Oct. 2026 trip report

robert · October 20, 2026, 7:24pm

Early dinner at Frenchette because they’re open Mondays and we could get a reservation. Quiet at 5:45 but filled up by 7:30.

Bobinet Aunis 2025, one of my current faves. My buddy thought it was a little light so got a fancy Chinon. More for me!

Soupe au poisson, classic, excellent.

Tartare de boeuf, classic, very good. My buddy would have liked it less heavily dressed so the beef flavor came through more, the server said he could get it that way by request. Fries good as usual.

Duck frites with bearnaise, excellent. So rich.

Braised caraflex cabbage, excellent.

Already stuffed but got a little cheese to polish off the wine.

Great meal, great service, love the atmosphere. My friend pointed out that it used to be Montrachet, which I’m sure I went to in the 80s but couldn’t remember at all.

robert · October 20, 2026, 7:25pm

Who farted?

robert · October 20, 2026, 8:47pm

Planning a big dinner in a few hours so a light lunch at Thai Diner, pad see ew and kang kung. Crispy fried tofu was a nice touch.

mzonelli · October 21, 2026, 1:03am

Glad to hear frenchette still crushing. I love that duck frites

robert · October 22, 2026, 7:58pm

Back to Somssi.

Menu seemed more cohesive than on my previous visit (first or second day after friends & familly).

I love how eclectic this is. Furmint and Pelaverga by the glass?

Pickles (jangajji) were really good, sweet-sour-salty, similar to bread-and-butter pickles. Chiles were not spicy.

This oddball (Roussane from Savoie is not common) was delicious, round and fruity.

Potato dish was great, a creamy croquette with a crunchy coating thanks to potato starch, wrapped in basically shoestrings. Caviar was gilding the lily.

Beef knuckle was really good.

Great grilled shrimp improved by crunchy chopped basically Corn Nuts.

Linguine al ragù with mustard kimchi was my favorite dish. Perfectly al dente, tasted very Italian with just a hint of Korean from the kimchi.

Branzino, excellent, glad we had bread to sop up the delicious tomato beurre blanc.

Tongue was great but I was getting too full to have more than a bite. Somewhere in there we switched to Chochin Hattan Nishiki 60 nama junmai. Went great with the tongue.

No room for dessert.

robert · October 22, 2026, 8:07pm

Double Chicken Please: apparently this place is usually packed (which explains why so many bartenders), but we went in after midnight, kitchen was closed and there were only a few customers left.

Japanese Cold Noodle: tasty and refreshing, though didn’t really taste like the name.

Melon Prosciutto: same story.

They comped us shots of something.

I happened by the next day 45 minutes before opening:

robert · October 22, 2026, 8:32pm

Peter Luger’s. Party of four.

Complimentary hot bread. Good. We’d grabbed some before I thought to take the photo.

Wedge salad. Bacon came on a separate platter. Classic.

Young Ch. Gloria was good with the beef. $125 is roughly 2X undiscounted retail, fair markup.

We ordered Porterhouse for three but it looks like we got two T-bones. Properly medium-rare. Good though I’m spoiled by mostly eating Flannery beef. Waiter comped us the tomato salad. One of us didn’t want steak so she ordered a shrimp cocktail, but I think she ended up eating more steak then I did.

Creamed spinach, not as rich as many, which is fine with me in context. Would have liked nutmeg.

German fried potatoes, pretty much home fries with onion. My three dining companions loved this. I liked them OK.

Cheesecake came with an absurd pile of whipped cream. I was too full to even taste.

Service was professional. Our waiter was kind of a joker which isn’t my favorite style but I think my companions all enjoyed it. Loved that there was no music and it wasn’t loud. Good time had by all. The locals took home a huge bag of leftovers.

I think the 2019 Peter Wells pan is somewhat out of date, unless we had an above-average experience (might have helped that we went at 5:15). The steak prices seemed on the low side given how much prices have gone up.

robert · October 22, 2026, 8:41pm

Back to Bar Contra. Neglected to photograph the Acid Granny, which was great.

Banana Justino: good but would not order again.

Xipe Totec: another winner.

Two Percenter: really good.

This place spoils me for cocktails anywhere else.

robert · October 22, 2026, 8:44pm

The Oven’s Slice, around the corner from Contra.

Excellent sourdough crust, good pepperoni, good mix of flavors. First-rate street slice.

robert · October 22, 2026, 8:50pm

Nom Wah Test Kitchen aka Nom Wah Nolita.

Pearl noodles with Chinese sausage were good. Turnip cakes with taro crust were excellent, nice crisp outsides from the taro. Cucumbers were very good but underdressed, didn’t get much chile or any vinegar.

robert · October 23, 2026, 5:37pm

Graciela. Waitlisted at 9pm Thursday, got a bar seat in 35 minutes.

I’d been thinking about Fer Servadou so got this one. Not a lot of “iron” taste but good.

appetizer knife

complimentary hot bread (OK) and oliives (excellent)

House-made morcilla with an egg and barely cooked red chard: very good, not as rich as some, the somm said they use pecans in the mix. Still very filling.

main-course knife

Ojo de bife (ribeye) from Argentina: beefy and delicious, so much better than what I had at Peter Luger the night before. Sad not to have bone-in but can’t really complain given how good it was.

Grilled sweet potato, also delicious. I was getting really full.

A somm friend who knows several people at Graciela showed up and ordered some more stuff.

Chacarero (house-made salami): really good.

Faina (chickpea tart): would not have guessed chickpeas. Tasted kind of like a savory cheese flan.

Empanadas: I liked the ossobuco more than the pumpkin.

They’d had some tastings so had a boatload of wines open, poured us a few, including …

Twenty Pulses pinot noir, one of my favorite wines of the last couple of years, never expected to see that again.

Great flan with the best dulce de leche I’ve had and whipped cream; buffalo-milk, chocolate, and almond ice creams, all excellent.

Fun place, had a great time. My only complaint is that for someone my height the bar stool was uncomfortable, the bar for your feet was too high and there was no rail or step, so my ass was sore. On the other hand, it was definitely more fun at the bar.