Eat: National Edition Archives
The Week in Yelp: Fearing the Fish
From the people who brought you The Week in Craig, one of the all time great uses of the internet, comes Eater's newest feature: The Week in Yelp, wherein Amy Blair takes aim at the ridiculousness that is the world of Yelp. Her intrepid Yelp-surfing, and words, follow:
I know that this is going to be a wildly unpopular thing to admit, especially to this crowd, but here goes anyway. I am totally and completely repulsed by…fish. My revulsion probably borders on manic, but whatevs. We all deserve to irrationally revel in one of our psychoses now and again, don't we? Now, I'm not talking about fish that are, well, alive. I'm quite a fan of living fish, in fact (so cute, so friendly!). My issue is with eating fish – the scales, the skin, the googly eyes, the crotchy stink. It's just awful. I can barely even watch someone else do it. I know that this makes me a wimpy, picky pain in the ass, and I accept that. But come on. Fish is just grody. And if this rundown doesn't prove my point, you are probably beyond saving. End of story. Also, I have a fish psychosis. Who knew? Heh.
EaterWire: Ripert Taps Exec for Philly, McDonald's Update, and More!
PHILLY—Eric Ripert has named Le Bern sous Jennifer Carroll the executive chef of his new restaurant 10 Arts, slated to open in Philadelphia in May in the same building that houses the Philly Ritz-Carlton. More: "After a year downtown at the late Avenue B, she escaped to San Francisco, where she worked at restaurants Julia (now closed) and Café Kati. She's sous chef at Le Bernardin, basically the No. 3 in one of the top-rated kitchens in North America...Ripert told me that he sensed she was ready to head her own kitchen in January 2007 at her annual review." [Food & Drinq]
PARK SLOPE—Oko, Park Slope's favorite frozen yogurt joint, is now doing delivery. [EaterWire]
PLAYLAND—Here now, another of our regular Eater reports on the world of McDonald's. 1) The Brooklyn Eagle reported today that a McDonald's was opening in BoCoCa, on Smith Street. Sorry, Ronald, but our very reliable sources say this isn't the case. Standby for the true reveal on Racked; something much finer is happening here. 2) The Michael Shvo repped new development Gramercy By Starck, on 23rd Street between First and Second Aves, is getting a McDonald's. Rather, the neighborhood is getting its McD's back. Curbed commenters say that before Shvo broke ground, the fast food joint that had to make way for the cranes posted signs promising a return. Chicken McShvo, anyone? We're lovin' it? [EaterWire; Curbed]
El Chod has opened a Miami branch of Kobe Club, his elegant, reasonably priced, kid-friendly steakhouse concept. Instareview: "The posh eatery is half the size of New York location (52 seats as opposed to 110) so it's a bit more intimate and has more of a private club feel to it. They've also recreated the noir bordello decor with 2,000 Samurai swords dangling above black banquettes and a swanky bar outfitted in stingray leather. The vibe is seductively dark and sexy and there are a few secluded booths where you can dine clandestinely behind strappy leather curtains." [All Purpose Dark]
McDonald's has announced that they'll take on Starbucks, installing coffee bars, complete with "baristas," in its 14,000 U.S. locations: "Internal documents from 2007 say the program, which also will add smoothies and bottled beverages, will add $1 billion to McDonald's annual sales of $21.6 billion...McDonald's executives say they aren't launching espresso drinks to go after Starbucks, but instead to cater to consumers' growing interest in specialty drinks. And although McDonald's is encroaching on the business that Starbucks invented, analysts say McDonald's may pose more of a threat to Dunkin' Donuts, which has a more similar customer base." [WSJ]
EaterWire: Stags Leap Wine Cellars Sells for $185 mil
NAPA VALLEY—In the latest of three blockbuster wine country deals, Stags Leap Wine Cellars has been sold to a joint venture of Italy's Marchese Piero Antinori and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates for $185 million. Jon Bonne for the Chronicle has the story: "[Owner Warren] Winiarski was bittersweet about the sale. "There's sadness, and there's great joy," he said. "The two things can't be separated in a situation like this." The transaction is a big step down the corporate path for the renowned valley, where wineries once were strictly family enterprises. It also was just one of three major sales in the valley this week." [SF Chronicle]
Eater National: Rao's Vegas
On the West Coast, we've got the Inside treatment for Rao's brand new Vegas outpost. The story is excerpted here; click through for the full item.
Outside Rao's Las Vegas, inside Caesars
Touted as the hardest reservation to get in New York, the venerable 10-table Harlem Italian restaurant Rao's opened a large-scale version at Caesars Palace a few days ago...The space is a typically Vegasized version of the diminutive original. Instead of one room with 10 tables and a bar, there are two complete replicas of Rao's dining room on each side of a large central octagon-shaped bar. According our new BFF, co-owner Ron Straci, everything in each room is placed and identical to the original, including the pictures of celebrities hanging on the walls.
· Eater Inside (Outside LA): Rao's Las Vegas [Eater LA]
Eater LA: Mozza Opens, Bounty Placed on 'Salumi Thief'
Our brethren to the west, both Curbed LA and the on-the-verge Eater LA (next week, peops, sorry about that), are atwitter with field reports from the opening of Mozza, the pizza joint collab of Mario Batali, Joe Bastianach and Nancy Silverton. Marissa Gluck Cubed LA's food guru ruled, "Food was great. Pizza didn't disappoint. Perfect char. Service a little too eager. Seems like a 1 to 1 ratio of staff to customer." And from Eater LA,
We asked one guy how the pizza was, and he said, mouth full of dough, "It's f**king great." Around the second rush, we noticed Kirsten "Kiki" Dunst sitting at a table near the door, fallen chef Jessica from "Hell's Kitchen: Season 1" vying for a table, and that chick who played Joey Potter's college roommate on "Dawson's Creek" sitting at the bar. We assume the third seating brought in even more A-D listers, but we couldn't wait around for the show.(Don't you love those sceney name-dropping bastards already?)
As an added bonus, there is the the receiptrocity, by which a bounty is placed on the Salumi Thief's head.
· Curbed LA Eats at Mozza [Curbed LA]
· Mozza really lives! [~LA~]
· Molto Mario Goes to Hollywood [~E~]
Eater National: Michelin SF Out, Chez Panisse Snubbed
Today, Michelin announced the results of its first Michelin Guide foray into San Francisco (the "Bay Area" actually, including the wine country) and only French Laundry received the book's top honor of three stars. The most notable of the venues snubbed is Chez Panisse, which boasts four stars from the SF Chronicle and took the #2 slot on Gourmet's 2006 Top 50 Restaurants list (it was #1 last year). It was awarded just one Michelin star.
From the official Michelin North America statement:
"San Francisco's cultural diversity distinguishes it from many other cities, and restaurateurs have shown great determination and ingenuity in developing high standards of gastronomy and service," said Jean-Luc Naret, director of the Michelin Guides. "The abundance of local, fresh ingredients combined with the innovative spirit that this area thrives on provides chefs the unique ability to produce consistently superior cuisine. The introduction of Michelin's international standards of quality confirms the high level of dining in San Francisco, the Bay Area and the Wine Country."Other Red Book stats, by-the-numbers: 356 total restaurants were listed, 23 were awarded one star, four got two stars and just Keller's French Laundry was awarded a three-spot. This makes Keller the only North American chef to claim at least six Michelin stars of his own (he actually has seven, including Bouchon).
· Michelin Selects Best Restaurants and Hotels in SF, Bay Area & Wine Country [Michelin]
· Oy Vey, Michelin [Confessions of a Restaurant Whore]
· Hotsnack: tk for six [Snack]
· Big Red Lands: Winners and Losers (Michelin '05 NY) [~E~]
Molto Mario Goes to Hollywood (A Plywood Special Report)
Per the Batali playbook, we are a year of anticipatory buzz into the wait for Mozza/Osteria del Latte, Mario's West Hollywood collaboration with LA dining kinglady Nancy Silverton. While the Chowhounders remain conservatively optimistic about a September opening for Mozza ("phase 1"), photos just-in to the Eater news desk suggest that progress may not be far enough along to make that happen. NY-based Batali enthusiasts will note that we may even be pre-plywood, for rare is the Batali venue that does not receive an exterior face-lift pre-debut.
An update shall follow when we get an official word. Until then, exclusive, glorious interiors are just ahead.
Continue reading "Molto Mario Goes to Hollywood (A Plywood Special Report)"Listage: Eater National Edition
· Mark Bittman on the absenteeism of celebrity chefs...
· ...And the man you have to blame (Who is Adam Block?) [NYT]
· Details on Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc [Yountville Sun via She's Crafty]
· Tabla's Floyd Cardoz consulting at Palo Alto's new Junnoon [SF Chronicle]
· Two stars for David Burke & B.R. Guest's Primehouse in Chicago [Chi Tribune]
Morimotogate: Who is Trying to Take Down Stephen Starr?
Close readers will note that Eater has been adjusting this story since it came in earlier today. Upon review of our initial item, we're reposting the item in its entirety here, versus piecemeal elsewhere. It turns out that Stephen Starr's Morimoto Philadelphia has positively not had rat issues and to suggest as much would be, as he said himself, "as damaging as calling a priest a pedophile." Good times!
Though it's hard to understand exactly how a mistake of this magnitude comes to be, it looks like the City of Philadelphia Office of Food Protection turned over a health inspections report to Philadelphia Magazine filled with huge errors, such as those picked out by blogger The Illadelph; one violation cited roaches at Continental, another, the worst of all, had a rat infestation at Morimoto. (Even initially the report is somewhat shocking, given that Starr's NY imports did just fine with the NYC DOH, Morimoto having received a perfect score and Buddakan a mere seven points.) When the magazine learned of the problems, they took down the the report and replaced it with a note stating that the report "contained numerous errors, including reports of health code violations at restaurants that in fact had no such violations." Oopsy. Eater also received an email from the magazine which said,
"There exists no allegation, in Philadelphia magazine or elsewhere, that there is any such problem at Starr restaurants and that any conclusions about any restaurants -- Starr's or others -- drawn from the city's inaccurate report would be wrong and irresponsible."Double Oopsy. And a note from Big Steve himself:
"We have looked at all of our reports and we've gone though our records. We have had nothing like rats. Every restaurant gets violations, but I have no idea where this report came from. It's not even close!"All of this leads to the question, What the bloody hell goes on in Philadelphia? We're not exactly talking typos here, folks. How does a report this wrong get on paper in the first place? Who is trying to sabatoge Stephen Starr?
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