Dan the Man

[robert wright for the times]Pete Wells has given one four-star review in his 15 months as critic for the New York Times. Reviews of this sort are few and far between, which is not surprising when you consider the shift in restaurant trends over the past few years. Casual and small has become the new fancy and grandiose. Loud is the new quiet, and downtown is definitely the new uptown.

There has been a handful of three-star reviews though. Ichimura at Brushstroke was the last recipient back in September. Before that is was Atera, before that The Nomad, Kyo Ya before that, and Il Buco Alimentari e Vineria was the first on February 14th. Today, Wells has another for the Dining Room at the Modern.

The eight-year-old Danny Meyer restaurant was reviewed by Frank Bruni shortly after it opened in 2005. He gave three stars to the restaurant's Bar Room and two to the Dining Room, where on a recent visit, Wells found, "the cooking has more focus and intensity than I remember from the early days." He writes, "Sweet apple-wood smoke made its way into every bite of a sturgeon and sauerkraut tart topped with a glittering vein of caviar. It was elegant and powerful, like the pairing of a luxuriously soft poached egg with squid-ink spaetzle, sea urchin, roasted salsify and fragments of black truffles."

Executive chef Gabriel Kreuther's food matches the artistry found throughout 9 West 53rd Street. "He is bold with color," writes Wells, "painting salmon crimson with a marinade of beet juice, or drawing a dark green stripe of powdered Kaffir lime down the center of a monkfish fillet resting in a gorgeous sauce of blood orange and mustard."

The review breaks a streak in covering newly opened restaurants. It's a breath of fresh air that proves it's OK to get dressed up for dinner, and that, after running restaurants in New York for 30 years, Mr. Hospitality's still got it. [NYTimes]

Le Cirque is a Family Affair and There's a New Book To Prove It

[photo: digest ny] sirio maccioni gets a laugh out of danny meyer at le cirque's book launch partyA Table at Le Cirque: Stories and Recipes from New York's Most Legendary Restaurant, authored by Sirio Maccioni and Pamela Fiori (above), is the first ever cookbook about Le Cirque. Published today by Rizzoli, the book showcases the restaurant's nearly 40 year history with New York City via recipes, stories, and candid pictures of Maccioni family members fraternizing with the likes of movie stars, musicians, and presidents. The restaurant hosted a book launch party last night and Digest NY was lucky enough to attend.

Brothers Marco and Mauro Maccioni were shaking hands with the room while Marco's wife sang and provided a soundtrack to the celebration with the support of her band. Danny Meyer showed up. Terrance Brennan was there. So too were Alain Allegretti, Marc Murphy, Jefferey Zakarian, Michael Lomonaco, and Florence Fabricant.

The future of Le Cirque has recently become a topic of much concern after the restaurant received a negative one-star review from Pete Wells. Shortly after the review, Mr. Maccioni was looking for a new chef. In addition to the pending chef shuffle at Le Cirque, the Maccioni family is readying to open Sirio Ristorante November 1st at 795 Fifth Avenue between 60th and 61st. Sirio Ristorante is taking reservations, Le Cirque is taking resumes. 

It's a busy, stressful time for the Maccioni family, but their talent as gracious hosts trumped all concerns last night at the launch party. A Table at Le Cirque solidifies the restaurant's contribution to New York's restaurant and fine dining scene. When Le Cirque opened in 1974 it took a French lean, largely due to the fact that certain ingredients essential to Italian restaurants were unavailable at the time. The French flair is simply a whisper of the operation, and while the new book reveals 38 years of Le Cirque's history, a night amongst the Maccioni's revealed a family tradition shared by generations.

The New Dinner Format at Eleven Madison Park Includes Beer from Ithaca Beer Company

“Flower Power”, “Cascazilla”, and “Partly Sunny” are some of the playful names of beer being made in Upstate New York.  They are all being brewed at Ithaca Beer Company.  Dan Mitchell founded the brewery in 1998 and has been committed to making quality craft beer ever since.  Last Friday, September 7^th, the public was given its first chance to taste “Picnic Basket,” the newest addition to Ithaca’s roster.  The difference between “Picnic Basket” and the other beer being made 30 miles south of Syracuse is Picnic Basket Pale Wheat Ale is only available at Eleven Madison Park.

Intrigued by the collaboration between one of the world's greatest restaurants and the small, Upstate brewery that is Ithaca Beer, Digest NY reached out to Eleven Madison Park to learn more.

Click to read more ...

The Nomad Will Bring Wanderers

The Nomad is the new project from Eleven Madison Park chef Daniel Humm and Will Guidara, EMP's manager.  The two started their own company together, appropriately named MadeNice, and the NoMad restaurant is the second property to their name.  The other being Eleven Madison Park, which the team bought from Danny Meyer last year.

The restaurant is opening in the hotel, at 1170 Broadway (at 28th Street), in the neighborhood with the same name, which stands for north of Madison Square Park.  It is in the vein of The Breslin and John Dory Oyster Bar, a hotel/restaurant concept with food as enticing as the decor.

Daniel Humm plans a more casual menu than EMP and will offer a la carte options that include a chicken dish with black truffles and foie gras that showcases his ability to pamper the palate.  As if the project needs any more credibility, they get Brooklyn cred for the Le Poulet, a beer made by Brooklyn Brewery specifically designed to wash down said chicken.

The restaurant opens Monday and will start taking reservations tomorrow.

North End Grill Fires Up Two Stars

This week, Pete Wells heads to North End Grill, the newest addition in Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group.  Floyd Cardoz is the chef.  He and his spice rack used to run the kitchen over at Tabla, before it shut its doors in 2010 after a 12 year stint.

No one is too pleased about the restaurant's location.  And despite a couple hiccups in the form of the dull room and lamb that seems to be an afterthought, Wells still finds much to revel in and awards two stars.

I'll Have a Shack Burger and a Star, Please

It sounds like Pete Wells got up on the wrong side of the bed before he wrote the  Shake Shack review.  He left the house with a star in his pocket and decided he'd give it to the Danny Meyer chain.

The Shake Shack empire has brought hundreds of jobs to NYC.  Positions that are filled mostly by the city's youth, a point that has worked for and against the burger chain as Pete Wells marks inconsistency as the recurring theme.