195604 Fri Jun 21 02:27:26 -0700 2002 8 18 Manhattan 0 1044270 I found myself and my wife in the car and hungry at around 7PM last Saturday, and not having reservations anywhere decided to take a chance that there might might be space at teh counter at 71 Clinton. Wife went in to ask, and lo and behold, there were several tables for 2 open. While there are some additions and subtractions from the Willie Dufresne menu, there are enough things to let you know you are in the same place. For me, the menu wasn't too exciting before, and I can't put my finger on it, but even less exciting now. However, I thought the food was great before, and it still is. We ended up just ordering all the appetizers except one, and no main course ( this did seem to confuse our server for some odd reason ). The dishes we had eaten before were pretty much unchanged by Dufresne's absence, and the "new one's" you would really know weren't from Willie. Overall, the same experince as the previous times we've eaten there. I actually think this is one of NY's great "bargains", in that the quality of the meal is pretty much the same as at an awful lot of other places where it is twice the price. Decor hasn't changed at all. Service may have slipped oh so slightly, but it might just be the night we went, etc. On a personal note, I found myself aware for the first time in a long time that I was in a restaurant where I didn't feel *anyone* from the neighborhood was eating in, and it made me slightly uncomfortable. Does this mean I'm getting old ? Fri Jun 21 02:27:26 -0700 2002 0 DaveG 1 1044280 Speaking from someone who lives in the neighborhood, it's not that I don't eat there, it's that I don't WANT to eat there. It never abandoned its holier than thou attitude and for that, I can't abide. Still, we're all oh so curious to see what the next WYLIE Dufresne Clinton gentrification project will be. Woo Hoo! THM Fri Jun 21 09:47:38 -0700 2002 1044270 0 THM 2 1044324 It's called WD-50. Isn't that cute? Fri Jun 21 14:30:11 -0700 2002 1044280 0 bomb 3 1044433 precious. Sun Jun 23 12:43:53 -0700 2002 1044324 0 THM 1 1044286 Funny you should say that. In that big piece about Clinton street Wylie said he'd hoped the locals would dine there. I think it's lip service. It's priced out of their reach. If he really wanted to put his money where his mouth was he'd offer a "kamaiana"(sp) rate. That's Hawaiian for "local". When you go into restaraunts in Hawaii and show your driver's license they give you a 10-20% discount. He's not obliged to do any of this of course, just don't pretend that your not gentrifying the area. Fri Jun 21 10:26:47 -0700 2002 1044270 0 SLAP 2 1044343 I don't think offering a 20% discount to people who live in the neighborhood would work the same as for Hawaiian locals. I'm mean we're just talking about a Lower East Side neighborhood on a street that was pretty lousy before Wylie arrived. Also, Wylie didn't gentrify the hood at all; he just rented a space on Clinton Street cause the rents are cheaper. The LES was already gentified; i.e., Orchard, Ludlow, Stanton and now Clinton. Fri Jun 21 16:31:34 -0700 2002 1044286 0 Beau 3 1044435 Who are you to say the street was lousy? Full of life every second of the day means lousy? I'm just glad it's STILL full of life, that the kids on the corners have stuck around to add a little vibrancy. I mean, granted, it can get loud and obnoxious when you're trying to sleep, but that's life in the big city, baby. You want peace and quiet go live in the burbs. Interestingly enough, just down the street, towards Houston, is ten times quieter! Not a lousy street by any stretch... I've seen this same thing happen in DC - Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, as well as in parts of Baltimore... I know it's a fact of life, and I'm not going to say I don't benefit from the changes (the "progress") but it still stinks in a lot of ways and we all have to recognize that when someone moves in and puts FOUR restaurants within a block of each other. Grrr.... Still Happy, THM Sun Jun 23 12:55:05 -0700 2002 1044343 0 THM 4 1044450 Cities change, evolve and grow. NIMBY attitudes belong in the suburbs. Sun Jun 23 16:52:02 -0700 2002 1044435 0 bill 1 1044339 good thing you missed the entrees. we had a table of 4 eating there last week. while the apps were really tasty, the entrees were weaker. the sirloin from some fancy farmer was absolutely tasteless, though the pureed potatoes and mushrooms that cam with it were exemplary. additionally, service was outstanding and the staff could not have been nicer. Fri Jun 21 15:57:34 -0700 2002 1044270 0 johnnyfood