Foggy morning
From crepe to sandwich to Duran Duran
Before tennis this afternoon, Leah and I got off the subway at W14th and planned to go to Rue des Crepes for some food. But when we got there, it turned out that it had been closed! No more crepes! Frakking disaster! We were so looking forward to crepes!
In its place is a bespoke pressed sandwich place called Switch Pressed Sandwiches. We were dubious at first but since we needed some food in our bellies before the exercise we decided to give it a try. We ordered the Trojan Horse (ground lamb with beefsteak tomato, tzatziki, and fresh mint on rosemary focaccia) and it was delicious! We were very surprised since we had a very low expectation.
Another unexpected result was that they were playing Duran Duran's Rio while we were waiting for the sandwich, and that reminded me to search for the track on iTunes when I got home. Needless to say, I am writing this post while listening to Duran Duran! Ah, the 80's!
Not all stars are given equally
eiron's company X'mas party was held in a West Village gastropub, which according to Michelin Guide 2006, is awarded one Michelin Star. eiron's colleagues were very excited because Michelin star is awarded only to great restaurant (even one star). But I was puzzled because eiron and I had eaten there previously with friends and although the food was good, it wasn't good enough to warrant any star! That place is more the place to be seen in rather than the place to have fine dinning. Sittings are cramped and service is definitely not up to Michelin standard (in fact not even NY standard). If that pub deserves one Michelin star then about half of New York restaurants should have one too! I can name a few just off my head: Alfama, Les Halles, Dillon's Prime.
After having eaten at two of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants in London (Angela Hartnett at The Connaught, and Gordon Ramsay's at Calridge's) which both have only one Michelin Star, I can safely declared that Michelin has lowered their standard for New York City. Mike Steinberger at Slate.com seems to think so too.
I hope NYers realised the difference in Michelin and rating and not compare Michelin Star-ed restaurants in Europe with the ones in NYC. At least not the one star ones. The three stars ones (Thomas Keller's Per Se, for example) are definitely better!
|
Vox Hunt: I Get Around
Show us your favorite mode of transport.
Submitted by NomDeCocon.
QotD: A Tip About Tipping
What's your method for calculating a tip?
I calculate the tip based on the time-honoured tradition in NYC, which is double the tax (7.5%) to make the tip 15%. Then I generally round the total amount up to multiple of five. So sometimes it would be close to 15%, other times it would be closer to 20%. Of course if the service had been exceptional, extra tips will be added on top of that.
|
Lost in Colonisation 