Zagat can get you all the four-star grub you want, but I'll take the college-student tour anytime...

[shroomgirl]

or a combo.....cheap eats and fine dining....or something in between.
challah onion rings? never heard of them....what are they?

Bet the pastry people can weigh in on who's doing interesting things in NYC.

[munchers]

Well im having a ball of a time.
We ate in the east of 8th and i loved it, so did the boyfriend and his sister. We ate really well, the food there is mixed flavours. We all rated it with excellence. The boyfriend is going there again in September with an other irish friend thats visiting. Im really jelious.
Last night we ate in db moderne, wow it was really good. I have to admit that i loosen't my clothes from over eating, i just couldnt stop the flavours where electric.Thats how well we ate there. Id really go back there in a flash when i come back in a year or too.
Next restaurant we are eating in is tonight is a thia restaurant.Not sure where we are going but ill keep you posted. Im really looking forward to it.
Thanks for all your help in choosing places to eat. If you are ever in Ireland / dublin dont hesitate to ask me.

[OregonYeti]

When I worked at Hewlett Packard I had a couple of Irish friends who were there for training. They were sent a Christmas package. There was a big slab of Irish smoked salmon that they didn't care to have and they gave it to me. What a treat that was!