(600th Post!) Donde Dinner? - 267 Flatbush Avenue

Donde Dinner? wants to make your next dining experience an adventure. So, every Friday, we pick a restaurant and post its address for you. The catch is, that's all the information you get. No name, no type of cuisine, and no Googling. But first, here's last week's address:

85 Avenue A = Somtum Der

This week's restaurant follows typical Donde Dinner? fashion. Price, quality, and accessibility have all been taken into account. You won't be waiting at the bar for two hours with $15 cocktails and you never have to worry about a dress code. Just hop on the train, or your feet, or your bike, and head to:

267 Flatbush Avenue (map)

Tacos in Santa Barbara

Funky Fresh Pressed to Impress - a tortilla press and fresh tortillas on the griddle at La Super-RicaIn talking to folks from Santa Barbara (servers, concierges, bike rental guys, avocado farmers etc.) we got the impression that, as far as tacos are concerned, there are three places to go: El Bajio, La Super-Rica, and Lilly's. We ate at all three and found that each place weaves their own unique thread into the blanket of seaside taco options.

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East to West to North to East

Our trip to California was far and away one of the greatest we've taken. After spending our first weekend in Santa Barbara, and then a night in Venice, we worked our way north up Highway 1, camping along the way and doing so completey void of an agenda. The only things we made sure to do were keep the windows down and have camp setup by nightfall. It's been four nights now since we sat in the woods beside a crackling, orange fire, but the first thing to hit our senses while unpacking this morning was a waft of campfire smoke.

It'll take some adjusting getting back to New York City's grind, but as we do, we'll share some pictures and stories. Some of which have to do with food, like tacos in Santa Barbara and the vibrant restaurant scene in San Francisco's Mission. But some are about the people we met along the way. Though, somehow, those too have to deal with food. So stay tuned, we have a lot to share.

L.A. for a Day

We hitched a ride to LAX to get our rental car and decided last minute to stick around L.A. for the day/night. We stayed in Venice for the most part, walking the boardwalk and cruising up Abbot Kinney, but burritos were had in Santa Monica and a fantastic dinner was eaten in West Hollywood at Animal. The kind of cooking they do there reminded us of the no holds barred approach taken in Montreal, at the likes of Au Pied du Cochon and Joe Beef, where the menus are made for people who like food and dislike diets.

Because we're on the go, and since internet service doesn't come with the view in Big Sur, we wanted to leave you a taste of our quick L.A. visit. Here's some pictures and a YouTube link to the song we're going to play as soon as the wheels of our Mazda hit Highway 1. Turn it up, and maybe it'll put you in the passenger seat.

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A Quick Walk Through Santa Barbara

State Street is the main artery of downtown Santa Barbara. Most of the action happens on the 15-block stretch of State between the Pacific and Micheltorena Street. At the ocean, State turns into a pier and runs out over the water for about 200 yards. Northeast passed Micheltorena, residential properties trump commercial storefronts and things quiet down.

But if you keep on, turn left on East Mission and walk to De La Vine, you'll come to McConnell's, what many locals consider the town's best choice for ice cream. There are scoops, cones, shakes, and malts. And with flavors like cookie dough, chocolate chip, Turkish coffee, and chocolate cappucino, the menu offers a fun mix of old and new.

Sea urchin roe (uni) is a local delicacy. It thrives in Santa Barbara's cool, salty water and much of the world's inventory comes from right off the coast. The best way to indulge is seaside, at the hands of a diver that will cut open the spiny orbs and scoop out the orange meat for you. If that can't be arranged, there's Arigato Sushi and Hungry Cat on State and Chapala (respectively). We ate at Arigato. Our meal was exceptional, cheap by New York standards, and enjoyed at the bar with an avocado farmer down from his ranch.

If the beaten path isn't you're thing, there's an abundance of killer tacos on Milpas northeast of State Street - El Bajio and La Super-Rica (pictured). Though our favorite were Lily's, closer to the water and just a stonesthrow from Highway 101 at the southern tail of Chapala. Lily's only does tacos. The options are beef, marinated pork, steamed beef, head, cheek, tongue, lip, and eye. They're $1.60 each and they're easily some of the best tacos we've ever had. We'll chat more about them, and our dinner at Arigato, when we get back to New York.

Our stay in Santa Barbara was short. Too short. We can still feel the warm air, cool wind, and easy vibe that blows in from the Pacific, bounces off the rigid mountainside, and hangs over town. We could stay for a long, long time, but it's off to L.A. for a day and then back on the road. Highway 1 driving, Big Sur camping, and a weekend in San Francisco await.

If You're Going to San Francisco

That's what we're taking to California. There's some clothes and toiletries, but those things don't help when it comes time to cook breakfast over open flames deep in the redwoods. We're flying into Los Angeles and driving north up Highway 1, camping along the way and ultimately landing in San Francisco. We've never been, so we reached out to some friends for some help putting together a Where To Eat list. We came up with more than we can chew in the time we'll be there, but here's what's on our radar: Flour + Water, To Hyang, Bar Tartine, Tartine Bakery (croque monsieur?), La Boulange (croque madame?), Burma Superstar, Bartavelle, Swan Oyster Depot, A16, El Gallo Giro and El Farrolito in the Mission for Mexican eats, and The Alembic Bar and Trick Dog to wash it all down.

We're psyched to share pictures of Big Sur, Carmel, Monterey, and Santa Cruz as the beauty of said towns unfolds along the way. And of course, food photos won't be too far behind. Stay tuned.

Midtown Dining With Giorgio Armani

[john lei for the ny times]We missed Frank Bruni's 2009 blog post about Armani Ristorante and it seems that was our chance to hear about the restaurant. But places like Luksus, Estela, Piora, and Khe-Yo are all too new to review, and since another #NYFashWeek has come and gone, Pete Wells sheds some light on the swank Midtown eatery in the Armani store that opened just after the '08 market crash.

"The mood in the city was humbled, downsized, frightened," Wells writes of the gloom that washed over the city (country) in the fall of 2008, "and here was an expensive restaurant reached by a private elevator from the street or, better, a sinuous white ramp that twisted past two floors of gowns and luxury leather goods like a floating catwalk."

The expensive part rears its ugly head in the $11 price tag for bottled water and the $35 average entree price. But Wells enjoyed most of what he ate, namely branzino with salsa verde, langoustines with green apple, black risotto with speck-wrapped cuttlefish, and bone-in veal chop Milanese. Baby octopus, spaghetti with tuna belly, and tagliolini with mushrooms, truffles and langoustines not so much. Of the latter, the critic writes, "Removing one accessory, Coco Chanel-style, would have focused the flavors and helped lower the ridiculous $38 price tag."

Sandro Romano, the chef responsible for the good, the bad, and the ugly, hails from the Modern, where he worked for seven years as chef de cuisine before teaming up with Giorgio Armani. "While the prices aren’t quite so out of step with the times," Wells concludes, "nobody would describe Armani Ristorante as of the moment." But for the gentlemen that sit with uncanny leans and the women that walk with weighty purses, a two-star dining experience awaits on the third floor at 717 Fifth Avenue.

Midtown is tough. Although Armani Ristorante was awarded two stars, it doesn't fit what we've been calling the two-star template. Armani Ristorante's location, elegant room, and pricey menu go against the casual approach that thrives downtown and defines the two-star template. Given the competition and plethora of two-star restaurants to have opened of late that actually are of the times, we don't think Well's positive review will turn Armani Ristorante into a midtown juggernaut, especially not when recently reviewed Betony operates around the corner with a shining third star. [NYTimes]

Eat the Weeks; Aug 26th - Sept 6th

We have lunch at Harvey Cedar's Clambar on Long Beach Island in Jersey | Pete Wells awards three stars to Betony, the midtown newcomer from Eleven Madison Park alum | Donde Dinner? - 285 Grand Avenue | In lieu of a review, Pete Wells pens a piece about the custom of tipping - we weigh in with some thoughts | Donde Dinner? - 85 Avenue A