Didnt take a picture but the falafel at Tanami with “black beer” tasted mighty fine today. And the place is as busy as ever
looks wonderful!
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busy as ever meaning lines around the block?
No, just too many cramped inside, and many ordering big orders. Before the Pete Wells mention it was a quick in and out. Not a complaint. Happy for them
LIBERTINE
We got the duck two ways, the gnocchi, the salad (“we need a VEGETABLE” - no we don’t, potatoes and mushrooms are vegetables!), and ended with the cheese. Oh wait, we also paid for the bread service at the end because the cheese course was a tea saucer of cheese chippings / shavings.
The gnocchi was the best dish of the evening - this iteration was prepared with a maitake mushroom sauce. Extremely flavorful, but sadly the gnocchi were really overcooked (soggy / mushy).
The duck… we had to send the breast back because it was so underdone we couldn’t cut through it with the (special?) knives provided. The confit with potatoes on top was delicious, but salty. When the breast came back, they had cooked it just enough for the knives to work. The sauce was flavorful. But the SKIN: completely flabby. How does that happen for a signature dish?
The salad was a nice enough salad, mostly frisee with a few baby butter lettuce leaves and a mustard and tarragon dressing. Maybe we should have gotten it after the duck to cut the richness of the unrendered skin.
We ended with cheese, which I mentioned already.
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BAR BOULUD
Two French meals in as many days may have been a bit much for me, but that’s how it played out.
We started with two pates – chicken liver and Normande – both lovely, theres rarely a misstep in that section of their menu.
We also had both the pastas on offer (a lamb ragu that was essentially Bolognese, and a mushroom prep) and the boudin blanc (which is my favorite thing on the menu).
The mushroom pasta was wonderful – garlic, chopped mushrooms, some breadcrumbs for texture, I think, and perfectly cooked pasta.
The ragu was tasty enough, but the pasta with it was completely overcooked (mushy and falling-apart campanelle).
The boudin… this was where I really wanted to scream. I have loved this dish since they opened: gently-cooked sausage laid on a bed of perfectly-seasoned potato puree, that’s all. Well, someone decided to “improve” this by browning the sausage, adding apples, and reducing both the quantity of the potato and its seasoning. (Saving grace is that I can buy the sausage next door and make the potato myself, still annoying because when I mess that up I won’t be able to blame them 
)
Dessert was fine to good – one we couldn’t really identify (complimentary for a birthday) but seemed to be pineapple mousse / gel with paper-thin layers of cake, the other was a lightly-flavored chocolate mousse with some crunchy bits and tiny cubes of brownie, very rich but very tasty.
Those pates, though. Always worth going back for.
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SCARR’S PIZZA
Thanks to @vinouspleasure pleasure for this nudge (his current favorite slice, after all!) for my house guest and I who were heading to the Angelika. Best NY slice in recent memory, perhaps ever! We were going to taste test at Joe’s after the movie, but it was still raining, and we were done with feeling soggy for the day.
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NUAA TABLE - Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
This is definitely not the typical neighborhood “thai” - but a refined and stylish spot, with refined and creative takes on traditional dishes and polished, friendly service. Our meal was a mix of dishes that read more thai and a few that reflected the chef’s NY experience (the latter, excellent tea-smoked pork ribs, and well spiced roasted brussel sprouts,
the former a beautiful scallop ceviche with dots of uni floating in a pool of delicious red chile sauce (not pictured)
a pink grapefruit miang (presented unmixed)
lovely purple flower dumpling filled with spicy peanut and pork mixture,
a salad suitable for wrapping in lettuce leaves, of crispy rice balls and sour northern sausage chunks
eggplant and tempeh
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I was on my way to Scarr’s the same day, but had to make an emergency trip to Brooklyn and settle for a terrific slice duo from Lo Duca in Newkirk Plaza. Six brothers run the place. Chanced are named Lo Duca
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How did they get those dumplings purple and gold?
I think I didn’t take any pictures, but had a “last night” omakase with my L.A. friend (who had never had one) at Tanoshi. No corkage fee for your wine bottle (in fact, no help opening it beyond the loan of a wine key–proud I managed not to cork the thing!), and they gave us a bucket to keep it cool. There are two halves of the restaurant, and we were in a small space with a sushi bar and 5 other diners.
Omakase was just over $100, and we splurged and ordered a couple of extra nigiri pieces from the long list on the wall. My friend (whom I met during my first grad school experience thirty years ago) and I very much enjoyed this no frills, delicious meal. Fish was all uber fresh, and I took great delight in watching her enjoy every new bite. She didn’t really know what to expect, and was blown away by the experience and let me know it was the best sushi dinner she had ever had.
There are three seatings (6:00, 7:30, 9:00) and we ate at the early bird one. I had been a bit worried that we might feel (be) rushed, but really not so. I would call the service efficient rather than rushed, and we felt that we were ready to leave and had enjoyed our meal at the end. I don’t remember if we were offered anything for dessert, but neither of us would have ordered dessert in any case. Still, N.B. the neighborhood (York Avenue between 73rd and 74th Streets) is kind of a wasteland (at least it seemed so to my clueless eyes). I didn’t see a little cafe or ice cream parlor, but perhaps there is one around some corner…Also, they have a 48 hour cancellation policy. It’s a small space, and I imagine the margins are very small indeed. Still, worth the trip, IMO.
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Here’s an article that explains the dumplings better than I can. https://hot-thai-kitchen.com/chormuang-flower-dumplings/
I assume the gilding is added, perhaps with a brush, after cooking. Its a remarkable thing to see in a NY restaurant
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Wow, thanks @JenKalb! Butterfly pea flowers! Would not have come up up with anything close. And as a bonus, the article you flagged explained how the petals were made! (I didn’t want to even think about asking that question!)
I’ve been there for lunch. It was ages ago, but I remember it being very good.
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Ha! I thought of you, thought it a place you would enjoy! It does look like it has been around for “ages,” and then some! Very relaxed!
This reminds me a lot of Kalaya in Philly. Gorgeous dumplings there as well, and refined, upscale Thai food.
So, second night NYC. After lunch at Los Tacos No 1 Midtown, I was invited for dinner at Le Pavillon, the Boulud restaurant at One Vanderbilt.
Starter was a positive surprise: the plate looked a bit ordinary imho but the ris de veau were good. 7.5/10.
Main was a Dover sole, but crusted in some concoction of herbs and breadcrumbs. And then paired with brown rice. I actually had a hard time eating it: the rice was too salty with a weird aftertaste and the fish was dry and tasteless. The coating didnt’t help at all either. 6/10.
Dessert was appel strudel with ice cream - always good but hardly a special dish.
My dinner partners had duck (good) and lobster (somewhat disappointing) as mains.
I’d rate it 7/10. The restaurant lacks a bit of soul imho and that was shown in the dishes.
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What are the sweetbreads sitting atop of? More rice?
Yes, I believe so, but quite soft, and tasted a little sweet. Did not make a pic of the menu.
