1:45 am Blue Ribbon: the place was full and there were people waiting. Luckily got a two-top right away. Last call for kitchen and bar 2 am.
That was the second 1:53 am of the night (fall back).
Insane wine list with very reasonable markups.even on highly allocated shit.
Pretty much my ideal foie gras terrine. Plenty of toast.
Strips were fried zucchini.
No soccarat, but tasty. Great meal.
KJUN
squash amuse
Jambalaya crossed with kimchi fried rice makes so much sense. Neglected to photograph the greens, slightly sweet and sour, excellent. Nice light lunch. Friendly place. No liquor (yet?), BYOB with corkage.
I’ll go back for fried chicken etc. Had to save my appetite for dinner.
Zimmi’s
pissaladiere (tarte salee)
ratatouille with lots of chanterelles and other unexpected seasonal vegetables
levain: good though coming from Berkeley Helen Rosner’s rave seems a bit much
legumes frits: pumpkin, fennel, sage
socca: herb salad made it kind of like a bánh xèo or tostada, top dish
tete de veau: I was getting full
A lot of bottles on the list you can buy half and they’ll sell the rest by the glass.
trompe l’oeil petits farcis
omelette
artichoke soup
bitter salad
quince tart with “very vanilla” ice cream
madeleines with bitter orange marmalade and butter
Okdongsik lunch. I think I was the only non-Korean customer.
Soup was pretty bland. I wonder if it’s the same as when Pete Wells raved about it in 2023?
Mandoo were great.
After 6 there’s a cute cocktail bar in back, George Bang Bang.
they serve gomtang, which by nature is quite bland. maybe it’s an acquired taste. sullungtang, gomtang (and not the same but also Pyongyang style naengmyeon) are quite bland and it takes maybe about 10 tries to come around to it if you’re not familiar with the style.
I’ve had simple clear broths with deep, rich flavor. This wasn’t that. Nor did it seem like what Pete Wells described:
best of all is the pork broth. I can’t remember the last time I tasted a more delicious liquid that didn’t contain at least some alcohol. … The broth tastes of beef, chicken, mushrooms or tomatoes — none of which go into making it.
yeah i wouldn’t really expect any deep, rich flavor from gomtang. it can be a comforting dish, but it’s certainly not notable for the flavor of the broth, at least from my experience with gomtang in Seoul and LA. it’s not going to be this simple but profound/haunting broth like a great owan, consommé, Buddah Jumps Over the Wall, Cantonese old-fire soup broth, etc. etc. fwiw, i’ve not found Pete Wells to have that great takes on East Asian food, though admittedly i don’t pay attention to many print reviews.
Gomtang broth is meant to be simple and delicate, not super porky or a flavor bomb like a shio or tonkotsu. It’s also typically served with salt on the side so you can adjust to your taste. It’s going to be pretty bland if you didn’t add any.
It’s nice and comforting but not like, wow life changing.
They did not offer salt. The broth was seasoned properly, but I think the rice was unsalted.
I suppose the number of Korean customers at 2:15 on a Tuesday means they were getting what they expected.
Keeping it dark all night? Or will there be light?
McSorley’s should be a world heritage site.
Does anyone order light? I didn’t see any.
President Abraham Lincoln drank at McSorley’s!
Borgo
Oddball wine, Savagnin from Etna. I can’t find a retail price so no idea what the markup was. Interesting wine list albeit mostly out of my price range.
Poached? quince was delicious but kind of overpowered the cosciutto.
Focaccia was reportedly inspired by focaccia di Recco of Nancy Silverton / Chi Spacca fame, but has a lot less cheese. Reminded me of a flour-tortilla quesadilla.
Puntarelle with green olives, cheese, and onion was good though overly complicated. Left me craving the traditional version.
Ravioli showed up while I was half finished with the puntarelle so I sent it back. Good but kind of like the puntarelle, the mushrooms, cheese, and walnuts didn’t really make a coherent dish for me.
Sausage with lentils, broccoli rabe, and onions was really good though I was too full to eat much. Lots left over for my friend I met at McSorley’s.
Ended with more quince.
Good, friendly service. The glitch with the pasta was stated to be house policy, serve the pasta with the apps, then clear the table for the secondi.
Stretch Pizza Park Ave.
Potato chip salad: lime slices were also crunchy chips. Fun to try, wouldn’t order again.
Old Town: should have ordered slices since they were available, but this was the most Dufresne-ish item. I was expecting crisp but instead it was more neo-Neapolitan tender. Good flavor. Didn’t taste the pumpernickel.
Grape soft-serve like PB&J. Fun.
If I was passing by and wanted a slice while they’re available I’d get one, but otherwise I’m glad I tried it but not likely to go back.
I love that place.
If you see the egg yolk pizza on the menu, get that. Doesn’t seem to have been an option on your visit, but it is awesome.
Four Horsemen, 10 pm on Thursday.
New-to-me grape. Good.
Tartare with tendon crisps. Didn’t Plum used to do that? Great combination.
To my surprise beets were warm. Really good.
Good but by this point I was stuffed.
Great stuff, like a lighter version of Chartreuse.
Great meal. Justifiably a tough reservation.