wd-50: memorable, yes. A favorite meal, no. Let’s just say that it wasn’t my engineered popcorn cup of tea.
I still miss Annisa, a place we went a # of times for celebratory meals. Chef Anita Lo was always on point.
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The wife of a friend of mine works at the New Yorker. She told me Calvin Trillin told her to call him “Bud.” I was so jealous.
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I’m jealous by proxy.
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Same.
Does the magic also work if you’ve always called him “Bud” behind his back?
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Was looking for something and found this predecessor thread I had forgotten about, so linking it here for continuity (or ocd, potayto potahto).
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Daughter Sue and I walked down to Claro on 3rd Ave (Brooklyn) for a late lunch on Sunday. Fixed price 3 course brunch all very good, interesting drinks too and mezcal pairings (we didnt bite on the latter). Very veg friendly, interesting and effective mix of ingredients and flavors. Sue’s main course short rib mole bowl was particularly delicious. We definitely want to return to sample their dinner menu (currently, like the brunch, a tasting menu with multi options) Very nice servers and vibe
Chilaquiles negros
Tostada de atun with oranges, pasilla viniagrette , avocado and chicharron
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Also, if it’s not ridiculously hot out, they have a very nice backyard/terrace!
Thanks for the reminder. I havent been in over 5 years for no particular reason. Well, the Michelin star didnt help (me)
Who knew it had a star! They are very low key about it; didn’t even mention it in their blurb about the restaurant: https://www.clarobk.com/about/
Guess they really, really want to attract you, who is mostly interested in restaurants “on the cusp,” but not awarded! 
It is a nice terrace, cool and breezy on a muggy Sunday afternoon.
And the place was surprisingly empty at 2:30 pm.
You know, @Ziggy , we had never been before in all these years.
I think their evening tasting menu is $80 probably, with drinks and tortillas a much better deal than the good but not great dinner I had recently at non-Michelin Buttermilk Channel which cost me all in$109 for a main, a salad a glass of their least expensive wine and half a dessert. Prices in Downtown Brooklyn are definitely up there.
But I wonder how their fusion cuisine would stack up to your mexican experience.
We do like Alta Calidad up here on Vanderbilt quite a lot, similarly ambitious
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Oh dont get me started on Michelin in NYC again This is not even the strangest one. Somtum Der, Danji come to mind. I’m glad I enjoyed them unknowingly “on the cusp” when it was still easy to grab a table.
You can also order a la carte from the bar menu, but probably need to sit at the bar if I recall.
yes thats right.
Lakruwana, Staten Island today for the buffet. Stood in the friendly line for our mid-afternoon meal. Food offered was good not great - the pork curry was the best dish for me along with the dry coconut sambal - I think its called pol sambol. Very mild, little spice of any kind and onion relishes had been sitting around too long IMO. The kale dish was very fresh and coconutty but not much else, the devil chicken was cooked well but little spice and I couldnt figure out the seasoning in the eggplant though it was savory. Dal was good. Going back I would definitely order from the a la carte menu, there were no hoppers, string hoppers, fish, lampries etc at all on this good but plain buffet menu. Beautiful place, mellow friendly hosts.
Rangoon Took my daughter out to dinner to the Crown Heights location last Friday and had a nice meal at a high top (very few indoor tables here). Onion fritters, mango shrimp salad and pork stew with tea leaves were all good but flavors were maybe not as bright as they could have been. Pork was very high quality, beautifully cooked and a decent serving for sharing but to while I appreciated its quality, I feel like I enjoyed a similar dish with smaller pork pieces, and a higher quotient of tea leaves and other vegetables at a burmese hole in the wall in jackson heights many years ago much more. I cant be the only person who prefers green or green-ish mango in a mango salad? the texture and sharpness are to me a lot more enjoyable than slippery ripe mango slices. Very good cooking going on but I wonder whether the Crown Heights operation has been affected by the Chelsea opening. Still worth a visit if in the area.
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I was there not long ago! And I concur with your assessment. Also, it was really fucking hot in there.
I have a Calvin Trillin adjacent story. Way back in the late 80s when I was in grad school I did a summer internship at a big New York firm. I became friends with another intern. He had a party one weekend and invited me. He was living on Grove Street. I walk into this most amazing brownstone with a yard and this massive tree in the middle of it. My friend tells me it’s Calvin Trillan’s home. Apparently he would go away for the summer and would rent out his house to grad students who were somehow connected to him or through people he knew. I recall wandering around the house just amazed by its contents and owner. Spent a decent amount of time in that house over the summer. So it was like I was connected to him but once removed.
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I was just looking at this the other day. Thanks for the report (and the fancy font color gets special mention!)
Oh, that is cool! My friends used to live in ee cummings’ old house (on Patchin Place), but I’m pretty sure all his stuff was gone!
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