What’s in a star?

Babbo, Avenue Q, Annisa, Teodora, Esca, Mesa Grill, Devi, Danube, The Fat Black Pussy Cat

I’ve gotten to the point where the Zagat guide is no more than a useful address guide and now I’m beginning to wonder about the Michelin guide as well. 2 and 3 star restaurants are understandably very good places. Most of the ones that I’ve eaten at here in NYC seemed well worth the rankings they received. The problem seems to be in that larger 1 star category. I have a copy of the 2007 Michelin guide that I got for free from Opentable and while reading it the other day I realized that they claim that the star system is not a relative system; meaning, a 1 star restaurant, regardless of cuisine, is judged against all others. This can lead to some confusion as there are many more 1 stars than 2 and 3 stars and when you dine at some of these, you really notice how vast the differences can be in the quality and execution of the food. Service and comfort in the restaurant is another matter and Michelin has an equally odd system of fork/spoon symbols that can be black or red. Recently, in the span of a month or so, I went to four 1-star Michelin restaurants and had a wide range of experiences. Mind you, this mostly due to personal preferences, but my wife’s opinions pretty much mirrors my own. It really makes it hard for me to believe that the system is unbiased and isn’t grading on a curve almost to benefit cuisines that traditionally have not executed in as sophisticated a manner in NYC.

Since the beginning of October 2007 and the second week of November I’ve gone to Babbo (1 star), Annisa (1 star), Teodora, Esca, Mesa Grill, Devi (1 star) and Danube (1 star). I also went to a bar / lounge called The Fat Black Pussy Cat last night. Let me start with this one.

Fat Black Pussycat

130 W 3rd St
New York, NY 10012

I went here for one of my closest friend’s birthday party. His girlfriend arranged the event and she was told she’d get a table for 15 people and the dedicated space for the event could accommodate 25 people. More like, the table and surrounding benches / couches / stools could reasonably accommodate 10 and the space 15-20. When we got there at 9pm it was relatively crowded, but to a reasonable level. The waitress was very friendly and asking if everything was alright. Fast forward to 12am and she was unable to keep up with the hordes and masses of animals they pack into that place. You go to a place like that to hook up with potential people to mate with, right? Don’t try and tell me it’s for the food or ambiance because the music is blaring and loud and I didn’t see many signs of people eating. I don’t know how anyone could hook up because you cant even hear the person 6” inches in front of you and there are so many people in there it reminded me of what it must be like to be a pig or a cow in on one of those mega farms – the kind that ensure we always have a fresh supply of beef and pork in our supermarkets but basically provide the animals with no movement or life. That’s what this place was like. So unless you’re hoping that someone potentially gets so sick of being in that madhouse and just begs you to take them home, I don’t see how anyone could engage a potential mate in any sort of conversation. I really don’t see the appeal of why New Yorkers think this is a cool thing to do – I would gladly blow several hundred dollars on a fancy restaurant any day and be home hours before these guys begin congregating in the slaughterhouse.

Teodora

141 East 57th St
New York, NY 10022

My wife had been raving about this place and I figured I might as well go so that I could establish my restaurant credits with her. Basically, for every one place I go that she likes, I get to go to like 10 or 20 places that I like. Trust me, it works better this way. Anyway, she kept saying how all the people here were from Italy and how the pasta was handmade every day and how the lasagna was the best she ever had in her life. I just kept having these images of Italian immigrants crossing the border hiding in the back of a truck under bags of rotting onions….but I doubt that many Italians are trying to sneak into the country for a shot to work in a place like this. So we go and the place is decent enough. I needed to go to the bathroom so I went upstairs and there was a men’s room and ladies room. In the men’s room I heard a lot of running water and a lot of shuffling around. I waited and waited and waited – like the amount of time that women wait to go into a rest room – guys shouldn’t have to wait this long unless they are going #2. Maybe the running water was masking him going to the BR – the same way that at work you continually flush to create a loud noise to disguise what you are doing. But the shuffling? It sounded like he was fighting himself in there or building a dirty bomb or something. So I went into the ladies room – when the male Mexican cook finally came out.

I go downstairs and they ask my wife where she wants to sit – there are tons of open tables. She wants privacy and doesn’t want to be cold – so where does she sit? Up front, near the drafty door and near a table of three loud, idiot brokers / financial service workers. Go figure. If I had picked that table I would have had to hear about it all night. So, I don’t remember much because this was the middle of October, but I ordered a special of a long, wavy, think noodle with crab meat, asparagus and a red sauce. She got her magically lasagna that reverses the aging process. I started with a soup in a veal broth with tortellini of cheese and meat. It was pretty good (Cappelletti In Brodo Di Cappone Homemade Dumplings, filled with Veal and Parmesan Cheese, In Capon Broth). I had some doubts about whether the tortellini were fresh, but they may have been. If remember correctly, she got the Sformato Di Parmigiano (Parmesan Cheese Souffle with a Porcini Mushroom Ragout). This was also pretty good – it was creamy with the nice taste of parmesean cheese and the earthy taste of nice porcini mushrooms. So far so good. Then they bring the entrees. My entrée is a big pile of pasta and I can hardly see any crab. I have a bad feeling about this. She has her lasagna and I try some – yes the pasta is light, maybe too light for my taste, but the sauce isn’t that great. It reminded me of that overly kind of cheesy / sweet chef boy-r-dee kind of taste. My pasta was just pretty gross. There were little flakes of crab in it. They were so small they must have been those little hermit crabs that populate the shore early in the morning as the tide recedes. The combination of an immense amount of pasta and weak flavors left me able to only have 3 bites. I couldn’t do it. For dessert, I think she got Tiramisu and I think I got some sort of Crème Brulee. Total bill with tax and tip was $129.

Babbo and Avenue Q

I went to Babbo the week before I went to Teodora. One of my best friends and his wife was in town and we had been trying to go to Babbo together for a very long time. We planned to go see the show Avenue Q afterwards. Babbo was of course awesome. We sat upstairs and each got different apps, pastas and entrees. I don’t think I’ll have many problems remembering how much I enjoy this place when I get older, so I’ll write about Avenue Q. Avenue Q is an unfunny plan where liberals tell crappy jokes, sing bad songs, praise liberal tendencies and bash republicans and conservatism. The New York crowd loves it. New Yorkers have a horrible sense of humor – this play must do awesome in places like Vegas and San Fran. It just wasn’t very funny. It’s supposed to be honest and raw – like when some Oscar the Grouch character keeps insisting that the internet is only good for porn while some other character tries to defend the benefits of the Internet – but it just comes off as annoying instead of funny. The jokes were just flat and lame. I didn’t really see my wife or my friends laughing much either. But the crowd seemed to love it – go figure. And mind you, one of my absolute favorite shows is 30 Rock, which is by Tina Fey and stars Alec Baldwin – it doesn’t get much more left than that.

Annisa

13 Barrow St, New York 10014
Btwn 7th Ave S & W 4th St

My wife and I went with two other couples. The four other people also enjoy fine dining and we had all wanted to go to Annisa, so everyone was really looking forward to it. I’m always game for New American – a twist on familiar American food with fresh ingredients and new ideas. The restaurant is located in the West Village down a nondescript little block. Very hidden – you wouldn’t think to look there for a place like this unless you knew about it. The restaurant is small, you enter and the bar is to your right and the dining room is behind that. The décor is mostly white if I remember correctly. They had some very comfortable bar stools and large windows looking out on the street. We were seated in a booth and unfortunately, I sat right on the curve of the inside part of the booth, so it was a little uncomfortable. But I was in good company, so it was nothing. The gentleman that suggested we go here wanted to do the tasting menu – as did I, so I was happy with that I was going to get to try the range of the offerings from the kitchen. He was also very knowledgeable about wine, so I knew we would be drinking well too. I think we ended up going with the 5 course tasting menu. If I remember correctly, we had Salad of Lobster and Sweet Corn with Caviar and Sea Urchin to start. Everything was very fresh and the flavors just each pooped in their own right and went together perfectly. The pungency of the sea urchin binds things really well. Next was Seared Foie Gras with Soup Dumplings and Jicama. You receive a bog white spoon with the dumpling on it. You bit into a piece of the dumpling and the liquid oozes out. The broth is delicious and the creamy, earthy taste or Foie Gras and the sticky, chewy perfect consistency of the dumpling make for a perfect little morsel. I think we had the Pan Roasted Filet of Halibut with White Maitake and Fava Beans. I seem to remember this being a bit on the bland side – nothing very special. The meat course was

Grilled Australian Lamb Tenderloin with Szechuan Peppercorn, White Soybeans and Garlic Chives. It was okay – I think you’d either really enjoy it or not be very overwhelmed by it. Something about the flavor of the grilled lamb – it kind of reminded me too much of street cart food in taste. Not that there is anything wrong with street cart food, but I’m here for fine dining. Clean, fresh, delicious flavors – not, “What kind of lunch can I get for $4 bucks or less today?” For dessert, I remember that they brought each of us something different. One of us got an apple dessert (surrounded by a sticky pool of caramel sauce), someone a chocolate log type creation, some sorbets I think…I can’t remember them all.

Overall, Annisa is a very nice place and the food is quite good. I can sort of understand the one star. The flavors are all very fresh and you can tell a lot of thought goes into the preparation. The service is kind of awkward and even though that isn’t part of the star equation, it is a part of the restaurant experience for me and my companions. Our portion of the bill with tax and tip, the 5-course menu and 2 or 3 bottles of wine was $255. I’m glad I had the chance to go with my friends; I don’t know that we’d go back on our own.

Esca and Mesa Grill

402 W 43rd St, New York 10036

At 9th Ave

You know, the more I go to Esca, the more I realize that I really enjoy the place primarily because of one utterly amazing pasta dish. I’ve gone a few times in the last few years and other thank that dish, it is just pretty good. Once I went for lunch I think and I got halibut cheeks with a meyer lemon sauce. Sounds great in concept but it was just very salty, fried fish chips with lemon sauce. Then I went back a few weeks ago with a long time friend and she ordered Nasello, a white fish dish and it had almost no flavor. Now I understand that some fish can be very subtle and that can be a good thing because you are just enjoying the clean taste of the fish. But this was bland and flavorless. My started of white anchovies with condiment was also unexciting and with little flavor going for it. However, I went with Maccheroni Alla Chittara with lump crabmeat and sea urchin as my main – probably the best pasta dish I have ever had. It is always, for the last several years been this good. The thick, perfectly cooked maccheroni combines with the full, meaty pieces of fresh, sweet crab and creamy, buttery, pungent and oozing sea urchin sauce. Desserts were also very nice – my friend ordered affogato, a personal favorite of mine – gelato with espresso poured over it.

The crudo is always very good here and I always seem to enjoy my meal, but I cant help but feel they serve up some weak dishes a little too often. I wont stop going though as long as they keep serving that pasta dish. That only is worth the price of admission. I should just sit at the bar and order that dish and save myself the rest of the tab. Total bill was $177 with tax and tip for 2 startes, 1 pasta, 1 fish, 2 desserts and 2 glasses of wine.

Devi

8 E 18th St
New York, NY 10003

I don’t know why I bother going out to eat Indian food and even more than that, I don’t know why I bother taking my mother-in-law out to Indian restaurants. She always wants to go to Indian restaurants (and Italian I learned during this meal) but she is never satisfied. I’m usually unsatisfied by the corny décor, clumsy service and eating the same food that my MIL (no, not MILF) cooks at home. I chose Devi because it received a Michelin star and I was curious to see how ‘refined’ Indian food would taste. Let me just say that I keep forgetting Michelin stars don’t have anything to do with décor and service (even though I think one should sort of correlate with the other) and I now wonder about how absolute they are as opposed to being doled out on a ‘relative’ basis.

I entered little Devi and was greeted by three youngish goofballs at the maitre d’ stand. By maitre d’ stand I mean the counter behind which they stuff everyone’s bags and jackets. My wife and MIL weren’t there yet so I sat at the awkward bar nearby two women. The bar is a small space situated very close to the table I was ultimately seated at. If I had known how popular the bar was and how near the people hanging out there would seem to my table I would have requested another one – oh, trust me, I’m no wilting violet - keep reading – I make a much better request of the staff.

So my MIL has this thing where she wants to order a million dishes and taste everything. I agree with her in concept but at most restaurants you’re asking for a huge tab if you do that. So we suggested the tasting menu to her and after a bit of explaining on the concept she agreed. They actually had a few choices for each serving so we would have an opportunity to try a lot of the menu. As for wine, if you don’t get a bottle then the wine by the glass selection is murky – they don’t serve WBTG from the wine menu – they have some ‘other’ bottles behind the bar. Not that I know anything about wine, except how to get drunk off of it, but I kept asking them to show me the bottles from which I was ordering glasses. I ended up having a pinot noir and a Riesling during my meal. I figured the pinot would be light and go with the rich food and that the sweet Riesling would help cut through the spicy offerings.

Here is what we had:

Dahi Batata Puri - wheat crisps, potato-chickpea salad, tamarind and mint chutneys, yogurt, chickpea noodles – this was fine and tasted exactly like what my MIL makes at home – my wife and MIL got this

Shakarkandi Ki Chaat - crispy sweet potatoes, toasted cumin, lemon juice, chaat masala - I ordered this. It was okay. The sweet potatoes combined with these Indian flavors were interesting for the first bite or two but I really cleaned my plate more out of hunger than because it was a wonderful dish.

Grilled Scallops - roasted red pepper chutney, manchurian cauliflower, spicy bitter-orange marmalade – I ordered these. The scallops were fine – not overcooked – I wished there was some more flavor though and that they hadn’t used the Manchurian cauliflower that comes with the other dish that is part of this segment. You are most likely eating with a companion and they will probably get that dish so you end up seeing too much similarity on the table – boring and not very imaginative. The bitter orange marmalade lives up to its name – I don’t know that it complemented the scallops very well.

Manchurian Cauliflower - spicy garlic-infused tomato sauce, scallions – this was very nice. It kind of reminded me of a refined version of some take-out Chinese food. My MIL swore she made the same exact thing at home. I don’t remember 1 time in 10 years that she ever made such a thing. I love Cauliflower and would be very happy if I could eat it this way more often. The spicy garlic and the sweetness of the tomato sauce formed a sticky sauce that coated the vegetables making it into a treat. Make Cauliflower this way and you wont have trouble getting the kids to eat it.

Ragda Chaat potato cakes, white peas, tamarind and mint chutney, chickpea noodles – I ordered this for course #3 – it was ok flavor wise – sometimes I feel like with Indian food there is too much going on flavor wise and this was a good example. Also, I’m so used to the spices and flavors of Indian food and it seems the same ones get used again and again making things taste similar.

Bombay-Style Tandoori Halibut bottle masala, coconut rice, spicy slaw – my MIL got this and I wasn’t very impressed by the piece she gave me. Kind of bland.

Masala Fried Chicken buttermilk brine, bone-in-chicken, warm mustard-oil potato salad, spicy slaw - My wife got this and it also wasn’t anything very special. I know that the flavors all sounds wonderful but just because you use the flavors doesn’t mean it results in a wonderful dish.

They also had Veal Brain And Liver Toasts veal with quail eggs and cilantro, liver with onion-tomato sauce and cinnamon as a course #3 option, but I wasn’t brave enough to try it here.

Four curse #4 my MIL ordered Jackfruit (Kathal) Biryaani basmati rice, potatoes and whole spices, kararee bhindi, raita and we had a lot of fun trying to find the supposed Jackfruit in the dish. I don’t like Jackfruit because it reminds me of the crappy American canned peaches. I couldn’t taste any sweet Jackfruit in her rice.

I ordered the Tamarind-Glazed Short Ribs warm mustard-oil potato salad, okra chips. The ribs had a nice crust, a good amount of meat on them on them and pretty good flavor from the spices.

My wife ordered the SIGNATURE dish of the restaurant - Tandoor-Grilled Lamb Chops sweet & sour pear chutney, spiced potatoes . She was brought out the most pathetic, wretched piece of lamb I have ever seen. The bone was about a foot long and on the end was a shriveled, unappetizing piece of lamb. She tried to cut into the yellow mush of lamb and it was either raw or just super fatty. It looked so gross. I jumped on the grenade and took a bite. I called the serve rover and demanded he take it back. Then the manager came over and was apologetic / offended that we didn’t like it since it was the chef’s signature dish – OK, so maybe it is, and it tastes like garbage, so maybe he was saying that this place is garbage then. He asked if she wanted another lamb but we told him to bring the ribs. She ended up taking the ribs home.

For dessert my Mil got the Emperor's Morsel (Shahi Tukra) crispy saffron bread pudding, cardamom cream, candied almonds. It was weird. Some little scrap of bread with cream on top. Not great. But my Fig Cake wine macerated figs, ginger caramel sauce, goat cheese ice cream wasn’t much better. The goat ice cream tasted a little more sour than I am used to goat cheese tasting. The figs were ok and the ginger caramel sauce helped them to go down.

The total bill was $254 for the three of us with 3 tasting menus, tax and tip and 4 drinks. I wouldn’t go back here not because it is bad, but because it isn’t that great. I’ll just eat Indian food at home or from a casual Indian joint in Queens or something. Why spend all that money when they aren’t executing at a level that justifies the prices? As for the 1 star, I don’t see how this place gets 1 star and then places like Babbo only get 1 star. Even though they say it is an absolute comparison based on their criteria, I think a factor of ‘relativity’ comes into play. Maybe it is better than other Indian restaurants that try to operate at this level but that doesn’t mean it merits a star.

Danube

30 Hudson St, New York 10013

Btwn Duane & Reade St

Now Danube is a place that I’ve wanted to go for quite some time. The cuisine is Austrian, which is different to begin with and it is one of David Bouley’s places. I love Bouley (the flagship restaurant) and I was hoping that this would be just as nice. The interior of the restaurant is gorgeous. A relatively small room, with very elegant and sophisticated coloring and décor. Lamps on the wall, rich looking colors, modern looking art, plush, purple velvet couches. All around a beautiful dining room. The staff is very attentive and professional. The main server immediately let us know that we could interchange amongst the three menus to create our own menu of sorts. We went with the tasting menu and made substitutions to fit our preferences. This fact alone made me so happy. They were so accommodating and friendly. Let me just say before I dive into the food – make a point to go here. It is a wonderful place. Do it for a special occasion with a special someone, or just to treat yourself to some of the best that NYC has to offer. Some people are dressed up and others are casual. The space is beautiful, the staff is great, the dining crowd is having a good time talking and laughing and the food is amazing.

We decided to go with the tasting menu and take things that sounded really interesting from the Austrian, Modern Eclectic and Chef Weekly Market Choices Menus. Without having a bite I told my wife I wanted to come back because there were so many things that sounded good on the menu. I knew if it was D. Bouley that the food had to taste good (my wife’s bad lobster experience at Bouley notwithstanding…we are going back there soon too).

Some things we didn’t get but that sounded great were Beef Tartare in a beef consommé gelle with wasabi mousee; honey glazed organic breast of Long Island duck with red cabbage, chestnuts and armagnac plum sauce; sea scallops with crabmeat in a coriander and lemon thyme sauce; lamb with chanterelle gnocchi, fennel and lamb jus and venison with autrian pretzel dumplings and sour cherries…so many good things I didn’t get to try!

We were served an amuse of a potato soup with shrimp at the bottom. I used a spoon for some and just downed the rest as a shot. It was warm and fresh and a great way to prep my palate for the good ness to come. For my starter I had a wonderful Waltz of Appetizers – several delicious little bites of food. There was one that was a play on a bloody mary (one of my favorite drinks) and in it was a fresh oyster. There was also an oyster with apple mint gelee, a crawfish cromesquis (kind of like a spring roll) with avocado mousee, a piece of smoked salmon trout with wasabi tobiko and a crisp portugese sardine. All very good. My wife had the seared Hudson valley foie gras with caramelized quince and macademis vanilla cloud. Even though I have had foie gras (via her) at many restaurants, I am always amazed at the way it can be successfully paired with accompaniments that enhanced the creamy, meatiness of the dish.

Next, I went with Alaska king salmon poached in olive oil with truffled potato puree. The salmon was cooked just perfectly and had that salmon taste without being overpowering. The taste of the fruity olive oil and the creamy, smooth potatoes complimented the fish perfectly. She went with an off menu dish of blue fin and hamachi tuna sashimi with key lime pickled onion, pumpkin seed oil and sesame mustard dressing. The server told us if we ordered dishes that weren’t part of the tasting menu that they would be reduced in size to fit the tatsing menu. That made sense to me and was fair. Her dish was a very generous portion – if that was the tasting menu portion then I’d be curious to see how much more of this fresh, delicious fish they give when you order it as a stand alone appetizer (which is what it normally is on the menu!)

For our mains, she went with baby pig with lentils, onions and caviar. I went with a dish my Mom made when I was growing up – Beef Goulash and Spatzle with a poached quail egg. My wife pork dish was good but my Goulash and Spatzle was amazing. She ended up exercising her Wifely Execute Veto privilege and forced me to switch plates with her. Goulash is thick, meaty pieces of beef with a sweet tomato sauce and spatzle is a pasta-ish type of item – these little shapes of dough with just the right amount of chew to complement the meat.

Before our dessert we were served a refreshing grape soup and elderflower gelee and sorbet. I almost forgot – I order an elderflower and sparkling wine concoction to start - it was great and recommend it to start the meal.

I don’t remember what she ordered for dessert strangely enough…I want to say it was a crunchy caramel and pear strudel. I do remember that I ordered off-tasting menu – the butternut squash – vanilla parfait with pumpkin seed oil, quince, pomegranate granite and apple cider sorbet. Basically like fall in a parfait glass. All wonderful, fresh fall flavors in a dessert with cold, crunchy, smooth and fruity flavors and textures.

Overall, the bill with tax, tip, 2 drinks, and 2 glasses of wine came to $290. Well worth it and as I said, worthy of a repeat visit. Downstairs they even have another private dining room. It looked very nice and cozy if you wanted more privacy, but it was really nice being upstairs in the beautiful main room with the crowd and their energy. It dining experiences like these that validate dining out as more than just a meal and elevate it to an entertaining evening where you are server, pampered and treated to a special experience.