All stories about "Batali"
Resy Contest Aftermath: The Beguiling Batali's Babbo
Last night, we gave away a last minute 8:15 at Babbo to a lucky someone who best used the words "beguile" and "Batali" together. Though a number of you Batali-lovers rightfully wanted and deserved it, only one person got to dine on those sweet, sweet beef cheeks. Because of the small window of opportunity here, the winning submission won based on creativity and, mostly, speed: "Barring bloopers Batali beguiles and bewilders with bucatini and booze."
The rest of the entries ran the gamut in quality, expended effort, and level of creepiness. Some of our faves:
Continue reading "Resy Contest Aftermath: The Beguiling Batali's Babbo"
SobeWire: Tony Bourdain Handicaps the Golden Clog Awards, Part II
On Friday, the first annual Golden Clog Awards will be doled out at the 2008 South Beach Wine & Food Festival. This trophy show, the premie baby of Michael Ruhlman and Tony Bourdain's darkest places and booziest nights, are an alternate universe version of the Beard Awards, complete with real categories, nominees and, for each winner, a statuette for mantelpiece display. Since the emcees of the Golden Clogs here are two of the biggest names in food, their deliberately lo-fi laser light show spectacular may prove one of the hottest tickets on the beach.
On Monday, we caught up with Bourdain, who was kind enough to break down the categories and nominees for us. Read on for his thoughts on the field, plus some bonus ruminating on the ideal Bourdain awards show, the seating chart and the all-important after party.
SobeWire: Tony Bourdain Handicaps the Golden Clog Awards, Part I
On Friday, the first annual Golden Clog Awards will be doled out in South Beach. These, the premie baby of Michael Ruhlman and Tony Bourdain's darkest places and booziest nights, are an alternate universe version of the Beard Awards, complete with real categories, nominees and, for each winner, a statuette for mantelpiece display. Since the emcees of the Golden Clogs here are two of the biggest names in food, their deliberately lo-fi laser light show spectacular may prove one of the hottest tickets at South Beach.
Yesterday, we caught up with Bourdain, who was kind enough to break down the categories and nominees for us, in this, the first annual Golden Clog Awards. And away we go.
SobeWire: The 2008 Golden Clog Nominees Announced!
Michael Ruhlman and Tony Bourdain have concocted The Golden Clog Awards (Ruhlman has previously announced as much on his blog), a quirky little awards event born out of "too many beers and late night yakitori," as Bourdain explained to Eater yesterday. The awards ceremony, or "awards ceremony," will take place this Friday at 2:00 PM in Miami Beach, as part of the 2008 South Beach Wine & Food Festival, which does lend a certain, frightening air of credibility to the proceedings. Later today we'll bring you a chat with Bourdain about the whole shebang, but at this time, may we present the official list of nominees in the first annual Golden Clog Awards (official statuette above).
The Gatekeepers: Team Casa Mono
This is The Gatekeepers, a photo series Eater has commissioned from Michael Harlan Turkell. Herein, we're pleased to introduce you to the fine ladies and gentlemen that stand between you and some of your favorite impossible-to-get tables.
Casa Mono, from The Batali Restaurant Manufacturing Company, is a flat-out pain in the ass to get into. It's very small (42 seats), very popular, and very delicious, which means that getting in isn't getting easier (lunch is less problematic). Sitting at the bar and watching Andy Nusser and his team work the stove is a particular treat. Reservations and walk-ins are accepted for tables; the counter is strictly first-come-first-served. It's time you met Nancy Selzer and Amy Clark, two people who can help your cause, if they like you.
Nancy and Amy: By definition, we are "gatekeepers," as we have to control who come in/out of the door. Since we are so tiny, we decided at our inception that we would only allow dining at our counters. If we were to allow a bar atmosphere in Casa Mono it would quickly become so crowded and chaotic that it wouldn’t allow the type of service we strive to provide. Therefore we end up saying the same thing over and over "I'm sorry you can't just come in for a glass of wine." We try to maintain order in a way that's pleasant, and 95% of people understand our constraints. The hardest part is keeping professional composure when you're being berated or called a "bitch" by the other 5%, who aren’t accustomed to being denied immediate gratification of their wishes.
There have been days when 50% are walk-ins, due to cancellations, downsizing of parties, so if you're willing to hold out, we'll seat you. Understand we really want you to eat here. But, we only have 42 seats.
Batali, Andy Nusser, tapas
52 Irving Pl., Gramercy; (212) 253-2773
Open daily, noon-12 AM; menu
A particularly sticky issue: "joiners". >>
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