10/29/08

Chef Neil Ferguson Ditches Monteverde

Turns out the scuttlebutt is true. Monteverde’s British celeb chef, Neil Ferguson, has decamped for southern climes—well, Manhattan, anyway. This erstwhile chef of stellar Allen and Delancey (which he ran concurrently with Monteverde) has made the move to brit-centric Soho House, where he’ll no doubt make the faded club a dining, rather than drinking, destination. We’re sorry to see you go, Neil—but we hope your bosses are more appreciative of your talents. Rumor runs that Monteverde was a tough gig, with irregular business (and payment) practices coming down from on high. Reportedly, there were back-of-the-house fits, some screaming, a lot of ugliness – so we certainly empathize with Neil’s move. Plus, you all remember: this was the...

Posted at 08:07 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

10/27/08

Tarry Lodge: Slumming in the Suburbs?

Coleman Andrews' blog for Gourmet struck a predictable pose this week. In noting the trend of Manhattan restaurant luminaries venturing north to Westchester and Fairfield, he sneered at the “ethnic” (offensive quotation marks courtesy of Andrews) restaurants of Port Chester, and dissed the relative sophistication of diners in Westchester. The Gourmet piece claims that the Tarry Lodge menu translates guinea hen to chicken, because—according to a very poorly trained waitress -- “this is Port Chester.” Har.

So are the Bastianich crew really slumming here in Westchester?

It’s a stereotypical snort about Big City vs. Suburban Rubes,...

Posted at 07:54 AM | Permalink | Comments: 8

10/24/08

Ladies First

Did you see the Bruni article about sexism in restaurants? As a frequent diner out, and (though some might disagree) a lady, we must add our own opinion, which is a hearty “what he said.” It’s a scandal in modern-day restaurants, particularly when it comes to wine service.

Even though we usually take the lead in talking with the sommelier, and usually wind up placing the wine order with very little input from our bored husband, the tasting glass is almost always placed in front of him. Who, sighing, usually explains that the lady (ish) will be tasting the wine as he ostentatiously slides the glass across the table.

We used to be...

Posted at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1

10/20/08

Is the Party Over?

Chatting with big a muckety-muck at BR Guest Restaurant Group recently, we learned a scary thing. Even that group’s apparently recession-proof, highly diversified outlets (which include tourist-magnets like Dos Caminos, Prime Steak, Blue Fin, Ruby Foo’s, etc.) are suffering significant downturns in business — on some days, and in some spots, revenues are down nearly 75%. Ouch. We heard this right after we learned that Backals, the ambitious Scarsdale restaurant that dared to put Philippe...

10/17/08

Michelin-Mania

OMG—the stars are out tonight. Meaning, of course, that those Michelin inspectors have wiped their lips, folded their napkins and heaved their no-doubt large posteriors up to tabulate their findings and release their stars. Here’s what it means for us here in Westchester: Bastianich and Co.—he’s a Greenwich resident and owner of Tarry Lodge, duh—scored two coveted stars for his Del Posto effort with Mario Batali. Sadly, Bastianich and Co. lost the star they once held at Babbo. Chef/OwnerDan Barber—of Blue Hill at Stone Barns—got one for Manhattan’s Blue Hill, which makes him equal to Monteverde’s Neal Ferguson—who also got one for his Allen and Delancey.

What does it all mean? Well, if you ask Pascal Remy...

Posted at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments: 0

10/13/08

Jook Joints

Okay, it’s not pronounced “juke,” and it’s not pronounced ‘”tuck.” It’s not “chook” or “duck” or any other sound readily pronounced by an American mouth (yet it’s somehow a combination of all three). It’s Korean (tdkch) jook, and it’s the ultimate comfort food.

When October starts to get serious, when brown leaves start blowing around our ankles, and it gets really chilly in the old house that we’re too cheap to sufficiently heat—we fall back in love with jook. In particular, we love the salty, stew-y, chicken-y version available at Kang Suh (2375 Central Park Ave, 914-771-4066). Kang Suh’s jook is a silken, off-white stew with juicy shreds of chicken in a richly...

Posted at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments: 0

10/06/08

Weekly Tarry Alert

So we cruised by Friday night on our way to another work-related meal, and what did we see? We’ll tell you what we didn’t see: an open Tarry Lodge. But things are moving apace on the site—the huge construction Dumpster has been replaced by another smaller one for perishables, the Tarry Lodge sign has been hung, and the painting crew was hard at work at 8 pm.

Tarry Lodge’s number, (914) 939-3111, was actually answered by a human when we called on Friday. She offered to take our name to alert us when the restaurant opens, in “a couple of weeks.” Our colleague, John Turiano, also stopped by on Friday and spoke to Chef Nusser, who assured him the same. Ugh.

In general, restaurants like to get in a few down/low nights before the...

Posted at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1