I know what makes it great. I’m just not as reverent as you are about pizza. This is not a character flaw, or a lack of understanding. It is an opinion.
Apologies, it was not my intention to imply it was a character flaw.
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I feel like I’ve gotten into something like this before. I thought it might have been the time I posted about not being all that thrilled with samosas, but I can’t find anyone coming at me about that, so it must be something else.
Maybe it was when that weird guy grabbed all the clam shells off your plate at Randazzo’s?
A duel narrowly avoided.
Same way I feel about barbecue. Everyone with a smoker that turns out a good brisket thinks they have mastered the art.
Embarrassingly I also admit as a pizza obsessive, top quality Neapolitan pies are fairly indistinguishable to me.
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We let our kids pick a restaurant for their birthdays, our oldest chose Ma•dé, we had the tasting menu with an a la carte order of the lobster dumplings.
Our kids loved the meal, my wife and I thought the food well prepared but lacked the pop and flavor we look for in Indonesian food. My favorite dishes were the stuffed squid, fluke sashimi and the dumplings.
Best,
Ps apologies for the mid-meal photos, also there are several dishes missing.
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I wonder, do you think this is the kind of place you could have asked for more spice? certainly you should have been able to get some sambals. It really looks good on paper and your photos.
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we did it for our group meal last night - the $30 starting gift covered at least most of our tip for the 6 person meal. Thanks for the recommendation - I will see how the account works in future!
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I was bummed last night at da Michele that my Nerano pasta was sort of stodgy - even more so that I recommended it enthusiastically and 3 other diners followed my lead. They did not complain but I think that was too much for the kitchen to do the dish really well. (my excuse for them) For those who dont know, Nerano (named after a small coastal town in the Sorrentine peninsula) Is typically sauced with a simple combination of fried zucchini ,cheese, olive oil and basil.
We ducked into Quatorze, a 40 year old French bistro on the UES with a reputation for offal (in the best way). Kicked things off with a goat cheese tart, then I went full-on old school with calves’ liver, onions, and bacon. My wife played it safe and chose trout with caper sauce. Every bite was delicious.
Also, a PSA: Amex Platinum recently hiked their annual fee but added a quarterly $100 Resy dining credit. Today’s the last day of the quarter, use it or lose it! Quatorze at $100 off was a wonderful bargain.
best,
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Sounds like a good dinner at a nice price. However, I’m not sure that Quatorze has much by way of offal (or a reputation for it). Other than your liver dish, which is readily available elsewhere, I don’t see any offal on their menu.
I hadnt realized that this 80s place had an UES branch…we thought it was too expensive for us back in the day, surely it wasnt. LOL. A nice possibility. Anyway, here is evidence of an offal commitment though - not surprised about the source
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Thanks for posting, Jen, I wasn’t sure if the article was behind a paywall. @SteveR, something tells me the first thing you’ll do after reading it is figure out how to join the organ meat society.
I was conidering a slice of that beautiful pate’ but turns out the spinach goat cheese tart and two entrees was plenty.
I have to admit to having a subscription to his substack after years of dissing his taste LOL so I did not know whether it would be readable since it came straight up on a search.
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lol, me too, but I’m enjoying his substack more than the village voice articles. Still, I’m not sure how well my palate maches his, I typically don’t enjoy his chinese food and pizza recommendations.
I’m sure I mentoned this before but for $5/month, I think it’s well worth supporting his subtack.
It’s the same block as AOC right?
I can’t remember which one I went to last year: perfectly adequate saucisson, country pate, cassoulet, and something else, but I left puzzled by how exceedingly popular it was with neighborhood folks vs the level of food (I know, I know, location).
ETA: it was Quatorze, just looked at pics of the tables.
I think its popularity stems from the lack of French restaurants on the UES, the undemanding palates of its residents, and the food itself, good, if unexciting, bistro comfort. Hard to expect much more from a neighborhood spot just a short walk from our apartment.
best,
We had a couple of nice French bistrots here in my neighborhood during our first years in Brooklyn and we always enjoyed the food - it was not pretentious but it was very tasty and FRENCH. They were also economy conscious and usually offered a good prix fixe. Traditional french food is not in favor these days and its quite a loss - quite a fall from the heights a few decades ago, maybe time for a revival. I am glad someone is carrying the tradition forward and we will have to give Quatorze a visit one of these days.
